Incredible Illustrations by Irina Vinnik
The divine images here hold a similar quality to old illuminated texts in beauty and detail. Based in Saint Petersburg, Russia, artist Irina Vinnik is the creator, with a strong body of work that shows her unique range of subjects. Below are some examples.
More of her work is available for view on her Behance portfolio http://www.behance.net/IrinaVinnik.
Artist Spotlight – Simple & Complex drawings by The Short Becomings.
Another submission that we came across and we lucky enough to find admist the recent influx of art and design sent to Creative Fluff. The Short Becomings blog by Stuart L Crawford features simple drawings that have funny and dark overtones. The simple graphics can be overlooked when placed into the context of the messages in each of his drawings. Instead of analyzing the artwork, I’m just going to let you take what you want from them. If you want to keep up with Stuart make sure to check him out at his blog over
here.
All artwork is from the Short Becomings blog.*
A New Year, An Awesome Book, and the Candy-O-Matic…
For whatever reason, there comes a point when our logic and experiences take over. To put it frankly: our internal grown-up wins the war against our imagination. Which brings me to just a few words about an amazing book, rather, an awesome book, as in: An Awesome Book by Dallas Clayton. The book, in the style of all the books many loved as a kid, was a huge hit when the first edition was published and because of its success of course, it’s being printed again, to be made available to ship some time in January (if you want a copy you should probably grab one now). The illustrations are detailed and magical, reminiscent of drawings that a child would make or one’s own early mock-ups of inventions that were never developed as planned… like the mansion made entirely of bubble gum… or the ray gun that turned enemies into a goldfish. And much like the beloved Dr. Suess books, it’s needless to say that not only is it inspiring but it rhymes too… and rhyming is always fun whether you like to admit it or not.
Here are a few images from the book:
[Images from http://www.veryawesomeworld.com/awesomebook/inside.html ]
More can be found about the book from http://radder.bigcartel.com/product/an-awesome-book and http://dallasclayton.com/products/
OCDD…Andrea Joseph’s illustrating super power
Coming across this work, I just had to share. UK based artist Andrea Joseph shows her talents in her remarkable illustrations mostly of everyday objects and a few creative interpretations. How much work goes into something as detailed as the washing machine or desk-top illustration is nearly unimaginable to me. Never before have I seen such extraordinary applications of crosshatching. Her illustrations are incredibly detailed and she claims to have “Obsessive Compulsive Drawing Disorder,” [ http://www.bestoff.info/2008/11/03/andrea-joseph-sketches/ ] obviously not a bad thing to have if these are the products.
[Images from: http://www.bestoff.info/2008/11/03/andrea-joseph-sketches/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreajoseph/ ]
More of Andrea Joseph’s work is available on her blog: http://andreajoseph24.blogspot.com/
And on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreajoseph/
Charlotte Day – Creative Surface Design
We’re in a posting frenzy this week. With a couple of minutes left till Christmas I thought it would be great to get just one or two last posts in before the Holidays. So with nothing but Christmas cheer in my heart I bring you Charlotte Day’s creative surface designs. This was yet another artist brought to my attention not only by resident blogger Katherine, but in the newest Computer Arts magazine that both of us subscribe to.
“Charlotte Day combines her passion for pattern and illustration with her love of plants to produce unique botanically influenced designs for textiles, stationery, wall paper, merchandise and editorial projects. While her main tools remain pencil and paper, designs are digitally assembled in order to create perfect repeats and provide work in commercially compatible format.” (http://www.charlottedaydesign.com)
The above image is some of his designer wallpaper that I thought was fitting for the season. Simple, creative, and visually remarkable Day’s work is a great example of tasteful wallpaper. Charlotte’s artowrk is reminiscent of the arts and crafts movement and takes the period of art in a new direction. Instead of my normal rants and reviews of artwork, I’m simply going to show some of Day’s work. Make sure to visit her website at:
http://www.charlottedaydesign.com
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/
15 Mysteriously Inspirational Images
- Artist: Yehrin Tong
http://www.debutart.com/artist/yehrin-tong/work/2341
- Artist: Gustaf Tenggren
http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/08/illustration-gustaf-tenggrens-grimms.html
- Artist: David Prosser
http://ilikepencils.blogspot.com/
- Photographer: Chuck Kimmerle
- Artist: Linn Olofsdotter
- Artist: Oliver Vernon
http://www.oliververnon.com/2008/07/24/2008/
- Artist: Naoto Hattori
http://www.naotohattori.com/home.html
- Artist: Koldo Barosso
- Artist: Nobumasa Takahashi
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/bamboolove/
- Artist: Eyvind Earle
- Artist: Sterling Hundley
http://www.sterlinghundley.com/
- Artist: Vladimir Kush
http://www.zuzafun.com/surreal-pictures
http://www.vladimirkush.com/home.php
- Artist: Tebe Interesno
http://www.graphic-exchange.com/archives/home_2008_10.html
- Photographer: Carl Chiarenza
http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_PHOTOGRAPHER_Carl__Chiarenza_01/1/0/0/
- Artist: Kaveh H. Steppenwolf
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/
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:
Mike Ming: Trendy Illustration Meets Commercial Industrial Design
The mainstream and the underground have been merging at an exponential rate in the past two years, and to put things into perspective lets take eclectic, trendy hip hop singers Santogold, and M.I.A. Both are known for their unique beats, melodies, and vocals which sets them apart from mainstream hip-hop. But just how underground are M.I.A. and Santogold? Not too long ago Santogold’s music appeared in a beer commercial, and then M.I.A. featured their song “Paper Planes” as the trailer music for the movie: Pineapple Express. The trendy underground is quickly moving towards the mainstream; part of this is due to the failing American economy, and part of it is simply because artists can no longer afford to starve (go figure). The question that remains is can these artists who become apart of the main stream retain their essential values and stand out from the rest of the muck. Mike Ming, a creative illustrator stands as a shining example that this is indeed possible.
Lets get a short background of Mike Ming out of the way before discussing his work:
“Brooklyn-based artist Mike Ming (born Michael Miyahira) brings fascination with popular culture and life experiences to the canvas.” – Dell.com
He graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1995 with a BFA in Illustration and has since taken his artistic creativity and honed it into a personal and expressive style which he can call his own. Ming was contacted by Dell to provide illustrations for their new inaugural Special Art Edition Inspiron 1525 laptop.
“I want to create a sense of energy, playfulness, sophistication and psychedelic momentum when I started this…This new technique from Dell brings my inspiration—water and the energy it produces—to life and gives computer aficionados their own display of style.” – Dell.com
But what is the technology that makes it possible to have Ming’s creative artistic talent showcased so vividly? Dell describes it best:
“A new Dell manufacturing technique brings alive every color and brushstroke on the laptop’s cover, creating a fluid, graffiti-inspired tattoo effect that lets style pioneers add another level of individuality to everyday life.” – Dell.com
Ming’s work has been showcased in a series of galleries, festivals, and art shows all across the country and if you like the laptops, I highly reccomend visiting his website for more of his ecletic design style.
www.mikeming.com
[ ACDC ] – Black Ice Cover Art
This is the recently revealed cover art to AC/DC’s new studio album. The mirror image art and the grey and black aesthetic give off the hard rock vibe that the band has become known for. The band name in red with what looks like white clouds wafting over the lettering add a brilliant contrast to the cover.
Black Ice is the band’s fifteenth studio album; they’re first since 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip. It is scheduled to be released October 20th and will be store sold exclusively at Wal-Mart for the price of $11.88.
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
Death Magnetic Cover Art
The artwork on the album is sort of hypnotic. A coffin six feet under with the dirt spread around in a manner to imitate a magnetic field. The work is presumed owned by the record label and no artist is mentioned.
Metallica’s new album, Death Magnetic, comes out September 12th in the US and most other countries. It will be their first album since 2003’s St. Anger.
The Imagination of Studiospooky
While searching for something to write about, few things caught my eye. It was important to find something first-post worthy. Rummaging through a sea of vectors, product design, and typography, it was basically the same thing over and over again. Helvetica everywhere. When all hope was lost I was linked to Studiospooky’s automatic drawings, a breath of fresh air after emerging from the chaotic funhouse of “design trends”.
The artist, whose name is unknown, creates detailed large (and small) scale automatic drawings. All of it or at least what I’ve seen, is done by hand, and from looking at the result, the process of creating a large scale illustration of this kind must be painstaking. Whatever the amount of time and patience put into each piece, the result is definitely, for a lack of a better word at the moment, “awesome”.
Among his own creations, he has commissioned work as well, and I should mention that not all his work is automatic drawings. He does have digital work too, and work that combines the digital and traditional, the the Diamond of Drury Lane book cover. To explore more amazing work you go to Studiospooky.
Frederick Kiesler: Co-Realities
Kiesler Exhibition Interior
This past weekend, Saturday I believe, I decided to surprise my girlfriend with a random trip to the Drawing Center located in downtown Manhattan. Normally I tend to shy away from traditional art forms, namely those of the pencil and paintbrush variety, but something about this exhibition caught me eye. The name of the event was titled: Frederick Kiesler: Co-Realities. No, it wasn’t just because both of our names is Frederick that I decided to see his work in person. I caught a glimpse of an advertisement for it in Metropolis Magazine.
The Co-Realities Exhibition focused cheifly Kiesler’s hand drawn work; considered an architect, I found that Kiesler paid little mind to the functionality or usability of his designs and instead he honed in on the interaction between a person and space. The first impression his work gave me was that of the late cubist/early futurist movement where artists such as Umberto Bocioni focused their art not on people, but their movement within a space. Instead of rambling on with my own observations, here’s an excerpt from the Drawing Center:
This exhibition explores the pivotal role drawing played in the interdisciplinary and multifaceted work of Austro-American designer, artist, theoretician, and architect, Frederick Kiesler (1890-1965). Frederick Kiesler: Co-Realities will trace Kiesler’s interest in the expressive and conceptual possibilities of drawing through key projects and concepts from the 1930s to the 1960s, from his early work as a scenic designer to his revolutionary designs for Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of the Century Gallery, and his decades long investigation into the unique structure of his Endless House. As so few of Kiesler’s installations, sets, or projects remain or were ever realized, the drawings have become key to understanding his significant contribution to 20th century thought. Philip Johnson called Kiesler “the best-known non-building architect of our time.” Frederick Kiesler: Co-Realities will feature an exhibition design by the New York-based architecture firm nArchitects. This exhibition is co-organized and curated by Dieter Bogner, President, Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Private Foundation, Vienna and João Ribas, Curator, The Drawing Center.
If you’re anywhere near Manhattan on vacation, or in general, I highly recommend going to the exhibition which ends on July 24th.
