Tag Archives: painting

The Invisible Man: Artist Liu Bolin Hides in Plain Sight

The Invisible Man: Artist Liu Bolin Hides in Plain Sight painting illusion camouflage

Artist and camouflage extraordinaire Liu Bolin just opened a new exhibition at Galerie Paris-Beijing in Paris featuring a number of new works that depict the artist perfectly hidden amongst urban backdrops. Remarkably the effect is achieved without the use of special effects or Photoshop, rather Bolin is painstakingly painted head-to-toe by a group of assistants using photographs of the area behind him as a guide. “My intention was not to disappear in the environment but instead to let the environment take possession of me”, he says. Bolin’s intent is not to simply hide himself as an individual but suggests the works are statement regarding damage caused by economic and urban development. The show runs through March 10th. (via designboom)

Deconstructed Watercolor Portraits by Henrietta Harris

Deconstructed Watercolor Portraits by Henrietta Harris watercolor portraits painting illustration

Do not adjust your web browser, these distorted watercolor and gouache portraits were painted just as they appear by New Zealand-based illustrator Henrietta Harris who says her style “can only be achieved by having occasionally dipped one’s paintbrush accidentally in one’s coffee.” A pretty apt description for these dreamy portraits that seem to convey the precise moment when one becomes lost in thought or memory, an ethereal wind of distortion whirling temporarily through the subjects’ mind. Harris graduated in 2006 from the Auckland University of Technology and his since done work for Amnesty International, Vice Magazine, and BITE. She has a number of prints and several of the original paintings you see above available for sale through her website. (via flavorwire, ignant)

By Christopher on December 30, 2012 • illustration painting portraits watercolor

Architectural Watercolors by Maja Wrońska

Architectural Watercolors by Maja Wrońska watercolor painting architecture

I’m really enjoy the use of structure and color by Poland-based watercolor artist Maja Wrońska who has captured some lovely scenes from Paris, Venice, Prague, and elsewhere. Catch more of her work over on DeviantArt. (via my darkened eyes)

By Christopher on December 3, 2012 • architecture painting watercolor

The Explosively Colorful Spray Paint Portraits of David Walker

The Explosively Colorful Spray Paint Portraits of David Walker street art portraits painting

Without aid of stencils or brushes London-based artist David Walker creates elaborately explosive portraits using directly applied spray paint. Even as the colors drip and mix on large outdoor walls it’s hard to imagine the level of control and detail the artist must possess to create the shadows, lines, and textures that create each piece. The top and bottom pieces in this post are recent works seen in London and Paris, and you can see much more on his Facebook page and in his shop where he has nearly a dozen portraits available as high quality prints. (via street art utopia)

By Christopher on November 7, 2012 • painting portraits street art

A Separate Reality: New Paintings of Dystopian Worlds by Alex Andreev

A Separate Reality: New Paintings of Dystopian Worlds by Alex Andreev science fiction painting illustration digital

Trying to categorize or summarize the genre of Alex Andreev’s (previously) digital paintings is nearly impossible. Part science fiction, part dystopian future, the scenes are equally disturbing and beautiful, his characters inhabiting a world Andreev tells me is deeply influenced by Soviet-era literature, music and movies. Based in St. Petersburg, Russia he works primarily with Adobe Photoshop and Corel Paint and relies only on a small selection of brushes and colors to create each illustration, meaning there are no special effects or 3d-rendering of anything. Andreev recently published an art book, A Separate Reality, which is available through Blurb.com.

By Christopher on October 17, 2012 • digital illustration painting science fiction

New Portraits by Andrew Salgado

New Portraits by Andrew Salgado portraits painting

One of my favorite portrait artists, Andrew Salgado (previously) who lives and works in London has completed a number of new works in advance of his second solo show, The Misanthrope, which opens at Beers.Lambert on October 11, 2012. You can see see much more of his recent work on his website.

By Christopher on September 24, 2012 • painting portraits

New Date Stamp Pointillism Paintings by Federico Pietrella

New Date Stamp Pointillism Paintings by Federico Pietrella stamps pointillism painting multiples

I can’t remember the last time I saw the actual use of a rubber date stamp, most libraries exchanged them for fancy barcodes and other digital systems a decade ago. But Italian artist Federico Pietrella (previously) who lives and works in Berlin has a fantastic use for them in his paintings made from thousands of densely stamped ink dates. In his enormous ink artworks Pietrella always stamps the current date, thus each of his pieces contains a clear timeline of the days he worked on it, often spanning two months. You can see much more on his website and watch a brief interview with artist courtesy of Deutsche Welle. (via visual news)

By Christopher on September 17, 2012 • multiples painting pointillism stamps

Gorgeous Bird Paintings by Adam S. Doyle

Gorgeous Bird Paintings by Adam S. Doyle painting birds

Artist Adam S. Doyle who recently relocated to Hong Kong creates beautiful gestural paintings of birds, where the seemingly incomplete brushstrokes form the feathers and other details of the animal. In some strange way it reminds me of the story of the Renaissance painter Giotto who is rumored to have been able to draw a perfect circle without the aid of a compass, as if Doyle just picks up a dripping paint brush and in a few seconds paints a perfect bird. In reality his work demonstrates a profound control of the paintbrush and careful understanding of the mediums he works with. Via email he tells me:

Yes, what you see is what it appears to be—strokes of paint. I’ve always loved unfinished paintings because you could see the alchemic process of surface and paint transforming into a living person. With my paintings, it does take quite a bit of working and reworking to arrive at the place where every brush stroke fits into a fluidly flowing whole. It’s important to me to find a balance between an elegance of form that holds both visible marks of paint and a representation of ‘energy within’. I’ll just add that the painterly craft of my images, which I consider secondary to investigating ideas and concepts, came about after a lifetime of expressive image-making, followed by doggedly exploring the aforementioned transformation in grad school. I realized during that same formative period that I was also captivated by trying to visualize energy, which I was quite familiar with having grown up with a dad who practiced Eastern medicine.

Doyle most recently had a show at Skylight Gallery in 2011 and is now currently working on a new body of work in Hong Kong. You can see much more of his work on his website.