Steven Tabbutt

The Grey Rabbit

The Gift - panel 2

Tourist

Incident

Mono Myth

Steven Tabbutt is an illustrator and an artist who has been gathering up a busload of awards and accolades for his evocative work. His style encompasses a range of approaches from the fairly traditional to a highly stylized use of intricate line work. All of it shares the same sense of visual playfulness, in a decidedly dark and minor key, that makes for some compelling and intriguingly cryptic visual narratives. You can see more of his work on his website: steventabbutt.com

Apologies

I didn't prep very well and I won't have access to my computer this week so there will be no new posts. Sorry about that. But here's a very cool image from the Belgian graphic artist Francois Schuiten called "Vol de Nuit". You can check out some more images of his work here.

It just occurred to me that this is somewhat amusing image for me personally as I head off for LA to look for galleries. Optimism and dramatic lighting. That's all I need.

Jeff Bellerose - 2

Beach Glare  18x24in

Contained  40x30in

Flats  23x26in

Enclave  24 x 48in

Summer Warmth  20.5 x 15in

Jeff Bellerose is an artist whose work I've posted here before (Feb. 8, 2010).  I received an email form him recently with some images of new work that will be part of a show opening tomorrow (Friday July 8th 2011, from 6-8pm) in San Francisco, some of which are included here. He has a tremendous feel for composition and a clear love of dramatic lighting. So if you're in the SF area, check it out at Thomas Reynolds Gallery. He'll also be releasing a 150 page book to go with the exhibition. It will be available through his website soon, where you can also look through more of his work: jeffbellerose.webnode.com

Oswald Cromheecke

From "Minah" 2011

From "Minah" 2011

From "Minah" 2011

From "Minah" 2011

From "Family Chronicles" 2010

From "Family Chronicles" 2010

Oswald Cromheecke is a Belgian artist working with graphic novel formats and animation. Both capture a very dark world view where the fantasy appeal of horror genres blends disturbingly with the all too real horrors of war, violence and despair. The work is spare, simple, and haunting in it's ability to accumulate in your minds eye and linger there. Like an unwelcome guest who has some valuable lessons to share with you, if you can just get past his rather appalling appearance, and never mind the dirt he tracked in or the sweet musty odor like something from an opened tomb. But seriously. The work has an immediate and visceral appeal. Much of it is cryptic in intent, making it all the more compelling. The books are self-published through blurb.com where you can leaf through virtual previews. The animations can be watched or linked to from his blog, oswaldcromheecke.blogspot.com. You can also view his work on Flickr.

(I highly recommend his most recent animation, "Antarctica", a simple bleak homage to Scott's doomed south pole expedition, music courtesy of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' soundtrack to the movie The Proposition.)