Rory Kurtz Illustration

Rory Kurtz is a self-taught 34 year old artist. He is a native of Milwaukee who actually worked in photography until this career came to an end a few years ago. He was encouraged to get back to his childhood root passion of drawing. Once he did, he became very popular where ever he showed his work. I found his work in the Sept / Oct 2013 issue of Communication Arts magazine.

The details in this first one just blew me away. I love the details in the buildings. Even the skyscraper behind the giant robot has detailed perspective lines as if it were a glass window tower in Chicago. 

When I saw this boy in his Spiderman tank-top, I got a deep feeling of Norman Rockwell. 

The same for these last two. I just feel Norman Rockwell surrounding them and love the beautiful style of Rory Kurtz. There were more illustration shown in the Communication Arts article about him. You can see that his style is consistent, soft, intentional and extraordinary. See more at his website. 

Screen Printed Gig Poster

Dan Stiles is a designer and artist who combines design with illustration. He is based in Portland Oregon and has used his unique style to create everything from identities for major corporations to gig posters for indie bands. I found this gig poster created for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros in the September 20013 issue of Computer Arts magazine. See more of Dan Stiles work at his website.

Brad Pitt!

"This piece [for film magazine Little White Lies] had very tight criteria: an image of Brad Pitt's face made of leaves. Restricted to one colour on black, this became about capturing Pitt's essence as simply as possible, with no space for fancy stuff"

Joe Wilson writes in the July 2013 issue of Digital Arts magazine as he describes the intention behind this amazing illustration.

Another example of the trend resembling a Renaissance toward days past when hand-crafted and curves were in vogue. See more of Joe Wilson's work at his website. 

Flowerhead

"His body of work teems with figures whose faces, beards or bouffant hairdos are comprised of organic matter: lyrical clusters of flowers, rivers, birds and fruits".

Tiffany Meyers writes in a terrific in depth article about artist / illustrator Olaf Hajek in the July / August 2013 issue of Communication Arts magazine.

His illustration work is incredible. It's intricate. It's simply amazing. There are several pages of his illustration work in the magazine. I highly encourage you to checkout this issue of Communication Arts. I find his style to be romanticized and an obvious example of the Renaissance happening today, heading back in the direction of detailed, handcrafted, and nature inspired artwork resembling that of the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau periods. Visit the website of Olaf Hajek to see more.