Happy Holidays everyone!!
Wishing you all the very best and Happy New Year!!
Image by Edison Yan-Ushio18 via Deviant Art
visual arts blog, painting, drawing, sculpture, illustration and more!
Image by Edison Yan-Ushio18 via Deviant Art
I love this new piece by Michael Shapcott. To see more of his work, see my post earlier in the year or visit Shapcott’s profile on Deviant Art or his website Michael-Shapcott.com.
Sub Photic Region © Joe Macgown and Janelle Mckain
This week’s Deviant is not a single artist but the Exquisite Corpse surreal art collaboration group on Deviant Art. “Exquisite corpse (also known as “exquisite cadaver” or “rotating corpse”) is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled, the result being known as the exquisite corpse or cadavre exquis in French. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. “The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun“) or by being allowed to see the end of what the previous person contributed.”
“The technique was created by Surrealists and is similar to an old parlour game called Consequences in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing, and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution. Surrealism principal founder André Breton reported that it started in fun, but became playful and eventually enriching. Breton said the diversion started about 1925, but Pierre Reverdy wrote that it started much earlier, at least before 1918.” (Wikipedia)
To see more collaborations, visit the Exquisite Corpse Group page on Deviant Art.
Picture Consequences © Bernardumaine and Knotty Inks
I’m really looking forward to Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” movie that is coming out in early 2010. The images in today’s post are by award-winning conceptual artist and illustrator Michael Kutsche. Based in Berlin, Germany, Kutsche has worked for the visual effects industry since 1998. His experiences reach from art directing and animating commercials and music videos to character design for feature film projects.
To see more of Kutsche’s work visit MrMK.de or see his profile on Deviant Art.
This week’s Deviant is American artist Michael Shapcott. Shapcott began drawing at an early age and in high school he realized art would be a life-long passion. He attended Paier College of Art in Hamden, Connecticut graduating in 2007.
“Shapcott’s art is a unique blend of illustration and traditional portraiture created with a blend of acrylics, graphite and oil. Viewers and purchasers of Mike’s paintings have called them powerful, inspiring, and filled with emotion. Symbols from dream imagery, folklore, and personal memories are the major inspirations and elements used in Mike’s work.”
As well as painting, Shapcott creates art videos that track the process of painting that show his unique style of working.
To see more, visit Shapcott’s profile on Deviant Art or his website Michael-Shapcott.com.
Born in 1976, Jarosław Kubicki is a Polish artist, photographer, webdesigner. He graduted from Fine Arts Highschool in Gdynia followed by the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk.
To see more of Kubicki’s work visit his profile on Deviant Art or his website Kubicki.info.
This week’s Deviant is Surreal artist Janelle McKain. Born and raised in Nebraska, USA, McKain has a Bachelor’s degree in K-12 Art Education with an endorsement in Gifted Education from Kearney State College and has been teaching art for the past 29 years in public schools across Nebraska. Currently, she is Department Chair and teaches Drawing and Advanced Drawing at Millard South High School in Omaha, NE.
McKain works mainly in graphite but enjoys watercolour painting as well. She is also involved in collaborative drawings with other international artists through the The Exquisite Corpse and The Antipodes Project. In all of their complexity, nearly all of McKain’s drawings are unplanned. She begins when she feels inspired and lets the images and shapes emerge without constraints.
Despite her busy teaching career, McKain always has a drawing or collaboration on the go. “I draw because I enjoy it immensely; it is soothing to me, not unlike rocking a child in a rocking chair… and this sensation…keeps me coming back to the drawing table over and over again. I enjoy the mystery of what is unraveling before me, and each drawing appears full of personal imagery that has no obvious answer. This is what inspires me; this is what fuels my work. Breathing and drawing are of equal importance to me.”
McKain’s work has been exhibited in group shows, has been featured in numerous magazines, and will be included in the upcoming book “Imagine the Imagination. New Visions of Surrealism” in November 2009.
For more information about Janelle McKain, visit her profile on Deviant Art. For an in depth interview visit Deviantly Surreal Magazine.
Sources: Oranges and Sardines, Deviantly Surreal Magazine.
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, jewelry designer Daniel Proulx makes unique wire-wrapped Steampunk Jewelry and sculptures from brass, copper and gemstones.
Proulx previously worked in the travel industry and in finance. However, one day in 2008, after his “better half” had learned to make simple wire rings, he gave it a try himself and now works full time at his craft. His creations are inspired by his long-time interest in fantasy worlds, science fiction, the mix of mechanical and organic shapes, and the contrast between ancient and futuristic designs.
To see more of Proulx’s creations, visit his profile on Deviant Art, his Blogspot page, or his Etsy shop to purchase these extraordinary works of wearable art.
This week’s Deviant is sculptor Ellen June Jewett. Born in Markham, Ontario Canada, Jewett’s interest in shaping three dimensional forms began at a young age.
A self-taught sculptor, Jewett has a degree in Biological Anthropology and Art Critique from McMaster University in Ontario.
Sculpting with only her hands, Ellen’s inspiration comes from her relationships with plants and animals and a fascination with the images of science and discovery. Working with polymer clay, home-made foam clay, and other mediums, Jewett creates a world of fantastical dragons, birds, elephants, and other creatures with incredible detail and intricacy.
Jewett recently exhibited at Anticipation – the 67th World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal and will also show at the Guelph Studio Tour in Ontario, Canada from October 16th – 18th 2009.
For more information, visit Ellen’s Deviant Art profile “Creatures from El”, or her website CreaturesFromEl.ca.
This week’s Deviant is German digital artist Oliver Lehmann. Born in 1972 in Euskirchen, Lehmann currently lives near Cologne (Köln), Germany. Initally working with chalk, charcoal and pastels, he switched to digital art in 1999.
Lehmann’s influences include Hellnwein, Giger, Dali, Kubicki, and Bargeld. Using Photoshop, stock photos and textures, and imagination, Lehmann creates a striking digital fusion of Surrealism and symbolism.
Lehmann has had numerous exhibitions in Germany and his work has appeared on the the CD covers of German Rock band Sanction X (The Last Day), and Australian band Empires of Eden (Songs of War and Vengeance).
For more information about Oliver Lehmann, visit his profile on Deviant Art.