In the spirit of October and the ever approaching Halloween I wanted to share some of the works of Clifton Harvey, an Ohio based illustrator and digital artist. His Left Behind series is just mysterious and ominous and the details are just astonishing. Clifton takes normal photographs and then adds some anthropomorphic characters and effects and creates a whole new image to narrate a bit of abandoned history.

I’m fond of the delicate illustrations found in children’s picture books and the way artists visually describe narratives. I’m also drawn to the moralizing stories told in old fables and the harsh realities they depict. I used both of these deliberate narrative approaches as a foundation for my series Left Behind, in which drawn characters are integrated into photographic environments using the computer. The creatures depicted in this series exist as lingering manifestations of overindulgence and the festering shame of having one’s dignity stripped from them. Their temperaments range from passive and complacent to wretched and perverse. Once abandoned, they play out a narrative that echoes personal histories in skewed environments that mimic reality.

These digitally modified photographs are very detailed as you can see. They almost look like they have been hand drawn. What I like about these anthropomorphic characters is that it gives the images a more scary and empty feel to them that makes them dark and chilling. I would highly recommend checking out more of Clifton's work. If you're interested in buying some of his work, his store will be opening soon.

I came across Dan Matutina's work this morning while trying to find some inspiration for the day. Dan Matutina a.k.a Twisterfork is a designer and illustrator based in the Philippines. His illustration style is a mix of handmade and digital, clean and dirty, old and modern aesthetics. The colors and the shapes and tones are what are really driving the force behind his amazing work. I have put a couple that I'm really liking but don't let that stop you from checking out more of his work.

Nick Sheehy is an artist who enjoys drawing various weird things that catch your attention and it works. His style for some reason caught my attention. It kinda of reminds me of "Where the Wild Things Are" but more for adults. Each of his pieces have so much detail in the design of these odd characters. The color palette used in these images work well with the style and feel that he is going for. Check out more of his work on his Flickr.

Buy Nick Sheehy on Etsy, Big Cartel, inPRNT or One Off The Wall

Today I came across Chad Hagen and his portfolio and I'm quite impressed. His beautifully designed illustrations pop right out and catch your attention. The detail and colors used in a lot of his works will suck you in with his use of pastel and vintage colors of the past. I'm sure you'll enjoying rummaging through his portfolio like I did. If you want check out more of his works then head on over to his site or follow him on twitter.

Tanya Johnston is a graphic designer based in Montreal who use various visual aesthetics to capture your attention. Through pictorial and graphic processes she explores the realm of reality and illusion as reality. She states that she like to frequently combine the techniques of drawing, painting and digital imaging to illustrate and communicate a non-linear vision of thought and space.

Tanya's work immediately caught my attention with her use of visual depth and balance in her works and I also enjoy finding jems like these. Don't forget to check out her portfolio it's sure to hold more jems then what is posted here.






Source: Aqua-Velvet

Moritz Resl's who is currently based in Venna, Austria caught my attention with his design work of the "Bike Love" illustration. The design is simple yet very elegant. Plus, I'm a sucker for bikes and I think this is a great depiction of how people like to think of there bikes.

I have also added a couple of other works Moritz did that I think are interesting and well designed. If your interested you should definitely check out more of his work on his Flickr or can follow him on Twitter.

Mar Hernandez is a Spain based illustrator and designer who goes by the pseudonym of Malota. In her works she uses a lot of different textures and gradients, as well as sharp geometric shapes, while her color choices are more on the brighter pastel side. All these combination keep my eyes busy and my mind interested in the piece below. To see more of Mar’s work, visit her website, society6 and also check out her shop.



via: Grain Edit

In the spirit of Thanksgiving NBC has hooked up with illustrator/director Nathan Love. In these 30 second promos to the viewers of NBC wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving. He does this with none other than the friendly and wildly goofy peacock.

Each of these commercials have a comedic edge to them. Especially the second one. I also wonder if he got his color palette choices from the old 1962 NBC Laramie Peacock animation. Either way I enjoyed each of these promo's. So Happy Thanksgiving from Damion DJ & Producer Blog. If you want to check out more of Nathans work than head on over to his site. I'm sure you will recognize a lot of his other works.

The Workerman making form + function + design. I found his work on Flickr this morning looking around for some ideas and motivation. What I found was his daily design of the periodic table. Each day he would take a different element and give the design his own interpretation of the element. I also found it amusing that he actually had to put this disclaimer - "I am starting out doing every element in the periodic table....please do not use them as actual reference for the elements as some of them may be a little more abstract than others."

If you get a chance check out his website as well. He has some other great works and he also makes wood handlebars as well as super clean minimalist style graphics. Did I also mention he makes t-shirts as well.

Matthew Billington is a poster designer from Vancouver, Canada. In his designs he likes using eye-catching, puzzling methodology of cutting and pasting in his poster designs. I couldn't find a whole lot of information on him but I was pulled into his works. I have yet to try the cut and paste of designing. So when I see something like Matthew's work. It gives me some inspiration to give it a shot and see what I can come up with. That is the great part about designing is that others works are great inspiration and motivation to continue the learning process as a designer. So today maybe find someone you get some inspiration from and leave a comment and let me know who has inspired you.






via: Behance

Since I have been on a 3D art kick I thought I would pick another one that I thought was interesting. This commercial below was made in 2008 for Royal Bank of Canada. The concept was very simple, a man wakes up one morning with endless legs and decides to take advantage of the situation by easily traveling the world with his kids. This video caught my attention due to the style and design of the 3D characters and the textures and color patterns used in the video. Plus it has the Shins "New Slang" song playing in the background. You can't go wrong with the Shins. If your interested in checking out more video's by fxandmatt then check them out on Vimeo.

Director: Fx&Mat
Production: Mr Hyde
Agency: BBDO Toronto

It seems that Matthew Lyons has produced a new series called "Locations". If you haven't heard of him then let me tell you about him. He is a big buzz at this time on blogosphere and design world with his unique and 50’s-esque brand of image-making. His retro-contemporary vision is certainly making a place for itself. Matthew uses many saturated color, moody lighting and “grit” which make for a vintage style that is being recognized by many. Matthew has a very good eye for color and for finding the right composition to use in his work. You can read a post by ISo50 that goes into the thought process of one of Matthew's pieces to have an in-depth look at how his design process flows.






via: ChangeTheThought, Kitsune Noir