UK Print Illustrators - 3 of February's Favourites

February has been a quick month but I’ve managed to find 3 favourite illustrators for the month whose impressive artworks have been brought to life through print. I wanted to share their work because their creations are very imaginative, which should help if you’re in need of some “outside the box” inspiration. Also, they’re based in the UK - a bit of patriotism is always fun!

Illustrators have a competitive industry to battle within whilst remaining cool-headed and creative so help these artists out by sharing this article if you’re as impressed by their illustrations as I am.

James Oconnell

Mr Oconnell is a professional all-round creative based in Manchester and his website bio makes you imagine him as the Spiderman of the illustrative world: “I'm a firm believer of using my skills for good”.

The first of his creations that appealed to me is titled Be Good Together and is intended to provoke non-collaborative creatives into working with one another to form something collectively awesome by presenting the message that it does.

His design reminds me of a dream catcher that has been hung, which almost ties in with his theme i.e. the dream that all creatives will one day work with one another.

Carl Koch

I’m a great fan of visual artists who have imaginations that can create an entire fantasy world within a single piece of art. One type of scene that has always appealed to me, since my love of the anime movie Howl's Moving Castle, is the floating island.

What I admire most about Koch’s floating island, titled High Rise Livin’, is the realistic appearance of this imaginary house he has created - similar in appearance to a child’s tree house with the characteristic charm of a vintage potter’s shed.

Created with watercolours, this artwork reminds me of the Disney film Up because of the childhood contraptions created by the movie characters - an association that Koch may or may not be happy with.

Daniel Schooler

I’m not sure if the anime side of my life is running this article but my reason for showcasing this illustrator’s work is because of the connection it has with my adoration for Dragon Ball Z. Rather than explain the plot I’ll leave it for you to research and find out the relevance of giant monkeys.

Schooler’s bio gives great insight into some of the design choices he’s made within this illustration, for example he’s added a depth of field and focus element that you’d usually find in photography by making the larger plantation, which is seemingly closer, blurred and out of focus. Within his bio he explains that he “has a curious relationship with photography” which would explain this combination of the illustration and photography forms (http://www.danielschooler.com/about.html).

Graffiti and tattoo artistry also spring to mind when analysing this piece of art which Schooler again explains are his influences and aspirations.

Designing to Inspire

I'm a big supporter of working for others to learn from, as well as primarily working for passion and financial gain of course. This is why I amongst many others am a big fan of the works of great magazines and websites such as Creative Bloq and Smashing Magazine. They not only provide updates on trends and innovations within the design community but they also teach the future designers of today with tutorials and free resources. The tutorials are not simply for the purpose of teaching though.

Many of the tutorials and lessons provided are a result of some really awesome design created by an inspiring artist who then picks apart their creation to provide the methods behind their madness. It might not have been the intention of that artist to inspire people with his creation. It might have been to serve a purpose e.g. creation of a new logo for a client in exchange for money. The inspiration is perceptive from the viewers of the artists' work who seek to create similar creations.

Last night I came across this fantastic piece of artwork on Adobe's blog which not only provides visual stimulus to inspire my own creations but it also gives a very in-depth tutorial for others to learn from.

Image Source

It is great work such as this which makes me think should designers keep it in mind that their art could one day inspire someone to create something equal if not great to it? If that is the case should every illustration be created with equal passion to present our best work every time no matter the size of the task?

I think it is great questions such as these which should be commited to memory with every brush-stroke or mouse-click designers and artists make. It is a great feeling to know that your own creation could inspire the future Picasso. After all the notion that every original idea is simply a remix of previous ideas is one that appears evident in many current day 'invention'. The TED Talks video below by Kirby Ferguson champions this very notion. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Embrace the Remix from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

5 Pinterest Boards of Design Inspiration

Pinterest has been a great way to create mood boards, bookmark influential designs, and create inspirational design sources for other creative minded individuals. It's easy to get lost in the plethora of beautiful stuff that it offers which is why we've chosen 5 of our favourite Pinterest boards which act as a good resource for those needing inspiration for their design projects.

Want yours included in our next inspirational Pinterest board blog article? Leave a link to it in the comments below.

1. /paulsvo/illustration/

   This fantastic selection of illustrations by Paulsvo gives all sorts of creative ammunition to artists and designers whose weapon of choice is nothing more than a pen and some paper...maybe even a graphics tablet too.



Click here for Paulsvo's Pinterest Board





2. /butteredmuffin/inspiring-art/

   Inside of Butteredmuffin's board there is an eclectic combination of artistic styles ranging from graffiti, street art through to sculptures, etc. The main image that grabbed my attention is the one shown below.



Click here for Butteredmuffin's Pinterest Board





3. /raychap/graffiti-or-art/

   Raychap has a range of graffiti art from different street artists on his board which asks the old question Graffiti or art?



Click here for Raychap's Pinterest Board





4. /retorta/poster/

   This board is full of really cool and artistic posters of all kinds, mainly of events. Retorta's board is definitely one for designers looking to create cool posters.



Click here for Retorta's Pinterest Board





5. /peaceluvharmony/artsy-fartsy/

   Peaceluvharmony's board has got some more great examples of street art the most interesting to us is the one shown below.



Click here for Peaceluvharmony's Pinterest Board

Inspiring Art For My Feature Wall

Soon I will be moving into a new place and thought I'd enjoy a fresh start, therefore, I scanned Pinterest for some great pieces that I could use to create my feature wall. Here are a few inspiring designs that I came across which I'll create similar versions of but either get printed onto wallpaper first or just go for it and paint straight onto the wall. Not sure which yet.

Source: 10knotes.1000notes.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: wookmark.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: theowlhooteth.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: leonidafremov.deviantart.com via Gabrielle on Pinterest

Source: ffffound.com via Emmaline on Pinterest

Source: society6.com via Emmaline on Pinterest

Source: society6.com via Emmaline on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Abigail on Pinterest

Source: xkcd.com via Enrico on Pinterest

I'm hoping to take a little something from each of these to create my masterpiece and this is just a selection of my favourites. I might end up coming up with something else completely different. The joy of it all!