Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art

Featured Artist: J.Alex Stamos

I discovered this young artist by chance and immediately liked his work. He offers no information about himself. He has a bog here called The Technological Mammal and a website here.

l to r: Sketchbook piece and Into the Forest (Illustration for Hansel & Gretel)

l to r: Heaven & Threatened Wetlands

This illustration was created for the cover of Lawrence.com. The story is about how the city of Lawrence plans on building a highway through the Baker Wetlands thus destroying the ecosystem and also some sacred Native American sites. There are several environmental and historical groups that are protesting the build, however the city seems very determined to see this thing built. I’ve been focusing more on keeping the message of my images as clear and simple as possible. I tried with this one to make a final image that could work as both a large, full color illustration, but also be easily reduced into a black and white spot. It helps me to think in these terms so that I keep things economical and don’t get carried away with unnecessary details.

This young artist’s style reminds me of Arthur Rackham illustrations.