Unnatural Mutation – Illustrations by Caitlin Hackett
Posted: March 4, 2013 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: animals, art, Artist, Caitlin Hackett, colored pencil, drawing, illustration, nature, painting, pen, surreal, traditional, Watercolor 2 CommentsCaitlin Hackett is a traditional artist in my home borough of Brooklyn NY with a truly interesting style. Almost all of her illustrations start off with drawing all the lines with a ball-point pen on a large piece of paper. The size of which ranges anywhere between 4in by 6in to a baffling 4 1/2ft by 5ft. After Caitlin lays out each individual line, she goes back in with colored pencil and watercolor to add shading and depth. This technique that she has clearly mastered is a pain-staking process but yields amazing results. The final piece marries crisp, flowing line-work with subtle bleeds of color. Her technique alone is a work of art, but the roots of her inspiration behind the artwork creates a whole other level of interest.
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The Art of Paper Cutting
Posted: January 29, 2013 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: animals, art, Artist, cut, illustration, nature, paper, Polar Bear, Sarah Dennis, sculpture 2 CommentsPaper cutting is certainly not a new medium, but Sarah Dennis’ paper cutting artwork has taken me be surprise. Her work has such beautifully delicate execution. Finished off by presenting each piece mounted in a shadow box, which I feel is perfect for this medium.
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Inspirational Artist Feature – Megan Lara
Posted: January 11, 2013 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: art, Artist, artwork, illustration, joss whedon, megan lara, meganlara, painting 4 CommentsMegan has a lovely “stained glass” quality to the coloring of her artwork. These illustrations are part of her personal “Art Nouveau” series.
She has an absolute love for all things pop culture. From Doctor Who to Dexter, Megan loves it all. Her beautiful fan inspired artwork can be found in all the far corners of geek-dom: ThinkGeek, Threadless, J!nx, Fangamer, Mighty Fine, and Teefury just to name a few. So its extremely fitting that she’s currently working on creating covers for Dark Horse/Joss Whedon’s new “Willow” comic series from the Buffyverse. Megan, if you are reading this, I can honestly say I’m jealous. I’d love to be creating illustrations for Joss Whedon.
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Inspirational Artist Feature – Andy Goldsworthy
Posted: July 31, 2012 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: andy goldsworthy, art, Artist, artwork, environmentalist, leaves, nature, photography, Photos, rocks, sculpture 9 CommentsAndy Goldsworthy creates sculptural artwork from the surrounding area’s environmental elements, commonly using rocks, sticks, and leaves, with the soul purpose of dissipating within a few weeks, days, or even just a few hours. Applying such a light touch to nature really leaves a lasting effect with the viewer. Even if the artwork has already worn away naturally. The way the natural light and shadow plays off his artwork in the course of a day is very thoughtful. Each piece is beautifully executed, but my favorite is the “Leaves” artwork above. Even though it seems very simple, it is actually very complex and time consuming. This specific piece was not edited with paint or anything of the sort. Instead, he sought out every leaf with a specific color tone and pattern. Then placed them artistically to create a natural gradient of color. After finishing every piece, the artist takes a photo to preserve the moment then moves on. The video at the bottom of this post shows some of his works in progress and also shows how his finished pieces degrade over time. Which is, quite simply, beautiful to watch.
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Inspirational Artist Feature – Jackie Wu
Posted: July 6, 2012 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: art, Artist, geckokid, HDR, Jackie Wu, landscape, panoramic, photo, photography, Photos Leave a commentJackie Wu utilizes HDR camera lighting effects and panoramic views to create stunning landscape photography. HDR, or high dynamic range imaging, is a photo process that “compensates for loss of detail by taking multiple pictures at different exposure levels and intelligently stitching them together to produce a picture that is representative in both dark and bright areas” – wikipedia. I have been following Jackie Wu’s extensive portfolio for quite awhile, but my favorite has to be his “Good Morning London” piece below. The amount of color and detail captured in the photo is just astonishing.
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Watercolor Fairy Tale Illustrations by Tatyana Kartasheva
Posted: June 28, 2012 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: art, Artist, books, drawing, Fairy Tale, illustration, painting, pencil, Tatyana Kartasheva, Watercolor 8 CommentsTatyana Kartasheva’s brilliantly shaded watercolor and pencil artwork is impressive, especially since these gorgeous pieces were created for her graduation project titled “Sweet Store of Madam Agnesa”. Each page was lovingly mapped out and amazingly executed. Such professional work at such an early point in her career is commendable. I’d be eagerly awaiting to see the full potential of this inspiring artist.
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Inspirational Artist Feature – Cliff Briggie
Posted: June 22, 2012 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: abstract, art, Artist, artwork, Cliff Briggie, color, ink, liquid, photography, Photos, smoke 14 CommentsCliff Briggie’s technique focuses on photographing the movement in liquids. The consistency of the subject-matter also gives the appearance of dissipating smoke or a gentle satin fabric. Concentrating the colors in different areas creates a subtle transparency that plays with the light source. The mixing colors and swirling compositions make these pieces absolutely mesmerizing.
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Inspirational Arist Feature – Tatiana Kazakova
Posted: June 19, 2012 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: abstract, animal, art, Artist, artwork, illustration, painting, plant, Tatiana Kazakova Leave a commentThese whimsical illustrations by artist Tatiana Kazakova interestingly combine different plants, animals, and environments. It gives me the impression that I’m entering a dream land, which would rival Alice’s experience down the rabbit hole. Some of the pieces, like “Kit”, have a abstract collage quality to them. Others, like “Space Stone”, feel more cohesive. All the the works, to be certain, are conceptually vibrant and elude to a deeper meaning. I would be very interested to hear the seed of thought behind each of the works from the artist herself.
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