Art Analysis: Gorillaz Bonus

Ok, so this is going to be really short and sweet. I’m gonna cover one image that I found that I’m really curious about:

This is an image that, I believe, first appeared in Rise of the Ogre. I’ve seen it floating around on the internet for a while now, and I always referred to it as Jamie’s “Phase 1.5″ artstyle, as I assumed it came either from late in phase 1 or early in phase 2. I actually don’t know when it came from- that was just an assumption after all-. But the reason it caught my attention is because the art style does seem to be beginning to change here. Its like a transitional fossil for art styles. It’s grittier and more detailed than phase 1 art. Murdoc is also green, and Cortez is present. 2D has more visible wrinkles, and his hair looks a bit different. Noodle is starting to look like her phase 2 self. Russel….looks basically the same, but when does he not……and of course, the most noticeable difference is Del. Almost looks like a different character.

I don’t know the backstory of this image, but it describes an idea of what I would have wanted phase 2 to look like. The phase 2 artstyle strayed too much from the style I love. This would have worked better, in my opinion.