Known as Dangiuz — real name is Leopoldo D’Angelo — this Italian digital illustrator has envisioned a cyber-world inspired by “Blade Runner”(1982) and “Ghost in the Shell” (1995), where bio-engineered humans live in a dystopian society. Defiant characters (“Freerunners”) seek justice of this oppressed nation controlled by large corporations, and yes, there are hints here […]
Category: Fantasy
Spectral Beasts in the Shadowy Fantasy Realms of Jade Mere
Jade Mere is a writer and illustrator with a passion for fantasy, science fiction, and the paranormal. Humans and animals are her favorite subjects, and this post features a selection of the latter. Just like the moonlit waters of Mere’s Pacific-Northwest home, the animals are filled with phosphorescence, light leaking from their eyes, mouths, and […]
Sinister Medieval Tattoo Art by Christopher Jade
Feast your eyes on the sinister medieval-themed tattoos of Christopher Jade. Lovers of Dark Souls will be intrigued, as will anyone with a penchant for only the darkest of blackwork subjects; demonic knights, necromancers, rotting phantoms, and mutant beasts stalk through his portfolio like the cursed escapees from an ancient, hellish dimension. His intricate linework […]
Restless Spirits and Worlds Between: The Art of Jenna Andersen
Restlessness and uncertainty characterize the mesmerizing artwork of Jenna Andersen. Faceless figures, engulfed by vegetation native to her home state of Virginia, explore mysterious forests and yards. Ghosts peer statically over these spaces, voyeurs to a strange and untouchable world, watching time pass and reality warp, their feelings and identities hidden behind a sheet. Other […]
Liminality and Bizarre Beauty: Doll Sculptures by Virginie Ropars
Virginie Ropars is an artist from Brittany, France. A degree in graphic arts led her to the video game industry, and afterwards she knew she wanted to make things with her hands. Her magical, feminine characters, made of fabric and polymer clay, hover in the liminal space between doll art, sculpture, and clothing design. While […]
Colorful, Grotesque Creature Mash-Ups by Tom Strom
Tom Strom is an artist based in Edinburgh, Scotland, who paints and tattoos colorful “creature mash-ups.” Among his inspirations are anime and Disney movies—the former for monster design, the latter for colorful backgrounds. He began tattooing over twenty years ago, during which time he experimented with different techniques and developed his style, which is an […]
Darkness and Innocence in the Illustrations of Yuriko Shirou
Yuriko Shirou is a self-taught illustrator based in Mexico. He has worked in many different art styles—including manga, American comics, and figurative art—and has done projects for publishers around the world. His illustrations resemble morbid fairy tales, conflating innocence with darkness. The moth is a recurring symbol, channeling Mesoamerican beliefs surrounding death omens and the […]
Dark Dream Characters in the Paintings of Bill Mayer
Bill Mayer is a well-known artist currently based in Decatur, Georgia, whose curious creatures have been widely featured on magazines, ads, stamps, posters, and more. Since an early age, Mayer has been attracted to things that are strange; this leaning towards oddity is evident in the selection of gouache paintings shown here, which include anthropomorphic […]
Alone in a Dystopian Landscape: Concept Art by Simon Stalenhag
Working in the field of concept art, Simon Stalenhag has conceived a whole world. Using his homeland of Sweden as a backdrop (and more recently, California), Stalenhag merges reality with fantasy, turning coniferous forests and snow-shrouded fields into the sites of alien encounters, apocalypse scavenging, and bloody cyborgian crimes. He spent a lot of time […]
Mortality and Sacred Snakes in the Dark Tattoo Art of Joao Bosco
Joao Bosco is a tattoo artist currently dividing his time between Los Angeles and London. He is recognized for his dark fantasy imagery influenced by both Japanese and American tattoo traditions. Featured here is a selection of his incredible snake tattoos, which are fuelled by his connection to the animal’s sacred symbolism. He is also […]