Different Strokes with Artist Jacqui Oakley

Art | 06 September 2012

This gorgeous rendering of Dior Couture opened the door for me unto the prolific workings of Canadian illustrator Jacqui Oakley. Published in a long list of books and magazines, Jacqui’s work pairs inky brushstrokes with explosive color combos, and sensual contours.

Her website is also one of the most fun I’ve seen, with dozens of colorful thumbnails that reveal full shots of the work and plenty of in-process photos for some serious behind-the-scenes gratification.

An in-process photo of the above illustration, which was used to promote Earth Day on Aol.

(photos courtesy of jacquioakley.com)

Street Stone: Turning Stone Statues Into Stone Cold Foxes

Art | 21 August 2012

by Annie

And here I thought Photoshop was just for fixing zits… That’s right, artists Léo Caillard and Alexis Persani didn’t actually sneak into the Louvre and carefully style these centuries-old statues. I’ll let you in on a little secret: Caillard came up with the concept, photographed the statues themselves, then dressed his friends in the outifts you see below, and posed them to look just like our friends in stone have been standing for all these years. That’s where Alexis Persani provides his magical retouching skills to take Caillard’s models out and carefully “dress” the classics in the latest casual menswear. The result: Street Stone. It was about time these guys had a little wardrobe intervention, am I right?

Kaleidoscopic Eden: Illustration by Artist Bozka

Art | 14 August 2012

by Sienna

Living and working in Warsaw, Poland, artist Bozka (short for Bozena Rydlewska) uses a masterful technique that combines both digital drawing and handmade collage elements to illustrate beautiful, botanically based imagery. Bold colors play out into even bolder scenes, capturing a kaleidoscopic Eden, and a gathering place for the super-natural world.

(images courtesy of bozka.com)

Your Favorite Movies in Miniature by Murat Palta

Art | 08 August 2012

by Annie

Turkish artist Murat Palta knows his classics: Ottoman miniature and cult. This incredible collection, which he calls “Classic Movies in Miniature Style”, is his senior thesis, “an experiment to blend traditional ‘oriental’ (Ottoman) motifs and contemporary ‘western’ cinema.” These amazing hybrids take characters we know all too well, and place them in the stories that made them memorable, but reimagined in the miniature style, and with a few Ottoman-inspired twists… Check out The Bride’s new catsuit (below), or the slow motion car scene from Inception as an even-slower-motion carriage dive.

(Kill Bill)

Pattern Play: the Art of Rachel Kaye

Art | 01 August 2012

by Sienna

Introducing San Francisco-based artist, Rachel Kaye!

Pictured above and below are two of Rachel’s geometric glitter sculptures. Rachel gathers inspiration from fashion designers and textile design, inventing rhythmic patterns that completely colonize her 2D and 3D surfaces.

Her glitter sculptures are so wildly surfaced that upon first glance you may not notice the carefully constructed silhouettes of the irregular columns. Beautiful!