Give art a chance

There are some blogs that transcend every other definition of blog you've seen before. These are the kind of blogs you might call beautiful, even if you never thought you'd use that word for anything on the Interent.

There are webcomics and there are illustration blogs. They're as different from each other as say, Old Monk and a very fine wine.

Outlet for your art

Anyway, today I'm going to be looking at two illustration blogs that are quite simply done but still take my breath away. The good thing about this genre of blogs is that you don't need very much to get started. If you're a good artist, then you probably already have a sketch book of some kind. All you need is a camera to take a picture of your work, or a scanner. Scanned copies come out better, but not everyone has access to one so just use your camera and make sure it's in focus.

If you're an artist seeking inspiration blogs should ideally have a plain template and very minimal text, so as not to jar with the picture themselves. Do include a detailed About Me section though, because this blog should also serve as you portfolio and people might want to contact you for work.

Missed connections

The first blog I came across that I'd like to share actually derives from the large listings website Craigslist. Craigslist has a personals section, where you can post about people you might have randomly met, who you wish would get back to you.

Called Missed Connections, this part of the website has quite a fanbase. So, this illustration blog (http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com) takes off from the website and offers beautifully drawn sketches of the various missed connection postings in New York. It's exquisitely done and with so much attention to detail.

Art for art's sake

Then there's a webcomic but it looks more like art drawn separately and then uploaded, so I'm going to call it another illustration blog. Called Cat versus Human (http://catversushuman.blogspot.com/) it is sort of bizarre, but the sketching is wonderful and simple. The idea (a little two panel story about cats) is sweet and would probably appeal to loads of people. Don't expect all the panels to make sense, but look at them as art online, the and makes you long for the talent to draw yourself.