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PERSONAL BEST: INSPIRED ARTWORK FROM THEISPOT

October 17, 2017

Recently, we asked illustrators on Theispot about the dream projects they create for themselves: the alternate or self-generated artwork that goes above and beyond their usual commissions. The result was a wave of inspired imagery, some of it recognizably created by the specific artist and some completely unexpected.

John S Dykes shares part of a painting series based on mixed culture advertising and signage. Translation is strictly optional.

 

Julia Breckenreid faces down negative space… and wins.

 

Peter Arkle likes to do an 8”x10” painting of a potato every time he completes an assignment.  Hanging them on the wall in a grid, he then asks visitors which is their favorite.  Pop quiz alert!

 

Cathy Gendron picked up her watercolors again after many years and found magic in mushrooms.

 

Colleen O’Hara put her Twin Peaks obsession to good artistic use in this graphic double portrait.

 

Shaw Nielsen takes aim at disposable consumption while honing his animation skills with this amusing gif.

 

Dan Sipple shows us how to tipple with a fun and useful infographic.

David Harrington’s Little Red Riding Hood is clearly the leader of the pack.

 

Eddie Edwards is working on a series of deconstructed, semiabstract landscapes influenced by the recent violent hurricane season.

 

Erika Steiskal chose an innocent, organic image as the starting point to explore the digital tools on her new iPadPro.

Federico Gastaldi’s long-standing love of alt movie posters surfaces whenever he has a moment to spare.

 

Guillio Bonaserra’s stark image is a meditation on what divides us, and how we ultimately hurt ourselves more than anyone.

 

James Steinberg is working on a series based on the nonsense language of idioms. Here is his visual take on “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".

 

Jennifer Hewitson’s lovingly rendered tree was created as a tribute to a good friend’s hard work and personal accomplishments as a plantsman in California.

 

Julia Binfield’s watercolor drawing was inspired by by a gathering of nine women for the 60th birthday of their lifelong friend – a table laid with the delights of a lifetime.

 

Karen Greenberg’s Boris is part of a current personal project.

 

Ken Orvidas shares one painting is his on-going series of birds.

 

Kirk Manley reimagines The Last Supper, minus the saintly restraint.

 

Kirsten Ulve's colorful city pattern really needs to find its way onto a silk scarf immediately.

 

Lisa Henderling has been exploring a glamorous bit of retro ‘80s style and palette, which reminds us to keep doing our crunches, even in the winter.

 

Manuela Bertoli has some serious fun with surreal image-making in her free time.

 

Nicole Kaufman channels Matisse, Lennon and finger-painters everywhere with this limited palette graphic image.

Peter McDonnell manages to keep at least one foot firmly planted in the world of fantasy at all times.

 

Ruth Rowland has put her new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to good use by creating a Thirty Days of Digital Lettering series to explore all the new tools.

 

Shannon Abbey ran away and joined the circus between jobs recently!

 

Larry Milam has been doing a lot of brush ink and pastel figure drawing in his spare time.

 

Shawn Finley’s “Gunslinger” is a digital study for a new series of paintings for exhibit at Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago. He describes the style as “Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art got together and had a baby.”

 

Tom Newsom can’t help it: even in his spare time (even on the beach) he thinks up wonderful new ways to portray Santa Claus- that’s why they call him Mr. Christmas!

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