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My strongest conviction about the graphic design industry is that it’s made by people. Trends, global events, and social environment are just a background to the great things brought by talented artists. These are the people who light the entire community with their talent, show the direction for new digital projects, and fill everyone involved with inspiration and creative sense.
This article is an inspiration dose, and it’s also an introduction. In a single publication, I gathered twenty of the most talented and famous digital artists of our time. These people work in different styles, in different countries, and each of them has their own message and audience. They embrace digital painting, character design, 3D, environment art, concept art, and other illustration and graphic design forms. What unifies all these people is the significance of their creativity and the fact that they express modern digital art through their works like no one else.
Does that sound a little pathetic? Let it be so. But I am sure that this journey will be worth these words. And I will be happy to know that meeting these digital artists will become a new page for you in discovering yourself as a creator. After all, people make design, and the brighter their creativity is, the more amazing changes happen in the entire industry and beyond.
Zim & Zou, France
Zim & Zou are two French artists, Lucie Thomas and Thibault Zimmerman, who prefer tangible materials to the popular 3D design. Their installations are made from paper (which is their preferred material), wood, or thread. All the scenes are literally completed by hand: Lucie and Thibault manually draw, fold, cut, and assemble the trickiest compositions. Some of these scenes do look like origami, while others look so 3D and digital that no one would ever tell their Up the Clouds or A Livre Ouvert are physical.
In fact, I am excited to onboard this list of the best digital artists with those who have focused on original creativity and create their masterpieces bypassing conventional tools. With every artwork, Zim & Zou remind the community that art knows no boundaries. And masterpieces can be equally made with glue & wood and Photoshop & 3D Max.
The Rusted Pixel, Ireland
Paul, aka The Rusted Pixel, is an outstanding 3D designer from Ireland. In his portfolio, you’ll find projects for Adobe, Google, Disney, Spotify, MTV, and other companies most designers and artists strive to work with. However, the thing I adore most about Paul is the incredible worlds and characters he creates.
He draws inspiration from the countryside and coastline of Donegal, where he’s from. So every digital art illustration is filled with local coziness and a simple yet fairytale vibe. Every detail has its story, and by creating smooth, flexible textures, Paul turns on tactile curiosity. So it feels like you are really touching all those teeny-tiny leaves or kitchen utensils and get closer to Paul’s digital universe.
Ori Toor, Israel
As Ori Toor describes himself, he’s an illustrator creating freestyle worlds to get lost in. And there are no words to describe his digital artwork better! He is a passionate doodler who draws multi-level fantasy plots and characters without prior sketching or planning. His unique approach to improvisation allows the view to get instantly grabbed by Ori’s flow of imagination and manner to build digital worlds from a single idea.
In Ori’s portfolio, there are bold abstractions, sci-fi art, multiple psychedelic compositions, and even looped animations. The latter, by the way, are drawn in a gritty style, which differs them from Ori’s overall aesthetics. He mainly uses a flat style, so in order to convey mood and space or establish relations between the objects and layers inside the digital artwork, he uses lots and lots of color.
mbsjq, United Kingdom
“Impressionist at heart, a surrealist in execution” — this is how mbsjq, aka Jonathan Quintin, describes himself, and there are hardly words to describe this digital artist better. He is a creator enchanted by surrealist philosophy and outer space aesthetics, and so are his artworks. In his series, he always sets the viewers on a new space journey, and you can be sure to be fascinated and strongly inspired by his bizarre futuristic fantasies.
We’ve seen almost everything in the works of the best digital artists, and that makes mbsjq stand out. Indeed, soft pop is a trend. However, in the arms of mbsjq, it gets a whole new approach. You do get surprised, and you never know what kind of visual plots and characters he will mold next in his new digital artwork. A merge of space and florals? Candy-colored cyberpunk? Abstract 3D portraits? Well, yes, yes, and yes.
Beeple, USA
Mike Winkelmann, or Beeple, is one of the top digital artists in the world. He creates 3D art known for conceptual, dystopian works with a sharp reflection on modern pop culture. He’s also famous for selling the most expensive NFT. I don’t find it surprising as Mike’s perception of reality is something that can’t leave a single person cold. Cinema4D videos and animations, parodies, caricatures, and album covers — both as a digital illustrator and modern artist, he shows extreme audacity mixed with a powerful yet grim touch of cyberpunk aesthetic and uncertainty.
Beeple brings together stand-out skills, unique vision, and extreme devotion to the art. Day by day, since 2007, he draws and posts sci-fi illustrations, so his micro-universe keeps expanding with time. In 2021 he sold a part of his works, Everydays — The First 5000 Days, as an NFT for a mind-blowing $98 million.
Steve Simpson, Ireland
Every time you look at Steve’s illustrations, you get a little bit of a festival waltzing into your life. Even though the recent works gravitate to Mexican folk art (or a variation of it to a certain degree), it’s not all the Day of the Dead mood. Steve Simpson has dedicated a significant lifespan to wallowing in the comics creation process and building his distinctive illustration style as a digital artist.
Steve’s digital illustrations are composed of teeny-tiny decorative elements, apart from the main characters, which create a vivid setting for the composition, completely erasing the borderline between reality and a fantasy world. From whiskey labels to book covers, the lively and whimsical illustrations always hit it on the nail in terms of a product’s mood and inspiration vibes. And you never know the next destination in Steve’s new digital painting: a 19th-century circus or a pirate ship rushing towards thrilling adventures!
MUTI, South Africa
MUTI is a creative studio from Cape Town which houses a team of dedicated digital illustrators and designers. Their forte is to unite multiple techniques, so every illustration or icon pack is realized in a unique style or a quintessence of illustration techniques. While lots of artists seek consistency, these folks have got their hand in visual variety and uniqueness.
The artists at MUTI have worked with multiple companies around the globe: from Nike and Fortnite to Uniqlo and The Washington Post. Their portfolio contains line art, ethnic motives, classic and isometric flat style, Art Deco, digital sketching, and compositions made with the power of shaders. And I’m sure I’ve missed something — which is rather good than bad, as any creator will find something familiar and inspiring.
So Lazo, El Salvador
So Lazo is a professional digital artist, tattoo designer, and, as she calls herself, a designer of silly clothes. In her illustrations, she blurs the border between fantasy and reality, creating vivid plots and characters. Another feature that highlights Lazo’s approach to painting is the palette that often centers around the popping pink and cotton candy hues. Interestingly, such color solutions are merged with a powerful feminist message, giving them a different value.
Lazo’s world is inspired yet not limited to the myths and stories of her culture. In her physical and digital artworks, he brings the relationships between the spiritual world, the natural world, and humanity. Altogether these things come up as a fresh look at the Latin heritage that no one can escape falling for.
Jinhwa Jang, Korea
We’re just traveling from one creator’s universe to another! And this is Jinhwa Jang’s. Jinhwa is a freelance illustrator from Seoul, and every her painting is enriched with lots of peculiar details and filled with light. Indeed, you’ll be fascinated by how fluently she can create ambiance and play with shadow in light in her digital illustrations: whether it’s something colorful, neon, game-like, or monochrome and manga-styled.
Jinhwa masterly conveys the moment, and everyone looking at her artwork immediately becomes part of it. For example, her Seoul-inspired series create so much of the Korean vibe and nightlife feel that you’ll get it spreading all over your heart and body wherever you are.
André Ducci, Italy
André Ducci is an Italian digital illustrator and writer who creates absurd artworks based on retro aesthetics from the roaring 20s to the 60s. He is a sophisticated user of textures and shaders with excellent skills in creating gripping color schemes for his works. He’s also good at grabbing nostalgic or emotional plots and capturing them on canvas — be sure to find lots of it in André’s works.
André creates the very kind of art you’d like to hang on your wall or see on your bookshelf. Speaking of the second point, he recently illustrated Talking History — a book by Joan Lennon & Joan Haig. It would be a great purchase for everyone devoted to his style. However, if you ask me, I’m mostly in love with his bizarre Fanfare book, which is a powerful homage to the absurd retro vibe of the late 40s.
Butcher Billy, Brazil
Butcher Billy is a famous digital artist and graphic designer who brings his vision of comics and resurrects Pop Art culture. No, I don’t mean it’s dead — however, as you review his artworks, you’ll see it take a whole new twist. In Butcher Billy’s portfolio, there are multiple projects for Netflix, Stranger Things, Black Mirror, Marvel, and more, so no more questions about powerful retro style merged with unrestrained experiments.
Through his eyes, you’ll get a whole new vision of the cinematographic legends as well as popular comics stories and TV shows — there’s hardly one Buther Billy doesn’t bring in his digital art. A few years ago, he also turned the industry upside down with his Post-Punk Marvels series: then he introduced some of his favorite rock stars as characters of superhero comic books.
Marija Tiurina, United Kingdom
For everyone crazy about Bosch’s multiple-plot paintings with hundreds of characters and scenes captured on a single canvas, Marija Turina’s style will be a gripping discovery. However, instead of grim medieval aesthetics, she draws vibrant search-and-find paintings full of life and joy. And yet I won’t deny all creators care about minor details in their own manner, Marija is probably the best digital artist who’s mastered it.
Every character in her illustrations is overfilled with emotions and unique features to highlight their personalities. Marija’s Coffee Characters was the first project I saw from her. I immediately fell for those powerful females brought to embody popular coffee drinks, and since then, my love for her emotional cartoonish style keeps growing — as well as Marija’s mastership that she brings to more and more projects, including her recently released search-and-find book, Where are you.
Matt Schu, USA
Matt Schu (Schumacher) is a digital artist and illustrator from Portland with an immense passion for drawing houses. Indeed, humans are relatively rare characters in his artworks, and instead, he prefers discovering the mood of houses and gardens. Matt’s idea is to focus rather on the emotional aspect than on objects, and from this position, he sees lots of meaning, emotion, and inspiration in houses.
As Matt experiments with setting and details, he can convey any vibe without telling or showing anything precise — and that’s where the magic comes up. Matt released a few self-published books and zines, which are a chance to continue the journey across his creative universe. Particularly if you want to spice up your digital illustrations and improve the traditional gouache & inking technique.
Antoni Tudisco, Germany
Antoni Tudisco is a creative director & 3D visual artist from Hamburg. And he’s one of the best digital artists practicing modern surrealism and selling NFT. He’s worked with Nike, Adidas, Versace, Google, Mercedes Benz, D&G, etc., and won several notable awards. His style features smooth 3D shapes and textures polished by a bright color palette: neon pink to gold.
In his artworks, Antoni likes to reinvent digital physics and explore the laws of nature on a case-by-case basis. This is seasoned by his unleashed interest in pop culture, street art, and Asian visual concepts. Such surrealist experiments are often embedded into branding campaigns, so it’s not extraordinary for Antoni to use the Nike logo as a piercing or stick a pair of sneakers to one’s face with duct tape.
Ben Bauchau, Belgium
While some digital artists create their own worlds, Ben Bauchau is the one who explores them — as he states himself. These worlds are surrealist, fairy-tale, and a little dark. And such quintessence is Ben’s signature. The first series I discovered in his portfolio was Place For My Dark Thoughts, a book of contemplative illustrations in an inking technique made for sharing support with people who go through anxiety and internal conflict. The same message partially permeates Ben’s artistry.
Ben’s creations are based on Japanese mecha aesthetics and Ukiyo-e art, and cosmic, fantastic plots. His characters create a mix of multiple cultures. However, he is greatly interested in building samurai-like personalities: lonely warriors, wanderers, and explorers captured in a futurist environment. Currently, his arts are not limited to drawing projects, as he equally releases animations with a similar post-apocalyptic approach.
David Sossella, Italy
Traditional Japanese-style motifs intertwine with the Soviet agitation posters in mysterious plots, told by David Sossella, an illustrator and graphic designer from Italy. The robust colors dance in the eye-pleasing mixture of fantasy worlds with a take on real-life inventions, machinery, and old-school means of transport. It takes some time to spot all the details, carefully packed in hidden meanings, spiced up with fantastic allegories. Every character has a resistless charm, hooking your attention and never letting go.
David has come a long way to becoming one of the top digital artists collaborating with many international brands like Ray-Ban, Hasbro, Disney, Air Emirates, Poste Italiane, and others. Besides, David Rosella is a founder of Gusto Robusto, an independent project creating and promoting art prints in vector technique. You may find various experiments with style for your inspiration on his Instagram page. There David demonstrates a sheer contrast between applied techniques and the process of sketching out future compositions!
Alex Heywood, Australia
I haven’t paid enough attention to the digital painters who draw animals and wildlife, so let me fix it by introducing the incredible freelance artist, Alex Heywood with his astonishing universe filled with extraordinary creatures. On the one hand, his artworks are an example of what search-and-find illustration can and should be: a soft palette complementing teeny-tiny characters that altogether set up a complete plot for a story. On the other hand, these are the children’s books illustrations of our dreams, as Alex masterly creates emotional and realistic personalities. Everyone, from bossy police-frogs to timid squirrel-like critters, goes far beyond a fictional character image.
In 2021 Alex released his first graphic novel, Pet Human. The story was written by a renowned film director David Guy Levy and Emmy Award-winning creative director Steffen Schlachtenhaufen. Alex has made the illustrations and created a unique visual experience, so this book is a must-have collectible for everyone who loves his cozy, narrative style.
James Gilleard, United Kingdom
According to classic academic art books, any object can be reduced to simple geometric elements. It’s totally accurate, but how about creating a complex digital artwork with all the details being the same geometric shapes put together? James Gilleard does it as smoothly as assembling a building blocks castle. Praising pop culture, architecture in lo-fi colors, and mysterious space, he casts his artistic spells on canvas to deliver even the most sophisticated things around us, made of different geometric pieces.
There’s something extraordinary about every vector landscape or architecture illustration: the imagery has a calming retro tint, creating an indescribable nostalgia for the times we’ve never even lived in. And for the video game geeks and cinemaholics, there’s an extensive collection of concept art, posters, and “based on” projects to spot all the references and probably observe the favorite masterpieces from a different viewpoint.
Romain Trystram, Morocco
Romain Trystram is a freelance illustrator, graphic designer & art director whose unique style is based on cyberpunk landscapes and fascination with neon-lit urban architecture. But don’t let yourself limit the perception of his art to the skyscrapers in the Cyberpunk 207 aesthetic, as Romain will always go beyond every foreseen style.
Romain is a savvy user of gradients and 1980 futurist attributes. In his artworks, he hovers between the distinctive retro and ultra-modern visual approach. This makes him one of the best digital artists able to embrace almost everything in their works without turning them into a colorful mess. Travel sketches, quick animations, adverting campaigns for any global company like Volkswagen or Affinity promo, or a very personal reflection on the urban appearance of megapolis — every digital painting is a perfect balance between futurist neon, color, and very precise, verified geometry that soothes the eye.
RULEBYART, Canada
RULEBYART is a team of contemporary digital artists who have captured their creative ideas and the beauty of abstraction for almost a decade. Their digital artworks are something you will never stop being fascinated and inspired by. Whatever gets into their focus: organic textures, minerals, human body, or extraterrestrial materials transform into a work of art with its message and story.
Robert Marks, the founder of the project, has been doing digital, visual, and traditional art for over twenty years. As a devoted digital artist and illustrator, he runs multiple experiments in different fields of design. With his unlimited interest in the evolution of art, he keeps transferring his vision of abstraction, so every collection or product released by RULEBYART feels like a new wave both visually and technically.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most prominent contemporary digital artists of the XXI century are:
- Beeple (known for his most expensive NFTs ever sold)
- mbsjq (an NFT artist focusing on surrealist 3D)
- Butcher Billy (outstanding master of pop art aesthetics)
- Ori Toor (freelance illustrator known to create soft loops and digital improvisations)
- Antoni Tudisco (3D and concept artist focusing on visual and physics experiments)
