It’s a magical tool for digital Photoshop artists and photographers, and it rules the digital imaging world. It is not just a tool, though; Photoshop is a blank canvas that invites you to perform magic with your creativity. It gives you room to creatively manipulate photos and explore the artist in yourself.
To celebrate the upcoming holidays, in today’s post we decided to step away from technical design/coding-related topics and showcase some beautiful digital illustrations and their creators. Hopefully, the artwork will inspire you and stir your imagination.
As you know, so many more brilliant illustrations have been done by digital artists doing great work, but we cannot cover them all in a single post, so we will try to showcase them in our future posts (if you want to). If we forgot to mention the work of your favorite artist, please do share it with the other readers and let us know their name.
Further Reading on SmashingMag:
- Mixing Up Illustration: Combining Analog And Digital Techniques
- Drunken Monkey Photoshop Tutorial
- Useful Adobe Photoshop Techniques, Tutorials and Tools
- Photoshop Techniques And Professional Tutorials
Shadow Chen
Born in China, Shadow Chen did post-graduate work in product design. Upon graduating, he worked as a graphic designer in fashion and freelanced as an illustrator and graphic designer, doing packaging, branding, poster design, website design, fashion and more. He is working on his own brand and paints quite a lot in his spare time. His work has been featured in websites, blogs, e-magazines and galleries in Europe.
Igor Scekic
Igor Scekic is 23-year-old graphic designer and digital artist who lives in Zagreb, Croatia. He is interested in digital art, graphic design, photography and other traditional art techniques. Art is his medium of choice for expressing his thoughts and feelings.
Change the World
Expressions
Armageddon Incoming
Digital Scenery
Stairway to Heaven
Music in my Head
Tiago Hoisel
Tiago Hoisel is a young and talented artist from Brazil. He has his own brand of Photoshop manipulation and has created s lot of great artwork so far.
Tiago Hoisel from Brazil
Pavarotti
Bee
Axl
David Fuhrer
Self-taught artist David Fuhrer was born in 1985 in the capital of Switzerland, Bern. Focusing on illustration and specifically on intricate detailing, David has produced some of the most inspiring and exciting work in the digital art community. Fuhrer’s work is a treat for the eyes and mind. The depth of his work is as mesmerizing as the emotions his pieces elicit.
Drugg Free Zone
Air
Apace
Joshua M. Smith
“Hydro74” is the Orlando-based designer otherwise known as Joshua M. Smith. “The sole purpose of my career,” he says, “is to push the boundaries in doing what I feel is relevant to the market as well as extract various elements and trends to be able to offer them up in my own personal work. But let’s be honest. I do what I love because I love it. Not because I have to do it, nor am forced to do it, but rather passionate about doing what I do. I firmly believe in having set style tones, yet a sense of diversity to make any various project unique to the demands that are set forth.”
Lucas Films / Indiana Jones
Black in Black
Myspace Secret Shows
Bobby Chiu
Bobby currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Bobby Chiu’s art career started at the age of two, with a box of crayons and his family’s white living room walls. He got his first professional art job at 17, designing for Disney, Warner Bros and Star Wars toys at Thinkway Toys in Toronto. Bobby has since won a number of awards for his independent work. He presently works as an illustrator for film and television, teaches digital painting online at Schoolism.com, publishes art books and works on some top-secret projects.
Sea Life
Twins - Totoro Forest Project
3 Samurai On Horsebac
Sea Dragon
Jeff Huang
Jeff Huang is a graphic artist and illustrator residing in New York City. He specializes in digital illustration and photo manipulation and has knowledge of 3-D modeling and animation as well as motion graphics and compositing. Jeff has been freelancing professionally for almost five years now and has been featured in many publications such as Adobe’s Design Center, Digital Arts Magazine, Computer Arts Magazine and Advanced Photoshop Magazine. He is currently represented by Debut Art.
Fun in Park
Memoir
Erik Jonsson
Erik Jonsson, of Brooklyn, New York, freelances and studies digital media. He has a lot of mind-blowing artwork to his credit.
Hamlett
Festival Mantarraya
Data Airline
Maciej Hajnrich
Maciej was born in 1981 and works in Katowice, Poland. Self-taught, he is an established full-time freelance artist with five years of experience in print and Web design. In the last two years, his work has been commissioned by Back Row Productions, Platige Image, Weinsten Company, Warner Music Poland and Armada Skis, to name a few. He has designed illustrations for the musical “Pricilla, Queen of the Desert,” and he was a judge for iStockphoto’s Battle Royale, Widely published, Maciej is a member of the Keystone Design Union and Depthcore digital arts community.
Tri’angel
Winter Espionage
PURE eNERGY
QUESTLOVE from The Roots
James White
James White is a digital artist and graphic designer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. With 10 years of experience, James has worked on an array of personal art projects and clients, including Toyota, VH1, Armada Skis, Red Bulletin and Wired Magazine. He has been featured in Computer Arts, Computer Arts Projects and Advanced Photoshop magazines.
Curvature
Boing Boing Gadgets
Jericó Santander
Jericó Santander was born in 1985 in the Canary Islands, Spain. His passion for art began as a child. He graduated with a BA in art and moved to Madrid. During his two years in Madrid, he studied at an illustration academy, while working as a full-time graphic designer at a small creative agency.
The idea of mixing digital painting, photography and 3-D in one work excites him and helps him to develop his ideas. Jericó recently moved back to the Canary Islands, working as a freelance illustrator, but always finding time for his personal art.
Own World
Nereid
We all Fall
Marco Escobedo
Ever since he was very small, Marco Escobedo, who hails from Lima, Peru, has been interested in anything to do with drawing and painting. More than a hobby, drawing became a passion for him, as he observed the work of other artists and realized that illustrations should be his career. His study of it in several workshops helped him penetrate the depths of the field.
Women
Color explosión
Mistico
One hundred years of solitude
Centauro
Suliman Almawash
Based in Kuwait, Suliman Almawash is a dynamic digital artist and master of surreal and conceptual art. He has created a lot of amazingly creative digital artwork.
The weakness of silence
Linking Meditation
AROUND THE WORLD
Kerem Beyit
Kerem was born in Ankara, Turkey, and started drawing from early childhood through the influence of comic books. At Gazi University, he studied graphic design for four years. He subsequently worked in various places doing graphic and illustration studies, book covers, local comics, as well as magazines and books for children. He has been working in the digital space for four years now and has honored with awards from CGSociety, CgChannel, Gfxartist, Cggallery, 3DTotal and CGArena. His work has been published in several magazines and selected for inclusion in Ballistic Publishing albums, Expose and Exotique.
Battle Dragon by Kerem Beyit
The Dragons of Ordinary Farm Cover
Kode Logic
Kode Logic is a graphic designer from Melbourne, Australia. He first started drawing when he was six years old and still hasn’t let the pen out of his hand. He transferred to the digital platform and has been working on it for the past four years. He is continually learning new skills and different styles along the way. He has been striving to create his own style, and his thirst for knowledge is never quenched.
Let Her Go
Closed its Doors
First Wave
Justin Maller
Justin Maller is a freelance illustrator and art director based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been creating digital art for over eight years and has worked professionally in a studio and privately for the last three. He is represented by Jeremy Wortsman of the Jacky Winter Group.
Hair Culture
X&HELL
FAST & FURIOUS
THE ELDER PRIESTESS - WITH HOLLY BYNOE
Archan Nair
Archann.net is the creative showcase of 26-year-old self-taught artist, multi-disciplinary designer and illustrator Archan Nair. Based out of New Delhi, India, Archan is co-founder and creative head of the design and art agency Cropped Circles.
Specializing in art direction, illustration and digital art, he has produced quality illustrations and design projects for many brands, including Pepsi, Tiger Beer and GQ. He has been featured in publications such as Advanced Photoshop Artists, Flair, Vanity Fair and Juxtapoz and has been featured by music artists such as Kanye West.
Gaia
Sweet Sensations
Illusory
Jason Engle
Jason has been creating art for the publishing and entertainment markets for the past 10 years. His work has been featured on some of the most prominent websites devoted to science fiction and fantasy art, and he has been included in several notable books of collected art, including both the Spectrum and Expose series, as well as his own book, titled “Infernum: The Art of Jason Engle,” which showcases the first five years of his career. He has had hundreds of clients over the years, including Sony Online Entertainment, World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade.
Maciej Mizer
Maciej Mizer is a graphic designer based in Lodz, Poland, and specializing in illustration, 3-D graphics, Web design and photography. His work has been featured in loads of major publications, including HIRO Magazine, Computer Arts Magazine, Web Design Index 8.
Can You Dig It
VII / XIII
Jericó Santander
Jericó Santander was born in 1985 in the Canary Islands, Spain. His passion for art began as a child. He graduated with a BA in art and moved to Madrid. During his two years in Madrid, he studied at an illustration academy, while working as a full-time graphic designer at a small creative agency.
The idea of mixing digital painting, photography and 3-D in one work excites him and helps him to develop his ideas. Jericó recently moved back to the Canary Islands, working as a freelance illustrator, but always finding time for his personal art.
Own World
Nereid
We all Fall
Marco Escobedo
Ever since he was very small, Marco Escobedo, who hails from Lima, Peru, has been interested in anything to do with drawing and painting. More than a hobby, drawing became a passion for him, as he observed the work of other artists and realized that illustrations should be his career. His study of it in several workshops helped him penetrate the depths of the field.
Women
Color explosión
Mistico
One hundred years of solitude
Centauro
Suliman Almawash
Based in Kuwait, Suliman Almawash is a dynamic digital artist and master of surreal and conceptual art. He has created a lot of amazingly creative digital artwork.
The weakness of silence
Linking Meditation
AROUND THE WORLD
Kerem Beyit
Kerem was born in Ankara, Turkey, and started drawing from early childhood through the influence of comic books. At Gazi University, he studied graphic design for four years. He subsequently worked in various places doing graphic and illustration studies, book covers, local comics, as well as magazines and books for children. He has been working in the digital space for four years now and has honored with awards from CGSociety, CgChannel, Gfxartist, Cggallery, 3DTotal and CGArena. His work has been published in several magazines and selected for inclusion in Ballistic Publishing albums, Expose and Exotique.
Battle Dragon by Kerem Beyit
The Dragons of Ordinary Farm Cover
Kode Logic
Kode Logic is a graphic designer from Melbourne, Australia. He first started drawing when he was six years old and still hasn’t let the pen out of his hand. He transferred to the digital platform and has been working on it for the past four years. He is continually learning new skills and different styles along the way. He has been striving to create his own style, and his thirst for knowledge is never quenched.
Let Her Go
Closed its Doors
First Wave
Justin Maller
Justin Maller is a freelance illustrator and art director based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been creating digital art for over eight years and has worked professionally in a studio and privately for the last three. He is represented by Jeremy Wortsman of the Jacky Winter Group.
Hair Culture
X&HELL
FAST & FURIOUS
THE ELDER PRIESTESS - WITH HOLLY BYNOE
Archan Nair
Archann.net is the creative showcase of 26-year-old self-taught artist, multi-disciplinary designer and illustrator Archan Nair. Based out of New Delhi, India, Archan is co-founder and creative head of the design and art agency Cropped Circles.
Specializing in art direction, illustration and digital art, he has produced quality illustrations and design projects for many brands, including Pepsi, Tiger Beer and GQ. He has been featured in publications such as Advanced Photoshop Artists, Flair, Vanity Fair and Juxtapoz and has been featured by music artists such as Kanye West.
Gaia
Sweet Sensations
Illusory
Jason Engle
Jason has been creating art for the publishing and entertainment markets for the past 10 years. His work has been featured on some of the most prominent websites devoted to science fiction and fantasy art, and he has been included in several notable books of collected art, including both the Spectrum and Expose series, as well as his own book, titled “Infernum: The Art of Jason Engle,” which showcases the first five years of his career. He has had hundreds of clients over the years, including Sony Online Entertainment, World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade.
Maciej Mizer
Maciej Mizer is a graphic designer based in Lodz, Poland, and specializing in illustration, 3-D graphics, Web design and photography. His work has been featured in loads of major publications, including HIRO Magazine, Computer Arts Magazine, Web Design Index 8.
Can You Dig It
VII / XIII
Whisper
Rado Javor
Rado Javor is a digital painter from Slovakia. He has his own style of digital art and has done a lot of great work so far.
La Rochelle
Ambush
David Waters
David is a freelance illustrator based out of Moscow, Idaho, USA. He is currently in his senior year at the University of Idaho studying graphic design. You have probably seen the work of this very creative artist a number of times without knowing it. David loves swimming and finding new movies and music to occupy his time.
Photomanipulation
U.N.I.T.Y
Mario Wibisono
This dark-luminous guy offers some of the brightest eye candy around. He focuses on drawing girls and women, “a most wonderful subject that everyone (but mostly boys) loves to discuss (and fantasize about).” Whether it’s a hyper-realistic portrait or a fantasy-realism style, he is sure to dedicate all his expertise to producing the finest work.
Shiba Tsukimi
Hida Eijiko
Purgatory
Andreas Fernhede Dagman
The Super Awesome is the online portfolio of 25-year-old aspiring graphic designer and illustrator Andreas Fernhede Dagman. A student in his second year of digital media studies at Hyper Island in Karlskrona, Sweden, he recently completed a seven-month internship as an interactive designer at Sid Lee in Montreal, Canada.
Omega Coded
Cynthia Sheppardt
Cynthia is 25-year-old digital illustrator with a extensive background in traditional art media and a passion for the fantastic. She hails from Fairfax, USA.
Half Her Heart’s Duet
Cruciata Navaar
Wonderland Deconstructed
Queen of Thorns 2
Alex Ruiz
The visions of Alex Ruiz range from dark and disturbing to vomit-inducing cuteness and hilarity. In his paintings, the creatures of his mind crawl off the page and transplant themselves into the unsuspecting viewer’s brain, even taking up residence there. Alex is a freelance concept artist and illustrator living in Los Angeles, California. He lends his talents to the film, television and interactive games industries.
Elephas Maximus
Industrial Beach
Mech-Dragon Battle
Sakke Soini
Right now, Sakke freelances and balances his time between Web design, illustration, event management and promotion, DJ’ing and VJ’ing. He has worked with international acts such as Fred Falke, Busy P, The Toxic Avenger, Kris Menace and Anoraak (all from France); The Big Pink (UK), The Proxy (Russia), Handsome Furs (Canada) and Moulinex (Poland).
EVOLUTION, Los Angeles
Music with Colors
Pete Harrison
Ever since he was young, Pete was creative and wanted to pursue this creativity in life, By the age of 10, he knew he wanted to be a graphic designer and so tailored his education around this goal. At school and in his A-levels, he studied art and design. He went on to university and studied MediaLab Arts. These four years of his life can be best described as a metaphor.
137-Circus
Sugar
Unity
Sleep is death
Aaron Sikstrom
Aaron Sikstrom is a traditional artist whose work is quite modern. Influenced by pop art and surrealism, he has developed a style that blends fantasy and pop surrealism. Each image tells a story and shows his dedication to the craft.
Aaron’s work have been exhibited in publications such as “Ballistic Digital Painting 2” and galleries such as Compound Gallery (USA). He is confident that his art will continue to attract new fans and bring him closer to a professional career in the arts.
Beautiful
The birth of venus
The guardian
A girl and her bunny
Goro Fujita
Goro was born in Japan and moved with his family to Germany when he was two years old. He have been fascinated by drawing ever since he was a child.
He graduated from German Film School in 2005 and then specialized on 3-D character animation. Since then, he has worked as a freelance character animator and visual development artist on feature films and TV commercials in Germany. He currently works as a visual development artist at PDI/DreamWorks in Redwood City, California.
The Hunt
Hidden Nature
Juji & Ophelia
(al)