Awesome Illustrations

We’ve seen what Super Mario Bros. is like in 3D, but what if the game’s graphics were replaced by high definition illustrations? That’s exactly what João Victor G. Costa did. The awesome end result looks a bit like Braid.

A time-lapse video by Art Animation showing illustrator Kim Jung Gi creating a poster from scratch – no sketches or outlines – to commemorate the Korean independence movement.

If you think you’re a great doodler, check out artist Vince Low’s Faces. It’s a series of celebrity portraits that Low made out of seemingly random swirls and lines that overlap to form detailed faces.

A series of illustrations by Swedish artist Thomas Broomé, Modern Mantra depicts living spaces where words take the shape of objects. His It’s Only Words project does the same but with a portrait.

Artist Tatsuo Horiuchi creates intricate nature scenes using the vector drawing tools in Microsoft Excel as his medium. Tatsuo has stated that he finds it easier to use than Microsoft Paint (or actual paint.)

Illustrator Adam Schickling drew and painted this awesome poster by hand. It shows the lead characters as they look like today but in the style of the iconic Star Wars posters made by artist Drew Struzan.

Superman has been with us for 75 years, and he’s had a different look for almost every one of them. See 170 different Men of Steel in this massive infographic courtesy of SupermanHomepage.

French artist Gerald Parel made these awesome illustrations of the Masters of the Universe characters. His use of lighting and perspective really make the characters larger than life.

deviantART member Jian Guo follows up his The Lord of the Rings stained glass-style illustrations with another one depicting the story of The Hobbit. Check out his page for the high-res version.

Keita Sagaki does not seem to tire from creating his brilliantly obsessive illustrations, and we don’t tire of looking; his new works feature celebrated architecture and sculpture, doodle style.

Illustrator Luke Twyman makes great use of light and texture to make these beautiful illustrations of isolated winter landscapes. Looking at these we can almost feel the frosty wind on our cheeks.

Alex Mitchell follows up his Sengoku Avengers by transforming Prof. X, his students and his enemies into Edo Period characters. Hint: the character roster is based on the 90’s X-Men cartoon.

Don’t bother guessing what camera was used to shoot this image. It was hand-drawn by Italian artist Diego Fazio using nothing but pencils and paper. Buy prints of Sensazioni on deviantART.

One of our favorite contemporary artists, Olly Moss created this book, loaded with silhouettes of pop culture icons, ranging from Buzz Lightyear to The Godfather. We had fun trying to figure them all out.

Randall Munroe made a huge illustration – 46ft wide if printed at 300dpi – filled with diverse sights. You can see the entire thing here, but it takes away the exploration and discovery.

deviantART member Jian Guo depicted five memorable scenes from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as stained glass drawings. Check his gallery for the high-res versions.

Artist Alex Mitchell re-imagined the Avengers movie characters as Japanese warriors, gods and demons from the Sengoku Period. He even came up with brief back stories for each of them.

More mind-bending artwork from István Orosz. His Ship of Fools series features intricate illustrations where the parts also form skulls. Orosz was inspired by Sebastian Brant’s satirical book.

Inspired by the 2012 London Olympics, artist Ugo Gattoni’s intricate inked illustration measures about 15 feet wide, and depicts a scene of a crazy bicycle race. It’s available in book form for your pleasure.

Italian artist Denis Madri reimagines Batman characters in 50’s rockabilly style. It’s similar to what you saw in the animated series but his interpretation definitely has a style all its own.

Louis C. Hébert made portraits of Star Wars characters out of smaller illustrations. Part of an ad campaign for the Star Wars Identities exhibition. View the full posters on Behance.

It was this epic poster for a Mastodon show that first drew us to designer/illustrator John Vogl’s work. Truth is that his great style and clever touch make it hard to find a print of his we don’t like.

Julie Bender doesn’t paint with pigments; her tool of choice is heat. She specializes in pyrography – a technique that involves using a heated implement to scorch materials like wood, paper or leather.