James Maybe

by R. S. Connett.

by psychedelic color machine and master of presumably ironic or parody display blatantly overused cheesy symbolism Oliver Hibert.

If you remember Richard Scarry at all, it’s probably as an illustrator of cute bunnies for kids books. What you may not recall, if you ever knew, is that Scarry was an extraordinary painter as well. He created illustrations which went well beyond the simple line drawings of his Storybooks. Shown above is an illustration I scanned from The Rooster Struts, a book which also features stunning well executed paintings of monkeys, sloths and frogs.

by Ryan Heshka.

By Charlie Immer.

Shown above is a panel from La Bête à Cinq Doigts (The Beast with Five fingers) by Swiss illustrator and comic book artist Thomas Ott. Click on the link below to view the full sequence.

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The impeccably rendered ball-point pen illustrations of Shohei Otomo, aka Hakuchi, play with themes of Japanese history, stereotypes and nationalism. The way he contrasts large dark and white shapes with fine detail reminds me of highly talented, yet largely forgotten illustrator Vint Lawrence. Shown above: おSUSHIさん.

Hi, my name is James and I’m a colorholic. Show me the right paintings and my jaw goes slack and my mind zones out like a druggie rediscovering the pleasures of smack after 10 years of abstinence. OK, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement. But there must be something about the experience of viewing an exquisitely colored work of art that allows it to cross my blood brain barrier before I’m able to intellectualize it.

Shown above is Born by Colin Johnson.

Japanese artist Manabu Ikeda creates extraordinary lush, detailed illustrations. His world is ours, but overloaded with growth and decay and warped until landscapes and objects melt into a giant Katamari-like forms. Shown above: Regeneration.

By Joe Vaux.

Daniel Peacock is another artist whose works can resemble twisted versions of Dr. Seuss illustrations.  At times his paintings look highly simplistic takes on a single subject, without depth or complexity. But look closer, give it a bit more time, and you will notice some wonderful details. In Belly Bitter, shown above, notice all the points of repetition and symmetry. See how the composition draws your eye up and to the right, then down and left, then back around again.

I failed to include in my big Super Mario Bros Artwork Roundup Peacock’s own take on Mario, headed off to work, lunch bag in hand.

“Recently we learned of a malicious desecration of a photo of the Governor and baby Trig that has become an iconic representation of a mother’s love for a special needs child.”

- Sarah Palin spokesperson Meghan Stapelton, on a Photoshopped image of her boss.

It’s been a year since Sarah Palin was a candidate for vice president of The United States, and even her abrupt resignation is now old news. So as usual I’m well behind the curve with my posts, but so are many of the artists featured here; even now more “desecrations” of Palin are being produced. After the jump I’ve posted a full bounty of Palin-inspired artwork, along with some thoughts on why she makes such an enduring (endearing?) target…

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