Illustrator and designer Jonathan Stephen Harris has gained a huge following on YouTube for his amazing drawing videos. The talented artist is best known for his 3D illustrations, hand paintings and optical illusion drawings.
One interesting exercise Harris does to practice sketching, is spelling out a word and then incorporating the letters of the word into a cartoon representation of the word itself.
For more, check out Harris’ work on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram
South African artist, Jono Dry, was born in Pretoria and raised in the beautiful seaside town of Hermanus, where he has lived, worked and exhibited for most of his young life.
Entirely self-taught, his unique photorealistic-surrealist works are usually created on a large-scale, using graphite on paper or board. Jono currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
Be sure to check out his incredible artwork at the links below. The artist has gained large followings on Facebook and Instagram and updates his fans regularly with behind-the-scenes photos and videos of his works in progress, along with his completed pieces.
If you dig hyper-realistic artwork, check out our previous features!
For artist and filmmaker Vincent Bal, it all started with the simple shadow of a teacup. Fascinated, he decided to incorporate the shadow into a quick doodle. “Now I can’t help seeing things in shadows and everyday objects,” Bal explains. On Instagram, the artist has amassed a huge following for his hundreds of doodles.
“When I make a film it takes three years at least from idea to audience. Here it takes two minutes. Nice.” Below you will find some of the Sifter’s personal favs but you can find hundreds more at the links below. If you’re interested in signed prints check out his Etsy shop!
Artist and illustrator Nick Murray Willis reimagines classic movie quotes into entirely new scenarios. Audio clips are from:
Lord of The Rings, Batman Begins, Scarface, Forest Gump, Taken, Predator, Jaws, Pulp Fiction, Se7en, Gladiator, Home Alone, (from Angels with Filthy Souls), The Shining, Jerry Maguire, Aliens, The Terminator, Apollo 13, Midnight Cowboy, A Few Good Men, Star Wars, Frankenstein, Jurassic Park, Karate Kid
Legendary animator Glen Keane demonstrates how he uses virtual reality to create 3D animations, sketching The Little Mermaid’s Ariel to “Part of Your World.”
Keane designed and animated the character of Ariel in the film The Little Mermaid (1989).
Two titans of animation, Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy), draw portraits of each other in their respective cartoons’ signature style.
Artist Esther Bellido made this awesome 60 second animation in honour of Breaking Bad’s 10 year anniversary. The first episode aired on January 20, 2008 and went on to become one of the most critically acclaimed shows in television history. Spoilers obviously.
In today’s media-saturated world it can be challenging for a state tourism board to garner any attention. So Travel Oregon decided to try something different, an anime-inspired spot featuring beautiful artwork of popular places in Oregon with a surreal twist.
From the iconic Crater Lake to the towering Mt. Hood and the amazing hiking trails and landscapes in between, the ‘Only Slightly Exaggerated’ animation creatively portrays the natural beauty of Oregon. Stills from the spot can be seen below.
Written and produced by Wieden + Kennedy
Animation by Psyop & Sun Creatures Studio
Performed by Oregon Symphony
Composed by Jim Dooley
Faye Halliday is a travelling artist best known for her incredible black marker illustrations. Originally from the UK and currently living in Costa Rica, the artist has amassed huge followings on Instagram and Facebook as she shares her ongoing artworks and creative pursuits.
In an ongoing series of illustrated paper cutouts, Faye has been using nature’s vibrant palette to fill in her works and she has been using the results as inspiration for her colored prints and canvases.
Below you will find highlights from this series but you can find many more along with works available for sale at the links below.
“Paradise” is an immersive, 360-degree, black marker drawing by Oscar Oiwa. On display until June 3rd, 2018 at JAPAN HOUSE São Paulo, the work is situated inside an inflatable vinyl balloon measuring 7 x 10 x 4 meters (23 x 33 x 13 ft), allowing visitors to be completely enveloped by the work.
According to Colossal, the work took two weeks and 120 sharpies to complete. Oiwa completed the piece with help from his assistants: Amanda Obara, Mity Watanabe, Matheus Saliba, Vera Nomura, Elise Hori, and Beta Macedo.
See below for a gallery along with timelapse video on the making of ‘Paradise’.
[via Colossal]
For the last few years, New Zealand artist Benjamin Lloyd has been dropping by the Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland to give kids temporary tattoos to try to lift their spirits and make hospital life more fun.
Lloyd uses an airbrush gun and non-toxic ink to apply the temporary tats. He and his team have done hundreds over the years and the ink can be washed off in the shower. To see more artwork by Lloyd check out his Facebook page.
Clym Evernden is an award winning artist and art director with a unique, creative eye. His signature ink-based style has evolved to encompass mixed media, animation, and set design. A graduate of Central Saint Martins, Clym studied BA Fashion Design Womenswear prior to working solely as an artist.
On Instagram, Clym has amassed a large following for his creative illustrations and popular story paintings that unfold before your eyes on a series of progressive artworks that evolve as he unfolds a simple piece of paper, transforming part of one image and reinterpreting it into something else entirely.
You can find many more #ClymStory online and we’ve included our 5 favorites below. Enjoy!
Based in Annecy, France, tattoo artist Eliot Kohek has earned a huge following for his realistic, black and white tattoos that seem to leap off the skin. The artist routinely shares his work on Instagram and Facebook where he has hundreds of thousands of fans and admirers of his work.
The artist can be found at tattoo shows and conventions around the world and interested parties can reach out direct (kohek.bookings@gmail.com) to see his availability.
Below are some of the pieces that we found most impressive, but you can find hundreds more at the links below.
Created with hundreds of pencils and hundreds of hands, “349” is a collaborative animated dance film that explores the idea that we’re all imperceptibly connected.
To create “349,” a dance performance was videotaped and converted into a series of still frames. Over the span of two years, 349 different people each redrew one of these frames after being asked to “draw yourself and someone with whom you have a significant connection.” The resulting drawings were scanned, sequenced, and synced to music to create the short animated dance film.
The film was created by Kristen Lauth Shaeffer. For those curious, the soundtrack is “Rescue” by Sessa (Little Warrior).
Artist José Naranja is a self-professed notebook maker and his incredible sketchbooks have earned him a passionate following online.
A former aeronautic engineer, Naranja’s sketchbook adventures began in 2005 when he purchased his first pocket-sized Moleskine. Since then he’s been using the books to write, sketch, collage and remember his daily experiences while travelling or just living everyday life.
These days, José now makes his own sketchbooks, a bookbinding process that he has laid out how to do yourself on his blog.
He’s also compiled his favorite works into a ‘best of’ sketchbook called ‘The Orange Manuscript‘ which is available for sale on his website.
For more, check out José’s work at the links below.
[via Colossal]
Marisa Livingston is an artist and character designer currently living and working in Los Angeles. Since graduating from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Livingston has done work for Warner Bros Animation, Titmouse, and Amazon.
In a recent character study, Livingston imagines the entire cast of The Office (seasons 1-7) as cartoon characters. You can find side by side comparisons below (via MinnesotaMatthew on Imgur) along with the complete lineup of cartoon characters by Livingston.
For more amazing character designs and illustrations, be sure to check out Marisa’s artwork at the links below.
“Strike Your Fancy” is a series of cheeky matchboxes depicting cats making questionable decisions. The 3-color block prints were created by Arna Miller in collaboration with her husband and fellow artist, Ravi Zupa.
The series is currently on display until June 30th at the Abstract Gallery in Denver, Colorado.
The hand printed matchboxes are also available for purchase here and here. Please note the boxes are now shipped without matches, as sending flammable objects through the mail was creating some understandable issues.
[via Colossal]
“Parkour” is an awesome animation by illustrator and graphic designer Serene Teh. Each frame was illustrated with paper and pen and is like an exploded version of a flip book style animation, with the action unfolding with the paper.
“Parkour” was Serene’s first attempt at this style of animation (first uploaded in 2009, hence the grainy quality) and the viral vid led to a series of commissions from film and television studios to create trailers in the same style. You can see more examples on her Vimeo page.
Mirjana Kika Milosevic is a Serbian artist that has amassed a huge online following for her incredible makeup and bodypainting creations. Often using her own body as a canvas, she can completely transform herself into a huge variety of characters and illusions.
To see more be sure to check her out on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
Kareem Waris Olamilekan aka ‘Waspa’ is a young, up-and-coming Nigerian artist that specialized in hyperrealism. Based in Lagos, the 11-year-old started drawing at the age of six and says he is most inspired by Michelangelo and fellow Nigerian portrait artist, Arinze Stanley Egbengwu.
The 11-year-old gained international recognition after drawing a hyperrealistic portrait for French President Emmanuel Macron in just two hours. The President was stunned by the results, sharing his admiration on Twitter.
Olamilekan currently attends the local Ayowole Academy of Art, created by graduate art student Adeniyi Adewole. It will be exciting to watch this young talent develop and grow. To keep up with his latest projects, be sure to follow him on Instagram.
