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Inspiration from Artists Wk 186 Featuring Artists : Bill Carmen and Bernard Gribble.
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Posted
Bill Carman is a contemporary American artist who has worked as an art director, designer and illustrator for many universities, ad agencies, publishers and large corporations. His work can be found on books, both children's and adults, on posters, and CD covers. His art is represented in fine art galleries in New York and Los Angeles. He's constantly at work, his working week is between 60 and 80 hours. He uses a variety of mediums, his gallery paintings are in acrylic. He likes to use different surfaces for his art...canvas, wood, copper and other metals. He's an advocate of sketchbooks and is constantly doing something art-wise. Bill's art has a distinctive surreal edge to it, and is known worldwide.
He says this is the painting that first got him noticed...
More examples...
He likes to paint miniatures, here are some of his 6 x 4 inch images (Halloween themed)...
The painting below is on a small tin box. The boxes, called Altoid tins, are meant for mint sweets, but can be purchased blank. To my surprise they are popular with some miniature painters.
From his sketchbooks...
For an Alice in Wonderland themed exhibition...
Examples of his working method...
I find his work unique, wonderfully imaginative and inspiring.
More examples...
He likes to paint miniatures, here are some of his 6 x 4 inch images (Halloween themed)...
The painting below is on a small tin box. The boxes, called Altoid tins, are meant for mint sweets, but can be purchased blank. To my surprise they are popular with some miniature painters.
From his sketchbooks...
For an Alice in Wonderland themed exhibition...
Examples of his working method...
I find his work unique, wonderfully imaginative and inspiring.
Posted
Hello I’m trying guess I know I know I’ve always been very trying. I can’t coordinate my thoughts my fingers my eyes but I do have a look at every now and again just nice to see roughly what you are all up to okay and thank you again for keeping in touch with me everybody who has it’s kind of you Me and painting seem to have parted company. I can’t do detail. This is a bugger really oh dear was a moderators get shot with me now for saying that will pop in again as and when I can Sylvia
Posted
As a little aside to this thread, I'm posting one our pal Sylvia's pictures that I have on my POL wall. It's called 'bottoms up', as you'd expect from Sylvia. She saw this lady in a charity shop and drew her from memory when she got home...
...It's crammed full of character, bulging with life, and makes me smile when I look at it...which is why I put it on my POL wall.
Just great that she was able to pop in.
...It's crammed full of character, bulging with life, and makes me smile when I look at it...which is why I put it on my POL wall.
Just great that she was able to pop in.
Posted
Back to Bill Carman. As I mentioned earlier, he sometimes is invited to submit work when galleries have themed exhibitions. One such was a tribute to the great illustrator Maurice Sendak. The next two pics are his tributes...
Here's another miniature painted on one of those small tins. They intrigue me...I'd love to have one.
Here's another miniature painted on one of those small tins. They intrigue me...I'd love to have one.
Posted
Some more of Bill Carman's surreal illustrations...
The last of these is entitled 'Medieval Batman'
Liking, as I do, offbeat idiosyncratic art, I feel I ought to like Surreal Art more than I do. But with the famous so called 'fine art' surrealists I often find myself slightly underwhelmed by the art. I admire a few of Salvador Dali's works for example, but much of it leaves me cold. My interest in surrealism is rejuvenated by the maybe lesser known artists and illustrators like Bill Carman.
The last of these is entitled 'Medieval Batman'
Liking, as I do, offbeat idiosyncratic art, I feel I ought to like Surreal Art more than I do. But with the famous so called 'fine art' surrealists I often find myself slightly underwhelmed by the art. I admire a few of Salvador Dali's works for example, but much of it leaves me cold. My interest in surrealism is rejuvenated by the maybe lesser known artists and illustrators like Bill Carman.
Posted
Interesting observation, and it accords with my own feelings about surrealism in general - maybe I just have too literal or practical a mind, but while I admire the enormous skill in these works, I don't get them: probably because there's nothing specific to "get" - they're a journey into the subconscious; and I'm not entirely sure I've even got one, so I tend not to comment (I asked a friend what he thought; he said "well, they're about FUN .... and you, um.... well let's just say it's not the first word that comes to mind when thinking about you ...". Which I thought was tactful) .