Drawn in Black

"Monstrum" (Detail) by Andreas Martini

Looking at some of the drawing art of German Andreas Martini, it might be a bit surprising to find out that he was schooled as an architect, and even more surprising that, as he states on his website, “andreas works in the field of 3d-design and cg. he simply loves to work and play with the machine.”  Indeed his 3-d art and animation is compelling in its own right and worth your time.

When it comes to Martini’s drawings, they are no less compelling.  Consider that the images above and below are but details of the larger image, and that each square (I presume) is a full sheet of paper.  His abstract collages are varied and entertaining to study, and if there’s one complaint I’d have, is that there isn’t more work available.

"Monstrum" (Detail) by Andreas Martini

He graciously agreed to take part of the Drawn in Black Artist Interview, so here goes:

What’s your name?

Andreas Martini

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

Germany

How old are you?

30

What is your educational background? What, if anything, did you study?

I had 9 years Latin in school.  After that I went to university to study architecture, but instead of designing paper houses we took our chances to reprogram ego-shooters and build wooden sculptures. I graduated as an engineer of architecture and design with the focus on new media.How do you make a living?3d visualizer, animation filmmaker

What does “art” mean to you?

To select between one million possibilities.

Live Drawing at Agency Achter by Andreas Martini

How long have you been making art, and what role does that play in your life?

Maybe forever. But since people told me I could draw, I developed an attitude, which is sometimes good, but mostly disturbing.  Art is important like food. It comes and leaves.

What role does drawing play in your work?  Is it a means to an end, or an end in and of itself?

The less I speak about the importance of drawing, the more I feel, that I do justice to it.

Are there any people that influenced you that stand out? What current artists do you follow?

Kenneth Anger, Stan Brakhage, Robert Breer, Bruce Conner, Lutz Dammbeck, Guy Debord, Marcel Duchamp, Germaine Dulac, Fluxus, Hollis Frampton, Sheila Graber, Raymond Salvatore Harmon, Co Hoedeman, Ken Jacobs, David Lynch, Norman McLaren, Jonas Mekas, Yoko Ono, Man Ray, Hans Richter, Frank Stauffacher, Andy Warhol, Zeitguised, Matthew Barney, Henry Darger, Johnny Hardstaff, David O’Reilly, Bitter Films, Thomas Hicks, Dürer, Toccafondo…

Way too many to be helpful for my productivity.

Thanks again to Andreas for taking the to talk a bit about himself and to share his artwork here on Drawn in Black.

Editorial Illustration by Andreas Martini

Tags: collage, huge, pastiche, trippy

Axodendriticore by Paul Stanek

Fillmore by Paul Stanek

As part of this local talent spotlight series, animator Paul Stanek got in touch with me and shared with me some of his amazing work.  Although primarily an animator, Paul also composes large black and white drawings as shown above.  Large-scale trippy drawings are always a personal favorite of mine, and the two above are no exception.

Paul came to Philadelphia after growing up in New York and living in Los Angeles for six years, where he attended the California Institue of the Arts and worked on his Master’s in Experimental Animation.  During that time Paul and a friend of his decided to make cell animations using t-shirts, and the U-Shirt Project was born:

Paul: “We really liked the idea of shooting each frame (shirt) on different people so when the animation was played back it would unify all these people in to one entity, with the animation in the middle being the glue.  The projects and the accompanying U-shirt Party were a smash hit, and we ended up being approached by Viacom to use a similar concept to make a few 30 second spots for Black History Month to be used on their t.v. channels (nickelodeon, vh-1, etc.).”

You can see some of the video clips and additional information on the U-Shirt website.

Thankfully Paul also shared with me a couple time-lapse videos in which he paints directly on a pair of beautiful nude ladies, as seen below.  Take a look for yourself here and here.

Untitled (Painting on Nude Female) by Paul Stanek

Ever the Renaissance Man, you can also find Paul creating music under the Johnny Longmind pseudonym, and he’s recently been signed with a small London label by the name of End Daze Recordings.  You can find some of his music (which is actually pretty damn good) on his MySpace page.

Tags: fluid, hallucination, trippy

Transformers by Tom Mulholland

So I decided to do something a little bit different this time around.  One of my other projects currently in the works is a t-shirt company: Backyard Threads.  The concept is still a bit fuzzy, but basically the idea is to give the consumer the opportunity to support their local community by purchasing a (awesomely designed, of course) t-shirts screen printed and / or designed locally.  This lead me to the idea of tapping into the local artist community for this project just to get a feel for what kind of artistic talent is passing me by on the streets everyday – on the streets of Philadelphia is, the wonderful city I now call home.  One Craigslist posting and a few emails later, I’d like to introduce: Tom Mulholland.

Cadaver Studies by Tom Mulholland

Tom is a recent graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, and judging by some of this artwork, he should have an interesting career ahead of him.  Beyond drawings he’s made some great sculptures as well.  I think his artist statement is something I can definitely relate to:

As my academic background and transcripts may indicate, my interests are very widespread. Not surprisingly, my work has grown to reflect my affinity for multiple genres and I have developed an utter distaste for art that pretends to be understood in only the most esoteric contexts. I envision myself as being of and for the commoner, whose exposure to intelligent and aesthetic art has been relegated to school trips and the occasional sited work. This is not because there is not a sufficient body of works readily available to be viewed, but because most artists are less interested in devoting their lives to general humanity as they are to dedicating their work to a specifically interested populace. No, it is an artists function to reciprocate, to reflect on humanity, and to express their vision in the context of that same humanity and all of its wonderful endeavors.

Tags: distorted, piney, sculptural

Barn Interior by Scott Tulay

Looking at the work of Scott Tulay it should come as no surprise that he is both artist and architect.  The drawing above was the won the 2008 Wiley Award for Excellence in Hand Delineation from the 34th KRob Architectural Drawing Competition (try saying that 10 ten times in a row). There’s something very compelling about his drawings as they, in my mind, are somewhere between abstract and realistics – an interesting area for exploration; but Mr. Tulay says it much better than I could (from his website):

One of my interests in architecture is the dissolution of the edge between building and landscape. My drawing studies are an extension of that interest, as I explore the nebulous relationship between assemblies of walls, beams or groupings of trees and the landscape beyond.  This series of charcoal, pastel and ink drawings explores varying degrees of human intervention with the landscape.  Each drawing begins as an empty landscape with a perspective towards the sky.  The sky, which is completely devoid of rectilinear man-made geometries, is then layered with various degrees of human presence, whether with a simple phone pole or a complex structure.  The light struggles to penetrate these spaces as their forms are fragmented by dark shadows.  Sometimes the white of the paper is light; other times it is an object, creating spatial ambiguity.

Tags: Abstract, contrasting, linear

The characters developed by veteran concept artist and character designer Mike May are anything but ordinary – each inhabits a unique world, suggested not so much by the environment they’re rendered in but by the dress, demeanor, and look of the characters themselves.  Mike is a also a superb caricaturist.  There’re a ton of drawings and illustrations on his portfolio site and additional, more recent, work on his blog, so if you need some inspiration, go check it out.

Tags: fantasy, haunted, magical, organic

Although Illustrator Mathis Rekowski has some wonderfully trippy drawings like the one featured here, he’s got even more illustrations seem to me at once retro and cutting edge. Certainly someone to watch out for. You can purchase the image above at Mathis’ new store, or follow him on his blog

Tags: hallucination, hippy, trippy

Self Portrait (No. 12 / B5 Series) by Matt W Moore

Although it would seem that Matt W. Moore is currently better known for his color work – he just had a feature article about him in Computer Arts Magazine in which he discusses his Vectorfunk style – I love this guy’s black and white art.  He explores different shapes and uses clear and crisp lines.  I am particularly impressed with his mandalas (drawing these myself) and how well they are executed for the fact that they are hand-drawn (as opposed to using Illustrator as his the case for many of his color works).

Matt just released B5 (from which these images are taken), a collection of black and white prints available for purchase, to complement Alphafont 3.0, a font type exploration done in color.  This guy kicks ass so check out his website MWM Graphics, his blog, or follow him on Twitter.

No. 19 (B5 Series) by Matt W Moore

No. 20 (B5 Series) by Matt W Moore

No. 23 (B5 Series) by Matt W Moore

Tags: clean, clear, crisp, geometric, illustration, sacred

Organic Abstract No 1 by Michael Herring

Michael Herring is an artist both from Des Moines, Iowa, and Joliet, Illinois—home of the Blues Brothers if I’m not mistaken.  Looking through Mike’s work I had a hard time picking anything out, there are just so many good drawings.  Besides the fluid, organic abstractings that are thus aptly named, I quite enjoy the meeting, as it were, of the modern day cubicle desk jockey and the grim skulls that seem to be eating the poor lads alive.  Unfortunately, I can relate.  Many of the many drawings are done in black, blue, and red, making me wish I had a pair of 3D glasses.

Although Mr. Herring has a “Drawing & Painting” section on his website, you want to check out his blog.  You can either just browse the “Drawing” category for his many drawings, but you must also check out his sweet paintings.  If you happen to live in Boulder, Colorado, check out his show.

4 more images below the jump.

Read more »

Tags: Abstract, creepy, reflective, surreal

Decomposition of Memory by Colin Harbut

Colin Harbut is definitely one talented artist.  In his many portraitures, I feel that the essence of the subject is really conveyed and comes across in his works.  The above “Decomposition of Memory” is fascinating and tackles a topic unfortunately taboo in our society: old age.  He’s also made a statement with his work “24,000″ in which he literally drew 24,000 circles to visualize the number of people who die each day of hunger-related issues.

You can find much more his work on his website, ColinHarbut.com.

3 more images below the jump.

Read more »

Tags: earnest, realistic, reflective, somber

Most Wretched Mess by Skinner

Skinner’s art is wonderfully trippy and dark, with a good dose of social critique.  Apparently viewing some of his color work through 3D glasses makes things actually look 3D!  Definitely check out more of his sick work at The Art of Skinner.

2 more below the jump.

Read more »

Tags: cartoon, dark, fantasy, scary, trippy