Jen Zee is an American illustrator and art director for Supergiant Games. She worked on Supergiant’s first release, Bastion—a role-playing game set in colourful fantasy world. Zee’s stylisation does vary but for the most part strong manga influences are very clear. Her lush painting style and dramatic lighting give her work an arresting cinematic feel. Be sure to check out more of Zee’s work on her deviantArt page.

James is an animation student from Montreal, Canada. His incredible digital painting skills and dynamic poses make him one to watch. You can visit his Deviant Art portfolio, or alternatively his blog to see more.

Today we share the wonderful work of Russian illustrator Maria Menshikova. She works in various styles, though her black and white work stands out as something absolutely unique and incredible. I honestly can’t tell if she blends in photo-manipulation with traditional illustration, or if is all traditional hand-made work. The strong line-work alongside some soft tones and gritty textures works so well, the imagery doesn’t need colour to be powerful and exciting; it’s simply brilliant! I highly recommend visiting her website to sample every bit of her portfolio. Head on over…

Carolin is a digital artist from Hamburg, Germany. Looking through her portfolio, she has an incredible understanding of visual style. Her work ranges from cute, minimalistic characters to full on realistic renders. It’s all crafted with care and precision to a very high standard and some of the colour work is simply incredible. Visit Carolin’s website for more.

Goro was born in Japan and grew up in Germany. He studied digital production at the German Film School where he learnt a lot about the 2D and 3D film making process, from start to finish. After freelancing as a character animator and visual development in Germany, he moved to Redwood City where he currently works for PDI/Dreamworks.

Goro is a highly skilled craftsman, equally adept in traditional techniques as he is in 3D and digital painting. I particularly like the Iron Giant inspired robots doing very human things. From browsing through his website, you’ll see just how incredibly productive he is! Pop over and have a look…

New York based artist Sam Spratt began his career as Gawker Media’s first ever staffed illustrator. This lead to all sorts of other work and since then he’s illustrated magazine covers, editorial illustrations, concept art, merchandise art and even a 55 foot long bus for photographers David Hobby and Joe McNally.

He has great technique as a digital painter which stems from training in traditional, classical painting. It seems Sam has no plans in slowing down! See his portfolio and find out more via his website.

Teekatas Suwannakrua aka Raindrop Memory is a graphic designer and illustrator from Bangkok, Thailand. There is definitely something different about his work. It’s not the usual over-the-top cute manga style, but it’s still very warm and sweet. The colour palette is often lit by a warm sunny glow and the line-work is gentle, not too sharp. Teekatus also creates some interesting 3D work (to be honest, I can’t tell if they are manipulated photos with added digital media, or all digital media).