01.25.12
Jose Mertz is an artist and illustrator based out of Miami Florida. It’s a fitting setting for Mertz as his work is a total mashup of cultural influences that somehow all settles on some startlingly memorable imagery.
Vinicius Quesada apparently sometimes uses his own bodily fluids, blood, urine, etc. (don’t ask what etc. might mean) in his work. And yes, there is definitely some similarities to Shepard Fairey’s work but there are still some individually fascinating aspects to Quesada’s work.
“My work is illustrative, but I’m not an illustrator. My friend Jen said it best, I’m a Drainter: a drawer and a painter. I was trained to paint with oils at a small school in Michigan. These days I’m working with graphite and gouache a lot.
This is as close as I will come to maintaining a blog.
In my stream you will find art in progress, some finished pieces, polaroids, self portraits and snapshots from my life. I wish to live in Australia in the near future, making drawings and paintings for the rest of my days.”
He’s very good at ‘drainting’.
01.18.12
Death Spray Custom is the portfolio and works of a London based artist and designer. His work has caught my attention before but some recent updates grabbed hold of my attention.
12.15.11
There is some downright radical ‘robot-inspired’ artwork, sculpture and illustration in the portfolio of Italian artist Pixel Pancho.
“Tom French is a UK based contemporary image-maker, whose recent pieces are an exciting and interesting fusion of traditional fine art and urban techniques.
Born in 1982, and raised in the North East of England, he studied at the Newcastle school of Art & Design before going on to achieve a First Class Honours in Graphic Design from the Sheffield Institute of Art and Design.
He has since been pursuing his painting and illustration practice, drawing on his conceptual design experience and experimenting with stencil, spray paint & collage work. Now we can see a merging of these techniques, with striking results. His recent pieces show figurative charcoal characters merging to create greater darker forms; they are classic and contemporary, dark and beautiful, the mixture of textures hinting at underlying stories and adding depth to each piece.”
I am really digging the varied styles of illustrator Pavel Ripley. There is some very nice work on his website that ranges all over the map for an illustrator but in every instance each image is highly realized at an accomplished skill level.
12.07.11
Artist James McCarthy paints some really really trippy imagery. Like far out, acid flashback, Dali-dream outer-space type shit. Once you get over all of that, you can then begin to take in how incredibly talented he must be to actually paint what he paints.
He has a truly gifted hand.
10.28.11
World famous doodler (that doesn’t sound quite right but you know what I mean) Jon Burgerman has updated his website with all manner of colorful new works. He’s also included a blog this go round that details some of the goings on in his life and that’s always a nice feature when you really love an artist and a lot of people love them some Burgerman.
10.13.11
It’s been a little while since I dropped in on pop culture, psychedelic painter extraordinaire Dave MacDowell and I am glad I did because he has since posted some new works to his Flickrfolio for the Thinkspace Gallery that are fantastic.
The ‘paintings’ or rather sculptural paintings of Linda Besemer mind bend your mind a little in the way that they merge dimensionality, form and color all seamlessly into one piece that when viewed from multiple angles has an even more psychedelic effect on the viewer. Her work is currently on display at Galerie Richard in Paris.
09.23.11
Painter and illustrator Casey Weldon recently updated with some new work including the lovely painting above for the Pixies tribute show.
09.19.11
Painter Michael Peck uses oil to create some truly beautiful works of art that feel almost like snapshots from distant memories. The ability to paint in such a style has always amazed me and Peck is a master.
09.14.11
Artist Jeremy Fish is still doing his thing and has updated lately with some excellent work. His hand is so airtight now it almost looks like vector art. He keeps honing his craft though and getting better at what he does and there are some wonderful works in his portfolio.
Chinese illustrator Qian Yi is generating some downright beautiful digital and traditional paintings at a rate that belies a serious talent not just as a digital artist or illustrator but a contemporary one.
Painter Joe Forkan has created an entire series based off of the film The Big Lebowski. Awesome you say? Why yes but before you accept it at face value as a fan of one of the strangest and most wonderful films of all time, Forkan is a serious painter who has done his homework and in many ways paints in the style of the old masters. He was drawn to the symbolism and attention the Coen brothers brought to the movie and has attempted to translate that very energy into his paintings.
Everyone’s old art pal has taken to the streets, commenced sticking his finger in the pot and has begun stirring again. As always with Banksy’s work, expect moments of simple brilliance.
09.07.11
I may have posted Wayne White’s work a long time back but his word paintings are simply well…you can read it above. It’s absolutely amazing just how many of these he has done and how well rendered each one is. I’d love to have one to hang at home or in our studio.
