Rune Fisker’s illustrations are vignettes of a curious and surreal land. The blank and emotionless faces of his characters add a dose of mystery to his dreamlike landscapes full of leafy vegetation, flying household items, and geometric accents. By depicting just glimpses of each narrative, he creates scenes that are enticingly ambiguous and bound to spark the viewer’s imagination.
A world traveler who has lived in numerous countries, Magoz, is a self-described “nomadic illustrator” currently based in Madrid. His portfolio is a colorful collection of highly conceptual and minimal pieces made up of simple shapes and eccentric characters. He often posts his work on his blog where he also shares artistic advice and the knowledge he’s gained during his travels. He is currently in the process of creating Illustrator’s Essentials, an online workshop inspired by questions readers have left on his blog. His course will give helpful insights how to be an efficient professional illustrator.
By mixing bristled textures with vibrant neon colors, concept artist, Juliette Oberndorfer, creates woodland landscapes that glow with mysticism. The enchanting, yet mysterious air of her work stems from her stark contrasting of darks and lights as well as the distance she places between her characters and her audience. To take a look at her storyboards and animated work, check out her Vimeo and Tumblr.
By racking up a list of impressive clients like MTV and Wired, Swedish illustrator, Sara Andreasson, is bringing female empowerment to major audiences. Utilizing traditionally feminine color pallets, she depicts strong characters that don’t conform to traditional ideas of dainty femininity. Her figures ooze confidence as their unconventional clothing and proudly worn body hair stand out in front of minimal backdrops. She portrays women of all backgrounds and body shapes by using irregular skin colors, like blues and reds, and accentuating their curves with thick bright highlights. In addition to her illustrations, she promotes her message of feminism and individualism by editing BBY Magazine, a publication she co-founded to create a community for female and queer artists and writers.
Thomas Danthony is a French illustrator and designer based in London. His cunning use of light and shadow, combined with his characters’ concealed faces give his compositions a mysterious and sometimes eerie aura. This mystifying mood also lingers into his personal work which often centers around the theme of travel, the romance of going on a journey, and how time can affect our memories of the places we’ve visited.
From typography to architecture, here are a few of our finds from our Instagram feed.
At first glance, Kyle Platts’ work is as colorful and playful as a Schoolhouse Rock! segment, but taking a closer look might make you blush. As seen in his monthly comic, Vibe Consultant, and his book, Megaskull, Platts utilizes absurd characters and dark slapstick humor to point out societal follies. His more lighthearted illustrations can be seen within his collaborations with Moog Music and the Sydney Opera House. To take a look at his daily sketches and animated work check out his Tumblr and Instagram.
Sam Chivers describes his art as veering “towards that blurry border point between science and nature”. Brimming with fluid topographic lines and colored pencil-like strokes and textures, he creates landscapes filled with blooming foliage and glowing floating interfaces. His desire to constantly fuse nature with technology has built a portfolio that has attracted clients like Adobe and New Scientist. To keep up with his work, make sure to follow him on Twitter.
Ray Oranges is a Florence-based designer whose work has caught the eye of Wired, Monocle, and Creative Review. Focusing on the shapes of his subjects rather than their details, he abstracts architecture and landscapes to create artful and geometric pieces. His extreme minimalism, mixed with his calculated use of negative space and long shadows, gives his portfolio a surreal and dreamlike quality. To keep up with his work and architectural inspiration, make sure to follow him on Instagram.
Dan Woodger is a London based illustrator who uses pastel color palettes and black outlines to create eccentric scenes that are bound to make you chuckle. His portfolio of highly expressive characters has helped him land editorial and advertising collaborations with The New York Times, Heineken, and Google. I am especially impressed with his work for the messaging app LINE, in which he crafted 1000 unique emojis in 10 weeks. To keep up with his work and read his personal insights on each of his projects, make sure to follow his blog and Instagram.
