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.