This is a collection of western art. Specifically female portraits from the last 500 Years. Music: Bach’s Saraband. Youtube awarded this the Most Creative Video of 2007!

I have posted Audrey Kawasaki - Oiran before but I liked it so much that i thought id dedicate another post just to this illustration.

Audrey Kawasaki - Oiran

More Audrey Kawasaki

Video of Work by Audrey Kawasaki

“Olympia is an oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet in the Realism style. Painted in 1863, it measures 130.5 by 190 centimetres (51 x 74.8 in). The nation of France acquired the painting in 1890 with a public subscription organised by Claude Monet. It is now in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.”

and

“What shocked contemporary audiences was not Olympia’s nudity, nor even the presence of her fully clothed maid, but her confrontational gaze and a number of details identifying her as a demi-mondaine or courtesan. These include the orchid in her hair, her bracelet, pearl earrings and the oriental shawl on which she lies, symbols of wealth and sensuality. The black ribbon around her neck, in stark contrast with her pale flesh, and her cast-off slipper underline the voluptuous atmosphere. Whereas Titian’s Venus delicately covers her sex, Olympia’s hand firmly protects hers, as if to emphasize her independence and sexual dominance over men. Manet replaced the little dog (symbol of fidelity) in Titian’s painting with a black cat, which symbolized prostitution. Olympia disdainfully ignores the flowers presented to her by her servant, probably a gift from a client. Some have suggested that she is looking in the direction of the door, as her client barges in unannounced.” Read More…

Olympia by Édouard Manet

This post was partly made as reference for: Mark Ryden

Shepard Fairey has a whole range of subject but I posted these portraits because I think they work wonderfully together. There is something very prolific about them – Perhaps the colors (red and black) and/or the strong cultural and social references which gives these art works such weight.

Shepard Fairey - Malcolm X

Shepard Fairey - Mujer Fatal

Shepard Fairey - Arab Woman

Shepard Fairey - Peace Goddess

Shepard Fairey - Peace Mujer

Computer games often produce some amazing illustrations. Blizzard games have just released Diablo 3. I remember when they brought out Diablo 1 - I was glued for hours as I explored the labyrinths looking for new weapons and spells. You have to find and kill Diablo.  Here are some illustrations from the game. Check Out The Website - pretty impressive.

Click on them:

“Mark Ryden came to preeminence in the 1990’s during a time when many artists, critics and collectors were quietly championing a return to the art of painting. With his masterful technique and disquieting content, Ryden quickly became one of the leaders of this movement on the West Coast.

Upon first glance Ryden’s work seems to mirror the Surrealists’ fascination with the subconscious and collective memories. However, Ryden transcends the initial Surrealists’ strategies by consciously choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation. His dewy vixens, cuddly plush pets, alchemical symbols, religious emblems, primordial landscapes and slabs of meat challenge his audience not necessarily with their own oddity but with the introduction of their soothing cultural familiarity into unsettling circumstances.”  Read More…

Here are some more of Mark Ryder’s Artworks:

Mark Ryden - Allegory of the four elements
Mark Ryden - Allegory of the four elements

Mark Ryden - Little boy blue

Mark Ryden - Little boy blue

Mark Ryden - Goodbye Bear

Mark Ryden - Goodbye Bear

Mark Ryden - Nursesue

Mark Ryden - Nursesue

Collection of artworks form Mark Ryden and Lori Earley. Sound can play such an important role when setting a mood. Danny Elfman is the man behind the music of this clip. He is american and has composing scores and songs for Tim Burton’s films and won a Emmy Award for the Desperate Housewives theme. Also involved in the music for Big Fish, Beetlejuice, Batman and Edward Scissorhands…  Definatly worth reading up on Danny.

Los Angeles based artist James Jean has produced some of the most amazing artworks I have even seen. The viewer is captured by the mythical stories each artwork tells. James Jean has won countless awards for his work. His clients include Time Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, ESPN, Atlantic Records, Target, Playboy, Knopf, Prada among others.

James Jean Supertron

James Jean Didleybo

James Jean Maze

James Jean Prada bloom1

James Jean prada bloom3

James Jean Prwave

James Jean’s drawing process with “Fables-76″

www.jamesjean.com

Lori Early grew up down the street from an amusment park ub Rye, New York. She began drawing at a very young age, and was always intrigued by the unusual.

Lori received her Bachelor of fine arts degree from the school and visual arts, where she had studies with influential artists like Marshall Arisman and Steven Asseal. She received numerous awards and scholarships while in the school and was one of the few students in her graduating class to receive the Rhodes and presidential award for outstanding achievement.

In 2004, Lori Early began exhibiting her oil paintings. Since then. Her fine art career catapulted at an unusual fast pace. Her eerily beautiful art has been exhibited in galleries such as New Yor Cities Jonathan Levine Gallery and the Opera Gallery and the Californians Corpro Nason gallery.

Lori Early oil paintings are a unique combination of classical realistic rendering with a personal element of distortion. Their distortion is derived from her innate desire to render the world she feels as opposed to the world she sees before her. The figures she paints exist in their own esoteric realm and time, and each painting offers a glimpse into their anomalous world.

Here are couple more of Lori Early art works and illustrations :