Campsite is a New York based design blog and studio run by visual designer Max Ritt.
My first impression upon seeing the work of Alex Roulette was that it had to be photography and was colorized digitally. After closer inspection and reading up on him I found out that he works predominantly in oil on panel. He creates an interesting juxtaposition between almost Rockwellian images and compositions and intense colors, difficult to decipher scenes, and weird architectural forms.
(via iso50 »)
As part of the celebration for their 40th anniversary BD Barcelona Design has released a limited edition of their Showtime Vase. They collaborated with Jaime Hayon who painted the collection of 40 vases entirely by hand. The resulting vases fit right in with the other releases BD has done over the years with other artists including Juan Gris and Salvador Dalí. The vases are currently available for order through Northern Icon.
(via Daily Icon »)
Ed Ruscha has been one of my favorite artists since before I even knew him by name. Through years of art school and after seeing several of his exhibitions I still really had no idea about who Ruscha really was. This short film by Lance Accord entitled ‘Ed Ruscha, Woody, and the World’s Hottest Pepper’ gives some beautiful insight into his process, his life, and how the two affect one another. The project came about as part of the second annual Art+Film Gala at LACMA.
(via The Fox Is Black »)
This behind the scenes video documenting the process behind the ‘Keys To The City Mural’ that Invisible Creature recently designed for a Seattle based real estate company. The project included some really awesome collaborators including artist Don Rockwell and the Foley Sign Company. The end result is colorful, fun and helps to living up what would otherwise be a bland expanse of wall.
There isn’t too much I have to say about this video except for the fact that Riusuke Fukahori is one of the most inventive and talented painters of our generation and that his creations are mind bending. I was also one up’ed by this video in an email exchange with a friend, so watch it and enjoy.
(via Steak Sauciness »)
Paint brushes are simple tools, and have been adapted very little during their existence. These playful brushes by design agency CuldeSac for Valentine a Spanish paint company.
(via NOTCOT »)
It’s rare to see a historic artist or art work translated onto the web with such care and attention to detail. Recently St. Louis Art Museum hired Almanac to create Discover Monet, a web presence for Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. Through the site both teachers and students can learn infinitely more about Monet’s life, work, and the connection of both to the rest of the world.
(via Design Work Life »)
Hand painted signs are one of those things that really intimidate me and thus I love them that much more. The above video shows Dan of Dusty Signs making a self promotional sign as captured through the lens of Hunter Johnson.
(via We Love Typography »)
Illustration work like that of Yasmeen Ismail is vibrant, refreshing, and fun. The way she depicts people and animals is unique and abstract, while also simple to understand and connect with. The techniques she uses are DIY, combining painting, collage, and other media for a versatile deep compositions.
(via Design Work Life »)
Last night I had the pleasure of attending an opening at Paul Kasmin Gallery of some astounding new work by artist, and long time friend Walton Ford. If you aren’t familiar with his work it is best described as James Audobon with a level of social commentary and graphic sexual undertones. His new paintings titled “I don’t like to look at him, Jack” which are giant 9 foot by 12 foot watercolors capturing the emotions of King Kong. The detail of these pieces and the rendering of the facial expressions is exquisite. The show will be running through December 23rd if you are in New York City you should pop over to Chelsea and check it out.
Hand painted murals are making a serious comeback, and I am loving all of them. This one sponsored by the Highlands Commerce Guild in Louisville Kentucky is bad ass. A true collaboration took place on this one with the design coming from Bryan Patrick Todd, and the sign painting was done by Kirby Stafford.
(via PUBLIC SCHOOL »)
Andy Luce aka Visual Armory created this amazing hand painted sign for the client New Express Muffler & Brake. The the final product is beautiful, and is only made better by the fun Instagram process shots.
(via Pitch Design Union »)
I saw this video a few months, but after watching it for a second time I realized how much I love the ingenuity behind it. Such a smart mechanism applied to street art could only come from a genius creator like Akay. Robo Rainbow is part of a collection of objects designed by the Swedish street artist called instruments of mass destruction.
“instruments of mass destruction (complicated technical solution to aide in simple acts of vandalism)”
The illustration work of Raphael Vicenzi has such an amazing depth of palette and the layer of textures to create form is really intense. Not to mention he has some great line drawing and hand drawn type thrown in for fair measure. You can check out more of his great work on his Behance profile.
Pin-striping is one of those arts that I could never fully wrap my head around. Just like hand drawn type it takes perfectly steady hands and an ability to visualize and execute an end product. Part of the beauty of this style of painting is how the imperfections blend into the overall beauty of a completed pin-striping work. These decks were done by Ryan Lange of Lost Garage and Code of Conduct two pretty cool sites creating fresh original content in the motorcycle, tattoo, skateboarding sphere.
Painter Brett Amory has got some serious chops. The way in which he captures and slightly alters potentially mundane subject matter is astonishing. He also has a very interesting eye and approach to painting light and color, which gives his paintings an extremely graphic quality. Many of pieces walk a unique line between being hyper realistic and surreal all at the same time.
(via Surfstation »)
Painter Catherine Ryan’s work has so much depth and is charged with some unique social criticism. Despite the extremely 2D collage style of her compositions they achieve great depth and texture. She has a great knack for distilling character’s down into their simplest form. The way she presents people as faceless, but animals as having faces is interesting. I am not quite sure what to make of it, but I like it.
(via The Best Part »)
Spanish illustrator Maria Corte harnesses bright colors and unique shapes to create these compositions that bring up memories of seeing a Picasso piece for the first time. Her eye and methods for visual communication really set her apart.
(via grain edit »)
Most of the design and creative community has been obsessed with sign painting and hand lettering for a while now. It can more or less be attributed to the back to craft mentality and movement that seems to be inundating all forms of art.
I have not been spared, but on a personal level I find sign painting very nostalgic and it reminds me of my own childhood. For a few years when I was pretty young, no older than seven or eight, my dad made immaculate carved wood and hand painted signs as a way of subsidizing his woodworking business. I would often travel with him on the job and get to watch while he sketched, taped and finally painted a sign.
This specific sign painter Jacky Georges is obviously a skilled veteran and hold over from the generation before vinyl die-cuts and quick crappy window solutions. Work like this is a craft, it takes time to make, but because of that it lasts both physically and aesthetically.
(via excavation by spoonfuls »)
Peter Vogel operates a super cool business, of which I am infinitely jealous, in Portland Oregon called Nutmegger Workshop. Basically what they do is create reproduction and historically accurate hand painted signs. Their work is extremely tactile and definitely brings you back to a time when painted signs clothed the landscape of towns and cities alike. The vernacular typography and hand painting techniques of sign painters seem to be in full resurgence right now, and I am really digging it.
(via Quipsologies »)
