I’ve been wanting to start a series of illustration/design related posts for quite some time now. For the first post, I am featuring some contemporary illustrators whose works have inspired me recently.

There are many artists whom I admire greatly and while I am sure you have heard of a few of those listed below (and may be mentioned in the future); it never hurts to spread awareness about these brilliant illustrators/designers who have influenced my way of thinking about the mechanics of visual communication.

Kali Ciesemier
A freelance illustrator based in Baltimore, US who also works as a lecturer at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). She primarily does editorial work that fuses great composition and colour combinations. Her work is done entirely on Photoshop with a Wacom tablet and custom brushes, spiced with textures. She also has a blog aside from her Tumblr, but most of her work can be found in her portfolio.

Victo Ngai
A New York based illustrator from Hong Kong. Her intricate artwork makes me want to kick myself for being so lacking. Just look at how meticulous her lines are; her patience and eye for detail is to die for. Victo has a Tumblr and her own website but tends to document her process on her Drawger blog.

Teekatas Suwannakruas aka Raindropmemory
A Thai illustrator I first came across on Deviantart. He does a lot of cute traditionally hand-drawn illustration but has recently been working with 3D rendered imagery that features urban daily life in Thailand. My eyes really opened to his work when I saw his vector-based HTML5 game, The Lotus Poetry, and ever since I’ve had a soft spot for his work.

Mads Berg
A Danish illustrator and graphic designer with a modern art deco style. He combines vector art with a stylish use of typography and gradients (my anti-gradient digital art teacher would swoon) to create these vintage-looking eyecandies. I even have some of his abstract wallpapers as background on both my phone and laptop. I would buy his prints too if I had money.   Website.

Stina Persson
A Stockholm based fashion illustrator whom I discovered after receiving a free trial of Replay Your Fragrance, which had the most beautiful packaging design I had ever seen up until then. Like Mads Berg, she also use gradients, but prefers traditional tools, such as ink, watercolours and masking fluid to produce her gorgeous and edgy work. Check out her portfolio to see more of her art!

I really admire these artists for having such a consistent style in their work, while mine is all over the place. Someone once told me that an artist’s unique style comes from the styles and techniques they idolize and strive for – and their utter failure to achieve it…! I really need to work harder and produce a lot of work too!

Are there any creative people out there whom you find inspiring?