Andrew Lincoln Nelson is a Tuscon-based artist who makes surrealistic graphite drawings which feature otherworldly, inorganic organisms set in desolate landscapes. His award-winning works have been displayed in numerous art…
The pandemic has been a difficult experience for many, and while we are all learning to adapt to the new normal, it's important that we don't lose our sense of…
Danny van Ryswyk (NSFW) is an Amsterdam-based digital painter, who creates dark and surreal art using 3D software. Drawing upon the photography of the 19th century as a stylistic inspiration, Ryswyk’s paintings are a fusion of the absurd, the melancholic, and Victorian portraiture. Peering into the looking glass that are his works opens up a Lovecraftian dimension to us, or in his own words, “the idea of a reality that exists outside the range of science’s ability to explain or measure.”
Ryswyk creates his works inside a digital environment, in a painstaking process which can take weeks, if not months to finish.
He starts building each piece using complex 3D-modeling software for use in movies, games and the animation industry. In this stage all subjects are meticulously sculpted from the ground up as if they where made of clay. These sculptures will then be imported in rendering software where he creates organic textures like flesh and fabrics which he applies to his models, bringing them to life. Decors are created, environmental lighting and elaborate illusions are set-up, just as it would be done in a theatre to create the dark dreamy atmosphere Danny van Ryswyk is aiming for. The staged scene will then be rendered to a 2D image and finally painted and further refined until the work is finished.
Ryswyk has an upcoming group exhibition on the 20th and 21st of April, 2013, at the Hoekkunst gallery in the Netherlands. Visit his site to check out more of his digital art (NSFW).
Hit the jump to see more images.
Sophia Loren Simpson, 25” x 12”, 2012
Abraham Lincoln, 12” x 12”, 2012
Two new surreal paintings by Mario Soria, a genuinely talented artist from Barcelona, Spain. Mario, whose works have been regularly featured on JazJaz, taught himself to paint by studying the works of artists like Velazquez, Rembrandt and Leonardo Da Vinci.
Hit the jump to see more images of the paintings.
These dark and surreal illustrations were created by Cédric De Smedt, a 19 year old student artist based in Brussels, Belgium. Working under the nom de plume, Chute De Strings (or CDS), Cédric is also the creator and writer of a musical/artistic blog [slightly NSFW].
Cédric says,
Drawing as well as writing, I’m evolving into a very dark and bitter universe, where emptiness is almost oppressive and where time seems to have stopped. Each of my pieces tells a story, certainly disconcerting but always including a certain form of truth. I like playing with the onlooker in the meanings of my work. Death, love, God or even madness are the main themes of my illustrations. Even if those themes are quite frequent, I will always try to surprise the one looking at my works while offering new perceptions on these.
You can check out more of his artworks on Flickr [NSFW].
Hit the jump to see some select illustrations from his portfolio.
‘Animal Landing’ is a series of whimsical, but richly-symbolic artworks by Italian artist Mr. Klevra, which was recently exhibited at the Dorothy Circus Gallery, in Rome, Italy.
The artist has carefully chosen his animal subjects for their unique characteristics, or rather for what they represent to human beings. This modern day Noah’s ark of animal astronauts have landed on the moon, accompanied by things that we subconsciously associate them with in our minds. The animals have transformed the pallid grey environment of the moon into the Garden of Eden with their bright colors. They are free to adapt, to learn and to create, far away from a world of hate.
Mr.Klevra was born in Rome, where he currently lives and works. While he started out as a street artist, he is equally at ease creating art using classical painting techniques, for which he credits his completion of an art course in Byzantine iconography. A man of many artistic talents, he also recently designed this custom Mickey Mouse vinyl toy for the Disney Expo in Singapore.
Link to Mr.Klevra’s site.
Hit the jump to check out the rest of the paintings and a sculpture from the ‘Animal Landing’ series.
Los Angeles-based animator, artist and illustrator, Matthew Wade’s brilliant artwork is reminiscent of the edgy and bizarre fare that was featured in the MTV of the late ‘80s to the early ’90s, especially on shows like MTV Oddities and Liquid Television.
Matthew says his work can be loosely described as pop/modern/‘90s surrealism, but slotting it in any single genre (as with most great art), would be a huge disservice to it.
Matthew was trained in classical animation, something which is reflected to an extent in his work. He counts pop culture, The Simpsons, and, of course, early ’90s MTV as his major influences.
Link to Matthew Wade’s site (NSFW).
Hit the jump to see more artwork, and a short animated film titled “Krawll.”
It was quite a difficult task for me to pick only a few select images from Rafael Silveira’s portfolio. His paintings and illustrations are that good!
A lot of his works are phantasmagorical in nature. His acrylic and oil paintings, he says, “mixes a classical atmosphera with contemporary techniques and subjects.” And indeed, popular cartoon characters rub shoulders with pin-up-esque femme fatales, and his subjects exist in a lush, symbolically-rich world of their own.
Rafael Silveira lives and works in Curitiba, Brazil. You can buy original artworks and prints at his online store.
Link to his site.
Hit the jump to check out some must-see artwork by the artist.
I’ve fallen in love with the wonderfully-surreal art of Kevin Titzer, an artist from Evansville, Indiana, now based in Quebec, Canada. He says that most of his works are carved from found wood, and recycled materials. Titzer also curates themed art shows, which derive inspiration from songs of music artists like They Might Be Giants and The Pixies.
Titzer has an ongoing exhibition “Ghost of a Chance,” at the Thinkspace Art Gallery in Culver City, CA. This fantastic show, which began on May 21st, will be soon be ending on June 4th.
Check out more images, and a promo video for the exhibition, after the jump.