Currently digging

Lord of the Fries hotdogs. These faux-meat doggies come on a crispy Vietnamese baguette style bun with pickles and very flavoursome tomato and mustard sauces. Om nom nom.
The meal deal is a bit pricey though, but I guess the chips are made from scratch/real potatoes and not frozen (or so they say).

I am working on an exhibition with the illustrious Julianne, whose work can be seen here: http://neveresque.deviantart.com

Stay tuned and peace out.

deviantart round-up

So here are some more artists on deviantart that I enjoy:

http://klar.deviantart.com << One of the first artists I started watching when I joined the site back in '04; I think I prefer her older more simple stuff like these:





She does anthro art, but classily.

http://fresh4u.deviantart.com << Love her black and white splashy inky ethereal Ben Templesmith meets shounen manga style.



http://ya-na.deviantart.com << Russian artist, hella talented. Surreal and inspired by Japanese monsters and myths.

iumazark on deviantart

I really should be doing homework, but am blogging instead, lol. I recently discovered this awesome artist on DA, iumazark, whose gallery can be found here: http://iumazark.deviantart.com/ . Above are some of his images.

His art has a sometimes rough around the edges, but delicate and ethereal quality to it. Kinda fey, a little cartoony, a little scratchy here and there. The image at the top reminds me of the Klaxons video for 'Its Not Over Yet' which features similar black geometric shapes.

In unrelated news, I want to go to this place.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1471974/restaurant/Melbourne/The-Alchemist-Bar-and-Cafe-Fitzroy

Also been trying unsuccessfully to lucid dream lately. But then again, sometimes it's fun just going for the ride.

rick owens interview

I was looking up stuff on the fashion designer Rick Owens (known for his fashion label's dark, apocolyptic presence on the runway) and found this interview:

http://www.hintmag.com/hinterview/rickowens/rickowens1.php

I have to say that it was definitely refreshing to read such a down-to-earth and light-hearted interview with someone in the high fashion industry, where you would assume it would be all too easy to get pretentious. Reminds me, in a way, of model Elyse Sewell's similarly refreshing attitude that contrasts so much from a stereotypical catwalk model.
If you're interested, her blog may be seen here: http://elysesewell.livejournal.com/

It's been abandoned apparently, but a book is in the works. I do wish her the best with her writing ventures; from what I've read of her blog I feel that she'd have more than a fighting chance of success with her brand of humour.

camilla d'errico.

I can't believe I haven't posted about her already, but I will now...

For the past couple of years, Canadian-Italian artist Camilla d'Errico has been an inspiration of mine, with her innocent looking girl characters pictured with cute animals, soft yet vibrant colours, and mingling of cyberpunk and nature. She has the cute-with-an edge aesthetic that's so popular in the modern art and illustration scene (pop-surrealism?) but infuses it with her own painterly style. There's a warmth in many of her paintings, with their sunny colour palette and dappled lighting, but considerable angst in other works.

She was also involved in pop singer Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes, a comic published by Tokyopop and a sort-of-promotional project for the singer's album. It's more than just advertising, though, and is darker than what one might expect for such a venture, the plot involving a pact made between a small devil and the main character.


More of her work can be found here: http://www.camilladerrico.com/

She also has a shop full of lush and shiny goods including her comics and apparel (which I might buy from in the near future) here: http://camilla.bigcartel.com/

don't know what this illustration style is called, but:

I love it. Some examples:

by http://iamlocksin.blogspot.com



by http://mazakii.deviantart.com/



by http://jupiex7.deviantart.com/

It never fails to amaze.

Minus webcomic and mnem

MINUS http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus.html is a webcomic written and drawn by artist Ryan Armand, aka Rezo.

It's a beautifully illustrated series of vignettes involving a special little girl and her ability to make anything happen, limited only by her imagination. She doesn't shy away from being cheeky and even a little naughty at times, but the pretty watercolour pictures keep it light, providing a whimsical and day-dreamy atmosphere, reminiscent of breezy yet sunny childhood days.

In related territory, while going on a slight Harry Potter binge after seeing the recent film, I came across mnem's art while browsing a HP wiki. Her art can be found here: http://community.livejournal.com/mnem_art/

Although it's fanart, it strays away from the more typical anime-esque or stylised cartoon styles commonly drawn in this fandom, and instead provides warm and enchanting homages to the books, delicately rendered, like Minus, in watercolour, and has a similarly escapist quality to it. Like the comic, it takes you to a different place; this time the fantasy world of Hogwarts. The endearing little illustrations look like they could be used for future editions of the book; in fact at first I even wondered whether her illustrations had been used for foreign editions of the book. But no, just a humble fan doing it for free. Her blog is totally sweet as well.

karincoma

One of the first artists that caught my eye when I was new to Deviantart was karincoma, aka Polish artist Karolina Szafran, who does striking images in mostly black and white, with a splash of colour. Although she's moved on to more cyberpunk, dark/futuristic themed work, it's her earlier, more fashion-related images I like the most:


outfit 2004-24-09 by `karincoma on deviantART

Her characters are always drawn with a sense of elegance and grace, and her images evoke a certain feeling of lightness and airiness, with slick, clean lines and simple beauty.