Tomi Um is a New York based illustrator who received her undergraduate degree from the Parsons School of Design. She is currently a textile designer at Tom Cody Designs and a freelance illustrator in her spare time. Um's work gives a strong contemporary flair to traditional Chinese art and imagery, using flowing, curling fields of color to generate landscapes and environments in which her wonderful characters interact. Um has been featured by the Art Director's Club Young Guns 9, Print Magazine and Heyshow.com. Um's work is controlled and inspired, a beautiful intersection between design and fine art.  

Adrian Landon Brooks' drawings are beautiful and nightmarish, utilizing the simple combination of gouache and pen on paper to create haunting illustrations of idols, icons and strange figures. Brooks is drawn to sacred art that emphasizes a "savior," and he speaks of his creative power as such, something that has brough him "freedom and redemption from everything that ails me." Brooks' handling of gouache gives his figures a glowing, almost lava-like appearance, propelling them through fields of dark space as if full of fire. These imaginings have a mysterious and powerful message, yet what that is feels slightly out of reach-- we recommend looking even closer, spending some time with these lovely drawings. 

In her "Pretty Boys Kill Me" series, Roselina Hung uses familiar imagery of unrealistically chiseled young men's faces to engage viewers with their own personal experiences, evoking a common memory and questioning one's understanding of singular or collective concepts of nostalgia. Hung says she is "interested in the role of the artist as a mythmaker, playing with society's visualization and understanding of histories through images and exploring concepts of nostalgia." Hung's drawings are delicate, labour-intensive renderings in colored-pencil. Each portrait is its own masterpiece, yet when cobbled together in this pattern-like fashion Hung transforms fine art portraiture into machine-bred precision in a strange collaged wallpaper effect. Hung attended an artist residency at SIM in Rejkavik and has shown in galleries around the world.  

Danny Deeptown is a UK based illustrator whose portraits, poetry illustrations and other work are always "stylized, full of emotion and character, with the occasional message attached." Deeptown works in traditional mediums, using classic pen and ink techniques with watercolor was to create a mood that can range from mysterious and dark to humorous and heartfelt. Deeptown graduated with honors from Swansea Metropolitan University in illustration and has since been commissioned by ING Banking, Flying Frog Publishing, Hinkler Publishing and more.   

Daniel Horowitz sat down at his desk and began, with no particular purpose or direction, drawing on a blank piece of paper. That piece of paper turned into two, three, four, and eventually 365. A mixed media artist, Daniel's work has been featured in The New York Times, GQ, and The Wall Street Journal. He is now the cover illustrator for The American Reader. His 365 Series has been turned into a book (a limited print of 365 copies of course).

Pascaline Mini, aka Myth' of the Rainbow, is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Lille, France. The artist describes her work as "a fantasy space whose primary source draws from the extraordinary timeless icons of creation myths. Cosmogonic nostalgia, aesthetic fantasies, divine and colorful passions form a holy bridge between imaginary moments and traditions. Written in an idealized "mytho-symbolism," the myth of the rainbow explores the possible creation legends of a new fantasy world."

Peter Driben (b. 1903 - d. 1968) was a highly successful American pin up and glamor artist whose charmingly risqué illustrations were beloved by the American public from the beginning of WWII until the great baby boom of the 1950's. Although he is often overshadowed today by the likes of Alberto Vargas and Gil Elvgren, Driben's prolific output and popularity during his lifetime have firmly cemented him as one of the 20th century's great pin up artists, and his alluring creations continue to delight and titillate.

With a style that mixes the aesthetics of Western, Asian, and Arabic calligraphy, artist Simon Silaidis intertwines the cultural traditions of these disparate parts of the world in a single harmonious script. Applying them to the bare surfaces of abandoned urban buildings, Silaidis' calligraphy conveys a message of change and hope in impoverished landscapes, both physically and philosophically. "Skyfall" is a moving video documenting this artistic process, each gest symbolizing a simple step toward inner peace and human unity.

Sakke Soini is a freelance digital artist, graphic designer, and illustrator based in Helsinki, Finland. While attending business school he realized he was spending more time perfecting his PowerPoint presentations than on his school work, so after graduating with a BA in international business in 2006, he decided to switch gears and pursue a career in graphic design. Soini draws his inspiration from the brightness of Japanese pop culture, science fiction movies, electronic music, and the 1980's in general.

Luca Ionescu is the internationally lauded artist behind Like Minded Studio, a Sydney-based design studio with a range clients that include Nike, Zoo York, MTV, Coca-Cola, and Hurley, to name a few. Ionescu is renowned for his logo and typography work, as well as his talent for branding and motion graphics. He most recently collaborated with Baz Luhrman and his team on logo branding and typography for "The Great Gatsby," going so far as to create original display typeface and letterforms exclusively for the production.