Ashley is an artist who work has an interesting dreamy and yet textural quality to it. Her work has a very strong graphical nature which reminds me of the works of Erte, Aubrey Beardsley and more recently Christopher Shy. Although a talented artist in the traditional sense she largely uses digital tools for her creations. Ashley lists amongst her influences Art Nouveau, the works of Gustav Klimt, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Harry Clarke and Aubrey Beardsley whom I mentioned above. I highly recommend you pay a visit to her website,

After my recent look at Imaginary Friends, I remembered that there was another studio worthy of mention. Messs Creative Concepts, showcases the work of several extremely talented 2D and 3D artists. My only criticism about their site is that they don’t do themselves any justice by failing to tell their own story … Excellent Art though. I’ve been following their work at the Concept Art Community Forums for a few years now and I’m still impressed by what they produce. Visit them at Mess Creative, it’ll be time well spent.

I’ve been toying the last few days over who I’m going to feature and decided on an extraordinary visioneer. Craig Mullins is a production artist who is also a brilliant and talented Fine Artist. His works have influenced the look of some of the most exciting games and movies seen in the last decade or so … He’s worked on movies like Final Fantasy, the Matrix Revolutions and Armageddon and on games like Need for Speed Underground and Halo. His work is awesome to look at and his digital sketches and concepts have an amazing sense of life to them … his natural media based style is cool to say the least. also worth looking at is his fine art plenty of which can be found at his website Goodbrush.com, drop by today you’ll enjoy the time you spend at his site.

Christopher Shy is another Illustrator whose work I enjoy. His work features a very organic and luminous style which is quite beautiful to look at and yet a little disturbing at the same time. He cut his teeth as an illustrator working for many of the leading gaming and fantasy book companies producing illustration of vampires, cyber warriors, seductresses and winged beings. In 1994 he approached a group of artists to form a new Studio … “A Studio that would take no money, or be of any specific art style or movement. Rather it would adhere to the Philosophy of The Ronin, in the sense that it would move free from constraints, and be masterless in its form and function. Each artist would be free to do what he or she chose, but together the Studio would lay down its first group ideals.”

“Studio Ronin was created to Promote the work of the artists
Studio Ronin was created to Protect the work of the artists
Studio Ronin was created to Produce Payment for the artists”

The artists at Studio Ronin include: Christopher Shy, Leanne Buckley, Thom Miecznikowski, Mike Cosner, Steven Perkins, Josh Sutton, Niko Rantalainen, Erich Randall Buttstadt, Kirk Shy, Nick Stakal, Cam De Leon and Anthony Lepiouffle.

Visit Studio Ronin for some excellent artwork.

I actually only came across this studio today and I was so impressed with the work which I found there that I felt I had to post a review. Imaginary Friends Studios (IFS) was formed in 2005 by Stanley Lau, Edmund T. Shern, Kendrick Lim and Ri Kai. IFS has as it goals the task of bringing together Asian and international audiences by creating entertainment properties and art which appeal to both.

In their own words; “Despite a modest 1,600 square foot artist studio in Singapore , IFS has gathered a team of rising talents all over Asia and beyond to bring its creations to life. By bringing together artists and writers who have grown up on both Asian and western influences, IFS hopes to deliver entertainment that will transcend international boundaries yet remain genuine to its influences. IFS won’t conquer the world, but we hope you’ll at least enjoy the ride with us.”
I spent several hours perusing the gallery which features the work of 9 of the 20 artists that they currently work with. They provide serices like the creation of comics and graphic novels, 2D and 3D CG Art, Book and Game illustration, and creating conceptual art for games, animation and films. Take the time to visit their site, you wont regret it.

Whilst surfing the internet I came across this blog which posts Adverts on a frequent basis … Advertising in general is pretty banal but occasionally ads come along which raise an eyebrow or make you stop … many of the Ads featured in this site are worth a look at … I got quite a few chuckles out of this one. Whilst it would not be an Art site in most peoples minds, creating advertising like this is an art in itself. Visit Best Ads Ever and enjoy…

depthCORE is an international art collective which is focused on the creation of modern and abstract art. The collections incorporating design, photography, animation and audio are produced using a combination of digital and analogue media and tools. The collective was established by Justin Maller and Kevin Stacey in 2002, and comprises of artists from all around the world. depthcore was etablish to showcase art which pushes boundaries. In their words “we aim to bring something unique and innovative with every release we put forth, as we illustrate, orchestrate and visually represent the thoughts, hopes and dreams of all corners of the globe.” I only recently came across this collective by chance as a result of following a link from one of the artists I was checking out on DeviantART. Visit depthCORE today and get inspired.

Stephan Martiniere is an illustrator and creative who has contributed to many of the leading projects in the world of film and gaming. He has contributed to projects like Star Wars: Episodes II & III and as an Art Director for the games URU and MYST 5. His work on book covers have won him many awards and he has the knack of being able to capture fantastic landscapes and futuristic vistas. This knack has served his various clients well, if you enjoy well rendered science fiction imagery then visit martiniere.com for some excellent examples.

ArtMagick is an online gallery which in their own words is “dedicated to the continual quest of seeking out obscure 19th century artists and long-forgotten paintings showing a “magic world of romance and pictured poetry”.” Much of the art featured is from the Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolist movements it also links strongly to Art and crafts from the Vienna Secession. It is a wealth of links and sources for art from this time which happens to be one of my favourites. Visit Artmagick for some excellent info.

Another of my favourite artists is Ashley Wood, who is well know for his work on titles like Spawn, Popbot, Lore and Automatic Kafka. His work hints at nightmares and dreams, mixes mechanisms with sexual imagery and looks more like fine art than what most comics fans would associate with conventional sequential art. As an illustrator for over 15 years he has enjoyed working on projects for a diverse range of clients, including Dreamworks, Warner Bros, Sony, Konami, LucasArts/LucasFilm, Microsoft, Vivendi International, Random House, Marvel Comics and Todd McFarlane Productions. He is a three-time Spectrum Award winner and a two-time Communication Arts award winner. Visit Ashleys world at his website ashleywoodartist.com and his blog ashleybambaland.