Amy Hamilton

http://amyhamilton.ca/

I love Amy Hamilton's unique style of illustration.  These pieces are so attractive.  I love the use of ink (or watercolor) and the colors agaist the black features are so nice.  The fawns eyes just jump out at me, and I love his simple feet against the fur.  

I love her use of blues and grays against the warm oranges and reds of the animals coats. 

I'd love to adopt a similar style for adding color to my work, layering of inks and dripping, while still incorporating the pen style that I use.

Daniel Kornrumpf

http://danielkornrumpf.com/home.html

One of the more incredible pieces I have ever seen.  Not only is this a stellar and pretty unique portrait (kind of reminding me of Chuck Close) but it is embroidered.  I'm completely amazed.  Whats even more impressive is seeing it at actual size vs close up.

The ones called"Brooklyn Bobby."  I'm not sure exactly how I feel about the tiny size of the embroidery (it's in the center of a 50"x44" sheet of linen).  Although impressive, especially up close, how would this hold up in a gallery? It might be interesting, how each visitor has to take some special time with each portrait and get their face right up against the piece. Pretty intimate.  I just hope people wouldn't miss out on that gorgeous texture. 

Daniel Zeller

http://www.pierogi2000.com/artists/daniel-zeller/

Daniel Zeller does some really interesting, colorful, intricate drawings.  I'm not sure exactly what they are but many of them feel scientific in nature, maybe of some organism I can't seen or a close up view of bacteria.  I really love the color choices and the surreal landscape quality he creates. 

Matt Rudinski

http://society6.com/mister/YONDER-LWI_Print

http://www.mattrudinski.com/

Lately I've been seeing posts of low-poly artwork/design, and I have been so attracted to it.  I'm not sure I'll ever introduce the style into my own work, but I find it to be gorgeous and unique.  The work of Matt Rudinski is unique in that it feels like other low-poly work, and is created in that style, but these animals feel like they are created out of cardboard.  I'm imagining this a a 3D object coming off of that wall at me.  I love his color pallate and this new interpretation of a kind of typical "deer head in front of nature scene" design.

Spires

http://society6.com/artist/spires
I've been thinking a lot about color and texture in my work.  How can I create a unique color pallate that extends throughout my pieces, tying them together.  What techniques can I use to integrate textures into the screen prints I make.  I love the work of Spires.  They are all so similar, using the same diamond shape and design, but each evokes a different feeling.  I particularly like the meshing of the cool and warm colors, especially along the bottom row, how he turns royal blue to yellow without ever meeting green.

Teagan White

http://www.teaganwhite.com/
Teagan White was that artist for me where I felt like, god damn, I really wish that was me.  I am completely impressed by all of her illustration (and she just happens to share a love of bugs with me).  Her work is focused on the delicate relationships between flora and fauna.  Most of the work is illustrated by hand in grayscale, then color and texture gets added in photoshop (I should try this).  For a lot of the pieces, she introduces a texture to make it feel like a screen print.  In my opinion, she should actually screen print some of these.  How gorgeous with this one be?

If I can come up with the money, I'm thinking about requesting a tattoo design from her. 

She also does some really adorable illustration for children's books.  That would be a great path for me for a solid income. 

The Hungry Fox Illustration

http://hungryfoxillustration.com/

I've been thinking a lot about illustration.  I love the feel of inks and pens, and I work well with them.  I'm just beginning to think about incorporating stories in my artwork, so why not take a stab at illustration.  Part of me wants to go for it, but part of me feels like (for me, not everyone) its just a cop-out for fear of being an unsuccessful fine artist.  It is a very real fear that I have.  So how could I mesh the two? How can I make fine art thats illustrative, but will also sell, and could possibly be reproduced? This may be the basis for my draw to printmaking.  

I reallly like the pen drawings of this illustrator.  She uses mostly black and white, with pops of color throughout.  I though this compartmentalized whale was silly and fun, but I still would want it on my wall.

Swoon

I've always been amazed by Swoon's work.  These are insanely beautiful and intricate illustrations and prints, and installed in an urban environment, they just take on a whole new light.  I love this one in particular because of the yellow tone on and already unique turquoise wall, with those great splashes of color throughout.  I love the style of the portraiture and I definitely see it come through in my own work in some ways.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swoon_(artist)

Moths moths moths

My love for moths continues...
I can't believe how beautiful light trails can be.  This gorgeous texture and patter created by the moth wings is something that I could never think up.  Why do they spin in circles that way? What is it about their shape that keeps them from flying straight.  Suddenly moths attracted to my front door light is not as annoying. 

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/07/visions-now-next#/visions/1

Anders Fernbach

My cousin Anders is a painter who teaches at Buff State.  One of my earliest inspirations.

I used to go to Thanksgiving at their house in buffalo every year, and would tiptoe around the house looking at paintings and touching the surface of the canvases.  It was my first real introduction to fine art, or oil painting at least, we never really visited galleries.  My favorite was this painting of a girls back with some strange stucture on a desolate landscape.  I think her shirt was bright yellow and she was pulling it over her head.  The way he applied the paint was amazing, It was almost globbed on, but done so perfectly and deliberately. 

Val Britton

In thinking about mapping...

http://valbritton.com/

I love the idea of interpreting a map in a new way.  Maybe this isn't even a map.  But the forms feel like a country that I could visit.  The jumbled borders seem completely real.  I love the way she incorporates the subtle color differences, the lines that feel like travel paths, the tears in the paper.  Val Britton's work is all gorgeous, check it out.

Chuck Close

http://www.chuckclose.com/

This is where I want to be.

Just incredible.  This work captures a room.  It was so inspiring and exciting to see the real works large-scale.  I will never stop being unbelievably impressed by this man.

"Habitualization devours work, clothes, furniture, one's wife, and the fear of war. 'If the whole complex lives of many people go on unconsciously, then such lives are as if they had never been.' And art exists that one may recover the sensation of life; it exists to make on feel things, to make the stone stony. The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique of art is to make objects 'unfamiliar,' to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged. Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object: the object is not important..." 

-Viktor Shklovsky, Russian Formalist

Caitlin Hackett

http://caitlinhackett.carbonmade.com/

I just think Caitlin Hackett is amazing.  I love the style or her works, gorgeous pen drawings with deliberate bright watercolor added.  I think its the hair that draws me in and the strange scene that keeps me there.  I want to know the story behind each piece, and I want to see them in person to get a real grasp of how big they are.

SupaKitch & Koralie “Euphorie” Paris

An incredible wall installation by a unique duo.  I am amazed every time I watch this video, and it has become a constant reminder for me to remember to let go and to step back.  Watching them as they make imperfect marks, crooked lines, letting paint drip; it makes me cringe, but then it zooms out and I am in absolute awe.  I realize each time that I watch this that I don't need to be in absolute control. 

http://www.formatmag.com/art/supakitch-and-koralie/

hi-def version   http://vimeo.com/31044044#

http://honestlywtf.com/art/supakitch-koralie/