illustration

Anxiety is one of those subjects that innately resonates with creative people. I’m not sure why the two go hand-in-hand, but if Gemma Correll’s The Worrier’s Guide to Life taught me anything, it was that this problem affects a lot more people than anyone realizes. Maybe it’s society’s relentless nature to make us work more and rest less that makes us seek solace inside our minds. Whatever the case, it’s a subject that’s hard to put your finger on in words, which is why Catherine Lepage‘s Thin Slices of Anxiety takes a different approach.

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San Francisco-based artist Michelle Guintu has an obsession with the ’90s. So it’s no surprise her appropriately titled exhibition at New Image Art Gallery simply plays off her low brow nostalgia-tinged aesthetic. Her work is often described as “kindercore,” which means part kindergarten and part hardcore. True, there’s something childlike about Guintu’s work, but her tendency to make her art look innocent is an obvious nod to her childhood, one that was full of the icons she still idolizes. In a time where ’90s nostalgia has been elevated beyond levels of obnoxiousness, Guintu manages to add something to the “90s nostalgia” wagon that’s refreshingly original. If that’s not something to obsess over, we don’t know what it is.

Painter/illustrator/comic Niklas Asker wants to elevate the medium of illustration with his series The Illustration Project. In the series, he creates nine separate illustrations inspired by nine books he read by classic authors like Virginia Woolf, Haruki Murakami, and others. He started the series as a way to play around with the definitions of illustration and art, asking questions such as “Is one more high brow than the other?” and “Is there any difference between them at all?” Strangely enough, despite this being an “illustration” project, his nine pieces look different from his usual illustration style. And so there is something slightly more high brow about the pieces featured in this project, but we’re not the types of people to care about drawing lines between illustration and art (wasn’t aware there was a line, or at least not one so broad). Browse through the gallery above to see all nine pieces.

It’s rare for us to describe someone’s work as “dainty,” but that’s the first word that enters our head when looking at Portuguese illustrator Raquel Costa‘s work. Her unique aesthetic, which mixes storybook-style art with classic Victorian-esque literature, is one of the most unique things about her. And although she has several ongoing illustration projects in the works, our favorite is Songbook. The series is a collection of illustrated works inspired by song lyrics. From Aimee Man to the Arctic Moneys, the series takes a literal approach to the lyrics, spinning vibrant illustrations that capture the energy of the song without losing Costa’s visual personality. With only six pieces in the series so far–and with “work in progress” plastered across Costa’s site–here’s hoping more illustrations will be added in the future.

Have you heard of the story about the guy who died at his work desk and wasn’t found for days? Or how about the one about the woman whose breast implants blew up while she was on an airplane? Although there’s no proof if these incidents really happened or not, these are the types of stories that get passed around for year and years.

Urban Myths is a collaborative art series that illustrates popular urban legends. The project was orchestrated and curated by Mother Volcano, an illustration studio that has a lively, cartoonish aesthetic. From posters to editorial illustrations, the studio has a wide portfolio of creative projects, but their Urban Myths series is one you should especially check out. Artists featured in the series include Marta Monteiro, Nicolau, Claúdia Loureiro, and Inês Cóias. To see the full series in its entirety, check out Mother Volcano’s Behance page, but in the meantime, browse the gallery above to see a few of our favorites.

It’s Horror Week on (The) Absolute! We’re reposting some of our spookiest, creepiest recommendations every day leading up to Halloween. Enjoy!

With Halloween around the corner, I expect to run into lots of horror themed art with conventional themes, but comics artist Sarah Horrocks‘s collection of horror movie fan art has that slight atypical touch that I like. Drawn earlier this year for her “Horror Movie of the Day” challenge, each illustration is an homage to a particular horror film. But instead of choosing the obvious horror movies, like The Shining or whatever, she sticks with indie or foreign titles, giving her illustrations a slight edge that goes well with her sketchy, unpolished style. Out of all her movie sketches, the only one of them I’ve seen is In My Skin, and judging by Sarah’s illustration, you can see why I’ll never watch that movie again.

Maybe the real reason Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy are dunzo is because someone had Miss Piggy whacked, letting her body wash upon the shores of Twin Peaks. Or at least that’s the case with this hilarious mashup by illustrator Justin DeVine. Instead of typical fan art that simply pays an homage of the source material, he takes things further and reimagines key characters as Muppets, and it’s kind of genius. Of course Kermit would be Special Agent Cooper and of course Beaker and Janice would be deputy Andy Brennan and Lucy Moran. But Fozzy the Bear at the “Log Lady”? Um…sure, why not?

If this series makes you laugh (instead of roll your eyes), you can browse it in full here. The best thing about it? So much easier to understand than the original Twin Peaks.