Today’s Artists To Know Installment is all about faces!

Natalie Foss

I discovered this artist on Behance. She is a Norwegian illustrator who works mainly in colored pencil. I wish more magazines used interesting illustrations like these; I would subscribe to all of them just to save the pictures :). I adore how focus is brought to the faces of her subjects by making their skin the only three-dimensionally rendered element of a piece, leaving the rest flat and filled in with solid color or pattern. The unusual colors she uses also catch the eye. She makes blue toned skin completely believable by placing the undertones like pinks and yellows in just the right places. The faces have a reflective quality, and make the viewer believe they can reach out and touch them. I’ve truly never seen portraits quite like these.

Malinda Prud’homme

This artist I found on twitter via my newly created account (Look at me, getting with the times. @AlliseNoble if you’d like to follow :)), and was immediately drawn to her comprehensive range of portraits styles from photo-realistic to more stylized, in a variety of mediums. There are even three-dimensional mixed media elements in some of her pieces, like gems adhered to the surface of a subject’s jewelry rather than simply painting the ornamentation. It is rare for one artist to work in so many different styles, and they all look fantastic. On her website Malinda states, “My greatest passion is portraying a variety of natural female beauty in order to express that all women; regardless of age, size, style, or ethnicity; are beautiful in their own unique way.” – right on!

Arisa Nakahara

I found Arisa Nakahara on pinterest. There is way more to pinterest than just recipes and cute wedding ideas – pinterest is another fantastic place to find some truly mind-blowing, excellent art. I love how most of Arisa’s portraits are painted straight on, and look you right in the eye. It’s a bit jarring and also captivating, especially since the eyes are the most detailed part of her faces. She says her theme is “The power to live”, and I can see that thread throughout all of her colorful portraits, saturated in lush fruits and floras and insects. All of her designs transport you to that magical warmth as spring and summer are just beginning. Her entire body of work is so cohesive and timeless, and the images, quite simply, make you incredibly happy.

Elsa Mora

Another artist I discovered on Behance (seriously, even if you don’t create art yourself it’s worth having a profile simply to browse and favorite all the amazing projects to be found here!). Elsa works in a variety of mediums including drawing and illustration and even extending into 3D mixed media sculptures and jewelry design, but I first found her through her paper cutting work. It is truly a testament to patience which I can never even imagine attempting. She creates whimsical storybook universes and achieves an unbelievable depth all with layered paper.

Lucy McLauchlan

I discovered this artist back in late high school when I still actually subscribed to magazines, and she was featured in an issue of Juxtapoz. Lucy McLauchlan is another artist whose work you can spot as hers from a mile away. The combination of heavy black and white contrast and the balanced flow of designs made entirely of undulating lines and stylized faces is hard to look away from. I would love to walk around in this place (and maybe have my bedroom painted like this, hm?)

Ruben Ireland

Another artist who favors dramatic black and white contrast, Ruben’s art is one more find from pinterest. He uses the black and white to divide elements of the body and draw out or recede features into the dark. He seamlessly weaves animal and woodland/nature imagery through his portraits as well, forming almost a psychic connection between the two. His subject’s facial expressions are ambiguous and stoic, leaving you to look to other cues to imagine what is on their mind.

Are there any other types of artists or artwork you’d like to see? Let me know! I’m always open to suggestions!