Eric Shalley

I came across Grant Hamilon’s Flickr Stream today and was stunned by his Polaroid work. He definitely has a handle on color, composition, and presentation. These photos make my insides smile. I could really look at these all day long, so simple and serene.

Visit Grant’s Flickr Stream.

Visit Grant’s portfolio.

I love the Olympics. I always have and I always will. I watch everything that is televised and have my DV-R filled with Olympic coverage. I have also always had a passion for architecture and heavily considered pursuing a career in it, but decided on graphic design instead. This year’s Olympic venues are incredibly stunning and very artistic in style. I came across these great artists renderings of a few of the buildings and wanted to share them.

More images of the Bird’s Nest.

More images of the Water Cube.

Great information graphics on all things Olympic.

I can honestly say that Cole Rise’s photography stopped me in my tracks a few days ago. I dropped what I was doing and spent a good 20 minutes looking through his site. He really has a unique eye for detail. I found myself staring at beautiful landscapes and being amazed at how much visual interest a small silhouette of a cow or a bird flying in the distance could add to the composition. His work with people as a subject matter is also equally interesting.

Check out his website at colerise.com or his Flickr stream.

Mark Khaisman is a Ukrainian artist based in Philadelphia who creates artwork from brown packing tape. Khaisman works on a light easel, applying translucent brown packing tape to clear plexiglas panels, the layers are built up to create varying degrees of opacity.

I find his work very inspiring and was absolutely shocked to find that his works are created entirely with packing tape. Each “line” is made by twisting and molding the tape to the plexiglas. I love when artists find new ways to use materials that were never “intended” to make art.

I enjoy doing illustrations with simple blue ball point pens, which are a less than common drawing utensil. I have found that using untraditional mediums can lead to some very amazing outcomes that would have never been achieved using traditional materials.

If you would like to see more of Khaisman’s work you can visit his portfolio.

Scott Hansen is a California-based multi-disciplinary artist who has produced work for a broad range of clients from Barack Obama to small label musicians. He also writes, records, and produces music under the name Tycho.

I first came into contact with Scott’s work a few years ago in an issue of Communication Arts. I was immediately drawn to his vintage and organic style.

I think what impresses me most are his use of color and strong sense of composition. My eyes always seem to know exactly where to go. I really enjoy looking at his work on his portfolio site because he pairs his work with his recordings and the two mesh nicely.

If you would like to see or hear more visit Scott’s portfolio, blog, or music sites.

I have decided to start a series of things that inspire me. I am starting with artists and plan to branch out into more general categories such as: colors, typography, etc.

Si Scott is a graphic designer from the UK who specializes in rich, hand drawn illustrations that often involve type. He uses fineliners to create the illustration and usually works about 25% bigger than the final size so the illustration looks more crisp when scanned.

I am mesmerized by the skill hat he displays with a pen. I usually do my illustrations in ball point pen, so his style immediately spoke to me. Seeing mainstream hand drawn type makes me smile all over.

If you would like to see more of his work check out his portfolio here.

I also dug up this short video of him at work. Take a look!