Home

Painterly Anime

Cris Ortega

A pale young woman with white hair sheds an icy tear.
A lovely mermaid with long black hair preens on a rocky shore.
A woman in a white robe is comforted by her dead lover.
A girl gazes at her reflection in a mirror, and the monster within it.

Artists are often deeply conflicted: forced to constantly choose between opposing impulses — asked to continually compromise. Cris Ortega‘s struggle is between the simple shapes and sharp lines of anime, and the realistic forms and complex textures of more traditional works.

You are immediately confronted with this dichotomy when visiting Ms. Ortega’s site, and are asked to choose between two different galleries. Both areas offer beautiful examples of fantasy art, but characters featuring Cris’ more realistic treatments get the full benefit of her talents; retaining the open, primal design of anime, while achieving the depth and subtlety of painterly works.

The line between these two extremes is not as fine as Ms. Ortega might have us believe, as many works characterized as either comic or realistic are actually caught somewhere in between. It’s just as well, since these hybrid works are frequently the best Cris Ortega has created.

Put the labels aside, and simply enjoy the beautiful mosaic of artistic styles offered at the Spider’s Soul.

Recently, it seems that Ms. Ortega has been drawn to more airbrushed, realistic works… and the dual nature of her site is now limited to English and Español.

Written by in July of 2005. Last edited September 2014.

Related Features

Jessica Peffer

An elf woman with long brown hair with a large fanged serpent. A small winged fairy with a small blue lantern on a pole. A large serpentine dragon rears.

Alita’s Terrifying Transhumanism

Rosa Salazar as Alita. Ed Skrein as Zapan. Eiza Gonzalez as Nyssiana. Jackie Earle Haley as Ggrewishka. Rosa Salazar as Alita studies her new hand.

Florence Chan

A young man with brown hair wields an ornate sword. A watercolor painting of Gunnm from Battle Angel Alita. Vincent from the Cowboy Bebop Movie. A young woman with long black hair and a long green cloak holds a long, ornate staff.

Ghost in the Shell: SAC Volume One

The shapely full-body cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi from the series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Section Nine operatives Batou and Togusa from the series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. A blue bug-eyed AI tank -- called a tachikoma -- from the series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Ghost in the Shell’s 2nd Gig

Members of Section 9 from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - 2nd Gig. Enigmatic rebel Hideo Kuze from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - 2nd Gig. Shadowy government official Gohda from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - 2nd Gig.

Comments

  • anime izle - August 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm

    i follow his art with great pleasure