Steal This Art

I stole these works of Art Chantry's off the Gig poster site linked above. There are over 200-some posters there for sale. Chantry is the bad-boy of design and one of the most prolific artists I know. He is a master manipulator of type and images sourced from various, cheesy old magazines, newspapers and other found bits and pieces of ephemera - a genre many others have tried to duplicate, but none nearly so gritty OR witty. And to think, he does most all of it with sharp blades and the magic of photocopiers. Precisely what all of you will be doing this week when Art so gracioulsly hosts a cut-and-paste workshop with us. So bring your best junk and sharpest blades and come prepared to play!

Paper Alphabet

San Francisco Bay artist, Sara Newman recently completed a remarkable series of 26 handcut paper letters - one for each letter of the alphabet. Her intricate paper cuts mimic some of the ornate initial caps seen in fine press books and translate so beautifully to the cut paper process. It is quite impressive to see the immense variety of ornamentation upon close examination of her work.

Cut Paper Work of Robert Ryan

More colors do not necessarily mean greater artwork. Take the work of British artist, Robert Ryan who does elaborate paper cuts and screenprints. Some of his best work is entirely one color. In fact I think his work suffers when he uses more than one color as the strength of it is the silouetted design work. Ryan has received great recognition for developing a specialized trademark style. He is a designer and an illustrator combined - and he understands how to playfully integrate text into his works. He has received acclaim for this paper cut style and continues doing book and magazine illustration, fashion, window display and even product design.