Artist - David Walker and Vhils

Beautiful street art in an abandoned school in Portugal.

“I was recently invited by Vhils to Lisbon as a guest painter at the annual VSP (Visual Street Performance) show. VSP is an annual live painting event which takes place in the Portuguese cities of Porto and Lisbon. This year VSP took over a huge semi-derelict school in the heart of Lisbon to be decorated by a host of Portuguese talent, including Vhils, Hium, Klit, Mosaik and more. I spent an amazing 5 days there painting, meeting all the crew, eating great seafood and talking to some very passionate and inspiring artists and art lovers.”

David Walker

VSP's Website

Random - Surprised Cat

Then...




(thanks Lucy)

Artist - Minni Havas

Very smart pencil drawings by Finish illustrator Minni Havas. This one is probably one of my favorites.

Minni's Gallery

Music Video - You've Got The Love

Yeah....

Artist - Joshua Petker

I'm not usually impressed by paintings (that quite a generalization actually) but sometimes they just speak to me. So I can't really explain why but I really like LA-based Joshua Petker's work, not that they aren't simply beautiful of course.

Joshua's Gallery

Meet the Illustrators - Wonman Kim

A new addition to the Meet the Illustrators series, an interview with multi-talented illustrator and designer Wonman Kim.

1. What is Illustration for you, in the general sense of the term?

I dare say illustration is part of my life. Looking back on my childhood I used to like to draw something and show it to everybody. It has always been a very natural behavior for me. Now, it is fantastic to be making illustrations as a graphic designer, book illustrator and/or concept designer.

2. Why/when did you start 'illustrating' (personally and/or professionally)?

I liked drawing and illustrating since my childhood. I studied a Ba in Business at college so I am basically a self-taught artist (I was influenced by my elder brother, who studied Fine Art in college). I began my career in 1998 as a key animator in an Animation studio, which I did for 2 years. I then moved on to a Gaming company where I worked as a character and BG designer. I also did a couple of illustrations for children books and novel covers. Now I am working as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. Sometimes, I'd make various t-shirt and toy designs on the side.

3. When considering illustration, there seems to be a fine line between design and fine art. Where do you think your personal practice stands and why?

I think my practice stands closer to design that fine art. Maybe it's because i emphasize more on how attractive the product will be. I think that design are made more for the point of view of the customer than the artists.

4. How do you see the future of Illustration?

 I think the future of illustration will be more diversified and specialized. Many illustrators will have to explore new fields of illustrations and more new and exciting media.

Artist - Fernando Forero

Beautiful illustrations by artist Fernando Forero. I especially like his Black Book: The Emotional Bestiary project, the creature design is simply amazing.

Forero's Behance

Work in Progress - Sundance Channel [GLASS]

Here are a couple of rough sketches/ideas for this animation we're doing for the Sundance Channel's station IDs. We had three separate ideas to begin with.

Artist - Patryck Kuleta

Some very detailed and huge drawings by polish artist Patryck Kuleta. Be sure to check out the rest of his work, too.

Patryck's Behance

Music Video - Cannonball

I haven't listened to his music in probably about two years but seems like the cycle is starting again..

Artist - Alexis Marcou

Very particular style by illustrator Alexis Marcou. And his website is quite well designed, definitely worth having a look.

Alexis's Website

Advertising - The History of ASICS

Beautiful origami animation telling the story of ASICS..


Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

Work in Progress - Pop (2)

Finally it's here, the first version of the Somebody Told Me animation!!!!


The Magic Lantern - Somebody Told Me (Version 1) from Nathan Gotlib on Vimeo.

Work in Progress - Graf Zeppelin

A 4 color print I did illustrating the Zeppelin (and one of the most iconic disasters in its aviation history).

Artist - Vasco Mourao

Impressively detailed drawings by spanish illustrator Vasco Mourao. Most of his drawings are actually huge, some even 3m long!

Vasco's Gallery

Work in Progress - Pop

For our latest university project we had to create a music video for a band we had to approach.
We ended up getting in touch with The Magic Lantern, a lovely London-based instrumental band, and are now making an animation for their song Somebody Told Me.

Here are a couple of my sketches for the animation, which I'll post here once it's done with!

(with special thanks to Hana Schwarz for the ink finish!)

Work in Progress - Sex, Drugs & Rock n' Roll

First rough of this poster I am doing.. Really like how the letterpress turned out, still wondering if I want to use color and what process I want the eventual poster to be in (screen printed or digital).

Artist - Ryan Hurley

That typography just did it for me... Some really interesting work by London-based designer Ryan Hurley.

Ryan Hurley

Random - Behind the Scenes

You do wonder why there aren't more photographs of things like that...

Behind the Scenes - Photographs

Advertising - Ninja Gaiden

Simply genius..

Artist - Tom Gauld

Always been a fan of his work. Simple and funny illustrations, they're always pleasant and amusing to look at. His latest letter-pressed poster looks really cool, too!

Gauld's Website

Artist - Audrey Kawasaki

Amazingly talented illustrator Audrey Kawasaki has this style.. All her work is simple, beautifully drawn and colored. Most of her last paintings have been on wood, which gives a really nice texture to the illustrations. Even though though the style is recurring in her work, all the illustrations are unique.

Audrey's Website

Advertising - Guiness 'Bring it to Life'

Amazing new advert by Guiness...

Random - Modern Movie Posters

I was looking through the My Modern Met archives and came across this lovely series of posters. Instead of bombarding us with information about all the aspects of the films the posters concentrate on a specific experience or striking scene.

Advertising - CCTV

Beautiful ad for CCTV in China.

CCTV Ink TV Commercial - Directed by Niko Tziopanos from Troublemakers.tv on Vimeo.

Artist - Laurie Hill

We were shown this very nice animation by Laurie Hill for the Getty Images Sweet Film Challenge in our seminar group today talking about the theme of the re-appropriation of images. The rest of the seminar was also quite interesting, but this video is simply amazing.

Artist - Georgie Grie

I've seen his work before and stumbled upon him again so I figure it's about time I post about his work. I've always been a big fan of fantasy both in literature and in art and his digital paintings are quite breathtaking.

 Georgie's Profile

Artist - Nuno Da Costa

Glamorous illustrations by London based self-taught artist Nuno Da Costa.

Nuno's Profile

On a side note: I was looking for an official website and came across this. It isn't the same artist but for some reason there are like 3 Nuno Da Costa's with online portfolio's.

Artist - Peter Sebastien

Nice typographical poster based on subliminal messages by Peter Sebastien.

Word Boner

Music Video - Use Somebody

Time for another weird cover...

Exhibition - Anish Kapoor // Jonas Burgert

A small uni field-trip on thursday brought us to the RCA and its surroundings, so first off was the Anish Kapoor exhibition. Walking through the exhibition almost every single room gave me a head ache, but in a good way. The work is just too impressive. When you're standing in front of this huge square of yellow on the wall with a massive sort of dent in it, you really feel small. All in all the sculptures were all quite interesting and one of the things that struck me the most was a quote from the artist:

"I have often said that I have nothing to say as an artist. Having something to say implies that one is struggling with meaning. The role of the artist is in fact that we don't know what to say, and it is that not knowing that leads to the work."

For more information about Anish Kapoor, I would recommend checking out his page on Artsy. Huge database!

Another exhibition we went to see was that of Jonas Burgert, at the Venison. His paintings were huge, extremely detailed and colorful. All his work has this narrative feel to it: he explores the darkest and most frightening parts of the human mind accentuated by his usage of bright and vivid colors in conjunction with the inhuman scenery.

Artist - Greg Simkins

Impressive paintings by American artist Greg Simkins. It's quite nice to see the evolution from the sketches in the Drawings section to the actual paintings.

I'm Scared

Artist - Stella Im Hultberg

"Somewhere, deep down, identity is something I always base my works from, not just self-identity, but identity as life as well. I still believe that most of us spend our lives figuring out what it is that we're living for. Dealing closely with death and injury makes you realize the frailty of identity and life... Just that one moment you can fully exist and the next you can be gone" -Stella Im Hultberg


I personally really like her style. Her work awakes some form of melancholy in me, probably due to how personal it is..

On a side-note: great website, My Modern Met.

Stella's Profile

Random - 'Richard Wiseman'

A friend of mine very nicely thought of me and sent me the following file. Do check it out it's amazing!

Music Video - Hearts a Mess

Lovely new video by Gotye. I particularly like the way the spider spins night around the earth...

Artist - Wonman Kim

I quite like the colors he uses. He has a very varied style, so be sure to check out other work on his blog.

Kim's Blog

Artist - Tim Bollinger

Impressive short film...

Between from Via Grafik on Vimeo.

Artist - Stephan Balleux

Belgian born artist Stephan Balleux has a very defined technique in his paintings. Quite dark..

Stephan's Gallery

Artist - Stephen Wiltshire

Simply mind-blowing. I can't really comprehend how someone can do this... He spent 20 minutes on a helicopter and then started drawing the skyline from memory.

Stephen's Gallery

Anime- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The anime I am currently following, surprisingly good. The story line is very weird, but once you get into it you really want to know where it's going. What I particularly like about it the humanity of the characters, the way they behave (the character psychology, basically). And the opening and end video are really catchy...

Exhibition - Pop Life: Art in a Material World

Before celebrating Halloween my flat mates and I went to see the much talked about exhibition at the Tate Modern. I had heard a lot of criticism about it but I thought I should form my own opinion and I must say I was positively surprised. The exhibition is very pleasantly curated, very informative and surprisingly inspirational (for me it was at least) and is definitely worth the £11 concession. The whole exhibition is based on pop culture , like its name implies, and explores the most provocative and influential pieces of the 21st century ranging from Andy Warhol to Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons. Because I recently developed a vast interest in pop culture for my recent projects I enjoyed every bit of the exhibition, it's quite the eye opener. Here are the/my high-lights:

Koons' iconic Rabbit never fails to impress me with it's simplicity and genius. Even more interesting were the pieces from his Made in Heaven series, a collection of art works in different media depicting himself having sex with hungarian porn star and politician Iona, based on the celebrity age we live in today.

On the same subject comes Richard Princes' Spiritual America IV and Takashi Murakamis' collection of work about modern Japan. Their work is a brilliant reference for an idea I've had for a personal project, something I will concentrate on as soon as I find the time (I am constantly collecting references, images and information on the subject, which is - very broadly described - today's pop and celebrity culture and the illusion-lifestyle it creates. If anyone has seen a piece of work or article that links to that subject please feel free to email it to me - illustratemyday.mail@gmail.com!).

Another personally interesting part of the exhibition was Keith Haring's Pop Shop room, along with a couple of his prints. I've always felt a strong connection to his work because my earliest art-related memory is of me going to see an exhibition of his work in Knokke, Belgium, sitting there for two days in a row trying to draw the different pieces of work displayed.

A technically interesting part of the exhibition was the first part, Warhol's legacy.

For some obscure reason I have never really thought about mixing my silk screen printing inks with things like diamond dust (Gem). Displayed in addition the Gem series are quite a few celebrity portraits and promotional films Warhol made.

Besides the 'obvious' big names, the gallery included a couple of very impressive work by artists previously unknown to me. Most notable ones in this category would be Martin Kippenberg's Martin is Great, Tremendous, Fabulous, Everything and Peter Nagy's Est Graduate. I found both pieces to be visually very pleasing.

On a side-note:

 

It is impossible for me not to mention the Tate Modern's new installation: How It Is by Miroslaw Balka.

If you can, be sure to pass by the Tate to experience this weird installation, the feeling you get is pretty hard to describe.