England Hidalgo's Punk Art

Not only do I admire England Hidalgo for his skill with ink, but the straightforward messages about political and social issues in his illustrations are also to be revered. Hidalgo was born in the Philippines and studied a few semesters in Painting at the College of Architecture and Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, then moved to the U.S. in 1997. He currently lives and works in San Francisco.

From The Drawing Room:

"England Hidalgo presents to us a brand of realism that navigates through grit, manifesting the wider society by interrupting our complacency with it. A background in punk would describe the hyperbolic visual language that he mustered by reiterating images from the general media alongside iconic juxtapositions that, by principle, should elicit empathy; rather they create revulsion onto themselves in Hidalgo's terms."

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Poshichi's Digital Take on Nihonga

Using digital tools, Poshichi makes nihonga-style pictures of everyday life. These images can be anywhere from funny to calm, thoughtful, imaginative, or even a bit wild. It's a wonderful harmony: the past rendered perfectly in the present. Nihonga is basically Japanese painting that gets its look from using mineral pigments (and sometimes ink) on surfaces like silk or paper. The term was created back in the Meiji period (1868–1912) just so people could tell it apart from Yōga, which is what they called Western-style painting. Art was everywhere in Poshichi's childhood: the grandfather ran a framing shop, and the grandma was an art teacher. Poshichi loved to draw, and was destined for an art career. But, you know how it goes—life had other plans. Thankfully, a friend encouraged the Japanese artist not to quit drawing, even if just as a hobby. Though Poshichi initially created dark, gloomy pieces due to depression, adopting a cat two years ago changed everything. “I felt the nee...

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Weirdly Charming

If you’re a fan of art that makes you do a double-take, you need to check out Richard Brener . Based in the UK, Richard is an internationally collected artist who works primarily with ink, fineliners, and gouache. When you first see his pieces, they actually look pretty playful. Then you realize the entire canvas is packed with thousands of tiny, ghost-like shapes he calls "champs." They’re all squeezed together like commuters on a rush-hour train, and the level of detail is honestly mind-blowing. Richard spends hundreds of hours drawing these little guys over and over. It’s obsessive, very intentional, and a little bit wild. The cool part is that the longer you stare, the more the vibe shifts. Check out more photos below:

finding cain

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