Signature Illustration Blog » Fine Art & Artists

School of Visual Arts Exhibition: April-30 to May-15

Sascha — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:00:49 +0000

The exhibition brings together books, figurative paintings, comic books and narrative series by 19 students graduating from the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department.

I recommend anyone who is either an artist or is an art lover to make a trip to the exhibition as I’m sure it will be very inspiring . It starts at the end of the month, April 30, and will run till May 15. For more details click here. I truly wish I could attend but unfortunately I wont be able to make it to New York.

If you have not already heard of SVA then you should know that it is arguable one of the worlds most prolific schools when it comes to the visual arts. To mention a few of the well know illustrators who attended the school: James Jean, Sam Weber and Yuko Shimizu. The other faculties such as film, photography and design have equally impressive credentials.

Below is a selection of beautiful illustrations from the Thesis Projects all of which will be on show:

Hope you enjoyed the illustrations and are able to make it to the event.

Sascha

Nigel Cox’s photo-realism minimalistic paintings

Sascha — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:45:30 +0000

His work is lucid and technically brilliant. I have selected 3 of Nigel Cox’s art works and you may see the rest on his site.

Sam Weber has brilliant versatility and imagination

Sascha — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:11:46 +0000

Every now and then there is an illustrator that blows you away and for me Sam Weber is one of those. We have posted Sam Weber before a long time ago – middle of last year. His new work is fantastic. I find them deeply physiological which make his illustrations absolutely captivating. Definatly worth adding to our Illustration Blog.

He has done a wide range of editorial as well as book illustrations. He was born in Alaska but has since moved to New York and lives there with his wife.

I hope you enjoy this selection:

A Collection of Amazing Portraits

Sascha — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:28:12 +0000

Below is a collection of portraits. If you have any additional portrait illustrations/artworks that you feel we should add to the list please send me the link and perhaps we can add it to the collection!

Jacob Magraw-Mickelson – Deconstructed hyper-realities

Alexandra — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:47:32 +0000

Painting in Gouache, Jacob Magraw-Mickelson creates candy-coloured hyper-realities of deconstructed landscapes and flora, anatomical dissections, cross-sections of cells, veins, roots and hidden terrains. I love the detail and the pulsating colours and am happy to add it to our illustration blog.

Brian M. Viveros – sexy, provocative and dark

Sascha — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 09:54:48 +0000

Brian M. Viveros illustrations are sexy, provocative and dark. The below illustrations are Brian’s trademark: Sexy, dark, feminine yet strong women who have a cigarette in the corner of their mouth. Despite the seemingly macabre air and batted state of the women their expressions are filled with lust and sovereignty. The overall effect is sexy and powerful. (ps: Compared to some of his other work this selection is less hardcore.)

Kathy Staico Schorr

Sascha — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:09:44 +0000

James Jean Kindling Book Video Review

Sascha — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:57:41 +0000

Theodor Kittelsen a prolific artist from Norway (1857 – 1914)

Sascha — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:08:47 +0000

This last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Norway – it was a short but sweet trip. We spent our time in the small town of Tofte in a comfortable wooden cabin. Our cabin was neatly placed right next to the Oslo Fijord with an awesome view over the water. Just on sunday I was running through a quite forest which was followed by a lengthily swim in the sea. I could have easily spent couple months there just relaxing and taking my time about my daily sustenance!

I had the time to look through some illustrations and stumbled upon Theodor Ketlesen (April 27, 1857 – January 21, 1914) who is one of the most famous artist in Norway. He was famous for his nature paintings but also for his illustrations of fairy tales, legends and trolls.

Below are some of Theodor Ketlesen illustrations:

Kuniyoshi – 1800′s James Jean

Sascha — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:11:15 +0000

Blogging in a sense is more about exploration then it is about purveying what you already know. It ebbs me on to find new things and what I find I share and then in turn people share their ideas and knowledge about that topic. A similar thing is happening with our Facebook Group, which has been growing steadily. People are actively discussing/sharing their favourite illustrators and artists.

Ok so yes this is how I found Utagawa Kuniyoshi. He was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints. I am aware of Katsushika Hokusai and I have posted about him. What is interesting about Utagawa Kuniyoshi is that I think that there is a correlation to the well known contemporary illustrator James Jean - (note the previous post).

Here are some of Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s art works:

James Jean what a brilliant imagination

Sascha — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:29:51 +0000

I thoroughly enjoy the way James Jean takes different organic, physiological, social and emotional elements and with his brilliant imagination mashes them into this wonderful art work. Death defeating life and life defeating death. Social messages illustrated with savvy depth. Ignorant evil. Depicting our struggle through clever metaphors.

You have probably seen some of James Jean’s illustrations if so it’s always worth another look as there are many layers to his art. If you haven’t heard of James Jean you are in for a treat!

Joe Sorren

Alexandra — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:08:21 +0000

Welcome to Joe Sorren’s world. Joe Sorren originally wanted to be an “art historian and conservationalist. Or a botanist. Or work with horses. It would be interesting to be behind the scenes in politics, at least for a while. Or maybe a studio musician, or invent games, or a … I would rather paint”. And what beautiful, surreal and rich paintings he creates. Joe Sorren currently lives in Arazona with his wife, daughter and son and is a drummer in a band called Sparkleface.

Ruud van Empel

Sascha — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:10:56 +0000

I have had a stupendous 2 weeks at work and tonight I lull myself into browsing for illustrations and art – a simpe joy, little effort and a good cup of green tea. This evening I felt Ruud van Empel was a best pick. He is offbeat without any cheap shock, macabre, bazaar or horror themes attached to his work. They are outlandish and curios. Perhaps you could describe the feeling the work emanates as ‘a recollection of an imagined memory’.

Ruud van Empel works and lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

PS: Donnie I picked ‘Souvenir 2 baby‘ especially for you

Tip: ‘world 17‘ makes for a great desktop BG!

Danny Gregory’s “An Illustrated Life”

Alexandra — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:07:40 +0000

“An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration From The Private Sketchbooks Of Artists, Illustrators And Designers” is a must have. There is nothing more precious then an artists journal or sketchbook. Journals are not just a planning and practice ground for art but are creative, honest and faithful, true and private expression of a persons experience of life. Danny Gregory has dived into countless sketchbooks and compiled a book with just over 260 pages of priceless sketchbook entries of artists, illustrators and designers. The author Danny Gregory introduces his book in the video below.

Obama & McCain 2008: Art & Politics

Sascha — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:32:22 +0000

How much influence did art, the politicians brand and exposure thereof have in the 2008 American elections?

Is there an integral role between art and politics which can guide us in discovering truth or does art and design in politics walk dangerously close to propaganda?

How much does art and design influence the way people think and act? Or is art an embodiment of people’s perceptions implying that the art is in-fact preordained? The logo of a political brand is then a personification of a symbol or in other words the embodiment of the person it represents – similar comments in the video at the end of this post.

To what degree has art and design influenced the way Americans voted in 2008?

With these questions in mind please take a look at the collection of illustrations, caricatures, logos and video’s relating to the 2008 American Elections. You will notice there is more material on Obama which has nothing to do with my personal views. There was simply more of it. For example there were no real variations of the McCain logo like there was for Obama nor where there video’s talking about McCains brand development.

Enjoy: (Click on the images to see fully)

Obama Brand & Logo Development:
An interview with Sol Sender about the Obama logo and the brand that was built.

Sol Sender – Obama Logo Design Part 1 of 2

Other Videos:

This is a video compilation of varies political expressions

Obama And Pop Culture – CBS News

HipHop Scratching Video

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed!

A Merry Christmas From James Jean

Don Stey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:11:57 +0000

Definitely one of my favourite artist at the moment is James Jean.. Here is a painting from his up and coming exhibition at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York.

James Jean

Video Of Camille Rose Garcia

Sascha — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:23:29 +0000

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 100 years of solitude

Sascha — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:21:30 +0000

This post marks the beginning of a theme of posts on this illustration blog. I love to read novels. All sorts. I often look at the covers and am interested on how the artist has interpreted and expressed the book through the use of illustration, photography, typography and layout. I’ll start out with a poetic and famous book which is hailed to be one of the most widely read books of all time – Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 100 years of solitude.

“It was as if God had decided to put to the test every capacity for surprise and was keeping the inhabitants of Macondo in a permanent alternation between excitement and disappointment, doubt and revelation, to such an extreme that no one knew for certain where the limits of reality lay. It was an intricate stew of truths and mirages that convulsed the ghost of José Arcadio Buendía with impatience and made him wander all through the house even in broad daylight.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 100 years of solitude

“Carmelia Montiel, a twenty-year-old virgin, had just bathed in orange-blossom water and was strewing rosemary leaves on Pilar Ternera’s bed when the shot rang out. Aureliano José had been destined to find with her the happiness that Amaranta had denied him, to have seven children, and to die in her arms of old age, but the bullet that entered his back and shattered his chest had been directed by a wrong interpretation of the cards.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 100 years of solitude

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