Artist Two: Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

Why this Artist? 
    A couple years ago I started an internship with my uncle in graphic and web design.  He told me to start a pinterest board of all my favorite artists and to start gathering ideas.  Before I began, he told me that one of his favorite artists was named Greg Simkins and I should go check out his work. I did and now Simkins is one of my favorite artists.  I love him so much in fact, that his website is in my favorites bar.  

Here are some of my favorite pieces by this artists: 

Craolion by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

The Welcoming Party by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

Set Adrift by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

Sojourners by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

Stop Haunting Me by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

Who is this Artist? 

     Simkins was born in Torrance California and started drawing at the early age of 3. At the age of 18 he started doing graffiti under the name "CRAOLA" and then began painting larger works.  He received his Bachelor's Degree in Studio Art from California State University of Long Beach in 1999.  Simkins has been in a number of group exhibitions and has even  sold out solo exhibitions.  His work has appeared in galleries throughout the world.  He works in a variety of mediums including painting, drawing, graffiti and computer graphics and gets inspiration from the world around him and many different companies and cartoons. 

What does he do? 
     Simkins creates images that are derived from his imagination.  He is very interested in imaginary worlds and the "rabbit holes we fall down when daydreaming." Simkins gets a lot of his inspiration from imaginary worlds in literature like The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis and other fantastical books.  This artist combines pop culture, nature and imagination to form surrealist works that make the viewer's imagination run wild.

Why he inspires me?
     Simkins love for adding pop culture references and surrealistic elements to his work is something that I absolutely love.  I am always trying to add Wonder Woman or Disney elements into a lot of my artworks so the way that he seamlessly weaves his clients and collaboration list of companies elements into his works is amazing.  I love being able to pick out things that I know and searching through one of his works to find the pop culture easter eggs.
   Another element that inspires me is the way Simkins is able to create amazing hybrids using any and all objects and creatures and how much movement can be seen in his works. Simkins is able to create a cohesive piece by attaching things together, having things stacked and layered and having objects weave in and out of his illustrations.  The movement that is created and the mind blowing compositions he comes up with are wonderful.  He places different textures, colors, patterns, objects and creatures onto his works in such an interesting fashion that the viewer can spend hours picking out what each part is supposed to be.  I only hope I can piece things together so seamlessly in my works as well.
   The color palette that Simkins uses is also very inspiring.  Each work he creates has a distinct color palette and he makes sure all the colors work together.  This attention to detail gives each work a specific tone and makes them seem even more comprehensive.  I strive to do the same in my works.
    Overall Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins is one of my favorites artists and the way he is able to fuse together the world into surrealistic images is very inspiring.

Here are some of his works that have obvious pop culture references.  You can see more of his art at http://www.imscared.com/ :

The Count by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

Eds Losing by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

Story Knight by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins

To The Outside by Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins