It's astonishing to think that the technically polished and thematically salacious images of artist Apollonia Saintclair are rooted in only a year's worth of serious professional effort. The enigmatic erotic illustrator is entirely self-taught and self-cultivated, creating her work out of a sense of pure pleasure. "Drawing is my Area 52 [sic]," she says, "a place beyond the map where I can create what my mind wants."

Dynamic illustration duo Kurt Huggins and Zelda Devon have been working together as Teetering Bulb for the past six years, bringing a darkly whimsical edge to storytelling, concept art, editorial illustration, and advertising. Each a superbly talented artist in their own right, Huggins and Devon's collaborative efforts are epic in scope and stunning in technical and narrative ability, appearing in a variety of publications including Playgirl Magazine, Scholastic Inc., and DC Comics.  

This morning we take a look through a few of English illustrator, designer, and architect Roger Dean's landscapes. Dean is best known for his posters and album covers (Yes, Asia) and his surreal, science-fiction-like landscapes transport us to another world.

Fabien Mérelle is a highly talented and emerging young French artist who creates delicately detailed drawings in black ink and watercolour. Mérelle was granted a residence at the prestigious Casa Vélasquez in Madrid and in 2010 he was the first winner of the highly lauded Canson Prize. Although Mérelle’s drawings appear at first sight realistic in their rendering, they in fact depict outworldly scenarios, unsettling situations and dream-like occurrences. Working on a minute scale against a sparse white background, Mérelle prompts the viewer to individually examine his figures and peer into a world, which from the outset may appear as our own, but upon closer inspection is a rendering of a personal streaming subconscious.  

Tatiana Plakhova graduated from Moscow State University with a Master in Social Psychology, and then later studied in High Academic School of Graphic Design. Working as an art director, graphic designer and illustrator, her 'Complexity Graphics' illustrations combine the trends of multiple areas of design, such as information, math design and infographics, and brings elements from science, energetics, space, various kinds of "nets", cultural patterns and biology.  

We have posted the work of Brooklyn-based illustrator and fine artist Casey Weldon before. Weldon is well known for his off-kilter interpretations of pop culture iconography.  

This morning we take a look at the illustrations and mixed media from Montreal-based artist Sandra Chevrier. Take a look at her series, La Cage quand la mort nous rend plus fort.

Stephanie Kubo is an illustrator and printmaker whose series of drawings of headdresses are beautifully fun homages to these defining articles of cultural dress. Increasingly imaginative as you move through them, these drawings are created with lovely black-and-white linework befitting of fine art or tshirts, they run the gamut. Kubo is a lovely illustrator graduated from CCA who we hope to see more work from soon.  

Levi van Veluw is a highly acclaimed multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in the Netherlands. His massive, intenseley detailed charcoal drawings of objects in midair are uncomfortable visions of a world in flux. Geometric objects, balls and busted desks explode into space, and then are drawn in their landing positions on the floor. The heavily charcoaled spaces give off a dark, mysterious atmosphere. These drawings pull the viewer in at the same time as they repel the viewer, creating a feeling of anxiety similar to that of standing on a tall ledge. Though Veluw mostly makes installations, these drawings are wonderfully rendered and thought-provoking.   

Viktor Miller-Gausa's triptych "Three Sleeping Kings" are monumental vertical compositions and unfold beautifully in narrative and linework as you view them. The drawings represent dreams as they encapsulate the sleeping king and transform his world. The monochromatic lines unravel into seascapes, portraits, animals, vehicles and heads on stakes, all arranged in an almost architecturally constructed composition. Miller-Gausa has an incredible grip on his lines, evoking illustration and woodcut with each little hatch-mark. These detailed, dreamlike pieces are a pleasure to get lost in.