Ashley Wood

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.

conceptart.org

Conceptart.org is a web community of artists who collaborate and share idea, images, work and experience. It is a place for education and a webportal where you can meet like minded peoples.
Conceptart provides a venue where you can showcase your works and get feedback from like minded individuals. It is also frequented by industry professionals and by corporate sponsors based in the world of digital creativity. In their own words: "We have lofty goals. We want a place which we can all learn and share our works. We want to improve the quality of art education on the internet. We do not believe that the information about art should be only for those who can afford the expensive private schools. We want to help those with talent, regardless of income. We want to even be able to offer scholarships to a select few with need and talent. The latter is one of our biggest goals and we are currently seeking corporate sponsorships in order to make this happen. It will happen."

The site is frequented by individuals who work with companies like: LucasFilm, ILM, Tippett Studios, Massive Black Inc, Nintendo, Acclaim, Escape, Vivendi-Universal, Ubisoft, Blur, id, Flagship Studios, Blizzard Entertainment, Activision, and many more. I vist them regularly to catch up on what several of my favourite artists are getting up to. Join the community and visit them today at Conceptart.org.

OPI8.COM - The New Dark Culture

If your artistic tastes tend to the darker side of human nature then OPi8.com just might be your cup of tea. This is a site which focuses on the promotion of artists, writers and other creatives whose work expresses the darker extremes. OPi8.com was founded by photographer & illustrator, Chad Michael Ward and came about largely due to motivation from a friend of Chad's Warren Ellis who is a famous writer of excellent Graphic Novels and Comics. Chad's experience with the now defunct Reactor Magazine, which was an excellent webzine, led him to desire a more personal conduit. Visit OPI8.com you might find it a little disturbing.

Michael Kaluta

Michael William Kaluta is another one of my early artistic inspirations. His career as an illustrator has spanned over 4 decades. He first became famous for his work on The Shadow comic book in the early 1970's. His fantasy art prints were what attracted me, as well as his association with other "The Studio" members, Jones, Wrightson, Windsor-Smith. His more recent works include producing some beautiful covers for many of DC's Vertigo Imprint such as The Books of Magic and fantasy related titles. His love of Art Nouveau and Deco Art is evident in his works as is his penchance for fairies, angels and other denizens of the world of myths, legends and fantasy. His eye for interesting composition and design is second to none. Take a trip into Kalutas World.

Hellboy Dot Com

This website is a great resource for all things Hellboy ... as an official conduit it carries the latest info and news. It also has some great art and an excellent forum on upcoming projects and features some excellent fan art. Visit Hellboy.com today

Stenkat - Design/Illustrator

Stenkat is a designer/illustrator/photographer whose portfolio features some great art and designs. His work features graffitiesque illustrations, design and graphics a few nice photos. The sites design is also cool with much use of flash and multimedia.

The Art of Timothy Lantz

Timothy Lantz describes himself as a full time web developer/graphic artist with degrees in Art Education and Communication. His work has a fantasy and gothic quality and his works include book covers, commecial illustrations and comics. More recently he has completed work on the beautifully rendered Archeon Tarot. Check out the work of Timothy Lantz today ... don't forget to visit the website for The Archeon Tarot.

Raster

A recent find for me, Raster is a creative collective which features some very, state of the art design, graphics and photography. Raster embraces the use digital art tools and features some excellent artists, it also showcases the many faces of contemporary art in all its forms and mediums. The main personalities behind Raster are Luis C. Araujo and Keith Kennedy. Take a few minutes out of your busy day and open yourself to Rasters vision.

GFX Artist

GFXartist.com is another of my regular watering holes. It is a community site aimed at professionals and also the next generation of digital artists. At the site you will find some excellent examples of the state of the art in several creative disciplines.

In their own words they state that - "Our main goal is to create an online environment where our visitors can communicate, learn and expose their work. GFXartist also has an elite system. At the end of every month we line up the most respected and valued artists by looking at the top 10 artworks in the member gallery. To decide who gets the elite status, we let the public vote. Elite members have more access to the site and get to post their work in the Elite gallery, thus providing the users a high quality selection of artists and their work."

GFXartist was started in late 1999 and went live in March 2000, based in Hilversum, The Netherlands they are an excellent source of reference and high art. They regularly feature articles and tutorials on new skills and techniques. Their interviews provide an insiders viewpoint into the industry and the creative process. Do yourself a favour and join
gfxartist.com today.

Faerie Dust Gallery

FaerieDustGallery.org is a showcase of Fantasy Artists whos'works include Faeries, Elves, Dragons, Mermaids & Vampires, as well as Angels, Goddesses and other magical beings in mediums from Natural Media to Digital and 3D. If you like fantasy art then visit the faeriedustgallery, although there are not many examples on the site itself and the image sizes are small the artists pages link to sites with larger collections.

ArtUproar

ArtUproar.com is an online artistic community with a large collection of many different forms of digital artwork. The community features animations, art, audio, designs, writing, skins and a variety of digital media, much of which is very good. Definitely worth the visit, Drop by ArtUproar today.

Epilogue - Fantasy and Sci-fi Art at its best.

This online gallery is one of the best showcases of Fantasy and Sci-fi art. Epilogue was established late in 1998 and has grown from its humble beginnings to what it is today. Whilst the growth has not been without its challenges, efforts of its creators have definitely been worth it. Pay Epilogue a visit and experience some of the best examples of art in these genres.

The 24 Hour Museum - UK Art

The 24 Hour Museum lists itself as the UK’s National Virtual Museum. It offers the e-visitor dynamic content which includes daily arts and museum news as well as exhibition reviews and tours of online exhibits. In their own words “The site promotes publicly funded UK museums galleries and heritage attractions and seeks to develop new audiences for UK culture.” Visit The 24 Hour Museum today for some great art, information and links.

The Fantasy Gallery

This commercial portal is an excellent source for prints and posters of some of the best art in existence. Tim Corbett, is the owner of the Fantasy Gallery and also an avid collector of fantasy art. This love of the fantastic is reflected in the Gallery and in his favourite artists. He started trading in art as a way of financing his passion and also to make a living by working with his passions. The Online site is a virtual gateway for the real world "Fantasy Gallery" based in the Montrose area of Houston.

It features the art of fantasy and comic books, pin-ups, pre-raphaelites, sci-fi, horror, sport and wildlife based works. Tim lists the works of artists like, Thomas Canty, Brian Froud, Michael Whelan, Don Maitz, Keith Parkinson, and Steve Hanks as being his favourites. Visit the Fantasy Gallery, for some great art.

STEP Inside Design And Dynamic Graphics Magazine Launch Free Sites For Designers

In March of this year, Jupitermedia (the owner of Graphics.com) acquired Creatas, the parent company of Dynamic Graphics and STEP Inside Design. STEP Inside Design focuses on exploring the impact of design on contemporary life, its tagline being "design from the inside out." Dynamic Graphics magazine focuses on providing tips, tricks and shortcuts right across the design disciplines, and expert advice on the process of running a creative services based business. They are definitely worth paying a visit.

Design Is Kinky

Based out of Sydney, Australia, "Design is Kinky" was created in the late 90's to act as an educational resource for designers. It is heavily influenced by sites such as Digitalthread, Zeldman.com, Shift and the K10k. DIK features interviews with designers, artists, illustrators and also provides a showcase for a wider audience.

It is very concerned with current technologies and trends and also with the personalities active in the creative field. It also allows creatives to showcase their work and to share ideas and information with each other. It is conceptually very much like a webzine, visit Design is Kinky and get your design fix today.

Digital Thread

DigitalThread is a web portal which acts as a conduit to some very cool content and websites. It features a gallery of some of the best designed sites on the web, an event center, listings of design firms, font resources, book reviews, PhotoShop actions and plugins, and other design resources. Take a few hours out of your day and visit DigitalThread for some great creative brain candy.

Kaliber10000 - The Designers' Lunchbox ™

Kaliber10000 (K10k) is an excellent creative design portal, which features thought provoking and inspirational content. It is designed to provide artists, designers and other content providers full freedom in exploring their chosen medium. Visit Kaliber10000 and let your hair down.

Bill Sienkiewicz - Illustrator - Comic Artist

Bill Sienkiewicz is one of my favourite comics artists and illustrators. Over his extensive career he has illustrated most of the major characters and personalities in this genre. His work is remarkable because he draws influences and references from many artistic styles and has explored the concept of graphical storytelling quite creatively. His work is quite detailed and is famous for his use of different media and mixing many graphical styles in the creation of his "pages". I have many of his books and graphic novels and look forward to seeing more from this amazing artist. Visit his website to see some examples of his work.

Artnet.com

Artnet AG is a german based webportal which represents itself as "the place to buy, sell and research fine art online." It is hooked in to over 1,000 galleries in 250 cities, and has access to more than 150,000 works from over 25,000 artists worldwide. Artnet serves both dealers and art buyers by upto date info on pricing and trends and also facilitates quick access to info and artists alike. Artnet features artists, galleries, a price database, markets alerts, trend forecasts and a Magazine. Visit Artnet today to buy and research some great art.

The CG Channel

This Montreal based online community, is a great resource for lovers of all CG art. With features on 2D and 3D graphics, artists, companies and technology, there is very litte left out. Their feature articles are always very current and showcase a variety of artists, productions and events. The site also hosts excellent tutorials, artists galleries, product reviews, daily news, discussion forums and a links directory. Visit the CG Channel for a great CG based community.

Howard Schatz - Ethereal Images

With titles like Passion and Line, Pool Light, Seeing Red and over a dozen photobooks under his belt, Howard Schatz has won many fans in the world of photography. His distinctive underwater photos and the use of red heads in many of his works, have certainly made me a fan. He shares his website with his wife and business partner, Beverly Ornstein. Pay a visit to Shatz - Ornstein and also take a walk down to a decent bookstore and take a look at one of his many books.

ASFA - The Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists

The ASFA, which is a nonprofit educational association, have a great website which promotes Science Fiction and Fantasy based Art. Its membership is made up of amateur and professional artists, art directors, publishers, collectors and anyone who has an interest in genre. The site features galleries and links, as well as being an information portal for the ASFA. The ASFA is responsible for handing out the Chesley Award. This award is named after Chesley Bonestell who is famous for his SF and astronomy based images. Visit the ASFA it's a great website for some good info and art.

Artcyclopedia - Art Links Galore

Artcyclopedia is a great art based reference site. It provides a well categorized list of links to websites featuring the work of many thousands of artists and art styles. The artists are grouped and listed by Name, Movement, Medium, Subject and Nationality. There is even a listing dedicated to Women Artists only. The Website also features articles, news, weblinks, galleries, links to Online Art Museums and other great reference materials. Please visit the Artcyclopedia to explore the world of art.

Jeffrey Jones ... Artist - Illustrator

When I was in my teens, and still at secondary school here in London, I and a group of friends had developed a passion for fantasy art and comics. I picked up a book called "The Studio" which featured four artists: Jeffrey Jones, Barry Windsor-Smith, Michael Kaluta and Berni Wrightson. Of these artists, Jeffrey Jones was my favourite because his art spoke to me on a level which echoed my passion for the historical and romantic in ART. Whilst my early influences were from Graeco-Roman history and mythology, "The Studio" was to introduce me to celtic mythology and its influences.

Ever since then I've had a love for celtic art, crafts and mythology, and also for Arthurian legends. Much of this passion for art has manifested itself in a passion for collecting art books and artistically rendered comics. Jeffrey Jones is an amazing artist who has inspired many a young person to start their own journeys in art, please visit the Website of Jeffrey Jones to see some more great art.

ARC - The Art Renewal Centre

The Art Renewal Centre is one of my favourite online galleries. It promotes and provides examples of art which features epic themes and in a classical style. It avoids modern or new art which is abstract, in form and nature. Whilst some of you may not agree with their philosophy, you will doubtless enjoy many of the classic pieces of art found on this site. The following 12 points from this mission statement, accurately communicates their philosophy and goals.

1. To create the largest on-line Museum on the internet, with hundreds of thousands of oversized high quality images of all the known works of the greatest painters and sculptors in human history, cross referenced to the largest encyclopedic online art reference library of historical texts, essays, biographies and articles.

2. To promote a return of training, standards and excellence in the visual arts.

3. To provide responsible views opposing those of the current art establishment when warranted, especially as expressed in critiques of current art exhibitions, and in aesthetic philosophy.

4. To disseminate the rich artistic heritage of 2500 years of accumulated knowledge in creating traditional, realistic images touching upon universal and timeless themes.

5. To advance the understanding that Great Art begins with great themes and expresses them poetically through mastery of all aspects of technique.

6. To repudiate the idea that development in art requires destruction of boundaries and standards, pointless emphasis on 'newness,' or pursuit of the bizarre and ugly as ends in themselves, and to expose as artistic fraud those works conceived only to elicit outrage.

7. To provide a technical and historical resource for artistic information, including referrals to experts.

8. To provide a forum for dialogue and exchange of expert information among educators scholars, curators, collectors and artists.

9. To promote scholarship and research on the artists of the past and the rediscovery and preservation of their techniques and methods.
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10. To establish basic visual literacy standards across the world. Drawing must be introduced as part of the core curricula in K-12 and developed progressively until high school and beyond.

11. To provide impetus for the reestablishment of high standards of performance in the visual arts of painting, drawing, and sculpture, and to promote the concept of recognizable quality as a primary criterion for the judgment of Fine Art.

12. To offer a platform for discussion - both scholarly and informal - on art history, aesthetics, technical considerations, art education and other related issues, and to maintain honesty and frankness in our interaction with everyone, regardless of predisposition.

Based upon these goals they obviously have strong views on the nature of art. I enjoy the art on this site and can honestly say, I've spent many hours looking and reading the materials here Enjoy...

deviantART - Art Community & Portal

deviantART is an online artistic community that I spend a lot of time exploring. There are some very good creatives who post their work at this web community and portal. With well over a million members wordwide, and having been around since it was launched in August 7th, 2000, it is a healthy and thriving community. With a name like deviantART, you'd think it would be seriously warped in nature, and whilst there are creatives who do have a distinctly dark overtone to their work, it definitely has a much broader creative appeal.

The site was created to serve as an artistic community and also to cater to the skinning requirements of DMusic. You can find the full story told here by one of the co-creators. dA now plays host to artists, writers, designers, photographers, skinners and other creatives. It provides hosting for wallpapers, skins, icons, images, photos, visualization presets, themes, art, tutorials and many other downloadables. With over thirteen million files or deviations, I daresay, you'll be hard pressed not to find something you like. Visit deviantART now, you wont regret it.

The Comic Art Community

I spend a good deal of time online and one of the sites I visit with any regularity is the Comic Art Community. I'm a big fan of comic art and the CAC is one of the better portals for being exposed to and acquiring original comic art. The website features auctions, messageboards, a decent gallery and an extensive directory of weblinks. It's well worth a visit and if you want an excellent source for original comic art, this is it...

Hello fellow art lovers...

I created this blog to share the many cool sites and artists I come across on a day to day basis whilst browsing the web. I will attempt to review and link to sites which I feel meet my interests as an artist, designer and photographer.