Jenny Mörtsell

Jenny Mörtsell is an illustrator who has a large fan following online. She draws portraits using pencil mostly but often experiments with paint too. 

Jenny sent me a statement about herself and her artwork:

'I am a Swedish girl living in Brooklyn. I have always been drawing and I think I always will. My favourite motif is girls with messy hair that doesn't smile just because somebody tells them they look prettier that way. I also take a lot of photos! You can see them at www.jennysphotofolio.com'

Here's a small collection of her work:

For more drawings go on:

www.jennysportfolio.com

Jenn Violetta

Jenn's Flickr

Swooshart

The mind behind art blog 'swooshart' has paired the great sportswear giant, Nike, with classical art. Combining their famous 'swoosh' tick with works from genius artists such as Caravaggio, Van Gogh, Michaelangelo and many more. 

I find the tick works with some artworks more than others, for example, the image with a woman and two children walking beside her heading straight toward the viewer, who is looking slightly up toward her. The tick is powerful and reinstates Nike's brand well. Other paintings the tick sits uncomfortably in the image, most notably the paintings which do not express power or strength. For example, the painting below where the swoosh seems to be just an awkward addition to a sombre and melancholy image. 

One of the paintings I feel the tick works most strongly with

swooshart.tumblr.com

Ed Fairburn

Ed Fairburn is an illustration graduate whose art is mostly figurative. He has worked extensively in incorporating portraiture within mapwork, relating the surface of skin with the patterns created on maps, as shown below.

Ed's Facebook 

edfairburn.com 

Henry Moore's sheep sketches

Henry Moore is an artist best known for his bronze sculptures which are scattered in locations across the world, however, little people know that he was also a talented sketcher and it is his delicate sheep sketches I am going to concentrate on in particular.

Moore lived in Much Hadham, a small village in East Hertforshire, and worked in a small studio overlooking a sheep field. He spent much of his time studying the sheep in his sketchbook, the way they moved, behaved and the shape of their bodies. Moore managed to capture the sheep's faces in very intricate detail, his method was to make a small, sharp noise to grab the sheep's attention so that they would turn to look at the source of the noise for several seconds, with a long, blank stare on their faces.

Moore was fascinated with the mother-child bond of animals, larger forms protecting smaller ones, a theme which is noticeable topic of interest in much of his work. Many of his sheep sketches are of ewes protecting their lambs, one may say a large influence on his artwork. Lord Clark (Civilisation and Landscape into Art) comments that Moore expressed 'a real affection' for his sheep subjects.

Moore sculpture at Kew Gardens, notice the similarities?

His sheep sketches are very accurate and first look solid in form when standing from a distance, yet when you get closer to the imagery you start to notice his style. Zig-zags and rushed ball point pen lines dominate the drawings, thicker and more panicked scratches where there is less light and softer yet still sudden and vigorous on the brighter parts of the scene. Moore also rarely started his sketches by outlining his sheep, but started shading straight away, a risky strategy especially with the use of ball point pen but nonetheless effective.

Moore rarely outlined his sketches before shading

Buy Henry Moore's sheep sketchbook here

Romero Britto

After I finished working at camp last summer, a few others and myself flew down to Miami for some well deserved sunshine and rest. Miami is beautiful and I would love to go back after I turn 21, it's so vibrant and busy, everyone is young and beautiful and there's so much to see and do.

One night after we finished our meal, a couple of us were walking down Lincoln Road looking for a frozen yoghurt shop and we stumbled across a colourful and bright shopfront, Romero Britto's gallery, nicknamed 'Britto Central'. We went inside and stayed in there for a good hour. His work is so rich and lively, a mix of cubism and pop, as he says on his website. We walked out of the gallery feeling really good about ourselves and 10x happier than we had done walking in. I fully understand now the point of art therapy and how art can lighten someone's mood since spending an hour in Britto Central.

Romero Britto is originally from Brazil, a self taught artist whose major influences are Matisse and Picasso after being introduced to their work on a trip to Paris. He moved to Miami age 25 and shortly after became an internationally reputable artist, believing the main aim of artists should be to enforce 'positive change'. 

www.britto.com 

My personal favourite and my phone case - Mona Cat

Britto

Art and About (1)

Near Nottingham castle

Miriam Galassi

Miriam is a 19 year old self taught artist from Germany, describes her work as 'photo realist' and 'fantasy and gothic art'. 

Her drawings really do the talking for me, she's seriously talented with colouring pencils.

Check out her facebook fan page for more drawings

Welcome!

Welcome to Art and About!

Welcome you all with this picture posted by blog 'eatsleepdraw' on Tumblr (eatsleepdraw.com) by 'laurenontheinternet'.

Personally I find this picture incredibly funny and it's now my phone background, but everyone who see's it, even my Art History course friends, find it, in their own words 'revolting'.

Enjoy!