Signature Illustration Blog

September 24, 2009

Jacob Magraw-Mickelson – Deconstructed hyper-realities

Filed under: Fine Art & Artists, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 10:47 pm

Painting in Gouache, Jacob Magraw-Mickelson creates candy-coloured hyper-realities of deconstructed landscapes and flora, anatomical dissections, cross-sections of cells, veins, roots and hidden terrains. I love the detail and the pulsating colours and am happy to add it to our illustration blog.

September 22, 2009

Anna Emilia Laitinen – a delicate simplicity

Filed under: Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 10:12 pm

Working from Finland Anna Emilia Laitinen’s paintings are truly delicate. I love the complexity and intricacy within the simple compositions.

September 6, 2009

Brian M. Viveros – sexy, provocative and dark

Filed under: Fine Art & Artists, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Sascha @ 11:54 am

Brian M. Viveros illustrations are sexy, provocative and dark.  The below illustrations are Brian’s trademark: Sexy, dark, feminine yet strong women who have a cigarette in the corner of their mouth. Despite the seemingly macabre air and batted state of the women their expressions are filled with lust and sovereignty. The overall effect is sexy and powerful. (ps: Compared to some of his other work this selection is less hardcore.)

August 3, 2009

Monday Morning: Street Art in Soho London

Filed under: All Sorts, Comic Illustrations, Graffiti, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , — Sascha @ 11:29 pm

On my way to work this morning, at around 8, I came across Nathan Bowen who had been illustrating for at least 1 hour. Now that’s dedication for you! As per Eddy’s comment Nathan has got work dotted around london incl Brick Lane.

In this instance had painted the strips white and then created the set of super urban characters you see below. He said his motivation was simply to make the temporary building wall more attractive. I thought it was great.  (He would pop by here later this week).

Kathy Staico Schorr

Filed under: Fine Art & Artists, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , — Sascha @ 11:09 pm

James Jean Kindling Book Video Review

Filed under: Fine Art & Artists, Illustrations - Illustrators, Videos — Tags: , , , , , , — Sascha @ 6:57 pm

July 26, 2009

The mythical world of Dan May

Filed under: Articles on Illustration, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 11:00 pm

Working from Florida Dan May creates timeless worlds of silence occupied by haunting yet whimsical creatures. Although deeply sad and  eerie, May’s creatures draw the viewer towards them with their friendly disposition.

July 22, 2009

Theodor Kittelsen a prolific artist from Norway (1857 – 1914)

Filed under: All Sorts, Articles on Illustration, Childrens book Illustration, Fine Art & Artists, Illustration Books & Covers, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Sascha @ 11:08 pm

This last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Norway – it was a short but sweet trip. We spent our time in the small town of Tofte in a comfortable wooden cabin. Our cabin was neatly placed right next to the Oslo Fijord with an awesome view over the water. Just on sunday I was running through a quite forest which was followed by a lengthily swim in the sea. I could have easily spent couple months there just relaxing and taking my time about my daily sustenance!

I had the time to look through some illustrations and stumbled upon Theodor Ketlesen (April 27, 1857 – January 21, 1914) who is one of the most famous artist in Norway. He was famous for his nature paintings but also for his illustrations of fairy tales, legends and trolls.

Below are some of Theodor Ketlesen illustrations:

:-)

S

July 7, 2009

Ralph Steadman & Hunter S. Thompson

Filed under: All Sorts, Articles on Illustration, Childrens book Illustration, Comic Illustrations, Illustration Books & Covers, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Sascha @ 10:20 pm

The author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson, gave birth to Gonzo journalism which is a type of ‘fictional’ journalism. It often includes the reporter in the story and is in the first person. By blending fiction and fact the journalist is able to engage the reader whiles expressing certain facts about a situation. Gonzo journalism tends to favor style over accuracy and often uses personal experiences and emotions to provide context for the topic.

Hunter S. Thomas was good friends with a british artist called Ralph Steadman who provided visual representaiton for Gonzo journalism.  Ralph Steadman has won multiple awards and is renowned for his political illustrations, social caricatures, cartoons and also for illustrating a number of picture books.

Below is a collection of Ralph Steadman illustrations:

Hunter S. Thompson with Ralph Steadman Illustrations: A good collection of Hunter’s life

:)

June 8, 2009

Bill Carman’s inventive characters

Filed under: Childrens book Illustration, Editorial Illustration, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 10:57 pm

All I can say is:
true attention to detail + brilliant observation + experienced drawing skills + Korean blood + the love for teaching + odd little characters bubbling to tell a story + an impressive cliental + an imaginative mind + beautiful use of soft colours + a love for fishing = Bill Carmen. Genuinely beautiful work.

May 19, 2009

d’Holbachie Yoko’s bold spectrum of colours

Filed under: Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 11:26 pm

Psychedelic candy-coated colour madness- fun fun fun I say!
Japanese artist d’Holbachie Yoko is a master at creating rich, multicoloured and stimulating worlds populated by decorative, playful, cute and yet mysterious and manic creatures. With these digital artworks, Yoko manages to use colour intensely, rousing the eye of the viewer without overdoing the viewers experience.

And her whimsical creatures?
d’Holbachie Yoko expresses her work as follows: “Animals, insects, fish, and toys… These things used to be close to me when I was a child. I like to take these in my design. Maybe it is because my childhood memory is vivid, or I am still childish. I love long tentacle-like shapes with stripes or dappled patterns, such as octopus tentacles. They look as if they are presenting something gently, or as if they are looking for something.”

Enjoy the journey into one bold, playful universe of colour.

May 13, 2009

Icinori – Mayumi Otero and Raphael Urwiller

Filed under: All Sorts, Illustration Books & Covers, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 10:51 pm

These illustrated prints excite me. Love the colours, love the texture, love the layering, love the depth and love the strange stories these prints tell. Icinori is a project by Mayumi Otero and Raphael Urwiller, students from Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg. Every singe aspect of these prints is hand made: hand printed, hand bound and hand cut- I love that – real beautifully crafted work.

April 19, 2009

Chelsea Greene Lewyta

Filed under: Childrens book Illustration, Editorial Illustration, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 11:43 pm

Wow wow wow, so young and so so talented. Chelsea Greene Lewyta is a student at Pratt Institute for Illustration, New York. Growing up with an adopted Korean older sister, Chelsea has been exposed to much Asian culture. This is definitely visible in her illustrations. Her soft colour pallet and beautiful line work carries heavy mythical and sometimes extremely sexual and violent themes opposed to her childrens book illustrations that are completely innocent and pure. I love the constant connection Chelsea draws between nature, the animal world and the feminine, sometimes innocent and mystiacl and other times brutal and savage.

April 11, 2009

Kuniyoshi – 1800’s James Jean

Filed under: All Sorts, Articles on Illustration, Fine Art & Artists, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , — Sascha @ 2:11 pm

Blogging in a sense is more about exploration then it is about purveying what you already know. It ebbs me on to find new things and what I find I share and then in turn people share their ideas and knowledge about that topic. A similar thing is happening with our Facebook Group, which has been growing steadily. People are actively discussing/sharing their favourite illustrators and artists.

Ok so yes this is how I found Utagawa Kuniyoshi. He was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints. I am aware of Katsushika Hokusai and I have posted about him. What is interesting about Utagawa Kuniyoshi is that I think that there is a correlation to the well known contemporary illustrator James Jean - (note the previous post). 

Here are some of Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s art works:

April 10, 2009

James Jean what a brilliant imagination

Filed under: All Sorts, Articles on Illustration, Fine Art & Artists, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , — Sascha @ 2:29 pm

I thoroughly enjoy the way James Jean takes different organic, physiological, social and emotional elements and with his brilliant imagination mashes them into this wonderful art work. Death defeating life and life defeating death. Social messages illustrated with savvy depth. Ignorant evil. Depicting our struggle through clever metaphors.

You have probably seen some of James Jean’s illustrations if so it’s always worth another look as there are many layers to his art. If you haven’t heard of James Jean you are in for a treat!

April 5, 2009

Andy Kehoe

Filed under: Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 11:13 pm

Love love love Andy Kehoe’s work. Been reading his blog- and wow, what an interesting and amusing character and what beautiful work.

March 25, 2009

Jacob Borshard, Comics Archetype Times Table

Filed under: All Sorts, Comic Illustrations, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , — Alexandra @ 10:42 pm

Found this today. Absolutely love it. So so fun, it’s great.

jacob-borshard-comics-archetype-times-table

March 10, 2009

Joe Sorren

Filed under: All Sorts, Fine Art & Artists, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , — Alexandra @ 1:08 am

Welcome to Joe Sorren’s world. Joe Sorren originally wanted to be an “art historian and conservationalist. Or a botanist. Or work with horses. It would be interesting to be behind the scenes in politics, at least for a while. Or maybe a studio musician, or invent games, or a … I would rather paint”. And what beautiful, surreal and rich paintings he creates. Joe Sorren currently lives in Arazona with his wife, daughter and son and is a drummer in a band called Sparkleface.

March 7, 2009

Winter Gloves – Let Me Drive

Filed under: All Sorts, Illustrations - Illustrators, Music, Videos — Tags: , , — Sascha @ 4:40 pm

Great Video – Good Song


Winter Gloves – Let Me Drive

March 1, 2009

Louis Minnaar’s paranormal world

Filed under: Comic Illustrations, Editorial Illustration, Illustrations - Illustrators — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Alexandra @ 11:54 pm

I am very excited to finally post the work of this brilliantly talented local artist; from my very own beautiful, South Africa. I have been following this illustrator for the past two years and am a big big fan. At the crazy young age of 24 Louis Minnaar creates illustrations that are not only expertly executed but portray an imagination like no other. A darkness runs through Minnaar’s mysterious worlds of human eyed birds, beaked flowers and disjointed figures. Louis’ highly conceptual approach can be seen in an illustration he created for the South African pop culture magazine “One Small Seed”. Louis explains, “The guy in the seed is chasing his own tail. He is searching for truth in the world and does not find it because ultimately, without God, he is alone.”

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