It’s important to practice your artmaking as much as you can, but it’s also important to get inspiration and soak in work done by other artists– especially those whose style you really appreciate and can learn something from. So I’ve decided to do monthly artist picks, be them world-famous artists, friends, painters, photographers, sculptors– the more inspiration, the better!

This month’s artists are Tim Cantor, Todd White and Lawrence Northey.

Tim Cantor

http://www.timcantor.com

Saint Valentine :: Painted by Tim Cantor

Absolutely stunning surrealistic work. Working from a stylized-yet-unbelievably-realistic perspective, his vast array of works include visual and thematic motifs from spirals, apples, and delicate miniscule brass/gold rings and intricate designs that suspend beautifully-rendered objects or thoughts in air. His sense of composition is that of perfect balance. He uses a very saturated, dark palette. There seems to be a deeper insight and knowledge of life in his work– from the clear floating orbs above figure’s heads to the most textured abstract artworks, the images that come to this artist hold a deep mystery… One that’ll hold your interest for a very long time with each of his pieces!
I first saw his gallery while walking the streets of San Diego, and after leaving it I’d been so impressed by his work that I ran back (literally!) before it closed so I could pick up his book– and to my joy he was even there, so I got to meet him and have him sign my book! Not only is he an amazing artist, but a very pleasant person as well.

Todd White

http://www.artofwhite.com/

Piano Bar :: painted by Todd White

With an unusual sense of form, Todd White’s artwork is primarily composed of people formed into strange shapes, with illuminated expressions and an amazing sense of color (or more distinctly, skin tones). While the bow tie-clad men and women in black dresses (most likely holding a martini) all have unique, blocky form, the faces are painted with such amazing expression and color that some of them appear to be actual portraits– yet upon a closer look one will observe that there’s almost a cubist quality to his sharp and soft edges, color planes appearing and suddenly dropping off into one another. His plays on form and composition sometimes feature pianos: men dressed in white and black, standing next to each other to form a keyboard, people (seen here) enjoying the pianist… Many of his sketches are very edge-driven, movement-filled gestures.
I came across his artwork– more specifically, a giclee print of Piano Bar (painting featured here) at a gallery in Maui. Never had the chance of meeting the artist himself, but he was one of the original creators of Spongebob Squarepants… he’s got a history in animation! (No wonder he’s got so much action in his gestures).

Lawrence Northey

http://www.robotart.net

Shing Yun :: sculpted by Lawrence Northey

Once upon a 3D modeling class, I did a google on ‘raygun’ to see if I could find more inspiration for my project.
And boy did I ever!
Lawrence Northey creates metal sculptures of retro robots with rocket blasters, glassy helmets, and space dogs. These sculptures look like beautiful chrome toys– and I really wonder if their joints are bendable… And I wonder if their feet double as irons? Perfectly polished, intricate detail and a clearly-defined style (not to mention countless parts) are all a part of his sculptures.