Category Archives: Brushstroke Genius

Persons who can express their imaginations with a paint brush vividly and well, will be found here.

Pokemon revamped

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I’ve found two artist who know how to warp the original, manga-looking Pokemon that we hold so dear to our hearts into fantastical renditions of what they would be if they existed here in our detailed world or in our nightmares.

Gavin Mackey’s vision of the super-powered creatures lie in the world of bad ass horrors and twisted forms-I used to imagine myself living with Pokemon, now i realize it would be a freakish world of levitating psychic creatures, magma spewing fiends and massive walking vine whipping onions. The first two pictures you see belong to this scarily awesome realm of Gavins Pokemon imagination.

He is currently taking in requests from anyone, so go ahead and send him your favorite Pokemon so he can morph them into what they really are: terrifying monsters. Check out his gallery, you can find anything from Gastly, Bulbasaur as well as Patric from Spongebob SquarePants. The Togepi is probably the most nightmarish thing you’ll ever see, it’s pretty shocking how deranged it is. If your interested in his work click on this! (Just found out that he’s closed his commissions from his deviantART account for the time being, so you cant request works but you can still view them!)

Alysia Prosser, also known as Leashe is the the second Pokemon artist. She does less nightmare and more fantasy, staying close to the manga but tweeking the child-like monsters into a more adult friendly form. She has sets of epic battles; clashes with entire species of Pokemon, which is  inanely intense to look at, especially because you know the moves their using in the pictures- like above Steelix has to watch out, Altaria is using hyper beam!

People should try to get the makers of Pokemon to produce a new movie with these sorts of illustrations, that would create a new era for Pokemon. This way the children’s show can become an adult oriented one, where maybe Brock can actually get some nurse Joy action and the Pokemon more fearsome and brutal. If you like Leashes’ work click on this link!

Importance of Street Art

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Some city counsels will allow it, others wont approve of it whatsoever. Tapping into the imaginative talents of local street artists, illustrators and graphic designers is a very effective way to make bland public spaces, old buildings, bridges and car parks bloom with humanity and vibrant life.

It’s also effective at keeping graffiti at bay, since the creative spirit of the people aren’t being suppressed but are being fostered; no one wants to vandalize a work of art that improves the environment (unless your a real douche). Street art draws attention to the building as ‘potential’ for something beautiful, not something to be hated. It might even attract new buyers, a new occupant or additional creative ideas that can potentially revitalize the structure.

Even dilapidated states of abandoned buildings can be a canvas of creativity, this is because street artists and muralists tether along with them a innovative, fresh perspective that architects or designers may not have in mind. This does not mean that millions need to be spend on upgrading a building immediately, all you need is vision, courage, local creative talent and some colorful paint to cover up the dreary exterior with some soulful spirit. Doing this also lets small time artists get a chance to be seen by the greater community which helps them use their passions to bring food to the table, nice!

There are an ungodly number of ugly, run-down buildings, bridges, tunnels and walkways that can be morphed into a new, exciting and fun environments with some creative input. Above and below are some examples I’ve found of people taking the initiative to transform their concrete jungles into a more soulful place.

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Pierrette Diaz

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Found these wonderful images while i was stumbling on stumbleupon and could help but share them. Diaz does a really good job capturing a child’s innocence in her imaginative pieces; her works are reminiscent of a time long ago where fairy tails and magical adventures were possible. I especially can relate to the zebra crossing crocs, i used to do that every time i went out with my family. I couldn’t find any information on Diaz so i shot her an email, I’ll keep you guys posted if i learn anything new.

Dan McParlin

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I get quite frustrated when i can’t find too much about an artist i want to feature, especially one of this caliber. Dan McParlin creates a synthesis of psychedelic art and sci-fi, which falls into the genre called psychedelic fiction art. To stray off track a bit, i recently watched 2001 Space Odyssey a couple of weeks ago and noticed that the characters were using these devices that looked exactly like iPads and were having “facetime” with relatives on earth.

I find it fascinating that anything released from the depths of the imagination which has something to do with the future eventually becomes a reality, i guess that’s why Dans’ works intrigue me, for i can actually picture these strange fantastical worlds he depicts. I especially love how Dan presents technology, in a new almost organic manner, making the machines the same hue as the background environment as if the two were indistinguishable.

Dan has also created album covers for the band Pretty Lights, and creates ingenious handmade cardboard models of analog synthesizers, which you can see here along with his other stuff!

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Alexandre Farto-VHILS

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Sorry everyone, i haven’t been on for awhile since i had my midterms to battle with, but today the posting will begin once again. I discovered VHILS today while i was looking through some video archives, found this shocking video of Farto (his actual name) nuking walls with a small detonated charge in order to peel the surface to give a natural stenciled effect.

It was this unique way of carving faces that brought him prominence, after he did a dynamite (quite literally) picture alongside the recognized street artist Banksy at the Cans Festival. A photograph of Farto creating his work appeared on the front page of The Times. Steve Lazarides, Banksy’s agent later gave Farto a space to flaunt his work. A number of his pieces were featured in Outsiders, a collection of street art published by Centuary in 2008.

This ticking time bomb of artistic talent graduated from the University of the Arts London Central Saint Martins in 2007 and now is currently residing between London and Lisboa. If you’re interested in his works check out his website! Ah, and if your wondering, the song is M.I.R.I.A by Orelha Negra.

 

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Sachin Teng

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Teng is an artist who lives and works in New York City, he attended the Pratt Institute for his BFA in Communication design with a main focus on illustration.

It seems as though he’s more orientated as a designer than a illustrator, he says “Art is a means of visual communication, a kind of aesthetic discourse.

They can tell you whatever they want, to buy a new flavor of gum, to go to war, go to a concert, convert to a new religion or even to stop smoking.” I wonder what subliminal messages go into his work, what impulses are being stored in my brain after i look at his pictures. He also secretly writes fortune cookies haha. If your interested in more of his stuff click on this link!

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Anamorphic Graffiti

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I would freak out if i saw this at the right perspective, probably think i was warped into a video game or something. These designs are a part of the French collective ‘Paper Donut’ who have painted a series of walls to create a three-dimensional shape, pretty cool idea. The first 3 pictures are apart of an ad campaingn for a fashion store called Sqwear, and the rest of the other illusions are just fun personal projects. If your interested in working for, or just checking out the collectives work click here!

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Tom French

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Born in 1982, Tom French grew up in Newcastle Upon Tyne, North East England. Tom began his studies at the Newcastle School of Art and Design and went on to graduate from the Sheffield Institute of Art and Design achieving a first class BA Honors in 2005.

His works are predominantly figurative. He carefully combines detailed photorealism with strong elements of abstraction and surrealism, focusing on the reflection of the conscious and subconscious mind. French’s work often treads the fine line between the beautiful and unsettling, combining technically tight, classical charcoal drawings with carefree, loose and ostensibly unfinished abstract forms.

By fusingthe technical with lively abstraction French brings life and movement to his compositions. His work seamlessly merges the use of academic tradition with contemporary urban realism. Tom has been featured in Arrested Motion, Beautiful Decay and Artist of the Day to name a few. If your interested in seeing more of his works, check it out here!

Andrew Young

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Here’s a cool cat with a message for all of us. His work focuses on the self-indulgent, basic, evolutionary behaviors people express. Anything that you’ve done to go against what your mama said, he’s drawn about. He says “Our juvenility is found when we disregard our age and act on impulses, often finding ourselves demonstrating irreverent, self-gratifying exploits. In these images we reflect on our own experiences of these dark visceral moments and places.” If you want to see his other works just poke on this!

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Tomokazu Matsuyama

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Matsuyamas’ work captures chaos within the ordered whole, it’s quite intriguing and has a sense of secrecy which draws a person in for another look. The flashes of color give off a sense of movement, a tripped out 4th dimensional feel which seems to hint at a fleeting glimpse of something impermanent. He seems to enjoy using muted but lively colors, most of his work is done with acrylics on canvas or paper. After checking out some of his pieces you’ll be left with “an oddly comfortable sensation of incomprehension”.

Matsuyama was born in 1976 in Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from the Sophia University in Tokyo and the Pratt Institute in New York. He has organized solo exhibitions in San Francisco, New York and Osaka and participated in a ton of shows around the world. He has also worked with some fancy brands that include Levi’s, Nike and Adidas, word. He’s currently residing in the Big Apple- NYC. If you want to see more just click on this!

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Ben Heine

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I’m discovering that this world is filled with brightly proficient people, one of those being Ben. He’s a bit of a jack of all trades character, he’s a portraitist, caricaturist, illustrator and a photographer. When these skills are combined you don’t get Captain Planet but a genius who births amazing pieces. Pencil Vs Camera is but one of his latest projects which you can see below. The story goes that he got inspired to get into this unique style of drawing through a mundane event. He was watching TV and writing a letter at the same time, when he finished he noticed the transparency of the letter by seeing the blur of the TV glowing through the sheet. BAM, a thought erupted in his brain “I can show two actions in one image.” Pencil Vs Camera was born. Now, I can’t highlight this enough, this man has talent, so much talent that I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing! Most artist stick to one specific field, not this man, he does everything, and does them well. I had to sit down for a hour or so to go through a tiny chunk of his work, not one was disappointing! I highly recommend…no actually, I’m telling you to go see his stuff over here! Enjoy!

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Theo Prins

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Prins here is a very cool designer, who spends most his time drawing urban sprawls, markets and flying machines, i dig it. He’s lived in the Washington State, USA and enjoys creating fantastical imaginary places, I’d spend my summer cash for a trip to Theo’s mind, that would be the sweetest. He uses his laptop, graphics tablet and sketchpad as a platform for these amazing worlds, and has been currently working on stereoscopic paintings. He’s worked as a freelance concept artist since 2007 and if your interested in checking out more of his awesome stuff click here!

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Jon Foster

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Found these sweet pieces by Mr Foster, so i looked into his work to see what else is up. Turns out that he’s known for his artistic covers, which are featured in DC and Dark Horse Comics and also other works that are posted up in Dungeons & Dragons and Alternity. He studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design and graduated in 1989. His paintings are themed with Good vs evil, emotions, and adventure motifs. Before he completes a project, Mr Foster scans his paintings so that he can throw in some digital effects to spice things up. He’s collaborated with other artist such as Rick Berry and Dave Dorman (a well know Starwars artist). He has also drawn for Magic: The Gathering collectable cards and won many awards from the prestigious Spectrum sci-fi and fantasy art publications. At the moment Jon is chillaxing, doing what he does in Providence, Rhode Island. If you dig his work check out his other stuff!

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Wataru Yoshida

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The Japanese sure do know how to draw! Yoshida’s online portfolio are filled with wonderful ink drawn illustrations of abstract anatomical structures as well as detailed medically correct ones. It’s a shame medical drawings such as these fell out of popularity, it would have made anatomy aesthetically pleasing. You should go check out his other awesome creations here, he’s got a butt load of other pieces that are drawn from animal anatomy!

Yosman Botero

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Yosman Botero takes a novel approach to his works by layering them in glass to give them depth and a 3D feel. Really cool design for a painting, since it brings about a sculptors element to the whole piece. You cant just think about a 3D drawing on a 2D surface you got to envision a new way of thinking, painting bits and pieces to make the whole. Brilliantly done! Haha, this kinda reminded me of that psychological thriller ‘The Cell,’ the scene where the horse gets broken up into segmented parts, but luckily Botero’s works are nothing horrific, so check them out here! He’s got a lot more to offer!