Sunday, March 28, 2010

5 Airbrush Artists You Should Know About (but probably don't)

This isn't a list of people that are the best ever, or those that I think are better than those that are known. Most people know of Craig Fraser, or Mike Lavallee (who, by the way, doesn't just do realistic fire), or even Cory Saint Clair or Alberto Ponno but there are guys out there that should be more well known for what it is they do. Guys that do things with the airbrush that is just mind boggling.

Soap (A.K.A Grizla): I found this guy on accident when I was checking out the Airbrush Action Myspace one day. I saw an airbrush piece that blew me away. I clicked the link and realized I'd seen this guy before on YouTube. The thing with Soap that sets him apart is that he paint BIG. Some of his large scale portraits could easily be comparable to Cory Saint Clair's. The Louie Armstrong piece I saw has so much realism in his eyes it feels like he is staring right at you. It's easy to get caught watching all of his videos and I encourage you to do just that.

Tom Martin: I found Hyper Tom on Deviantart when I was frequenting that site often. I passed by a few of his paintings because I thought they were photos of fruit, not airbrush paintings. I saw a few of the airbrushed pieces he did of metal work out equipment, and again thought they were just photos. I still cannot fully wrap my head around what it is he does, or how he makes his airbrush work the way he does. Brilliant stuff.

Adam Haden: Another Deviantart user, this guy puts some serious paint on semi-trucks, as well as motorcycles and what ever else paint will stick to. What makes his work so phenomenal is that he can keep his images so crisp while combining different references to make one single piece. Portraits to nudie pin-ups, he can paint anything with a face and make it look great.

Matt: Yet another Deviantart user (do you see a trend here??) who paints on huge semi trucks. He specializes in large scale murals that depict everything from movie scenes to old fire trucks painted with so much care they look like an old newspaper print on someone tail gate. Great guy to talk to as well.

Denis Peterson: Dru who? This guy may not only be on Deviantart, but that's where I know him from and I again passed by his art thinking they were photos. And this guy doesn't just paint some close up portraits, he paints the WORLD. There really isn't much I can say about this guys work other than if you really want to see how real you can get with an airbrush you need to check this guys work out. There are city scenes so detailed that I'm pretty sure look more real than the photos do.

Well, that's about it. Why not a top ten? Well, I've had a long day, a long week, and if this post was ever going to see the light of day, then I'd better get it out there. As a bonus though, I'll toss in these two guys: Kalli Haun and Laurus both from Germany and both incredible aritsts. The first focuses on portraits of real people that capture their souls and the second uses graffiti spray paint to create unique and rich work's of art with an airbrush. Check em out. Do it. Now.

The Video of the Post comes from Soap:

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