15 Ultra Talented Portrait Artists to Check Out Right Now
If you’ve ever taken an art class, you know all about the dreaded self-portrait. Unless your art class is photography, you can’t just take a selfie and call it a day. But portraits have come a long way since Van Gogh or Frida Kahlo. And while the classics are, well, classic, these 15 modern portrait artists are so talented, they’re bound to get your creative juices flowing.
1. Tchmo: Australian-born artist Tchmo makes technicolor-smeared portraits that almost look like digital prints.
2. Oriol Angrill Jordà: Oriol creates a number of different portraits, but our favorites are what she calls blendscapes, in which she combines a portrait with a landscape.
3. Mattias Nyhlin: These adorable designer fruit faces were created for Plaza Magazine. On the left, Marc Jacobs and on the right, Dolce + Gabbana.
4. Aneta Ivanova: This 22-year-old photographer creates photo manipulations of people juxtaposed with nature. Above is one of our faves from the “Under the Waves” series.
5. Jenny Meilihove: Russian-born, Tel Aviv-based artist and children’s book illustrator Jenny Meilihove creates these awesomely quirky portraits. The ones above feature scarf designer Yokoo Gibraan.
6. Craig + Karl: Craig Redman and Karl Maier live in different parts of the world but collaborate to create bold work. Case in point, this graphic portrait created for Sephora.
7. Izziyana Suhaimi: Izziyana primarily uses embroidery in her swoon-worthy mixed media portraits, and we applaud her for that.
8. Justina Blakeney: Speaking of swoon-worthy, Justina Blakeney’s “Face the Foliage” portraits are all that and more. She’s made hundreds of these flower faces, and you can join in by posting your own on Instagram with the hashtag #facethefoliage.
9. Jose Romussi: This Berlin-based artist combines black-and-white photographs with colorful forms of embroidery, and the results are bloomin’ brilliant.
10. Shae DeTar: Pastel paints and photography combine to make these stunning portraits by Shae DeTar. She started her career as a model and now creates art for clients that include Aritizia, Cosabella, Free People and Alice + Olivia.
11. Ana Strumpf: We’re in love with these super fun illustrations by Ana Strumpf. She creates the one-of-a-kind pieces by drawing on top of fashion magazines with Sharpies and DecoColor pens.
12. Erin Flannery: Australian painter Erin Flannery has an eye for beautiful colors. The above, entitled “Frankie,” is part of the “Sails the Seven Seas” collection and would look perfect on any gallery wall.
13. T.S. Abe: This crazy-cool animated portrait is made up of a series of 15 individual pencil drawing. After seeing this, we’re hoping animated self portraits become a norm.
14. Edo Morales: Put your portrait on a pillow. This embroidery portrait showcases various types of stitches and fabric techniques.
15. : This L.A. artist makes pot portraits. Need we say more?
Which portrait inspires you most? Tell us in the comments below!