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Henry Smith

Henry Smith - Utah, USA  based illustrator

The award-winning cartoonist and illustrator Henry Smith is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He’s an artist who was captivated by cartoons at an early age and never grew out of them. Now, they’re his career and he’s made a name for himself designing unique characters that are full of humour. “A great character can be designed if you pay attention to the silhouette. Is it something we've seen before? I like to use geometric shapes in fun ways to see if I can get more interesting characters, and making my characters as weird as possible, while still being cute and approachable,” he says. There’s certainly a 90s vibe in his inspiration cabinet – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Powerpuff Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants are to be found there, along with classic video games like Pokemon Blue and Super Smash Bros. With a graphic design background, he’s also influenced by mid-century modernism. Henry is a keen volleyball player, listens to Country, Rock and Rap, and enjoys the company of his wife and their two sassy dogs.

Training

Henry earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in graphic design from the University of Utah, and has added to that with an array of online illustration courses, including the excellent character design course by The Oatley Academy.

Approach

One of Henry’s works begins with a bit of drawing magic. He starts with a loose sketch and when he’s determined the general direction he refines it and tightens things up. Then the digital magic takes over. The main shapes are drawn in Illustrator, and then the image is moved across to Photoshop where the line work, colours and textures bring it to life. “I tend to flow towards less saturated, pastel colours and try to use interesting combinations that I haven't seen before.”

Style

From goofy protagonists to angry villains, and from bizarre aliens to cheeky pets, Henry’s able to capture and exaggerate all sorts of character traits with his deft linework and strong use of colour and texture. His work features strong layouts, which he puts down to his background in graphic design. Most of all though, it’s fun!

Awards

Salt Lake City AIGA 100 2013 – Two Awards of Merit ADDY Awards 2013 – Two Silver Awards Salt Lake City AIGA 100 2015 – Award of Merit CTNX/Copic Markers Illustration Contest 2015 – Grand Prize ADDY Awards 2016 – Gold Award

Client list

Nickelodeon Dreamworks Cartoon Network Warner Bros Universal Sony Target
Henry Smith
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Henry Smith
The Wayback Machine T-Shirt design
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Cartoon illustration of Queen of sweet sixteen
Henry Smith
Cartoon Character of Hey Arnold
Henry Smith
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Comic Character of Ruby and Monsieur Pamplemousse
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
Instalove digital comic
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
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Ruby Character Design By Henry Smith
Henry Smith
Monsieur Pamplemousse
Henry Smith
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Tin man Character Art
Henry Smith
Cartoon illustration of DinoMighty
Henry Smith
Cartoon illustration of Bulbasaur
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
An illustration of Willy Wonka
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An illustration of Monster on Road Rage
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Character illustration of Lie Bat
Henry Smith
Cartoon illustration of Flash Gordon
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
An illustration of Riddler
Henry Smith
Superhero Fun Run Logo Design
Henry Smith
Cartoon illustration of Snape
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
Line art of spacecraft command station
Henry Smith
Cartoon illustration of Greaser Dog
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
Spaceland Characters
Henry Smith
Rocketeer
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
Drinking Buddies
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
An illustration of Zombie food stand
Henry Smith
Boys Enlisted Against Scary Things Johnny
Henry Smith
Henry Smith
Karl Lip Sync digital
Henry Smith
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