Maya Kulenovic

These are some psychologically dark images. There are a lot of artists out there dealing with dark imagery but rarely is it done with such subtlety. They are all the more effective because of that. Most of her work consists of brooding portraits of adolescents with a few of older faces as well. She also does some architectural studies and swamp-like landscapes that all convey an equal sense of despair and crushing isolation. So... have fun checking out her website! www.mayakulenovic.com























"Blight" 34x30"























"Tranquility" 28x22"
























"Intellect" 26x22"

















"Sanitarium" 48x36"

Martin WittFooth

Here's another artist/illustrator. But these are not merely well crafted illustrations. Mr. Wittfooth seems to be dealing with some pretty substantial themes. While he presents no artist statement on his website (www.martinwittfooth.com) what I see is a cast of almost mythic characters (all animals) playing out a drama in an ongoing apocalypse named mankind.
A large number of these pieces are from this year so he's obviously very busy. I'll definitely be checking back in.

















"Saints Preserve Us" 88x51" oil on linen 2009












"Beyond The Fence" 30x15" 2009






















"Angel" 30x30" oil on panel 2009

Mattias Adolfsson

On a light note, here's an illustrator from Sweden whose voracious consumption of moleskin sketchbooks is really quite impressive. There is a playful wit to his work that raises it far above the average doodler. Mr. Adolfsson has created his own unique and weird little world. You can keep up with his daily output on his blog: mattiasa.blogspot.com. Or you can browse through hundreds of drawings on his flickr page.

These images are pretty big, so please click on them to view larger. The details are wonderful.





















"The Gorgon"























"Merchant-Navy"






















"Mobile City Block"

Jonathan Viner

This guy has a beautiful technique that is oddly reminiscent of animation. I mean that in a good way. One almost expects these characters to start breathing. I'll leave it to you to decide the deeper meaning of his seeming recent obsession of hotties in headphones but he does do some striking work on sensuality. See his website www.vinerstudio.com






















"A Discerning Youngster" oil on panel 24x36"















"A Discerning Youngster" detail






















"A Pale Girl in Pale Camo" oil on panel 24x36"