Oz Painters

I don't think there's a general art thread here, aside from some older topics on street art like Banksy etc. So I thought i'd kick one off.

But anyone who comes across awesome or inspiring art, illustrations, sculpture, design feel free to post in here - I find looking at this sort of thing very inspirational not just for trying out art myself, but for my own mini painting..

So to start, here's some pieces of one of my favourite artists of all time: James Jean.

He does what would be classed as 'lowbrow' art, having started in comics (he's famous for his Eisener winning covers for Vertigo's "Fables" comic), and branching into commercial illustration (Prada, Sony, Nike) and has 'retired' from illustration to focus on his own art.

His use of colour, composition and the detail along with the surrealism present in many of his works really just captures me. I could look at his stuff for hours and would love to one day own an original piece (if i could afford it!).

Website: http://www.jamesjean.com & http://www.processrecess.com

Sample of some of his work:

Hare:


Prada 'Bloom' #1:


Fables #74 Cover:


Crayon Eater:


Fables #76 Cover:


Grenache (Triptych):


Target (Commercial work):


Swan (from his 'Kindling' exhibit):

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-Sean
shadesofgray | Little Gonzales

YES! Sean, I have a feeling that this is gonna be a good thread. I actually had something similar in mind when I was walking around the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York. I think this will be a good idea to post up some cool artworks from around the world.

I dont have much time to post much at the moment... but when I get back to Oz, I will be posting up some of my faves, Rembrant, Carravagio, David. so watch out. Also there are some really cool stuff on ConceptArt.org and other new style art.

Thanks Sean for starting this thread, but starting it is only half the battle, it needs to be updated. Good luck!

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Haha I know what you mean Kyle
Well i find myself browing art sites more often than mini sites (terrible i know!) so I'll be trying to add what I can to this to keep it rolling There's such a big wide world out there for cool designs, ideas, uses of colour in the greater art world which can provide some incredible inspiration when it comes to mini painting..

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-Sean
shadesofgray | Little Gonzales

Another of my favourite artists - Ashley Wood. These are some snippets of a gallery show he's got in Hong Kong (6th - 13th Nov) along with some other artists. (http://www.threeasonline.com)










Ashley has a site and a blog: http://www.ashleywoodartist.com/ & http://ashleybambaland.blogspot.com/

Some of his work can be a little graphic, so I wouldn't recommend all his stuff for kids. But there's great dark, expressionistic work that he's got. I love the movement and roughness of a lot of his work. To me, this says that you don't have to produce a technically 'perfect' piece in all areas to get a fantastic impression or effect (something i'm trying to keep in mind when painting minis).

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-Sean
shadesofgray | Little Gonzales

The Deviant Art website is a good source of inspiration. The first two images are by Radojavor.


This one is called nimbus by antifan_real

The one below is by Philip Straub

And finally Tears of a distant sun by ukitakumuki

I love the sense of scale in those, especially in the last one (Tears of a distant sun)..

deviantart is great for inspiration

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-Sean
shadesofgray | Little Gonzales

Rogies

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Guild of Harmony

Yep - cool Idea for a thread for sure.

Deviantart IS a great source of inspiration, so are some of the online gallery websites. Visiting them in person is of course the ultimate, but not everyone gets tha chance to visit the Met or the Louvre or the Tate. Can we put 'Mildly Interesting Art of Our Own' on this thread too? I'm sure it would be interesting to see some of each others stuff!

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I paint, therefore I am.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/artist/wereweevil

Art is art, as long as there's a point of interest about it and you'd like to share it then I don't see why not.. as long as you're happy to perhaps talk a bit about it or explain what you find fascinating or if it's your own art - what you were trying to achieve or produce, go for it

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-Sean
shadesofgray | Little Gonzales

Cool - well I'll put a painting of my late grandfather up that I did last year. It's black and white in acrylic and lifesize, done from a small old photo of him during WWII. I gave it to my grandmother as a present as she said she always wished she had something I had done for her to hang on the wall.

It was a big learning curve for me as I've never done a portrait before (unless you count doing a slaaneshi rhino with a giger inspired face on it... ). I know it's no masterpiece, but it meant a lot to paint it and give it away as my grandfather meant a great deal to me and seeing it never ceases to bring back good memories.

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I paint, therefore I am.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/artist/wereweevil

This thread is going to be good, i can just feel it . I'm a bit surprised that this hasn't appeared before come to think of it. I actually feel a little more cultured after seeing some of the pictures in the first post.

wereweevil, very nice work on the portrait.

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Blog | My CMON Gallery | Twitter

thats a wonderful portrait wereweevil, and it means alot to you too which is a real plus.

i havent painted much, this was my first portrait, it was of another classmate.

I cant draw anything out of my head, i just draw what i see.

People say i have a good style going for me.

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Yo dawg i heard yo and yo dawg like yo yos so we put yo dawg in a yo yo so yo can yo yo yo dawg while yo dawg yo yos dawg.

prisoner of my own by shimoda7

DA has some wonderful art on there.

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Yo dawg i heard yo and yo dawg like yo yos so we put yo dawg in a yo yo so yo can yo yo yo dawg while yo dawg yo yos dawg.

@Marcus>
That would have really been an incredible learning curve painting a portrait.. I think you've probably done your grandparents very proud with that work - i can see some real character and personality in his face - well done! Realism is not easy to capture and I think you've done a great job.

Did it take you a long time to do?

@Kojak> Love it.. Reminds me of that Escher piece with the two hands drawing each other

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OK here's some stuff by an artist called Kathie Olivas, who does sculpture and painting and has been producing some collectable toys (The Scavengers):

Kathie Olivas - Stowaway


Kathie Olivas - Hazel Study and Baptism

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-Sean
shadesofgray | Little Gonzales

Great thread. I love "art of movie" books and as a result I have quite a few in my library. I find a lot of the concept art is great for inspiration when it comes to painting my miniatures. A friend of mine only just sent me this link to a concept art website today, so great timing with starting the thread.
http://conceptartworld.com/

And a couple of samples from the website.




And I just loved the alien technology from District 9