On three occasions now, I’ve run into the artwork of Iain Macarthur, through various tubes on the internet. Each time, a new piece of his startles me with excitement, and upon immediate pursuit I realize he’s the skull guy! That’s just a name I’ve given him, because his skull drawings make me weak in the knees… not sure if anyone else calls Iain the skull guy.

Anyway, I decided to booooooom it, and continue this post with more of his skulls. LOOK AT THEM!!! (after the jump)

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The coolest book I read in high school is being re-released for an ebook edition, with a fantastic new cover by Sam Weber! Follow this link to read about the process and see some of Weber’s early sketches.

Blue Sky Studios produced a heart warming documentary about children from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn who become pen pals with orphans from Freetown, Sierra Leone, called Brownstones to Red Dirt. To underline the value of the film, a Postcard Art project was launched, asking over 100 artists to create original artwork that will be auctioned to raise money to build a school for the children of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

More about the effort:
Two colleagues at Blue Sky Studios, David LaMattina and Chad Walker, have created a feature-length documentary about a pen pal program between a group of at-risk sixth graders living in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and orphans from the war living in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This Postcard Art project is an extension of the their film “Brownstones To Red Dirt” which features children from both schools. The kids in both places have inspired us all to want to do more and so we’re putting together an art auction of original postcards based around the same central theme of the film in a fundraising effort to build a school for the orphans in Freetown, Sierra Leone and create a library for the youth at their school in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

The artwork created for the auction is absolutely stunning, including work from so many talented people. Featured above are two postcards from Scott Gustafson, and Isaac Orloff.

You can read more about the effort here, and be sure to visit the auction site! Proceeds are going to an amazing cause.

The work of Jesse Auersalo is subtle, soft, and in a way frightening. His work speaks to a common theme of portraiture and the human face, often applying similar techniques and color schemes. Such fascinating work!

My close friend, Isaac Orloff recently contributed his talents to this fantastic motion piece for the US Census, in collaboration with Digital Kitchen’s NY office! Isaac has spent the last few years developing his own unique style of illustration, and it really shines through in this piece!

Take a look at the spot above, and then check out the rest of Isaac’s work here. Visit his blog too!

I once made an agreement with Sam Bosma. It was Freshman year at MICA (yeah, another MICA story) and we were in a working class session where I challenged him about using a Wacom tablet in Photoshop. I scoffed and I wouldn’t shut up about how stupid I thought they were. Sam declared, “Luke, at some point in your career you will convert to using the tablet over the mouse.” I told him if that ever happens I’ll mail him a fruit basket.

I still think tablets are stupid, and Sam remains fruit basket-less.

Moral of the story is, Sam Bosma is a kick ass illustrator and I am very embarrassed that I ever challenged the way he works—because it is CLEARLY working out for him in his favor! Sam is a thousand times better at illustration than I am at design, and I insist you visit his online portfolio and read his blog immediately.

I’ve gotta say, MICA has been turning out some really fabulous young artists lately. Niv Bavarsky is a Senior Illustration major, destined to do some really great things. Featured above is an excerpt from some artwork for an upcoming album by Myr.

Check out more of Niv’s work, here.

(Thanks to my pal @alexandergracey for the tip!)

Antony Micallef makes work that I would have liked to have made, if Freshman year at MICA would have just gone on and on and on… his paintings and his charcoal drawings are lovely!

Go see his new work!