Drawn in Black

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.

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.

Tower of Babel (Detail) by Colin McAllister

Tower of Babel by Colin McAllister

Looking at the artwork of 24-year-old U.K. artist Colin David McAllister, you get the sense of a man on a mission.  The scale, detail, and perspectives of his drawings are immediately overwhelming; in fact, that they are really too big to appreciate on the web, as you can see from above.  You can get a close-up view on Colin’s website, Snublic, but your monitor is likely too small to see the whole picture and the detail at once.

Once you wrap your mind around the idea of how big these drawings are and just how much time, dedication, and yes obsession it must’ve taken to create these works of art, it’s then even more incredible to consider all of the time spent on researching the topic at hand.  For these works are social and political commentary as much as they are works of art, and his immense works tell incredible stories, both broad and detailed at once.  Behind these stories lurks an immense curiosity about the world and a desire to see it improved.

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.

Nani by Yury Kushevsky

Yesterday my girlfriend asked me what “Stradivarius” means; although I’d heard the word, I really didn’t know. In two clicks of a Google search later, I found the following definition on Wikipedia:

A Stradivarius is a stringed instrument built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial. The name “Stradivarius” has also become a superlative applied to designate excellence. To be called “the Stradivari” of any field is to be deemed the finest there is.

What does this have to do with Yury Kushevsky?  Well, I would venture to say that his work will be “the Stradivari” of drawings, if it isn’t already.  Yury is currently a student at the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in the Mytischi district of Moscow, and apparently they’re feeding their students the right food.

Nani is a superb example of Yury’s skill.  Although just a “simple” portrait, it somehow speaks volumes to me.  Is that a tear running down her cheek? Nani looks like a woman who’s had her share of burden in life.

Although Yury unfortunately doesn’t have his own portfolio, you can find quite a bit of his work at ArtNow, a Russian art gallery site, as well as over on NoBullArt.  I for one am interested to see what this great Russian artist produces in the future.

Joan by Anna Shipstone

Anna Shipstone hails from the small seaside town of Cromer, Norfolk, UK, where she lives with her pet dog and family.  On her website you can find some of the truly gorgeous sample work of this pencil portraiture artist – in particular I enjoy her children portraits and the one pictured above.  Joan seems to be almost three dimensional and pops out of the page.  While you’re there, also check out her abstract color work – trippy!

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.

If you have a fragile self-image, don’t ask Sean Gardner to draw a caricature of you – his no holds barred style might dent that pretty ego of yours.  Seriously, he captures the essence of a person’s face and persona to the tee while injecting his own undeniably hard-hitting style.  Check out his website where you’ll fine a ton of caricatures, tutorials, and tips and tricks of the trade.  You can send him pictures of yourself to be drawn (for a modest $30) and even request to be drawn like a zombie – now how cool is that?

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

Few artists are as appealing to me as Mike Giant.  His clear, crips black and white drawings and illustrations coupled with his unmistakable tattoo-art influenced visual vocabulary make him one of my all-time favorite artists.  As a matter of fact, one of his Rebel 8 T-Shirts is in the mail now for me.

How many people do you know that have a sharpie named after them?