Celebrate Diversity in Design—Volume 16

Welcome back to our Diversity in Design series on Envato Tuts+. Discover four talented artists with inspiring styles you’ll love.

4 Artists You Should Know: Diversity in Design

Celebrate
the work of these extraordinary artists. Each with their own unique
background, they draw inspiration from their culture and surroundings to
create phenomenal designs.

Kenal Louis

Let’s begin with the extraordinary, regal paintings of digital artist Kenal Louis. Beaming with symbolism and allure, his paintings draw inspiration from ancient Egyptian symbols and Afrocentric culture.

See more in his portfolio, and follow him on Instagram.

Queen Sydney

My name is Kenal Louis and I am a freelance digital illustration artist. I started drawing with pencils when I was four and never stopped. Over the years, I’ve dabbled in a range of art styles and used different mediums to create. I practiced a lot with ink pens initially, then learned to make digital paintings.

Ever since I could remember I’ve always had a passion for art and wanted to be a
visual artist. I’ve dreamed of opening an art studio and creating art
for the rest of my life until I am old and grey.

Floyd Mayweather Painting

I am inspired by Egyptian art history and contemporary Afrocentric culture. Artists that have influenced the way I perceive art include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, and Katsushika Hokusai.

After taking courses on Ancient Art History and Egyptian Art History, these courses served as a catalyst for me in regards to finding my own style and developing art collections that would be unique to me. Every drawing, painting, and digital painting I create, I embed a piece of me in them.

Queen Rosemarie

Queen Ashley

The first goal I have with my work is to push the boundaries of my own imagination. Every illustration or drawing I create is an experiment that can’t go wrong. The desire to always grow as an artist through my work is what keeps me going.

Ioana Harasim

Next is the fantastic work from digital illustrator Ioana Harasim. Based in Bucharest, Romania, she creates mind-boggling editorial pieces inspired by fashion, nature, and hidden feelings.

See more her portfolio, and follow her on Instagram.

Plantasia

Drawing has been one of my passions since I was a child and I
kept doing it into adulthood. I studied environmental engineering in
college, but during my third year I realized that art is too important
to me to not pursue it as a life goal. I received my first Wacom Bamboo tablet from a friend and that’s
what got me started with digital drawing about five years ago.

When I’m not
drawing I’m either wasting time looking at memes, staying on social
media, reading manga or playing video games.

Self Portrait

The biggest challenge with art for me is the part
where you discover who you are so you can properly express yourself in
your work without any compromises. I think this is going to be a
lifelong journey.

My work is a mix of my interests and the visual cues I’ve
accumulated over time. Most of my inspiration comes from fashion, lucid
dreams, surreal themes, manga, people, my solitude and hidden feelings.

I try to bring a bit of all of them and me into my art. I
view art as something very personal and I try to create only things that
fully interest me.

Studies 2018

Editorial – Stir to Action Magazine

The art styles I tend to enjoy are those that are on the realistic/surrealistic spectrum. Right now the artists I look up to the most are:
Nicolás Uribe, James Jean, the duo from Etam Cru, Ana Godis and many others. These are among the ones I check the most often on Instagram to see
their latest posts.

They inspire me because of their work ethic, taste and attention to
craft and I try to learn from them as much as I can. I consider them my
guides and I’d like to bring my work to that standard one day.

Fernando Nunes

Fernando Nunes is a brilliant illustrator and UI designer from São Paulo, Brazil. His creative illustration style is clever and exaggerated, and features a unique interpretation on pop culture characters and meaningful life themes.

See more his portfolio, and follow him on Instagram.

Rick and Morty Character Illustrations

I was born and raised in a small town in the
interior of São Paulo, Brazil. There are many memorable moments that have awakened my love for drawing.

I remember that I used to sit with my grandfather to
draw fish, and see my mother work by painting faces on porcelain dolls. Then I remember seeing my father’s things, which were all iron
tools he created on his own. Now my younger sister draws with me too, which
makes the sessions much more fun!

Fantasy Play

My art process usually is:

1. Think the unimaginable, I want to be surprised by my own ideas.

2. Sketch with paper and pencil in a very rude and flexible way,
not paying much attention to detail, but imagining how it could all be.
3. Scan and open it in Illustrator as a background layer.
4. Choose a color palette.
5. Make the line art with the darkest color of
the palette. I like to vary my hand pressure while I am tracing from hard to soft.
6. Colorize with a base color, then add shadows and finally lights.

P.S. Don’t forget to use love in every step.

Aku Aku

D’lmotta

Like I said, every day we bring baggage with us, and I think there are
millions of factors that influence my drawings today.

But I can name
some notorious illustrators whose work motivates and inspires me.
They include: Bicicleta Sem Freio, MUTE (Nathan), T Wei, Luan Brombim, SHANGO BANG,
Urkin, Gastón Pacheco, Simon Prades and many more!

Maikel Martínez

Our final feature comes from Maikel Martínez, a phenomenal graphic designer from Havana, Cuba. Featuring exceptional colors and typography, his work includes amazing illustrations that drip right off the screen.

See more his portfolio and follow him on Facebook.

Nike Shirt

I’m a Cuban graphic designer/illustrator. I graduated in 2011 at the Higher Institute of Design in Havana, Cuba and since then I have gone through several fields including: editorials, illustration, Identity, and Web and Animation, but what I’m really passionate about is illustrating.

I am always thinking of concepts to illustrate, whether for pullovers or for campaigns.

Full Color Poster

My story is that I started drawing ever since I was a kid. I won drawing competitions back then and even when I was studying design I won several prizes in drawing and illustration.

My inspiration on the drawing side was always Norman Rockwell, a great American illustrator/painter. He and many others like Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, and many avant-garde painters inspired me for my work.

Abstract Form

Cover Magazine Negolution #10

In terms of design I have several references that I like very much. The first is Alex Trochut, a Spanish graphic designer. I like his way of working/conceptualizing, his work style, and the fluid shapes he creates, hence why he’s a great inspiration.

The second is Alexandra Zutto, she is a Russian illustrator who works in fundamental colors and achieves spectacular harmonies. I like her a lot.

And the third one is Adhemas Batista, an illustrator of Brazilian origin who lives in Los Angeles. He has a motto that says, “I sell colors.” These artists have influenced the quality of my work. I like their style, their fluid and condensed forms, their bright colors, and they are my source of inspiration.

Cover Magazine Negolution 10 — Cover Magazine Negolution #10

Celebrate Diversity! Send Us Your Favorite Artists!

Help us find more incredible artists from different backgrounds to share with our audience! Tweet me your recommendations at MelloNieves or use the hashtags #artforall and #tutsplusdesign on Twitter and Instagram. You never know, we may just feature you in our next article!

Love this selection? See more from this series:

I’d
like to extend a warm thank you to all the artists who participated in
this feature. Feel free to see more of their work in the links below: