Happy little bonny trees
January 16, 2015 4:15 AM   Subscribe

The artwork that appears at the end of the opening credits for the BBC series Ballykissangel, seen (and also heard) here makes me so weirdly happy. I would like more of this, but can't figure out how to find it!

The illustration is slowly being revealed throughout the opening sequence, but appears in its entirety only at the conclusion. What appeals to me most is the stylized treatment of the trees, the uniformity of color and shading, the cartoon-like and whimsical aspect of the angles, as well as the overall quality of peacable levity. That jolly music that's a-playin' probably doesn't hurt either!

I'd like to view more artwork like this, but am so nonartistic myself that I don't even know what terms to search for. I'd love to find any artists that draw/paint like this or, failing that, identify some words that describe it so that I can hunt for more examples of this oddly comforting illustration style.
posted by dreamphone to Media & Arts (14 answers total)
 
Check out Grandma Moses's work. It's got the same kind of feel to it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:20 AM on January 16, 2015


Response by poster: Oh and I meant to add: Doesn't necessarily need to be landscapes.
posted by dreamphone at 4:39 AM on January 16, 2015


Best answer: A term that might help you find something similar is 'naïve art'.
posted by pipeski at 4:43 AM on January 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


There's a series of six mystery/puzzle games called "Blue Toad Murder Files" that use that style of art throughout. Bonus points: They're puzzle mysteries set in a small British town.
posted by jbickers at 5:13 AM on January 16, 2015


if you google "Grant Wood landscape" you can find many similar images.
posted by biddeford at 5:59 AM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


Reminds me very much of Grant Wood's landscapes
posted by pkropfl at 6:03 AM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


The cute chubby little houses make me think of Botero.
posted by phunniemee at 6:49 AM on January 16, 2015


If a more vivid palette will work, David Hockney did a series of landscapes in the Nineties that are a bit like.

I have a print of Garrowby Hill hanging in my office. And here's North Yorkshire.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 8:35 AM on January 16, 2015


Both of these artists are more colourful than your reference but I love them for their stylized and whimsical images. They're also Nova Scotian folk artists and you can see a lot of their work at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia if you're ever nearby.

Maud Lewis

Joe Norris
posted by hydrobatidae at 8:38 AM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


For some reason I am reminded of Charley Harper's work. His art makes me very happy, for many of the same reasons you cite.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:35 AM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


Maybe Lee Ann Frame (works primarily with woodcuts/etchings)
posted by twoporedomain at 10:02 AM on January 16, 2015


Response by poster: Thank you all for your replies, they are each and all absolutely happy-making, for slightly different (and wonderful) reasons!
posted by dreamphone at 12:57 PM on January 16, 2015


Leigh-Anne Wolfaardt's landscapes might be up your street?
posted by penguin pie at 3:17 PM on January 16, 2015


You might like naive painter Charles Wysocki too.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:30 PM on January 16, 2015


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