John Kenn
OooOOOoOoooo!!! This be some spooky stuff here! I love these drawings by television show writer/director John Kenn. When he's not busy writing slash directing, he draws monsters on post-it notes. He's got a whole bunch too! Very simple and veeeerrrry creepy. Check 'em out!
John Kenn's Blog
posted 09-09-10
Personal Work
It's coming along folks. So far, this is proving to be my most ambitious piece. Never have I ever put this much time into a piece, and I'm only half done! And even crazier, now I have a deadline! I need to finish this piece by September 9th for a show. That's right! You can come and see it in person! I hope two weeks isn't cutting it too close to finish this monster, but I'm feeling optimistic. The other side of the face is in the light and won't take nearly as many dots.
The show is called The Next Wave. It's going to be held in Elgin, IL at 166 Symphony Way on September 10th and 11th.
The show will have a truckload of other artists as well. So if you hate my stuff, you can look at something else! Each artist gets to enter two pieces. Come check it out! Especially my stuff! Go to the show's site for more info and to see work from other artists entering the show.
www.thenextwave.me
posted 08-28-10
Personal Work
Well well well, looky what I found! I was doing some cleaning around my room and I stumbled upon this lovely furry drawing. This is one of the first pieces I completed after graduating school, and is probably about a year old! It is was originally going to be part of a series of oddly positioned body parts. I scrapped the series idea, but this one piece remains. This is an interesting piece to me because it is the only piece that I successfully executed cross-hatching with micron pens. I have yet to do that again. In my pieces that I make now, I ONLY use stipple dots, but I was originally going to use a mix of cross-hatching and stippling like I did in this piece. It is called "Left Knee" (bet you couldn't guess why) and is 12" by 12".
It's not new work. But hey look, new work!
posted 8-16-10
The work continues! Here is the progress so far on my latest attempt at new subject matter. It doesn't look like much now, but I am happy with the areas I have refined so far. (pretty much just the lower part of the nose. not bad for 10 hours of work, right?) This is going to take a while to say the least. But it's going to be worth it!
posted 8-13-10
In case you haven't noticed, I've been diggn' portrait artists lately. So dig this guy! Nick Lepard is his name. His oil paintings contain a perfect balance of chaos and detail. The combination of these two qualities gives his subjects a movement that is impossible to replicate. And these babies ain't small. This one on the left, entitled "When I Was An Animal," stretches to 66" by 54". Check out more of his work on his website! All of his pieces are equally impressive.
nicklepard.com
posted 07-29-10
Li Wei
This guy is amazing! I don't know how he makes these photos, but I hope he keeps making them for a long time. Li Wei's photos have a beautiful sense of surrealism done in a medium where surrealism is next to impossible to execute! Look at all of his work. Right now!
liweiart.com
posted 07-14-10
Well, after trying my hand at some abstract work for a while, I finally decided that it was no fun. Abstract is hard, people. Especially when you're an impatient person. I think I need to know how a piece is going to turn out before I start putting hours of my life into it. So, back to the basics it is. Portraits to be exact! I like portraits. Not just portraits of me, even though I have quite a collection of those, but of everybody and anybody. Maybe even you! But, for testing out my pen skills on a portrait, I'll be using my face as a guinea pig. So yet another self portrait will be added to my collection of work. But if this goes well, there will be others to come! Here is the initial sketch of the pose I will be drawing. The face it about 18 by 12 inches, and it's on a 35 by 27 inch sheet. I know the photo is dark. I had to boost the contrast like crazy so you could actually see the sketch. It will get easier to see, I promise. Next step, ink...
Keep checking back and watch it grow!
posted 07-11-10
It's been a while since I've posted anything on here. I'm sorry everybody. But I swear, this artwork makes up for it. This guy is phenomenal! These are some of the most stunning portraits I have seen in a long time. They are both odd and beautiful. Realistic and surreal. Lu Cong is going down in history. And if he isn't, he should! Look at more of his portraits on his website. They are worth your time!
www.lucong.com
posted 07-08-10
Good grief! This took a lot longer to finish than I had expected. But, without further ado, here is the finished product, "hands on skin." I hope you like it. I slaved over it for too long for you to hate it!
posted 05-10-2010
Wowee we wow! That's all I got to say about these crazy portraits by French artist Francoise Nielly. Her use of color, to say the least, screams out from the canvas but still has an amazing sense of control and ease. Makes me want to pick up a palette knife myself.
See more of her work on her website! francoise-nielly.com
I won't be picking up that palette knife any time soon though. First I gotta finish up this badboy and a few other projects I have in mind. This one is taking me a lot longer than I expected though. Those tiny dots take a long time to fill up the paper, even if it is only 8" by 10". I'm getting there though. I just have to be patient.
posted 4-15-2010
Peter Taylor
Peter Taylor is one amazing dude based out of Vancouver, Canada. With a history of creating street art, Peter has some amazing illustrations, some used for tattoo designs, and airbrush art. Lots of hands illustrations. Just my type of style! Check 'em out at he website or at the gallery he shows at, The Ayden Gallery.
handmadefeat.com
posted 4-6-2010
Robin Williams
Amazing and weird! Or you could say amazingly weird paintings by painter Robin Williams. Not to be mistaken with funny man Robin Williams. Robin has a unique and and bizarre perspective that is different than anything I have ever seen before, along with amazing technical skills. One heck of a combination to have that results in fantastic paintings. Check out Robin's site, the paintings only get better!
robinwilliamsart.com
No drawing progress from me today. At least not enough progress that I want to show. I'll let it cook for a day longer before I give you another peak. Plus, I'm to busy riding my bike in this perfect weather! I have all night to draw, I need to enjoy this early evening while I can.
posted 3-31-2010
Believe it or not, this is about 2 hours of work. I started late in the night though. The next post will be more hours spent. The slow going may also be due to the fact that I'm using these new Rapidograph Koh-I-Noor pens. This is the first time I've used 'em and they're going to take a little getting used to. They're just straight metal tip and feel very different than what I'm used to. But just look at how tiny that tip is! Mind you, that's the smallest size I have there. The whole drawing so far wasn't done with just that size. But dang! I'll be able to get some sick detail with that tiny sucker once I get a handle on these pens!
More progression to come. Keep checking back.
posted 3-31-2010
Personal Work
Here is the beginning of a new 8" x 10". It will be called, "hands moving skin." It doesn't look like much now, but I assure you, it will fill out. I'm going to try working on this bad-boy quickly, (because I need to start doing that) and I'll post each day's progression. So if you want to see it come to life, check up daily!
posted 3-30-2010
Personal Work
This is "neck with branches." It is my most recent complete piece. Hooray!
posted 3-26-2010
"jackie's tooth" is finally finished! It took a while. Maybe a bit too long. But hey, I'm still working on my production speed. Check out the close ups as well, I took a lot of time to add all those tiny tiny details. The final size of the piece is 22.25" x 15.25"
posted 3-22-10
These shirts rule. All made by graphic designer based out of New Zealand, Glenn Jones. Delightfully cheesy and hilarious. Check 'em out!
glennz.com
posted 2-13-2010
For those of you who remember the first post of this piece, here is the work-in-progress follow-up report of "jackie's tooth." I know it might not look like much, but look at that second image. It takes a while to do that! Mind you, maybe I haven't been working on it very quickly, but there are still a lot of hours in this so far. It's not nearly done though. There's still a lot of detail to go in, and as I was working on it today, I still am debating on the composition. I love starting a piece and letting it take me where it may as I work on it. Mind you, I pretty much have it sketched out when I begin the actual piece, but sometimes the piece starts to take control of what it looks like. And I like letting that happen to a degree. I like to keep a level of anonymity to these pieces. And what better way to do that than to let the piece surprise me a little bit as well? As for my artist statement. I don't think it's ready yet. Plus, it will be a little lengthy for a blog post. So...soon to come; Artist Statement Page. very soon this time. Within a week. I swear for real this time!
posted 2-11-2010
You think you're good at packing? Check out these amazing sculptures by Michael Johansson. He will put your skills to the test.
Michael's site
posted 2-10-2010
Collages galore! Take a look at this artist Alexis Mackenzie's collage work. It is phenomenal! See if you can read what the picture says before you read the title on her site.
Alexis' site
posted 2-4-2010
Probably the best online comic out there. Created by Dan Walsh, it is simply a collection of Garfield comics without Garfield. Makes Jon Arbuckle a little more than just a crazy cat person. Check it out!
garfield minus garfield
posted 2-3-2010
An amazing artist based out of Cleveland, Ohio. Her paintings reflect the fragility of the world around us with crazy houses on stilts and strings. Check them out. They are simply amazing and beautiful.
Amy Casey's site
posted 1-31-2010
New site layout! Still under construction, but I got things mostly up and running now. Hope you like it! And I hope you like this brand spankin' new screenprint. Drawing by me, printed by Randi Stella. Shirts will be for sale, along with other shirts and artwork at The Artful Ruckus - NIU Undergrad Art Exhibit. Happening today,Thusday January 28th, at the House Cafe located in DeKalb, IL. Live music and art from 6:30pm to Midnight. If you live in the area, get over there! Free entry until 8:30pm, $3.00 after 8:30pm. Go see some art!
Facebook event page
posted 1-28-2010
Check out these super retro posters by self-taught U.K. Designer Simon Page. Originaly just a self-promo project and now in use! See the rest of the posters on Simon's website here.
posted 1-22-2010
Today I had the pleasure of visiting with the minds behind Delicious Design League. A graphic design group out of good 'ol Chicago. I met with DDL partners Jason and Billy to get a little feedback on my portfolio and just to see how things operate at a fully functioning design/print studio. I was also able to walk away with this delicious poster print that you see to the left! Matches almost too well with the wallpaper in my room. DDL is mostly known for their band posters, but also takes on anything from logo design to magazine layouts. Take a look at their website here to see some more work by them. It's all delicious!
posted 1-20-2010
Some mystically mystical pieces by New York based artist Amy
Cutler. You can see more of her work at the Leslie Tonkonow Gallery website here
posted 1-18-2010
If you get a chance, surf through some of these amazing drawings by Mel Kadel (see Mel's personal website here) They are worth every second of your time!
posted 1-15-2010
A totally sweet Lego short film called "CL!CK"
If you grew up loving legos, you'll love this film.
If you didn't, you'll probably still love this film.
posted 1-14-2010
New piece of mine started just today. It will be called "jackie's tooth." Just before I posted this sketch, my father asked me, "Why a tooth?" and I realized, I have the basic artist's intent for this piece stored in my head, but I didn't know quite how to put it into words. I guess, that might be kind of an important thing to know how to do, since I do consider these pieces to be conceptual to a degree. I mean, I didn't just decide "Hey! A tooth and couple fingers would look pretty sweet!" Yes, it will look sweet (at least I think so), but there's more swarming around in my head than that. So I'll be working on finalizing my artist's statement and putting the intent of this piece into words. So if you're wondering the same thing about my pieces; "Why a tooth? Why a hand with a dead flower?" Do not fret. It will be answered........the next time I post the progress of this piece. So keep checking back!
posted 1-13-2010
Simple and stunning works by Lesley Vance. I can't get over how only a few strokes of paint can be so mesmerizing. I'm usually not a fan of super minimalist and abstract painting like this, but there is something about these pieces that simply blows me away. Found at butdoesitfloat.com. (link to her work here)
posted 1-13-2010
You're never too young to make great art, and this guy proves it! Check out this interview of Henry Gunderson at fecalface.com. (see the interview and more of his work here!) Only eighteen years old and based out of San Francisco. Gunderson uses a variety of mixed media to create these unusual and bizare compositions usually involving animals. Very surreal and out of this world!
posted 1-11-2010
Newest complete piece
"hand and dead flower"
posted 1-8-2010