Featured Artist: Louis Roskosch – Simply Inspirational Artwork
I’ve been falling behind in reviewing, commenting, and posting all of the amazing artwork that Katherine(@fiametta137) keeps collecting and storing for me to post about. I’ve done a huge diservice to both her, and you the readers by not writing about these artists sooner. Today we’re going to take a look at Louis Roskosh and his inspirational, and simplistic character art that makes me wonder why I even try holding a pen to paper.
Roskosh was born on MAy 12th, 1984 and attended the Arts Institute of Bournemouth and recieved a BA in animation in 2007. During this time period and onwards Roskosh has been creating stunning illustrations remniscient of early 70’s pop art while managing to retain a large part of Roskosh’s personal aesthetic. The main motifs in his work seems to be that of story/fairy tales. Knights, dragons, robots, damsels in distress and damsels causing distress. His work is provacative, simple, attractive, and inspirational. An interesting thing I found with his work is that it is extremely textile, in that the way he colors images gives the impression that the illustrations could easily be printed or woven onto cloth and retain the same amount of quality. Below is more of his work which will speak for himself and make sure to check out his work at: http://www.louisroskosch.com/
Victoria Vesna Presents at Parsons the New School for Design
Speaking on Friday (tomorrow), at 10:00 AM at the New School at Wollman Hall, 65 W 11th St., will be media artist Victoria Vesna. After doing a little more research I found her projects extremely interesting and I was actually surprised at myself that I had never heard of her prior to this circulating email from the New School. Vesna’s design background holds a huge number of projects and exhibitions involving identity, technology, and systems.
Below, an exerpt from her biography describes the nature of her work:
“Victoria Vesna is a media artist, professor at the department of Design | Media Arts at the UCLA School of the Arts. She is also director of the recently established UCLA Art|Sci center and the UC Digital Arts Research Network. Her work can be defined as experimental creative research that resides between disciplines and technologies. She explores how communication technologies affect collective behavior and how perceptions of identity shift in relation to scientific innovation. Her most recent installations — Blue Morph, Mood Swings and Water Bowls, all aim to raise consciousness around the issues of our relationship to natural systems. Other notable works are Bodies INCorporated, Datamining Bodies, n0time and Cellular Trans_Actions.”
- NANO | Quantum Tunneling
- Blue Morph
- Zero@wavefunction
- Zero@wavefunction
Though I’m not sure if non-New School Students will be able to attend tomorrow, Vesna is definitely a designer worth looking up, as she deals with issues beyond the visual realm of art and design. If any of this sparks interest in you more information and images are available at http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/
Halloween Roundup
Welcome readers to the Halloween Round up: a list of artwork inspired by fantastic visions of strange worlds, strange creatures, reflections of horror and the deranged. I’m sure there are many more artists to be found as Halloween nears, so part two could be just around the corner. For now, indulge yourself in some of in a small taste of Halloween:
Wasted Beauty
Chet Zar
Brian Despain
Dan Quintana
http://www.copronason.com/dan/
Jimmy Pickering
http://www.jimmypickering.com/
Laurie Lipton
Image from http://www.copronason.com/
Cotton With Edge
The words “daring” and “edgy” come to mind when looking at these collage pieces, some offering humor as well. Many if not everyone has heard the term “fierce” in reference to fashion, but not often is it used to describe illustration. But, though I don’t like using the term in this manner, I feel the need to dub these works (drum roll) “fierce illustration”.
These stunning images are illustrations by Sam Cotton, recently featured in the Exposure section of Computer Arts Magazine. The UK based illustrator works using a combination of digital and traditional techniques, with a talent for bringing realism into contemporary art. His captivating illustrations are “fashion-based”, gaining a sense depth through the use of the different mediums.
Enough cannot be said about these illustrations, and I was rather excited to find the pair that I did in Computer Arts, but thanks to the powers of the internet, more of his work can be found on his online portfolio: http://www.hundredpercentcotton.co.uk/
Artist of the Week: Vince Fraser – Creative Illustration
That picture just makes you stop and stare. With millions of things vying for your attention all at once, you soon find that the confusion creates a level of excitement that completes the piece. The above picture is entitled “My London”; aptly put when you take into consideration the volumes of pop culture that London spits out every year. Remember the punk fad in America? Well they’re the ones we got it from back when the middle-class wasn’t too happy about the establishment.
But I digress; the piece is done by the artist Vince Fraser, a 37 year old London based digital artist with huge roots in 1970’s pop culture. On closer inspection of the vibrant piece you can find major symbols used in London’s pop art; that is to say commercial symbols taken out of context and recontextualized into art. The double-decker bus, the yasar-arafat scarf, the buggy car, and more if you take the time to see for yourself. The most interesting part of this work, and as you’ll find throughout the rest of the pictures I’m going to post, is the heavily laden afro-centric themes of the funk period. I don’t know how big Funk was in London, but he manages to capture it with such skill that even my father and his afro would enjoy it. Below are other images by Fraser.
If you want to see more of his work you should check out his website: http://www.vincefraser.com where you can find his myspace if you ever want to get in contact with him. I wish that I could get the chance to collaborate on a project with him. And in Fraser’s own words: “Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others”.
Featured Artist Gary Fernandez: Creative Art and Illustration
So after neglecting my duties as part of Creative Fluff, I finally decided to hunker down and write about our selected artist of the week. Granted, this artist was selected two weeks ago (unknown to him) but it’s better late than never right? I was pointed towards Gary Fernandez by my girlfriend who received a copy of the Computer Arts Magazine, he was the artist on the cover and that one picture was more than enough for the two of us to agree to write about him. Fernandez, a freelance graphic artist and illustrator, was originally based in Madrid but now you will find him in the peaceful rolling hills of Vancouver Canada. Miraculously(and lucky for us) being stuck up north hasn’t affected his artistic skills in a negative manner. He has done a myriad of work form companies such as Coca Cola, Camel Cigarettes, and even Nokia advertisements.
Camel’s, probably the only half decent cigarette beacause when people smoke them it doesn’t event your nostrils like hellfire. Fernandez found a deeper place in my heart by creative such stunning artwork for a decent brand name that had been dragged through the mud by years of bland branding.
Luckily commercial work isn’t the only thing that Gary Fernandez is capable of. As seen by the opening picture and the one above, Fernandez specialises in creative surreal landscapes and juxaposting them with innovative character illustrations that resemble something from traditional Japanese art mixed with American urban street art. The imaginative mind of Fernandez is one worth looking into. All pictures are from his website and you can head over there from the link below:
Illustrated Apparel: Catalina Estrada and Maria Elvira Crosara collaborate
Colombian illustrator Catalina Estrada brings a sense of renewal to the traditional Latin-American style with fresh coat of vibrant color and imagination. Through her studies she has achieved a Graphic Design degree from Medellín, Colombia, and a degree in Plastic Arts from Barcelona. Her illustrations turn small magical worlds that work perfectly as graphic patterns, and have been used by Coca-Cola, Microsoft Zune, Nike, Levis and many other brands and organizations as well as featured in magazines like Communications Arts and Computer Arts. Most recently her collaboration with clothing designer Maria Elvira Crosara led to her inspiring illustrations being used in the Anunciação Winter 2008 collection.
For further information and images here is a list of my references:
Catalina Estrada’s website: http://catalinaestrada.com/
Anunciação by Maria Elvira Crosara: http://www.anunciacao.com/
A good interview/bio by Catalina Estrada can be found on Veerle’s Blog: http://veerle.duoh.com/art/comments/catalina_estrada/
The Future?! – The Wearable Motorcycle
Even though it is just in the conceptual stage, this personal vehicle, called the Deus Ex Machina runs on a Lithium battery and is said to be completely green. It is to be able to go from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds and hold that speed on a single charge for an hour. It may not be much, but it would only take 15 minutes to recharge. Utilizing 36 pneumatic muscles and 2 linear actuators for control and ability to steer. It has 3 modes of transportation.
Jake Loniak, the bikes inventor, believes a working prototype could be made. “This is fantasy, it’s a green vehicle, and all of the numbers are based in the real world.”
Creative Print Design and Illustrations – Keith Thompson
I am beyond pleased that I found this artist; he is by far one of my favorite artists, if not my favorite. I stumbled his website and I have been seriously considering buying one of his prints. Enough gushing on my part; the most notable thing about his prints is the realism coupled with surrealist themes and motift\s. Mechanical humanoid creatures and terribly horrific demons await you in this impressive portfolio. I personally know nothing of Keith Thompson, but his work speaks volumes to me in regards to his creative imagination, attention to detail, and patience (coloring these unique prints must have taken days). Below are more examples of his work with links back to his website:
PRIPYAT BEAST
“When the secondary explosion occurred at the reactor, spewing an almost immeasurable torrent of radioactivity into the jet stream, surrounding locales could only survive long enough to form mass graves for their dead.” – Keith
KARAKURI
“Commissioned long ago by the 7th Tokugawa, a great patron of Karakuri design during the Edo period. Used to entertain guests with its charming grace as it carefully presents its hosts with tea, the Karakuri has also been used sparingly in Noh theatre, much to the shock of the audience when they discover the true nature of a seemingly masked actor” – Keith
Mostly Wanted: A Collection of Work by Tom Bagshaw
UK based illustrator Tom Bagshaw’s digital painting talents and process were featured in the latest issue of Computer Arts Magazine. His visual style combines the look of traditional painting with the feel of fashion photography as well as elements of contemporary graphic design. Together with interesting subject matter, these qualities make Bagshaw’s body of work truly unique. More of Bagshaw’s work and prints are available at his online portfolio website Mostly Wanted.
