Masked Karimbah Vinyl Toy by Paul Pope
June 17, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration

There hasn’t been much exciting Paul Pope news lately, this is probably because he’s been working on two giant projects. The first is his line of clothes for Diesel called 2089 which I posted about in April. But there’s a brand new project he’s doing where he’s teamed up with the folks over at Kid Robot to create a vinyl toy, a new branch for Paul.

Originally they wanted to create a line of vinyl figures based around his comic book THB, but it’s been at least a year, possibly two, since the last issue of the comic came out. So instead they’ve decided to com out with the Masked Karimbah, which is a character in the THB universe, although he’s only been seen on a kid’s television show. What’s really cool about this toy though is that Masked Karimbah’s dog is ACTUALLY the size of a Boston Terrier. That’s one damn big vinyl toy.

Here’s the deal though. The toy is limited to 300, is going to go for $150, and will only be available at the San Diego Comic Convention. Why do I have to be unemployed now?! haha…

Bobby

Ryohei Hase
June 17, 2008 | Categories: Art / Illustration

Ryohei Hase has been making the rounds on several blogs lately, so you might have already heard of this guy. Ryohei is a Tokyo based illustrator who creates amazing “realistic fantasy art”, which as you can see above is a pretty apt description. The images above are from a piece called Go Forward and Forward and features a ton of rabbit headed boys frantically struggling and fighting for something, but holy shit is it intense. This was the piece that really made my mouth drop open. Check out the rest of his work as well, he’s got plenty of amazing pieces!

Bobby

Glow-In-The-Dark Metropolis Poster by Pietari Posti
June 16, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Films / Illustration

I received and email from the awesome Pietari Posti this morning letting me know that he has a new poster for sale in his shop. The poster is a re-thinking of the classic movie Metropolis, but with his unique Pietari spin on it. It’s a part of the Underware’s Now Showing project, which has artists do their own versions of classic movie posters.

I’m totally loving this poster for several reasons. First, it’s frigging huge, measuring in at 32″ x 46″, this poster would look awesome absolutely anywhere. Second, the colors are so perfect. Pietari is a master of color combos and that orange/steel/camel/white colorway is definitely hot. Third, the damn thing glows in the dark! How cool is that? The poster comes in a limited edition of 100 prints and goes for roughly $125, so get ‘em while you can!

Bobby

Nan Na Hvass
June 13, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration

I was reading in an older issue of CA yesterday when I came across the work of Nan Na Hvass, an awesome artist from Denmark. Nan actually grew up in South Africa, eventually moving to Denmark when she was 10. She studied at the Danish Design School and is now currently at RISD here in the States. She’s also part of a design duo called Hvass&Hannibal which features her and her childhood friend, Sofie Hannibal.

There’s something about her work that totally makes me happy. I love that she uses these giant colorful shapes, and even though they’re totally simple looking, I couldn’t do what she does in a million years. The image above is a mural she did as a part of Hvass&Hannibal for the entrance of Vega Nightclub, a lounge in Denmark. The walls measure 5×15 meters and took about a week to complete, but it ended up looking really awesome. I love the black clouds and the raindrops all over, it’s kind of inspired me to create something like that in my bathroom actually! Check out the rest of her work and maybe you’ll be inspired as well?

Bobby

Faesthetic #8 / Infinity
June 11, 2008 | Categories: Design / Illustration

On Monday the newest issue of Faesthetic dropped, showering the world with artful delights. The issue is only $10, and they’re even running a special that gets you #7 and #8 for $15, which isn’t bad at all. This issue’s theme is “INFINITY”, and features a cover by the guys at Rad Mountain, as well as a ton of other great artists, so be sure to stop by the site and see what all the hoopla is about!

The Artist’s Guide to Infinity, Jason Polan presents Jacob Brege, Arbito, Spencer Hibert, Justin Van Hoy, Gluekit, Matt W Moore, Keith Shore, Ryan Riss, Dan Rule, Garrett Morin, Justin Fines, Blair Sayer, Sylvain Gerand, Neil Doshi, Thomas Jennings, Ray Frenden, Gasolline Gut, Derek Ballard, a Boy named Ethos, Labour-Ny, Pietari Posti, Tristan Henry Wilson, Damien Correll, Sune Ehlers, Jason Urban, Christopher Norris (Steak Mtn), Prate™ Computer Channel & Bang.

Bobby

Face Basics Print by Damien Correll
June 10, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration

Yesterday I got an email from Threadless with all of their usual tees, but I scrolled down and noticed this rad little print from the awesome NY illustrator, Damien Correll. The print is called Face Basics Print, and features a bunch of eyes, noses, and mouths in a bunch of fun colors. I just love it for the simplicity of it and all of the bright colors. The print measures 18″ x 24″, is printed on French Paper, and as of writing this is on sale for $30, which saves you $5.

Bobby

Ghosts of Winter Print by Evan Hecox
June 9, 2008 | Categories: Art / Blogs / Illustration / Internet

If you read the blog regularly you know I have an extreme fondness for Evan Hecox’s work, so seeing that he’s released a brand new print is always cause for a post. This newest print is titled Ghosts of Winter, Berlin and features an almost bleak scene, the colors not quite as vibrant as say his last series which was set in Mexico. I’m pretty sure that this is the point though, Berlin is far and away a much different place from Mexico so it shouldn’t have the same tone. I think it’s entirely beautiful and filled with all the classic Hecox elements like power lines, buildings and bicycles.

The print came in editions of 200, came being the operative word, as the print is sadly already sold out. The best idea is to check back in with Arkitip frequently, they’re actually pretty good about doing reprints of his Evan’s work. You can also read Evan’s blog on Arkitip, or subscribe to the RSS feed as well, keep a leg up on the competition!

Update: So I was totally wrong up there, the print comes out on June 21st and there are still editions available. It was late, so sue me! I was also told they don’t do reprints either, so be sure to pre-order this little guy!

Bobby

Fantômes Print by Rey Ortega
June 8, 2008 | Categories: Art / Illustration / The Desktop Wallpaper Project

A few weeks back DWP artist Rey Ortega was nice enough to send me a present, something he knew that I would definitely love. Rey teamed up with the folks over at BlueFlip Art to create some prints of his work, one of them being his awesome contribution to The Desktop Wallpaper Project, Fantômes. The print measures 15″ wide by 10.8″ tall, and as you can see looks wonderful hanging above my kitchen sink. It’s pretty crazy to think that a piece that was done of the DWP is now a physical print, it makes me pretty proud!

The print goes for $39.95, with 10% of that going to Rey’s chosen charity, Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered. To pick one up for yourself, click here. Thanks again for the print, Rey!

Bobby

Advice To Sink In Slowly Postcards
June 8, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration / Photography

I usually don’t post often on Sundays but I’ve got too many things that I’ve been meaning to post, so here we go! I posted about Advice To Sink In Slowly a while back, a poster project that was created for the incoming students of the University College Falmouth in England. The posters feature inspirational words of wisdom created by alumni for the incoming students, which is a great idea because I’ve seen a lot of very blank, boring dorm rooms before.

Well they’ve now expanded their awesome line of posters into a set of postcards, which look really great. The cover was created by the awesome guys over at Telegramme, and the book features 24 different designs to fit whoever you’re sending them to. The pack runs about $12, so get off your email and send some real mail!

Bobby

Salle Polyvalente
June 5, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration

Salle Polyvalente translates literally to ‘versatile room’ (or so Babel Fish tells me). But as Matthieu Bessudo, aka Mcbess, describes it, “it’s the kind of place that you can find in every small town in France, it’s a place where the people have their wedding party or an annual celebration or whatever bollocks is happening in that dead-end town, and it’s often neon lit and has a polystyrene ceiling.” It also happens to be the name of Mcbess’ newest project.

Matt got together a group of his friends, made up of advertising directors, 3D animators, illustrators and so on, to create images around a central theme, this month’s being Delicatessen. Then in another 2 months they’ll release a new bunch of images around a new theme, “OBEY!” to be specific. He says that there were 14 this month, but he expects that number to double by the next release, so it should be even better. He’d also like to expand the idea into art exhibits, parties, and even some sort of concert because a lot of the people are musicians as well.

I also wanted to throw out there that Matt is currently having a show at ROTOPOL called Meaty Melody. You can check out photos from the show both here and here, and there’s even a print of his Desktop Wallpaper contribution, Le Jardin, for sale as well!

Bobby