Robert Carter is an award-winning illustrator. He was born in St. Albans, England, and moved to Ontario, Canada, at an early age. Robert combines a strong foundation in portraiture with a unique sense of visual and conceptual problem-solving to create striking, vibrant, and textured illustrations and portraits with subjects ranging from the realistic to the surreal. Robert now lives and works as a freelance illustrator in Baden, Ontario, Canada.

Award-winning illustrator Robert Carter has expressively illustrated all types of themes from adolescent depression to the current socioeconomic crisis. His work has been printed in editorial spreads of magazines such as Harvard Business, Inhouse, Grip, The American Legion, The Artist’s, and more.

Robert Carter

Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada is a Cuban American contemporary artist.

He is a founder of the New York Culture Jamming movement and an innovator in the international urban art scene. Since the late 90´s he has been replacing the faces of cultural icons chosen by advertisers with the faces of anonymous people to question the controls imposed on public space, the role models designated and the type of events that are guarded by the collective memory. Rodríguez-Gerada´s unique direction was mentioned in Naomi Klein´s book No Logo and was a precursor of the use of anonymous portraits now common in street art. His spectacular interventions are created for the sake of bringing awareness to relevant social issues. His large scale time base works avoid negative impact on the environment, challenge the conformity in contemporary art and allow for a reflection that goes beyond the completion of the piece to focus in its concept, process, and the metaphor that comes forth because of the material chosen.

Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada

They say that the human hand is the hardest thing to draw. While it may very well be true, it’s the eyes that draw my attention the most. Ukrainian artist Pavel Guzenko manages to capture the glimmering gaze of the human eye with his impressionist technique. Each shimmering orb depicts a remarkable reflective surface, truly capturing the sparkle in one’s eye.

Guzenko, who lives and works in Kiev, began his artistic career as a designer but has pursued his professional path in painting since 2006. The oil painter has a rich color palette that is evident in the body of his work that goes beyond the confines of the human eye. Each painting employs the talented artist’s quick brushstrokes that aren’t concerned so much with fine detailing as capturing the dynamic essence of the image.

Pavel Guzenko website

Christina Empedocles was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, earning her BA in Studio Art and Geology from Oberlin College and later her MFA in painting from California College of the Arts. Discovering her love of nature on early morning bird watching trips during elementary school, Empedocles channels that same sense of wonder into her wax pencil drawings of lustrous birds in flight.

Christina Empedocles

Text by Gabe Scott

When contemplating the significance of Claudio Ethos’ artwork within the current population of “Grafiteiros” in Brazil, the sheer scale and diversity of the southern hemisphere’s largest megalopolis must be carefully examined. São Paulo, now considered by many to be the center of the global urban and street art movement, is an incredibly complex example of 21st century city sprawl. Counting Ethos as merely 1, it is the third largest metropolitan region in the world, with an estimated population of 21.5m with some sources have speculated that São Paulo is to reach nearly 25m by 2020.

Bogota

Sao Paulo

Ethos Via Unurth

Marijuana use, for medicinal or recreational reasons, remains high around the world, despite often severe penalties for its possession and distribution. In the U.S., 16 states currently allow the use of medicinal marijuana and some are now considering legalizing recreational use, despite federal laws forbidding such activity. In the Netherlands, Dutch coffee shop owners are working to block a government plan to halt “drug tourists” from buying marijuana in their cafes. Mexico’s bloody drug wars continue as cartels battle to control the thousands of tons of marijuana shipped to the U.S., smuggled across the border by any means imaginable. Collected here are a few images of some of the many contentious issues around marijuana. [40 photos]

For thousands of years the horse has been mankind’s closest ally. The horse made travel and development possible. We tethered, weighted and reigned them. We captured, stabled and trained them.

Ever willing, the horse was the magnificent tool of man’s ingenuity. The Horse is a beast of legend, taking on its own character, personality, emotion and mythology.
However, with the advent of the steam engine the horse was made obsolete, and now they are resigned to the realm of shows and races, a world of equestrian sport, a mere shadow of the beast’s former glory.

‘All The Wild Horses’ is a tribute to the beast that has made much of what we call life possible. The images are unique and have a style to them reminiscent of the portraiture of the rich and famous. The artist has attempted, and succeeded, to show a sense of personality and emotion – sadness in some cases and pride in others.

Painstakingly lit, this body of work is about the horse itself to which we all feel a connection, whether it’s obvious or deep down in our collective subconscious. There is a sense of awe that this beast inspires in each and everyone of us.

“All the wild horses, tethered with tears in their eyes. May no man’s touch ever tame you, may no man’s reigns ever chain you. And may no man’s weight ever lay freight your soul” ~ Ray Lamontagne

How much time do you spend doodling? Latvia-based artist Alex Konahin spends anywhere from a few dozen hours to a couple of weeks creating his incredibly detailed illustrations. Each piece, made by hand, simply uses black ink, patience, and raw talent. The monochromatic symmetrical designs exhibit a diligent attention to detail in their floral and abstract embellishments. There is even a three-dimensional feel to the works, making them appear as though they are popping out at the viewer.

Alex Konahin on deviantART

One of the best things in the world is to see that your work is appreciated and admired. Ruadh gets plenty of that, because he’s a very talented photographer and digital artist, at the same time.

He has the ability to take what some would consider a simple picture and turn it into something with a deep meaning and rich in visual effects.

I personally don’t have any tattoos but feel with near certainty that if I ever get one it will involve the added price of a plane ticket to Berlin to visit artist Peter Aurisch (nsfw). Using a lovely mix of geometric lines that mix with bold colors and assorted lifeforms, his work is so unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a tattoo. You can see much more recent work on hisFacebook page.

Via thisiscolossal

Here at Best Bookmarks, we’re big fans of Ben Heine’s work. The Belgian artist busted out into the art scene back in April 2010 when his incredibly creative series, Pencil Vs Camera, captured the hearts and minds of people from all around the world. Heine melds his love and passion for illustration and photography to come up with pieces that stretch our imagination. We’ve kept a close eye on the artist’s portfolio and thought this would be the perfect time to feature some of his latest work.

“Pencil Vs Camera is all about illusion, dream, poetry, magic and simplicity,” says Heine. “The challenge is to create a 3D-like drawing on a piece of paper; the sketch should be connected with the photographic background but it should also say a little story by itself. I always try to give symbolic meaning to my drawings so that the message goes deeper than the photo alone. The combination of drawing and photography is really a powerful way to express ideas. There are no limits because everything is possible; every single illusion can be created on the paper.”

Ben Heine Pencil Vs Camera!

Street artist Liqen was invited by the “Collectivo Tomate” to paint a mural in Xanenetla, a neighborhood with lots of rich history in the Mexican city of Puebla. As corn is a staple food in this country, he wanted to express the idea of how strong the family is there, making each grain a person or animal as a symbolic unit of a set.

Liqen says that he’s actually had this idea of how to represent Mexico for some time now and adds, “This mural I want to dedicate to all neighbors of Xanenetla and especially my grandmother and my friend Raul (Carcomedhi) who are going through difficult times.”

Via unurth

Music fans gathered to hear a wide variety of musical styles at this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival, held over the past two weekends in Indio, Calif. More than 100 acts were on the bill to perform on both weekends. One of the highlights of this year’s festival was an appearance of the late rapper Tupac Shakur via a hologram projection during a performance by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. — Lloyd Young (25 photos total)

When I saw these incredible illustrations by freelance designer David Fuhrer, I was immediately reminded of the mnemonic my teacher taught us in school: My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. That learning technique helped me to remember the order of the planets in terms of distance from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. That was when Pluto was still considered a full planet!

Fuhrer’s project, The Cosmos, is a set of infographics that depict the planets in our solar system with accurate scale and surface detail for an upcoming documentary and German book. The renderings of these digital planets have such incredible depth that it was hard to believe they were illustrations! The bio on Fuhrer’s website says it best, stating that, “his imagination in unity with his broad library of skills has allowed him to create some of the most out-of-this-world images… [His] work is a rare treat for the eyes and mind as the depth of his work is as mesmerizing as the feel that his pieces exude.”

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

The Moon

Inner Solar System

Outer Solar System

SIZES

David Fuhrer’s website

Melissa Hartley is an artist, graphic designer, cat lover, tea drinker, Francophile, movie and music lover with a terrible sweet tooth. She graduated from the University of Western Sydney with a BA (Distinction) in design, minor in illustration.

Her compositions vary from simple still-life studies, to confrontation figures against undefined backgrounds, in a dream-like state. Others highlight the turbulent relationship man has with nature. Each subject is attractive yet somehow disturbing.

She desires to create images of beauty and mystery that allow the viewer to find their own personal significance in them.

She lives in Sydney with her husband and two cats, Ludwig and Wolfgang.

Melissa Hartley

Photographer Juliette Bates fascination with aerial animals including various breeds of birds, insects, and butterflies. Even aquatic and land dwelling creatures make appearances in this fascinating series titled Histoires Naturelles, translated asNatural History. There is a somber mood and passage of time reflected in these works that rely heavily on blue and gray overtones. The color scheme echoes the presence of mortality. Despite the recurring themes of death, there is also a glimpse of immortality attached to the images. By encasing a bird in glass, the creature doesn’t disappear and disintegrate into history. It is preserved, not too different from taxidermy.

Juliette Bates website

1. Kill a few flies.
2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour.
3. Once they are dry, pick up a pencil and paper… Let your imagination flow.

Here are a few examples….

I recently came across the photos of Nicholas Alan Cope and was STUNNED when I came across this collaboration he did with Dustin Arnold. The images are part of a series called Stamen, which reminds me of the look and feel of Ridley Scott’s epic fantasy film, Legend. I’m not quite sure how the collaborators capture these, but the images kind of seem likey were taken underwater, which is where the gloom and bits of detritus floating around may come from. I can’t possibly implore you more to check out the rest of this series.

Artist Emma Uber has an incredible knack for paintings faces. Her series of pastel portraits involves beautifully detailed—and mainly feminine—faces that blend into backgrounds filled with thick, vibrant strokes, drips and smears of paint, and bursts of colorful shapes and flowers. Her use of a strong color palette and aggressive strokes, set against the soft features and expressionless faces, sparks an intense curiosity about each of her subjects.

Emma Uber’s website