If you want to watch a video of this being drawn, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2it-CWoV8

This post is part of a series of posts highlighting the best submissions to the sketchbook site “skineart.com”. Here are the previous posts if you want to read them first:

http://antithesisart.com/the-best-of-skineart-com-part-i/

http://antithesisart.com/the-best-of-skineart-com-part-ii/

I am continuing to sort from oldest to newest posts that I starred for future viewing in my RSS reader.

Prince of the Backyard by Marty Harris

Greener Pastures by Nemicon

Michael Caine by Jason Chalker

Tipex and Graphite by Lynne

Koi by Lynne (same as above)

Playing Around by Witness

Untitled by Angie Hoffmeister

Seaman Molloy by Cold is the Sea

A Helping Tentacle by Natalie Metzger

Portrait by Chris Hack

More to come…

This is a series of posts hi-lighting some of my favorite pieces of sketchbook art from ‘skineart.com. For an explanation of what a moleskine is and a look at the first part of this series check out this post:

http://antithesisart.com/the-best-of-skineart-com-part-i/

I am continuing to sort from oldest to newest posts that I starred for future viewing in my RSS reader.

Skeleton of a Deer by Phadria

Virginity is a harsh mistress by Moreno

Dallas Skyline by Susan Rudat

Tarbes France by Rene Fijten

Dia de los Dragster by Jason Chalker

Squids by Kyle Wilson

Sketches for a Novel by Justin Sirois

Sketch after a Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema painting by Ester Wilson

Pisa by Joseba Alexander

I hope you’re enjoying theses!

The ‘skine in skineart.com is short for “moleskine”. For the uninitiated, a moleskine is a wonderful little sketchbook that comes in various sizes, papers, and bindings. They are kind of pretentious. Those of us who love them feel they justify the pretentiousness. In the same way that finding a pen that always does what you want it to, moleskine’s just work.

Skineart.com is a blog that accepts submissions from ANYONE who has done anything from a doodle to a grand work of art in a moleskine, an approximation of a moleskine, is willing to lie about the sketchbook they are using really being a moleskine, or is honest enough to admit they don’t own a moleskine and just want to show off some sketch.

Because of this, there is a log of less-than-inspiring stuff to wade through in order to get to the gems. With that in mind, I’ve been starring the drawings that I love for one reason or another for years now anticipating that I would one day start a series of “best of” posts. That day has finally come. I’m starting chronologically from the oldest in hopes that I can weed out things as I don’t remember why I liked them.

Random Faces by Nacho Yague

Farmer’s Market by Susan Rudat

A Poltergeist with far too Much Dandruff by Angie H. Iver

Sketch of an Image by Sean Foreman

Moleskine Exchange Entry by Josh Burggraf

Uncle Vernon by McThrill

The Hound by Kyle Wilson

Custer and Sitting Bull by Alexandra Beguez

Anne Pike by S. J. Guild

The Snail Princess by Rin Ascher

So that’s the first installment. I’ve got pages of these things to wade through, so expect more in the future.

Travis Coburn’s aesthetic reminds me of 1950′s magazine illustrations.

The retro technique is nicely and consistently done, however it doesn’t overpower the subject matter.

My favorite is this portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Take some time to peruse his portfolio website.

Wesley Allsbrook’s work is lively! Most of it illustrates movement, but even her still poses are vibrant with energy. I love the inky brush work and the way she uses color.

Check out her portfolio site and her blog for more.

I’ve always been intrigued by how the brain translates two dimensional blobs of tint or color into tangible, emotional references. The idea that a bunch of pigment can “move” someone is incredible. Some artists tend to push the limits of what is possible on this front. For example, Chistian Faur is using hand-forged crayons to create mosaic art. I assume his process is something like this: 1. Find or take a photograph to duplicate. 2. Use a computer to pixelate the image to a manageable rendering. 3. Select a color palette. 4. Forge crayons in those colors. 5. Assemble.

While that process is certainly not very romantic, the results are amazing. His site is full of examples, so keep browsing.

Josh Keyes art is a little twisted. It is beautifully rendered, but the subjects are slightly off. I’m a fan. Check out his gallery of paintings.

Von Glitschka AKA “Vonster” recently moved his professional location from Art Backwash to the slightly more professional sounding “http://drawsigner.com/“. This guy is a gem in the design community. He is talented, successful and generous. You have probably seen his designs if you watch professional sports. Many teams have used his artwork. While he is fiercely protective of his artwork (which routinely gets stolen) he also gives so much to the community for free. His tutorials are always informative.

For example, this is an old Vector Portrait How-To tutorial he posted back in 2009. It explains the process he uses to take photographs and turn them into vector portraits. (For the non-computer-aided-designer crowd: vector drawings are done on the computer. They are stored as a series of points instead of pixels. Because of that, they can scale from microscopic to skyscraper size and never lose resolution. Very handy for printers!)