Drawn In Black

Untitled No. 33 by Richard Colman

Vomit, decapitation, lewd sexual acts — what’ s not to like?  While all these are in fact exhibited in the works of Richard Colman, raunchy or offensive would certainly not be adjectives to describe his work.  It is rather an uncomfortable world that he portrays, one in which its characters are seemingly dominated by each other and the world itself, one in which hopelessness reigns supreme (or maybe it’s just me).  Remarkably, he works in watercolor, surprising given the fact straight lines and flat surfaces of his paintings.  Richard hail from Bethesda (which I used to live quite close to for four years) but is now part of the LA scene.

You can check out more of his work on his website, RichardColmanArt.com.

4 more images after the jump.

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Tags: bleak, creepy, miserable, uncomfortable

“Brutality” by Jeremy Fish

Known for his skulls and silly pink bunnies, Jeremy Fish is a skateboarder and enterprising illustrator living in San Francisco. His work is funny and odd: a surreal blend of tattoo and graffiti imagery.  Beside skateboards, t-shirts, hoodies, and ashtrays, Fish has also designed a Nike sneaker, painted a room of the Hotel Des Artes in San Francisco, and designed an album cover for Aesop Rock.  His clothing line is superFishal.

For t-shirts by Fish check out Umbrella Market and let me know if you can find an XL “Brutality” tee anywhere – it seems to be all sold out, argh.

More pics below the jump.

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Tags: bizarre, funny, illustration, urban

“February” by Jason D’Aquino

“Wrong” by Jason D’Aquino

I gotta say that I love Jason D’Aquino’s drawings – it’s like the 50’s on a bad acid trip: vintage psycho.  Jason definitely has a vision of his own that remarkably show through in all of his drawings.  The materials he chooses to draw on add a subliminal quality to the final work, and his subjects seem a study of the subconscious.

In a weird way some his drawings remind me of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” video.  Do yourself a favor and check out more of Jason D’Aquino’s work.

More pics below after the jump.

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Tags: macabre, psychadelic, psycho, vintage

Nurse Hypo by Phillip Jackson

Phillip Jackson, aka Jolly Jack, creator of the memorable “Sequential Art” and other online comic strips, has a great little sketchbook section to find a little inspiration.  His drawings are fresh, sexy, and humerous – not a bad combination.

More below the jump.

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Tags: fresh, funny, sexy

Lauren Nassef, a  Chicago artist, does a great job of conveying a lot of emotion in very simple, minimal drawings.  Sometimes – probably more often than not – simpler is better.  Case in point.

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Tags: minimal, personal, simple

All around designer and illustrator Kirsti Anne Wakelin has some superb drawings among various other interesting posts on her blog.  She is also a contributing author on the Children’s Writers and Illustrators of BC (which stands for British Columbia I assume) blog.

Tags: dead, macabre, spooky

Freelance illustrator Amanda Morley has a great, loose but accurate  drawing-style.

Tags: comic, cute, ferocious

The British Ryan de Haff self-proclaimed “wannabe freelance illustrator” is pretty talented and has some good stuff on his site. You can find even more goodies on his blog.

Tags: dead, funny, illustration

Awesome hair detail.

By Mike Sibley

Tags: detailed, hairy, realistic