{ Monthly Archives }
Justin Degarmo is hella talented. His illustrations are all painted, which is a rarity these days since everyone and their mothers have a copy of Photoshop. But paint he does and well to boot. I’m not gonna talk him up. His work can speak for itself.
I know I don’t post as much fashion as I used to and I’m going to try and remedy that in the coming months, because I know none of you can figure out what clothes to buy without this very informative website, and I just can’t stand to see all of you naked. Really. Taking the first step to non-nudity should bring you to Illustrated People, conveyors of fashion t-shirts.
The t-shirt has come a long way since hippies were stinking them up in the 60’s/70’s. They’ve come far enough, in fact, to cost more than a reasonably priced suit in some cases. The tees from Illustrated People won’t set you back as much as that, but they aren’t 5 for $10 either. They’ll run you about $40-50 depending on where you manage to grab them, but buying one won’t break your bank. Then you can wear that one t-shirt until it smells like it’s been worn by a flowerchild since ‘71.
Jillian Tamaki has a quintessential style that I have noted among Japanese artists (those that are from North America anyway): the line. The style focuses more on linework than on tone or contrast. The lines run across colors and accentuate them rather than bordering. Think of it likes painting with colored pencils. It’s a style that I’ve only seen in Japanese artists for some reason. Others have tried to imitate it but it turns shaky and loses its simple force in the hands of others. Tamaki does a superb job with her work, and her colors are always lovely.
The Life Of Mann is a global collaboration in creative storytelling. The story revolves around the main character, Mann, yet every 5 pages will be created by a different artist/writer to continue the story. This is an exciting project where the creativity and ideas of different artists from across the globe come together. No one knows how the story will end. Each must continue from where the other has left off.
As modern portraiture goes Jim Fiscus is one of the best. He’s sharing a rung with Timothy Greenfield-Sanders in my opinion, eventhough Fiscus’ work isn’t as personal. He manages to capture something beyond the basic essence of the subject; he captures their potential. He creates an environment for them where they are someone else entirely, and putting them out of themselves can be just as good as showing them in themselves. With Jim Fiscus it is just as good. The way the images layer up without a lot of depth makes the subject matter stand out but even the background becomes the subject matter. In short he does what portrait photographers are supposed to do: he makes the subject seem more interesting than they really are.
A quick video link for all of you. Edo Paulus created some very simple machines with solar cells attached so that the machines operate faster or slower depending on how much sunlight they’re getting. He put them out in a field and let them go to work. What is it they do, exactly? See for yourself.
His name isn’t easy to say and his style isn’t easy to replicate. That’s because all of Mathias Verhasselt’s work is done with a computer yet still manages to look like someone spent months painting it. The patience to perfect a piece that’s the same scale and level of detail as one of his seems superhuman to me. His skill isn’t all that’s beyond belief though, his subject matter runs the gamut of science-fiction/fantasy, futuristic cityscapes, alien beings, dragonriders, it’s every nerds wet dream. I should know.
Kathie Olivas is part of that crowd painting creepy, big-eyed children. I think its a response to the Precious Moments Figurines. But I may be missing some signs of artworld pedophilia. Who knows.
The ever-amazing Blaine Fontana has photos of his new show up on his site. Peep, don’t sleep.
I know in the past I have posted about Audrey Kawasaki. Well, sharing the asian woman artist spotlight with her is, among others, Amy Sol. Sol’s work is very similar to Kawasaki’s but it comes across as more playful where Kawasaki’s seems erotic. You be the judge.