Tag: illustration

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “Saint George Slaying the Dragon with Princess Sabra Tied to a Tree”, Stained Glass, Victoria and Albert Museum

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was the main intellectual force behind the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), formed in 1848, which during its brief existence affected a revolution in British painting. The important members were Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais. Ford Madox Brown never became a member of the PRB, but acted as mentor and supporter.

The true Pre-Raphaelite period was brief, lasting from the formation of the brotherhood in 1848 until its effective disbanding in c.1852. The movement retained a certain consistency until c.1865, but after this its importance was mainly through its influence on a new generation of painters.

Rossetti exhibited only two oil paintings during the PRB period. Discouraged by adverse criticism he turned almost exclusively to painting in watercolours. It was in this medium that he produced a series of highly imaginative works based on literary and historical subjects, most commonly set in the middle ages.

Between 1861-62 Rossetti designed a series of six stained glass windows for the firm William Morris & Company depicting scenes from the legend of St George and the dragon. The six window panels are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The cartoons are in the Birmingham City Art Gallery.

Robert M Ball

Illustrations by Robert M Ball

Robert M Ball is an illustrator, designer and comic maker living and working in London, England. The illustrator is best known for his “Game of Thrones” art series called “Beautiful Death”, in which he draws an artistic interpretation of the latest episode’s fallen character. An illustration by Robert M Ball for every episode of “Game of Thrones” was commissioned by HBO for use online and in various print applications.

Brian Luong

Artwork by Brian Luong

Brian Luong is an illustrator currently residing in Southern California. Pulling inspiration from landscapes and natural subject matters, he creates scenes and subjects that range from being tranquil to otherworldly. Brian employs the use of muted colors, meticulous hatching, and textures in order to create bold illustrations. For a darker, gloomy approach, he’ll render using white on black to create compositions that appear to be dimly lit by moonlight.

Valin Mattheis

Valin Mattheis, “A Black Dog Who Made the World a Wilderness”

Valin Mattheis is an artist living and working in San Francisco, California. He draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including the symbolist artists, existentialism, Jungian psychology, and religions and mythologies the world over. The two-dimensional compositions and skeletal archetypes seem somewhat reminiscent of medieval art references to the Black Death. While his work does explore that ageless desire to instil faith into the mystery of death, not all of it is darkness and despair. He says that more than anything, he “attempts to convey a sense of wonder or reverence or curiosity.”

Martin Lewis

Martin Lewis, “Tree”, Drypoint, Unknown Date, 32 x 25 cm, Smithsonian American Art Museum

In 1900, Martin Lewis left Australia for the United States. His first job was in San Francisco, painting stage decorations for William McKinley’s presidential campaign of 1900. By 1909, Lewis was living in New York, where he found work in commercial illustration. His earliest known etching is dated 1915. However, the level of skill in this piece suggests he had been working in the medium for some time previously.

It was during this period that he helped Edward Hopper learn the basics of etching. In 1920, Lewis traveled to Japan, where for two years he drew and painted and studied Japanese art. The influence of Japanese prints is very evident in Lewis’s prints after that period. In 1925, he returned to etching and produced most of his well-known works between 1925 and 1935. Lewis’s first solo exhibition in 1929 was successful enough for him to give up commercial work and concentrate entirely on printmaking.

Walter Simonson and Lee Weeks

Walter Simonson and Lee Weeks Collaboration, “Tarzan vs Predator”, 1996, Dark Horse Comics

In the center of the earth lies Pellucidar, the last bastion of primeval forest in the world. To Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, this is sacred ground. But to the Predators, it is hunting ground. Dark Horse Comics presented Tarzan vs. Predator at the Earth’s Core, by Walter Simonson and Lee Weeks, on January 1, 1996. When Tarzan receives word that Pellucidar’s greatest warriors and strongest beasts are being killed, and his friend David Innes, ruler of Pellucidar, has gone missing, there is no question that he must travel to the earth’s core to investigate. The people of Pellucidar rest a little easier, knowing that their protector is coming. And in this land of eternal noonday sun, the Predators rest up for their greatest challenge yet!

Leland Foster

Six Gifs by Leland Foster

Leland Foster Is an artist and graphic designer living/working in Brooklyn, NY. A graduate from SUNY Binghamton, Leland received his BA in English Literature and Rhetoric. His work has been displayed extensively both in the US and abroad, at locations including the Smithsonian in Washington DC, and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

Peter Behrens

Peter Behrens: Deutsche Werkbund Ausstellung Art Exhibition Poster, 1914, Color Lithograph, Printed in Cologne

This poster advertises an exhibition held by the Deutsche Werkbund in Cologne in Germany in 1914. The artist Peter Behrens (1868-1940) was a pioneer of Modern design and was known for his work for AEG, the German electrical company. He was an admired designer at the time. He was asked to create this poster for the Deutsche Werkbund.

The organisation was founded by artists, manufacturers and designers who were committed to improving the standard of German product design. Unusually, Behrens chose to use a classical, though stylised, design for this impressive poster. The torch perhaps indicated that the group was lighting the way ahead for the collaboration between manufacturers and designers.

Hannes Binder

Scratchboard Illustrations by Hannes Binder

Hannes Binder is a Swiss artist born in 1947. He studied art at a college of arts and crafts in Zurich, worked as a commerical artist in Milan, and then as an illustrator and commercial artist in Hamburg. He lives in Zurich and works as a freelance illustrator and painter.

Hannes Binder’s graphic novel, “Roman in Bildern”, was published in 2002 in Germany to critical acclaim. The original text of the 500 page novel was retold in a graphic format using his dramatic and impressive engravings. This story is also the subject of a Japanimation television series.