Illustration

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Art Illustration

Let the Wild Rumpus Start! A Retrospective Celebrates the Illustrated Classics of the Late Maurice Sendak

The late artist and author Maurice Sendak is responsible for bringing us some of the most beloved, iconic childhood stories, and his distinctive style and fantastical beasts defined classics like In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and of course, the ever-popular Where the Wild Things Are. Opening this fall at the Columbus Museum of Art, an expansive retrospective surveys Sendak’s unparalleled contributions to both children’s literature and the discipline, more broadly.

Wild Things are Happening is the largest exhibition of the artist’s work to date, containing more than 150 sketches, original illustrations, storyboards, and paintings from his own projects and collaborations. The show also references his myriad inspirations and influences with works by William Blake, Walt Disney, and Beatrix Potter, among others.

Wild Things are Happening runs from October 22, 2022, to March 5, 2023, before heading to Paris and other locations. A concurrent exhibition of Sendak’s performance-based works is on view at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry in Connecticut through December 16. (via Creative Boom)

 

Art Illustration

Grainy Colored Pencil Portraits by Uli Knörzer Emphasize a Subject’s Distinct Demeanor

Berlin-based artist Uli Knörzer (previously) highlights the signature grainy texture of colored pencils in his faithful portraiture. Whether for personal projects or commissions from fashion labels and publications—many of the pieces shown here are part of a recent project for Tommy Hilfiger—the richly illustrated works hone in on the emotions of the subject. By positioning the figures against monochromatic backdrops devoid of setting, he accentuates the minute details of their facial expressions and body language.

If you’re in London, stop by Trinity Buoy Wharf to see some of Knörzer’s portraits in the group show for this year’s Drawing Prize, which opens on September 28. Otherwise, follow him on Instagram to keep up with his latest pieces.

 

Art Illustration

Scratchy Pencil-and-Ink Drawings by Jon Carling Conjure Mythical Beings and Surreal Sorcery

From his studio in northern California, artist Jon Carling summons the metaphysical by scrawling scenes tinged with magic and whimsy. He works in pen and pencil, layering lines and wispy markings into a wave of florals enveloping a levitating figure or a beam radiating from a woman’s eyes. Many of the works feature an element of hidden sorcery, veiling the largely natural subject matter with mysteriously powerful energy.

Although devoid of color, Carling’s drawings capture the trippy, psychedelic imaginations associated with the rock music that dominated the Sixties and Seventies and provided the soundtrack for his childhood home. “I have been drawing every day since I can remember,” he shares. “Drawing has always been a therapeutic and comforting activity for me, and I grew up spending vast amounts of time in my room filling up sketchbooks.” His subject matter and style reference these early years of his life, evocative of the video games, cartoons, comics, and illustrated books he found himself immersed in.

Shop originals and stickers on his site, and follow Carling on Instagram to keep up with his latest works on paper.

 

Art Illustration

In Graham Franciose’s ‘Morning Coffee Paintings,’ Dreamlike Watercolor Works Capture the Day’s Unmediated Emotion

Many days, artist and illustrator Graham Franciose sits down with watercolor, gouache, and a small sheet of cotton paper to paint a whimsical scene or surreal moment. A skateboarder carries a tree in a backpack, an anxious figure peeks through a colorful monster mask, and an oversized lion snarls at an approaching man. “I like to do these first thing in the morning when I am still not fully awake and start with a blank slate and no preconceived idea,” he tells Colossal.

Dreamlike in style and subject matter, the works are part of an ongoing series simply titled Morning Coffee Paintings. Since Franciose began the ritualistic project in 2019, he’s created about 450 pieces, which reflect a range of moods through mysterious scenarios and quiet, contemplative figures. “I put my phone on the tripod and start the timelapse camera and just start drawing.  I’ve noticed that by filming them it keeps me from second-guessing myself or spending too much time deliberating about choices like color or composition and forces me to just trust myself and my practice,” he shares.

An exercise in experimentation and releasing perfectionism, the paintings are also a visual diary of the artist’s practice and unfiltered emotional states. “Sometimes recurring themes, symbols, or concepts will come up in different ways, and they do evolve and change over time,” he says.

Franciose is currently based in Seattle where he runs Get Nice. Gallery. There are still a few of July’s original paintings available on the series’ site, and you can shop prints at Sebastian Foster, Austin Art Garage, and Bloom. If you’re in New Hampshire, you can see some of his pieces in the Enormous Tiny Art #33 at Nahcotta Gallery early next year. Otherwise, follow him on Instagram for updates on new paintings.

 

Art Illustration

Dense Cross-Hatching Adds Deceptive Volume to Albert Chamillard’s Geometric Drawings

On vintage ledgers and notebooks, artist Albert Chamillard (previously) harnesses the power of crosshatching and simple outlines to render flat, geometric shapes that appear to emerge from the page. The meditative works utilize varying densities to add depth and volume to clusters of cylinders or undulating, ribbon-like forms. By rendering each piece in a monochromatic palette of black or red, the artist draws attention to the meticulously laid lines and deceptive dimension of the forms.

Currently, Chamillard is preparing for a solo show opening on December 3 at Etherton Gallery in Tucson, where he lives. He’s also been collaborating with Hermès on a series of works soon to be released, and you can follow updates on those pieces and find an archive of his painstaking drawings on Instagram.

 

Illustration

Digital Collages by Beto Val Splice Vintage Illustrations into Surreal Hybrid Creatures

Ecuadorian artist Beto Val alchemizes vintage illustrations into bizarre compositions that blend fruits with fowl and aquatic life with land animals. Using imagery available through the public domain, Val cuts and repositions fins, wings, and scaly talons into surreal creatures: round owl faces peer out from pineapples, autumn leaves sprout from tropical birds, and a rendering evocative of a biological chart displays fish with bodies made of strawberries, brains, and an early, industrial locomotive. Blending the analog illustrations with the artist’s digital manipulations, the collages encompass a range of characters from the whimsical to the absurd.

Val offers prints and other goods in his shop, and his book, The Great Book of the Imaginary Animal Kingdom, is available from Bookshop. You can follow the strange hybrids he dreams up next on Instagram.