I have a thing for birds, but not one to own one though. I would have to say that I'm really enjoying these oil paintings by Portland-based artist Meghan Howland, who likes to depict people caught in swarms of birds, flowers or fabric.  It's not quite clear if the people are safe or in a dangerous situation, an ambiguity that leaves each piece open for interpretation. Howland is represented by Bowerstock Gallery where you can see much more of her work.



Source: thisiscolossal

This is an ongoing collaboration between Russian photographer Alexander Knokhlov and make-up artist Valeriya Kutsan. In this collection, faces of models are transformed into two dimensional paintings and design using face paint. The first series of black and white photos titled Weird Beauty were released last year, and the duo brought on digital artist Veronica Ershova who helped retouch a new collection of images inspired by poster art titled 2D or not 2D. These new color images seem to have more digital assistance but they're still stunning to look at. See more here.



Source: thisiscolossal

Adam S. Doyle is the creator of these beautiful bird paintings. Its like he just took his brush once in small strokes and made these incredible pieces.

"Yes, what you see is what it appears to be—strokes of paint. I’ve always loved unfinished paintings because you could see the alchemic process of surface and paint transforming into a living person. With my paintings, it does take quite a bit of working and reworking to arrive at the place where every brush stroke fits into a fluidly flowing whole. It’s important to me to find a balance between an elegance of form that holds both visible marks of paint and a representation of ‘energy within’. I’ll just add that the painterly craft of my images, which I consider secondary to investigating ideas and concepts, came about after a lifetime of expressive image-making, followed by doggedly exploring the aforementioned transformation in grad school. I realized during that same formative period that I was also captivated by trying to visualize energy, which I was quite familiar with having grown up with a dad who practiced Eastern medicine."

Doyle most recently had a show at Skylight Gallery in 2011 and is now currently working on a new body of work in Hong Kong. You can see much more of his work on his website.



Source: Colossal