Denise Humphrey, aka Spanky Spangler Design, produces beautiful digital illustrations based on traditional Japanese art (both modern and traditional). Her creations are heavily influenced by manga and especially by some of the artists of the Superflat movement.

“I am intrigued by the wood-block artists of 17th Japan and pictures of the floating world. I adore the evanescent, impermanent, fleeting beauty and simplicity of this style.”

Born in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1981, she left school with six GCSE’s (including Art and Design Technology). She went on to complete a National Diploma in Graphic Design then moved on to a BA degree in Graphic Design and Printing along with Computer Aided Art and Design. She graduated in 2002 and worked as a Graphic Designer creating logos, flyers and various media elements for local companies before moving on to freelance work, designing corporate identity for clients worldwide. Since then, her most prestigious design commissions include a themed stained glass window for a wine bar, a summer house ceiling painting and a large canvas print for a local establishment among others.

The image below, titled “Kichigai” (Crazy), is one of Denise’s masterpieces. She explains the technical process behind creating it beneath.

“My creative process for Kichigai (Crazy) began with a pencil drawing, (sketching allows me to visualize and imagine the completed work). The sketch was then scanned. Creating a new layer and using the bezier tool in Adobe Photoshop I tidied the image up, creating a line drawing. Using Layers I added detail to the eyes, nose and lips and added shading to the face and legs using the paintbrush along with the bezier tools stroke/fill option for the larger areas. The hair was created again with the bezier tool with paintbrush preset option, shape dynamics, set to fade. The highlights in her hair used the same method, this time with Brush preset option, smoothing, selected. The most difficult part of this piece was the strait jacket. The shape of the strait jacket was selected and shading added, then the flower pattern (created with bezier curves) were added using a new layer. Each of the straps on the strait jacket were created on a separate layer, each one selected with shading added. The same method was applied to the metal hoops. I always use between three and five colours for each piece as I try to integrate the age-old tradition of Japanese scroll painting with the contemporary aesthetics of manga.”

Discover more from Denise by viewing her portfolio!

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