These amazingly realistic portraits were rendered in chalk and graphite by Scottish artist Paul Cadden. Apparently, he specializes in faces with lots of wrinkles personality. Shades of gray never looked so good!

Link –via BuzzFeed

I guess size doesn’t matter when it comes to messing with Tintin. Illustrator Mike Holmes created this piece for an exhibit called Toronto Draws Tintin, running from November 2-27 at the Beguling. These guys must have been talking trash about Tintin’s mother!

Link

His subject matter may be a bit strange, as he draws everything from ALF to Italian soccer players, but Denis Medri’s illustrative style is full of energy, and his playful use of color and construction lines add a hand rendered warmth to the drawings that really bring the characters to life. Follow the link to his DeviantArt page and you can see more illustrations from an artist with some serious range.

Link -via ComicsAlliance

Ryan Kelly’s illustrations have been pleasing eyeballs for many years, in titles, such as DMZ and Northlanders, which appeal to mature readers. But what would our favorite spandex clad superfolk look like if Kelly drew them? Head on over to his blog and see what Ryan draws in his spare time.

Link -via ComicsAlliance

Somewhere between video game concept art and stylish fashion design plates, these X-Men redesigns give our favorite mutant super team a futuristic edge that demands respect. Check out David’s DeviantArt page and see the world of video games and comic books through his eyes, and see how these awesome images go from sketch to final glory.

Link -via ComicsAlliance

Costume designer Heather MacCrimmon made dresses designed by three little girls “too young to be influenced by commercial fashion.” What resulted is three outfits that any 7-year-old girl would be proud to wear. Link -via Metafilter

Every lunch period would be an adventure if kids had lunch bags that look as cool as these! Take a look at this dad’s Tumblr page and see why his son sports a great big grin to school every day.

Link -via GeeksAreSexy

I’m sure just about everyone reading this was yelled at at least once in school for chewing gum, doodling, day dreaming or fidgeting, but as it turns out, science says those behavoirs are actually beneficial to your ability to learn. Learn how over at Cracked.

Link

There is no doubt that the work of Carlos Villagra is in demand. From concept art to comic book illustrations, Carlos brings originality of design and style to each piece, then renders them beautifully until you get awesomeness like this re-imagining of Buzz Lightyear. Head on over to ComicsAlliance and check out a small gallery of his works, then be sure to visit Carlos’ blog if you like what you see and want more. Will Pixar ever be bold enough to re-imagine their characters in such a way? Not likely…

Link -via ComicsAlliance

Scientific Illustration is a Tumbler blog with 66 pages of scientific drawings and paintings from many linked sources. Find what you’re particularly interested in seeing by scrolling through the archives -keep scrolling and watch yet more pictures load. Shown is a 1904 illustration by German biologist Ernst Haeckel. Link -via Nag on the Lake

(Image credit: Flickr user Eric Gjerde)

“All the Buildings in New York” is the name of a blog where James Gulliver Hancock, an illustrator originally from Australia and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, will post creations from his ongoing project to draw all the buildings in his hometown.

Link – via kottke.org

Vi Hart calls herself a “recreational mathemusician”, which sounds like fun! In this video, she teaches more about math than she missed by doodling during class. See more of this sort of thing at her website. Link -Thanks, David Israel!

The website Can You Draw the Internet? wants your imagination. They recruited a bunch of children to illustrate the idea of the internet. And they invited a bunch of graphic designers and advertising people to do the same. Now they are asking for your input as well! You can submit a drawing or vote on the drawings already there. This particular artwork is by Dan Sollis of Digital Distortion. Link -via Breakfast Links

The following is an Neatorama-exclusive interview with Matt Busch, the “Rock Star of Illustration” (a tagline given to him by Real Detroit Weekly), who’s famous for his Star Wars drawings, and more recently, the Zombie posters series. I met Matt at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego and was immediately impressed by his art (Don’t let the “rock star” nickname mislead you, Matt’s actually super nice guy.)

Here’s a quickie interview with Matt Busch, as conducted by our very own David Israel:

NEATORAMA: For many years, you’ve been creating “official” Star Wars art and illustrations. This is, of course, a geek-artists wet dream job. How’d you score it?

Matt Busch: Way back in 1994. Hard to believe I’ve been doing it for over 15 years! It’s kind of an odd story when I managed to get West End Games (one of the Star Wars licensees working with Lucasfilm at the time) to look at a script I had written. They didn’t need artists but I decided to illustrate my story anyway. They didn’t care for my story much, but they did like my art. I was told they’d keep my work on file, but actually got a call the very next day when another artist flaked out. The rest is history.

NEATORAMA: You’ve got an awesome series called You Can Draw Star Wars. Some of the vids have been seen tens of thousands of times. Tell us about them, their inception, the purpose, etc.

MB: They combine my three loves, Star Wars, drawing, and teaching. So to say I’ve had a blast doing them has been an understatement. The videos began as a side project to help promote the book You Can Draw Star Wars, which was written by Bonnie Burton, and illustrated by Tom Hodges and yours truly. I was asked if I could make a couple quick videos of me sketching some Star Wars characters. The way I saw it, if I was given the green light from Lucasfilm to create official videos, I wanted to go all out and do a top notch job. The videos have definitely been a huge milestone in my career. I have two more left to do, which will complete the 21 video series.

NEATORAMA: Of all the Star Wars characters, who’s the hardest to draw?

MB: Vader. Drawing all the planes of his face and helmet is extremely difficult. If you don’t get each angle correct, it doesn’t look like him any more. I’d say See Threepio is a runner up, though. He’s so reflective, but if you focus too much on the contrast, it won’t look like him any more.

NEATORAMA: You work in a lot of different mediums, acrylics, pencil, etc. Which do you prefer?

MB: Mostly because I get bored. I like to experiment and play around with different mediums and techniques. For regular drawing, I like to use lead holders with 2B leads- that way my pencil always stays the same length. For painting, I prefer acrylics. They dry quick, are non-toxic, and the colors last longer than any other paint.

Matt Busch’s Zombie Posters (signed series – NeatoShop Exclusive) – $19.95

NEATORAMA: What’s the deal with the zombie posters? They seem to be really big suddenly.

MB: Zombies have always been cool, it’s just the last year or so that the rest of the world have caught on. Last year, Lucasfilm asked me to do something that infused Star Wars and zombies, so my first reaction was to do the classic Star Wars posters zombified. That was a big hit, and everyone started emailing me asking when we were going to see zombie Indiana Jones, and zombie Harry Potter. So it kind of grew into this big project I have called Hollywood is Dead. There are nearly 30 posters in the collection now, with many more on the way.

Matt Busch’s Zombie Posters

NEATORAMA: Let’s back up. When did you first realize you had some serious talent?

MB: No such thing as talent. People hate when I say that, but it’s absolutely what I believe. I think what people call talent, I call “when inspiration meets perspiration.” Meaning, you need to be inspired and passionate, and you need to put in the effort and do the hard work. If you don’t have both ingredients, you got nothing. You mix those two together… Instant talent!

NEATORAMA: Talk a little about your background. Did you train at an art school?

MB: Yeah, I’ve studied at numerous art schools, but I spent most of my time building my chops in the Media and Communication Arts Department at Macomb College here in Michigan, studying Illustration and Film at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and studying Entertainment Art at the Los Angeles Art Academy. Because I dig teaching so much, I’m back at Macomb College on the other side of the desk. I’m actually a professor. Haha!

NEATORAMA: Okay, back to the present. You had the honor of having a droid figure named after you: MB-RA-7. What did that feel like?

MB: That was very surreal, but definitely cool. Truth be told, when Hasbro named the figure MB-RA-7, they just asked Lucasfilm for a name other than “Death Star Droid.” Looking through their files, Lucasfilm noted that the Droid that taught the How to Draw Star Wars exercises in Star Wars Kids Magazines was called MB-RA-7. These were a series of articles that were written and illustrated by myself, but I no one really knew that the MB stood for Matt Busch. It’s still cool, but it’s not like Hasbro awarded me with my name on a figure or anything.

NEATORAMA: What was it like drawing Obama? Did you work off a photo or did he model for you, old-school style?

MB: Ha! No, I worked from several photos and stitched them together. I did get some weird hassle from his peeps, though. They kept getting paranoid, like I was sneaking anti-Obama secret messages in the art. I think they didn’t like the idea of using an artist whose last name is Busch.

NEATORAMA: Tell me about the film Conjure, which you pretty much made all by yourself. How’d you get the idea?

MB: The idea kind of exploded when visiting my manager at the time, who lived in this crazy-cool castle in North Hollywood. My idea was to give the illusion that all the creepy stuff that I drew would manifest and come to life. It’s a unique spin on a haunted house kind of film. The movie was really more of an experiment, but kept getting better and bigger. In the end, I was able to nab both national and international distribution on DVD.

NEATORAMA: With the success of Conjure, are you moving more toward film now? What can we expect in the future?

MB: Yes, but knew that I wanted to hone my filmmaking chops, so I could come back bigger and better. The You Can Draw STAR WARS series has been an incredible Film School for me, as each episode has its own flavor to it. My next film will be less of an experiment, and more of a concise plan to hopefully dazzle and delight. I’m going to take my time with it, so I guess we’ll see.

NEATORAMA: Anything you wish we’d asked?

MB: Yes, I’m a little bummed out that you didn’t ask about my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I make the best chocolate chip cookies this side of tattooine!

Chris Roth served on a jury for a civil case that lasted for seven days. The case was interesting (involving a stripper), but seven days in a jury box is still a long time. Jurors were given notebooks to jot down important things, so Roth drew pictures. Lots of them, which you can see at his blog. Link

FlowerPower is a simple drawing application that strews flowers all about -but you control where. My kids will love this! Link -via mental_floss.

The camera never lies, so they say, but what about the camera overlaid with pencil drawings? Artist Benjamin Heine sought to answer this story by overlaying clever pencil drawings onto photographs. Sometimes these drawings were simple, just filling in what is covered up, and sometimes complex, adding detail or focusing on otherwise hidden aspects of the original photo. In any case, the result is a thought-provoking artistic piece.

Link – via stumbleupon

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by nmiller.

(YouTube Link)

Anyone know who does the music?

]]> http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/26/excel-as-illustrator/feed/ 14 http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/11/the-amazing-tromp-loeil-art-of-eric-grohe/ http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/11/the-amazing-tromp-loeil-art-of-eric-grohe/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:58:56 +0000 Queuebot http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/11/the-amazing-tromp-loeil-art-of-eric-grohe/

Mural artist Eric Grohe is a master of Tromp l’oeil, the art of illusion. Believe it or not, the right side of the building shown is completely flat!

He believes that his art should involve, challenge and inspire the viewer; not simply adorn, but integrate with its architectural surroundings. Works of the size and scope that Mr. Grohe creates take months to complete as attention must be given to every detail, no matter how small.

Link to story. Link to artist’s website.

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by listmaster.

Image: Tom Gauld

Included in Tom Gauld’s book, Robots, Monsters, etc. is this postcard called “A Noisy Alphabet.”

Larger image.   via FFFFound!

Almost every site I’ve visited today seems to have a collaborative drawing board going at Flockdraw. So I got a new one for Neatorama readers to draw on. Let’s see what you can do! Link -via J-Walk Blog

Update: Thanks to commenter sjberry for the screenshot from this morning! See the comments for more saved images.

In 1963 Ivan Sutherland created Sketchpad, a drawing device for architects and graphic designers. It’s functions are still cutting edge today.

Check out the Sketchpad (and its nifty light pen) in action in this video clip.

– via swiss-miss

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by JKirchartz.

“I personally liked them,” says the former president of the Laguna Beach Art Walk. “And that’s how I select artists. When I connect to the energy and passion someone creates in their art, that’s when I like it.”

Meyer invited Boey to display his cups at her gallery during the monthly Art Walk. They sell for $120 to $220.

Link to story. Link to Flickr set. -via Buzzfeed

Also see Boey’s website.

Droodle Archive

Here’s an early test of a new computer drawing tool by Ze Frank, in which you use your voice to create pictures on your computer screeen. 

You’ll need a computer with a microphone to try this.  You vary your voice volume to create different kinds of lines. For example, high volume makes the line turn clockwise, low volume makes it go counterclockwise, and medium volume makes it go straight.  The drawing begins at the center.

Ze Frank would love to hear back from you with the results of this tool, which is still in beta.

Link – via etre

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

Link