"...There are, however, some designers and even clients who insist that the public deserve and will respond to much higher standards in graphics. They are convinced, as Charlie Chaplin was convinced, that the best way to entertain the public is to first entertain oneself."
This year, Wolverine celebrated his 35th anniversary — even though he is famed to be a lot older than that, he fought in the first world war, remember? Anyway, Marvel pulled a nice one, producing a lot of covers with Wolverine as if he were drawn by some of the most fameous artists in history: Van Gogh, Klimt, Utamaro, Dali and many more. Read more about it here: Wolverine Art Appreciation Month.
I can’t help but feel envy each time I see an asian artist that manages to express so well and so differently the light’s glow and its playfulness, nature’s vast array of colours, the shadows in their multitude of tints and shades, the feel of tranquility while looking around on a simple, normal day. All I know is her name, Jun, from the blog ii-ne-kore. Her website is in japanese, and sadly, in spite of the tons of anime that I’ve watched to this day, I still can’t read or speak the language :) But little does that matter, all you have to do is admire her work—no words are necessary.
Mr. Charlie Allen, an old time illustrator (born the same year as my grandpa, 1922), shows some wonderful work, along with some interesting stories from the times when everything was made in the good old fashioned way: by hand.
Looks nice, right? Well, it’s a “sketchnote”, a quick drawing while Mike Rohde opend up his iPhone 3GS package (more photos on his flickr). Sketchnotes seem to be more efficient (not to mention, a lot more pleasing to the eye) than regular notes. Associations Now Magazine decided to let Mike design his interview on the subject, titled “Are you a visual thinker?”. You can view Mike’s design process here. Here are some images for apetizers—can’t help but admire his hand-drawn type:
Later edit:
Mike’s posted the PDF of the entire article, thanks to many requests. Get it from here.
Seung Ho Henrik Holmberg — just one swedish guy goes under all these names :) — has some beautiful concept art and matte paintings (photography too, if you browse through his website). He manages to play with light easily, creating moods in most of his work, inspiring the viewer with different feelings or sensations regarding his depicted worlds. I especially love falling into his “countryside” painting — you can get a larger version for your desktop here.
