colors

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Illustration

Bold Illustrations by Calvin Sprague Camouflage Geometric Figures and Detached Body Parts

American illustrator and designer Calvin Sprague blends bodies, disconnected hands, and wide-open eyes into their surrounding environments in his vibrant illustrations. Now based in Rotterdam, Sprague uses thin black lines and color-blocked shapes to create surreal scenes, including a red-shirted girl hugging her knees amidst towering plants and a portrait of a woman encircled by multiple sets of peering eyes.

“Experimenting with basic lines and shapes, he finds harmony by bridging the gap between structure and chaos,” a statement about Sprague’s work said. “Influenced by the early works of Saul Bass to Heinz Edelmann to Milton Glaser, he sees their eccentric, colorful style as a big reason why he grew to love design.”

You can buy prints, shirts, and pins featuring Sprague’s bold digital illustrations in his shop. To follow his latest projects, head to Instagram and Behance.

 

Animation Art Illustration

Fantastical Worlds Created with Dappled Brush Strokes by Illustrator James R. Eads

Illustrator James R. Eads (previously) incorporates elements of Impressionism and fantasy in his colorful landscapes. The Los Angeles-based artist builds imagined worlds with vibrant, short brush strokes, often featuring exotic birds, half-sunken boats, and swirling star-filled skies. Eads shares with Colossal that he is deeply connected to music, which consistently influences his work. His personal passion translates to client commissions, as he has created imagery for dozens of bands ranging from The Black Keys and Leon Bridges to Jerry Garcia and Iggy Pop.

“I’ve been really inspired by a lot of different things lately, including many worlds theory—the idea of multiple universes and timelines existing simultaneously,” Eads tells Colossal. “I’ve been working on a series of pastel paintings called Many, Many Paths that explores this idea through meandering paths in otherworldly gardens.” The artist shares that his most recent undertaking is a series called Cosma Visions, “which explores the idea of past lives and reincarnation reimagined on the traditional tarot. It takes the reader through the journey of the soul in the spirit plane after death.”

Eads also experiments with Virtual Reality artwork, an example of which you can see below, and runs a screen-printing studio in Los Angeles. He produces a range of limited edition prints and other buyable items that incorporate his colorful illustrations. The artist also recently successfully crowdfunded a Lenormand deck called Green Glyphs. Shop Eads’s online store and follow along with new work on Instagram and Facebook.

 

Art History Science

A Multicolored Library of the World’s Ochre Pigments Archived by Heidi Gustafson

Washington-based artist and researcher Heidi Gustafson forages, processes, and catalogs natural mineral samples for the Early Futures Ochre Archive. Ranging in color based on its elemental structure, ochre is crushed into a powder and used in various applications from art to medicine. With over 550 samples, Gustafson’s ever-growing archive has become a collaborative project with contributions from archaeologists, scientists, and creatives from around the world.

As each sample enters the collection, it is labeled with a corresponding number. In a notebook, Gustafson records where the ochre is from, who sourced or collected it, any historic or contemporary uses, and other relevant information. Gustafson grinds the iron-rich ochre into pigments, which she sells to artists and also uses for her own work. Processed samples are added to glass vials and organized by region or dominate mineral type. Gustafson also considers the material for its artistic, spiritual, and scientific properties. “More importantly, I build a relationship to the materials,” she tells Colossal. “I’m trying to understand their unique behaviors, the microbial communities they host and support, their tonal ranges, their historical uses and many other diverse features.”

The archive was officially formed in 2017 when Gustafson relocated to the Pacific Northwest, but working with the material is more than a hobby or intellectual pursuit—it is a calling. After having a dream about ochre, she initially wrote it off. Other experiences and anxieties about climate change inspired her to research exactly what ochre was and what it was used for. “I realized that ochre and pigments were at the heart of art and aesthetic experience,” Gustafson tells Colossal, adding that the mineral has been linked to complex mental processing in modern homo sapiens. “Protecting ochre’s vast capacities and impact on human creativity, feels like Earth’s mandate to me,” Gustafson continued. “I didn’t ‘come up’ with the idea for this project, it came to me and I felt responsible to do my best to understand and listen to that call.”

To tag along on foraging trips and for updates on the archive, follow Heidi Gustafson on Instagram. To shop for pigment sets and other products from the project or to contribute samples of your own, visit the Early Futures website.

Art

Interlocking Pools of Color Swirl Across Building Facades in Bright Murals by Oli-B

Brussels-based artist Oli-B uses carefully juxtaposed chromatic shapes to form abstract murals. A variety of organic forms with defined borders fit together: stripes and waves cut through scallop-edged blobs and perfect circles. The artist occasionally uses ombre and negative spaces to add depth and movement, but primarily works with continuous flat fields of color. Oli-B has been painting since his teen years, when he primarily worked with spray paint. In addition to his large-scale commissioned murals, Oli-B also creates screen prints, sculptures, and paintings on canvas. You can watch Oli-B in action here and see more of his vibrant artworks on Instagram. (via Street Art News)

Dance

Neon-Clad Ballet Dancers Take the Streets of Hong Kong by Storm in Celebration of Their 40th Year

In a new brand video from the Hong Kong Ballet, swarms of brightly dressed ballet dancers demonstrate traditional techniques in a contemporary urban environment. The 40-year-old dance company underwent a dramatic rebrand in 2018 courtesy of Washington, D.C. based-agency Design Army, and the recent video builds on their new identity. Sporting a mix of classic tutus alongside contemporary athleticwear, the dancers pas de deux across basketball courts and stroll en pointe through crosswalks to the remixed tune of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro. Find more moments of dancers in motion on the Hong Kong Ballet’s Youtube channel and take a peek behind the stage curtain on Instagram. (via Colossal Submissions)

 

Art

Prismatic Murals by Alberonero Use Carefully Calculated Colors to Form Dynamic Compositions

Italian artist Alberonero uses carefully calculated fields of color to form prismatic murals on walls around the world. The artist places subtly shifting tones side by side, which creates a sense of movement as warm-hued chevrons push into cool blues and greens, and square blocks of color seem to tumble in all directions. In addition to his painted outdoor murals, Alberonero also works in tile, and creates a variety of wall-hung work. You can see more of his brightly hued pixelated pieces on Instagram and Facebook. (via PLAIN Magazine)