Kozyndan

Octopus!

Courting

 It has been an utter nightmare trying to decide which images to put up to accompany this post for Kozyndan. Every place I looked there was just more and more astounding work, at one point I genuinely had six images uploaded, but obviously that's a bit much so, here we are, the two images I like the most as of this minute. By the time I finsh writing I'll probably want three other images.

Kozyndan are a husband and wife dynamic duo, where Kouze would sketch the outline then Dan would follow up with their patented colour. It is this colour use that is quintessentially Japanese: big and flat. This kind of colouration that makes me think of a diving pool full of paint of one colour, it has that richness and deep strong hue that looks like you could swim in it and drink it.

Ach and the detail too! I can almost feel the water spraying my face when I look at the bottom image!

I sincerely love everything Kozyndan have done, I even have had their work as my background on my laptop for months on end.

Check out their great and comprehensive website, it has EVERYTHING, AND IT'S GREAT: HERE

Hey, buy prints HERE

James Jean

'Wave II'

'Hounds'

(click on either image to enlarge)

James Jean is a name I found out whilst bored in Waterstones at christmas trying to buy my Pa a Francis Bacon book but got distracted because of all the other shiny art books were trying to make me buy them. Yep.

Anyway, in my fumblings with the hardback books in Waterstones I came across James Jean's cute little book called 'Rifts' which was a fold out book containing two multi-panelled artworks. You can see the two panels in great detail on his website: Side One and Side Two.

As I have said previously, I have grown particularly fond of Japanese art, and Jean's bold use of colour in 'Rifts' and in hand with the theme, obviously plays really well with my sensibilities. The top image 'Waves II' suits this theme nicely.

Whereas, 'Hounds' is bloody creepy, it looks like skinless dogs accompanying a nymph at night. Eek! Both pieces are very different but shows how broad James Jean's range is, but a common thread of the mythic and nature is apparent throughout his works.

Hit up James Jean's website to explore his coool portfolio: here.

A final image Cherub the Great might like after the jump....

Stacey Rozich

(Click on each image to enlarge)

Record art, I find, is often a handy gateway to find decent more obscure artists, and Earth's 2011 record 'Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light' artwork is no exception. Stacey Rozich's fantastic folk art is so damn eye-catching, the stripes, the waves, the blocks of vibrant colour. It's alluring art to say the least.

In the past few years I've grown to be a fan of Japanese art, to say it hasn't had a huge influence on modern art, especially western, is an understatement, check out Japonism. Stacey Rozich shows great appreciation of the characteristics that made up Japanese art: "the lack of perspective and shadow, the flat areas of strong color, the compositional freedom in placing the subject off-centre".

I do urge you to check out Stacey Rozich's portfolio it's more of the same, and it's excellent: here.

If your interest is piqued, Earth sound like a Spaghetti Western, check them: here.