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© Jonathan Atkinson, 2013 gutenberg Copyright Hand Crafted in the U.S.A.
22nd of January

Jeremy Enecio


Sometimes it’s hard to put into words how I feel about someone’s illustration or art. Mostly it’s “I like!” “I like!!” But that’s a pretty boring and shallow way to react to all this visual stimulation. Blame it on watching too much mindless TV. I don’t know. Anyway Jeremy Enecio’s fantastic art makes me gibber “I like” quite a bit. I had to stop for a bit, and actually look harder, take a moment and review why “I like”. I think first he caught my attention with his tribute work entitled Cthulu ( acrylic on paper | 11 x 14 ) The glowing eyes of the beast, and it’s enormity depicted with the tiny shark (that you instinctively know is probably a gazzillion meters long, at least 13 anyway!) drifting through the tentacles, froze me in it’s gaze. I couldn’t look away. Is it not fantastic to have this sort of physical reaction to an artwork. The more I browsed through his portfolio, the more I was entranced. The use of colour and subject matter, especially his fantastical artworks, blew my imagination open wide. Go do yourself a favour and take a peek at his website and blog!

1st of January

Ralph McQuarrie



Ralph McQuarrie’s art must look familiar to generations of movie goers, his work featured in Star Wars, Battlestar Gallactica and a slew of sci-fi flicks. He was a conceptual artist, and past away this year in March at the age of 83. He left behind a legacy of fantastic moonscapes, robots, and epic futuristic space stations.

McQuarrie started off drawing teeth and aeroplane parts for a dentistry firm and Boeing respectively, and created posters for the Apollo Space Program. His technical illustration ended up catching the eye of George Lucas, who commissioned him to create conceptual art work for his new film, Starwars.

“McQuarrie designed many of the film’s characters, including Darth Vader, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO and drew many concepts for the film’s sets. It was McQuarrie who suggested that Vader wear breathing apparatus. McQuarrie’s concept paintings, including such scenes as R2-D2 and C-3PO arriving on Tatooine, helped convince 20th Century Fox to fund Star Wars, which became a huge success upon release in 1977.Neil Kendricks of The San Diego Union-Tribune stated McQuarrie “holds a unique position when it comes to defining much of the look of the “Star Wars” universe.”McQuarrie noted, “I thought I had the best job that an artist ever had on a film, and I had never worked on a feature film before. [...] I still get fan mail — people wondering if I worked on Episode I or just wanting to have my autograph.” source

His work carved out a particular style within the sci-fi-fantasy genre, creating landscapes and worlds that one could really imagine inhabiting, vast alien vistas receding into the distance, populated with characters that, brought into our lives through cinema, feel like old friends.

“Ralph McQuarrie’s life can be clearly divided into two distinct sections: before Star Wars, he was an industrious, skilled, virtually unknown technical illustrator; after Star Wars, he became the most sought after Production Illustrator ever to work in films.
A primary reason for this change, of course, has to do with the film’s unprecedented success. But, in a very real sense, Star Wars wouldn’t have been the film it was without McQuarrie. His eyes and hands were the first lenses through which Star Wars was focused and captured for Lucas’ inspection and refinement.” source

You can find out more, and see more of his art on his website.

22nd of November

Julian Callos


Now this guy paints some mysterious artworks; mushrooms and flowers infest his characters from a 2011 collection, in an organic explosion of colour and texture. I enjoy his use of colour, and especially his subjects, pale glowing skin, pink fingers, or entirely filled with swirling effects. Julian Callos, is an LA based illustrator, and I recommend you go check out his website. His sculptures are pretty neat too! He is a talented painter, and his editorial work is fantastic. He is able to capture emotions and moments in time with smart attention to detail, creating interesting appealing artworks.


7th of July

The great civilisation divergence has ended: The Course of Empires


The western economy especially the EU seems to me like a house of cards which is falling down with politicians/central banks standing around it trying to catch the cards as they fall. I am by no means an expert on the subject but it does feel like any second now it could all unravel and the once prosperes west will no longer enjoy the rein it has had for so long. Having taken this for granted for a life time makes it naturally hard to believe but it is certainly not impossibility.

All great things come to an end and all empires fall and such all great divergence between civilisation get closed. China, South America and other emerging markets are growing at astronomical rates as the west is moving backward.

Thomas Cole was an American artist in the 19 hundreds who drew a series of paintings to illustrate the rise and fall of empires. The idea of creating ‘life cycle’ paintings became quite popular with other series like the Voyage of life. Below is a series of five paintings called: The Course of Empires.

There must be a fair bit of contemporary art out there now that expresses the notion perhaps not as directly but still an expression of the change that is happening. It would be interesting to see if there are any stark contrasts between art coming out of the emerging markets and waining western markets, please share your thoughts? Perhaps I will make this a little project!

(Birth starts at the left and final death is on the right.)

 

 

 

 

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Categories:  America Fine Art & Artists
29th of October

Brooke Shaden


Seeing Halloween is around the corner I thought to post something a little darker then my usual. These are photos made to look like paintings, revers of Nigel Cox who is a realist painter. Where Nigel is brilliant technically I struggle to find any depth in is artwork. Brooke in contrast has very rich subject matter and each photo is a story onto its own, however a touch of elusiveness keeps you guessing.

A quite death, Her burial and The aftermath (as seen below) reminded me a little of the pre-Raphael paintings: Ophelia by Sir John Everett and The Lady of Shalott by Hughes, Arthur - Perhaps she got some of her inspiration from those?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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23rd of October

Ray Caeser Collection 2011 and 2008


Entirely generated using 3D software Ray Casers work is haunting, surreal, disturbing, symbolic… He worked in the art and photography department of a children hospital. His job was to documented cases of abuse, reconstructive surgery and psychology. Dark as that may sound do interpreted his illustration and art outside of this fact – As with all art it can mean different things to different people.

As for me? Symbolic of Victorian era of sexual modernization, female empowerment / oppression, sexual  deviance, or perhaps at a stretch symbolic of the caged, naive and affluent of this world. (Older post with more art work here)

Ray Caesar - Keeping Time 2011

Ray Caesar - Keeping Time 2011