Posts Tagged ‘dark’
Noir Princesses
Disney characters are so ubiquitous in today’s popular culture that they are sometimes the subject of a less wholesome narrative (as seen here and here). In his series Noir Princesses, San Diego-based illustrator/artist Astor Alexander explores Disney princesses in a darker light. These highly stylized portraits harken back to mystery novels and films of the…
Read MoreLamp Triggers Storm Through Trump Tweets
French artist/industrial designer known only as Parse/Error recently created an object that is both beautiful and troubling all at the same time. At face value, the Political Lamp is an aesthetically appealing decor piece… a lovely cylindrical dome housing a curious cloud. But behind this facade is a much darker reality, an intentional and well-conceived…
Read MoreCoffee-Stained Portraiture of Alessandra Maria
In honor of National Coffee Day, we thought it fitting to showcase an artist who (subtly) uses the magical brown elixir to make art. Maui-based mixed-media artist Alessandra Maria creates beautifully detailed, dark and delicate portraits using little more than a pencil, black ink and gold leaf on coffee-stained paper. Inspired by Austrian symbolist painter…
Read More“Painting” with Packing Tape
We’ve seen art created from a wide variety of media, but nothing quite like this. As a matter of fact, if you had to guess how these were created just by looking at them, you’d probably have a hard time figuring it out. Relying on little more than brown packing tape, an Xacto and the…
Read MoreThese Are Not Photos: Incredibly Realistic Paintings by Joel Rea
Hyper-realistic drawing and painting is an incredible skill that really gives us pause. Especially in the age of high resolution cameras on just about everyone’s phone, and the proliferation of Photoshop-aided art. We sort of take realistic and surrealistic views for granted, but when we look at super-realistic art done by hand, like the work…
Read MoreAnimeyed: Self-Portraits with a Twist
It wasn’t long ago we featured the work of Hungarian photographer/artist Flora Borsi. Once again, Borsi brings a certain edginess to the art of digital manipulation. While retouching can sometimes be seen as gratuitous, Borsi elevates photo-manipulation to an art form. Her work is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. In her latest series of self-portraits she…
Read MoreRISE of the Jack O'Lanterns
Pumpkin carving can really be an art. It seems that over the past few years, the bar has been raised. The traditional jack-o’-lantern has given way to intricate masterpieces. RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns is a consortium of expert carvers who join efforts to put on incredible displays of over 5,000 hand-carved illuminated jack-o’-lantern in New…
Read MoreThe Mystical Mind of Christopher J
A glimpse inside the mind of young, California-based photographer Christopher J Rivera reveals a dark, dream-like world of fantasy. Rivera employs a really effective narrative, both written and visual, to advance his concepts. His use of Photoshop is particularly notable… he really applies it in a way that is very purposeful, and does not seem…
Read MoreSuperhero Silhouettes
San Francisco-based designer/illustrator Khoa Ho explores the past and present of some notable superheroes in this terrific series. The minimal, monochromatic style gives them some gravitas appropriate to the subject matter. In his own words, Ho says “I took a dive into the origins of these individuals and who they were before they became superheroes…
Read MoreSuperhero Noir by Marko Manev
This is some superhero art like we’ve never seen. Macedonia-based designer/illustrator/artist Marko Manev’s black and white depictions of select superheros really capture something special. While we’ve all seen appropriately colorful superhero portrayals, this series explores a darker side, and with phenomenal results. We really love his style, which is a refreshing departure from typical fan…
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