Ben Crouse’s “round and rubbery” illustrations created using marker pens

LA-based Ben Crouse’s outlandish illustrations caught our eye for their imaginative and delightfully lurid appearance. Drawing has been a part of Ben’s life since he was a kid, “making one-panel comics trying to be a funny boy”. He studied at University of Iowa for a degree in English and Studio Arts where he “percolated in a zesty creative community” and spent his time creating posters, comics and short animations.

Using mostly pens, paint markers and his scanner, Ben’s images are a cacophony of unusual characters that often have no narrative thread between each other. There’s a hand-drawn analogue feel to each drawing, yet Ben uses Photoshop for “crunchy compression and over saturating colours”, making them appear like faded doodles on old exercise books.

There’s a charm about the haphazard nature of his illustrations, as though Ben has emptied his brain onto the page and this stems from his plethora of influences. From “goofy new age pamphlets and Hong Kong action flicks, to jazz and the colour pink”, it’s an eclectic mix. Ben adds: “I also adore ‘municipal cartoons’, those fun drawings or characters that are servicing something decidedly un-fun, a bit like those airplane safety manuals or advertising for gas companies. I’m also influenced by my dad’s drawings, who doesn’t think he can draw but makes these weird little guys.”

These illustrations and the odd animations are random and uninhibited as Ben simply draws what he feels like. For his day job, the illustrator is currently storyboarding and writing for Disney TV show, Pickle & Peanut, a cartoon about a teenage pickle and a teenage peanut, who try to be anything but ordinary in their Nevada suburb.