Artist Spotlight | Christian Faur

Untitled 6500 by Christian Faur

Part of what makes art so powerful is the very scale of what we consider art to be. If you ever want to get embroiled in a discussion, ask someone what art is. Philosophy aside, I find these crayon portraits by Christian Faur to be very amazing. They are colorful, they are unique, and they are detailed. This certainly makes me want to get a lot of crayons.

(via Design Milk)

Artist Spotlight | Tommy Ingberg

There are so many amazing photographers these days. Even in the hands of a child, a camera can be a tool that captures such amazing things about life and emotions. However, every once in a while, there is a photographer that is truly like an artist. Enter Tommy Ingberg, surrealist photographer whose works remind me of amazing paintings. You can view his photographs (and buy prints) from his site. He achieves a very rich range of tones, which is quite a feat. Hit the jump for a few more images, or just check out his website.

All images are copyright of Tommy Ingberg Photography 2007–2011

Artist Spotlight | Robert Longo

Though I learned all about classic artists and painters while I was in college, I did not learn much about artists in these days. It is a sad truth, but one that I am glad to change whenever I stumble across a talented artist. Robert Longo is an amazing illustrator with a photographic approach to detail. He makes charcoal, graphite and ink into something that I never could—but now want to. 

His work is presently being exhibited in Spain and Germany. If you have some time, look through all of his works on his site. Otherwise, just enjoy some works that I selected from his site.

Men in the Cities (Untitled)

Untitled (Hector)

Untitled (The Face)

All images are the work of Robert Longo; Image at top: Untitled (Homage to Robert Bresson's au hasard balthazar)

Artist Spotlight | Dana Tanamachi

In my opinion, typography is one of the most important parts of graphic design. You can have as many illustrations and photographs as you'd like, but nothing can quite be as effective as the proper usage of typography. For some, it comes almost naturally while for others it is a constant struggle. Dana Tanamachi has a hands-on approach to typography that I think would make my design professors proud. Her work shows careful thought in terms of stretching, skewing, and readability. I'm not a huge fan of her posters, but the hand-drawn type is great! For more about Dana, visit her site. 

All images via Dana Tanamachi's site

Artist Spotlight | Marian Bantjes

 Last night, I had the pleasure of listening to Marian Bantjes promote her newly released book titled I Wonder. In an almost comical statement, she said that she could hardly describe exactly what this work is about in less than two minutes. I agree. 

For a bit of background, Marian Bantjes is an artist/graphic designer/illustrator/writer. She dropped out of art school and began working at a printer where she developed a love of type and typography. After a 10 year career there, she and a friend started a business together. They worked together for quite some time and Ms. Bantjes eventually realized that it was not what she wanted to do. She gave her portion of the company to her friend and after four years, she discovered what it was that she wanted to do.

If you have ever seen her work, it is meticulously detailed with lots of subtle repetition and careful placement. She is inspired by illuminated texts, religious ornamentation, heraldry and more. I discovered her like a child discovers an artist from days past. Without knowing who she is, you might have seen her work. She has graced the covers of several magazines and even designed materials for Nieman Marcus. Surprisingly, she works with many American and international companies despite the fact that she is from—and lives—in Canada.

For more information about Marian, visit her website. She explains more about herself and her influences/inspiration/history/you name it. You can look at all of her beautifully executed pieces and maybe buy I Wonder so you can sit down and read through it (I thoroughly enjoyed it to be honest).


Image of Marian Bantjes via Computer Arts
 

Artist Spotlight | Will Varner

Thanks to StumbleUpon, I now have another illustrator to admire and that inspires me. It is always a treat when an artist tells a great story between their work and the title of their piece. Will Varner does it with style and pizazz. He describes his work best:

By blending elements of my adult angst and childhood fantasies I seek unique visions, bizarre creatures, and warped cityscapes. By looking through the eyes of society's outsiders I see that we are unified by those very feelings of isolation. An empty field. The blue glow of a computer monitor. The cold of outer space. I draw from a lonely place but find connection in the making process and humor along the lonely road.

Hopefully, you are inspired by his work as well. He also has a rather nice sketchbook on his site. Please, let me know what your opinion of his work is in the comments. Hit the jump for a few more of his works that caught my eye.

Images are copyright of Will Varner

Artist Spotlight | Alex Andreyev

My illustration teacher used to stress that we create our own style. As a graphic designer, I was often afraid of developing a single style so I could remain flexible and open to new ideas. Alex Andreyev has discovered how to marry both together during his 20 year artistic career. He is a graphic designer and painter living in Russia. He expresses a great interest in concept art, surrealism and graphic novels and I am really loving the results. You can purchase high-resolution files of his images from his website or purchase prints. He is currently working on the concept art for the animated film Kin-Dza-Dza. A few more works that I enjoyed can be found after the jump.

Images via Designers Couch and Alex Andreyev's website

Artist Spotlight | Michael Johansson

To be completely honest with you, reader, I cannot say that I love all conceptual art. Like interpretative dance, its meaning is often lost in execution. That being said, I have to admit that I like Swedish artist Michael Johansson's installations. His installations make me think of so many things: Tetris, wholesale, "box" stores, overcrowding, adaptation. I really do like it even if the meaning I glean from it is different than Johansson's actual intent. His usage of materials and color is quite phenomenal. He has exhibited solo and in groups for the past seven years or so. For more of his works, visit his site and hit the jump for some of the ones that struck me.
Above image Bleka Minnen (Faded Memories)

Artist spotlight | M. C. Escher

I think that we can learn a lot from artists of the past. They give art a history (which is important) and they discovered proportions and tricks that make it much easier to create drawings that are almost real. One artist that really brought something to printmaking was M. C. Escher. His use of math to create his art works was impeccable. I have been inspired by Escher during several of my own projects, and I hope he inspires you as well. I have some of his images after the jump for your viewing pleasure. If you want to learn more about him and his work, visit his official website.