Illustration

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Illustration

Clever Illustrations by Nash Weerasekera Highlight Ironies and Anxieties of Everyday Life

Influenced by what he describes as a “healthy level of cynicism,” Melbourne-based artist Nash Weerasekera taps into the subtle ironies of everyday life. His digital illustrations often center on seemingly paradoxical circumstances like a figure meditating on top of an overturned car or a young girl in a bathing suit seated on an ice floe. Largely focused on the nature of work, social interactions, and domestic responsibilities, his humorous scenes visualize endless to-do lists, running out of time, or a satirical take on a favorite phrase of optimists everywhere: every cloud has a silver lining.

Weerasekera shares that he “thinks” better on paper, so every piece begins with a physical sketch. His illustration practice stems from a background in street art in his home country of Sri Lanka that blossomed into acrylic painting when he moved to Australia. During pandemic lockdowns when it was a challenge to gather materials, he began to experiment with digital techniques and increasingly collaborates with commercial clients.

Weerasekera is currently illustrating a children’s book, and you can find more of his work on Instagram.

 

Art Illustration

Debatable Motivations Inspire the Adventures of Biking Sloths and Raging Cats in Ravi Zupa’s Illustrations

A raccoon on a motorcycle laments over being a poser, a sloth finds itself exhilerated after a bike ride, and a raging cat screams that, despite its snarling teeth, it’s not angry. The self-conscious, awkward, and excitable creatures are the latest additions to Ravi Zupa’s growing cast of characters, which follow earlier illustrations featuring a pack of self-deprecating dogs and a herd of disorderly, drunken cats.

Zupa tells Colossal that he’s spent the last few months riding his bike near his home in Commerce City, Colorado, each morning—rain, snow, or sunshine—and this dedication has translated to his work. Many of his recent prints and greeting cards feature animals mid-cycle as they contemplate their television habits and whether their helmet really does make them look corny.

Currently, Zupa is preparing for a solo show opening in June at Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles. His work will also be included in a group exhibition opening in July at Harman Projects in New York City. Shop prints and greeting cards featuring the illustrations shown here on his site.

 

Animation Art Illustration

Everyday Objects Swirl in the Dizzying Choreography of Alain Biet’s Elaborate Animation

Items you might find on a shelf in the garage or packed away in the basement—like wrenches, your old MP3 player, key fobs, or spare light bulbs—become stars in their own right in Alain Biet’s mesmerizing animation. “Grands Canons,” which translates from French to “Big Guns,” opens with a close-up of the artist drafting a realistic, green pencil in watercolor. Once the rendering is complete, we meet another pencil, and another, as a “visual symphony” of thousands of precise drawings unfolds.

Biet’s intricately detailed illustrations highlight everyday objects we might find in a junk drawer, a closet, or even destined for the trash, emphasizing a variety of styles and how items have evolved over time. His survey of technology and tools stokes a tinge of nostalgia, too. Remember that old Discman, SLR camera, or Nokia brick? The gang’s all here in a dizzyingly choreographed sequence, accompanied by an original score that responds to the rhythms and movements of the drawings as they skitter and whirl across the surface.

Find more of the artist’s work his website and Instagram.

 

Art Illustration

Vintage Ephemera Backdrops Mark Powell’s Intimate Ballpoint Pen Drawings

From playing cards and posters to envelopes and postcards scrawled with notes, the untraditional canvases holding Mark Powell’s artworks are tapestries of memories and experiences past. The Brighton-based artist (previously) sutures scraps of vintage ephemera and draws in ballpoint pen, rendering intimate portraits, birds, and scenes brimming with emotion in realistic detail. Some of his most recent works include monochromatic etchings that capture a heron’s fine, wispy feathers and a diptych of hands, two softly grasping a tulip and another wrapped taught in a rope.

Powell shares glimpses into his process and studio on Instagram, and you can find originals and prints in his shop.

 

Illustration

Symmetric Flora and Fauna Converge in Kelly Louise Judd’s Dreamlike Paintings

Symmetry and mirroring inform many of Kelly Louise Judd’s paintings, which intertwine flora and fauna in delicate compositions. Ferns overlay the long tails of two cats, a lanky heron gracefully perches among bluebells and sunflowers, and human hands reach upward to reveal sprawling botanicals. Rendered on neutral-toned backdrops, the works evoke the patterns and organic recurrences found throughout the natural world.

Judd, who lives and works in the Midwest, generously shares glimpses into her process on Instagram, and you can shop prints of her pieces on Etsy.

 

Art Illustration

Vibrant Hybrid Figures Emerge in Lou Benesch’s Spiritual Watercolor Illustrations

Fantastic creatures with keen attitudes and fragments of human anatomy occupy the vivid watercolor illustrations of Lou Benesch. From her studio in Paris, the French-American artist visualizes the characters that populate folklore, Greek myths, and classic fairytales through distinctive renderings of animal hybrids. Muscular spotted horses, shaggy wolf costumes, and a seemingly omnipresent third eye populate the surreal compositions, which are often framed by small archways and minimal backdrops.

Because Benesch gravitates toward narrative, much of her practice is an act of translation. When starting an illustration, she forgoes sketches and instead writes ideas down before picking up a pencil or brush. She might reflect on memories from her childhood, dreams, or larger, more philosophical questions about what it means to be a woman or the role spirituality plays in her life and that of others, and these narratives shape her scenes. “Whether they are mine, yours, or an entire population’s, mythologies and stories of all kinds are so important as a means of communication, connection, and appeasement,” she said in an interview.

If you’re in Los Angeles, you can see Benesch’s work as part of a group exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary this February, and she has a few pieces on view at Antler Gallery in Portland, as well. Find originals and prints in her shop, and follow her practice on Instagram.