Rare shots of monsters caught on camera through the ages. Collection by Relleno De Mono.

A Gentleman Never Tells - Lovely title. Just one of many many rich and exciting illustrations in Colby Nichols’ portfolio. Some great mixed media illustrations, and of course a good peppering of Monster action. Oh yes! Also there’s T-shirts and you can buy the original acrylic artworks.

Although it’s popular to sound cynical and bored with Banksy these days, i still think there’s something very appealing about the thought of sneaking around in the dark, batman-styley, doing naughty things to buildings. And i’d rather my urban world be filled with ‘advertising’ of this nature than billboards blandly selling mundane household goods any day. I was on my way into town on Sunday when i spotted this from miles off. I couldn’t understand how i’d never seen it before, lamenting my seemingly unobservant nature on the way to Topshop… When today, it turns out it was snuck up on Saturday night! - scaffolding and all. So it’s fresh this weekend. Image nicked from Wooster Collective. Banksy there’s a massive blank wall on the end of my house you can have. Come and get it!

Cheer-up sad house …  Via Inspire Me Now

Do you remember the Colour Flip site i posted a while back ? Rafaël Rozendaal, the artist who created it, has turned them into a series of paintings … I love that idea. Doing a painting of a website ; ) But also a set of paintings showing something digital in it’s different guises over time. I’m sure you could apply that idea in an interesting way to lots of things… Nice. I think making something as cheesy as a page-curl into ‘art’ is hilarious : )  Via the Roope.

A Ghostbuster’s styley ghoul squishing monster box, by Martín Orza in Buenos Aires. More creatures including a plush prototype over at his Computer Love portfolio. Link Via Ben’s I Vote For Art Flickr.

Noferin have are some really interesting stage-by-stage images of work in progress paintings on their blog. And in addition you can see how they hand carve their little characters from wood! Amazing stuff from the boy-girl duo Candy and Nicho.

I guess this counts more as a painting than an illustration. There’s a full page more, of warmly drawn portraits and characters to be found on Richard’s site. Apparently some limited edition posters and prints coming soon. Put me down for an orange Robot for sure!

Loads more surreal loveliness where this came from and T-shirts to boot.

“I’d imagine after a week or so of scaring people it might get boring being a ghost after all don’t they hang around forever? id end up making silly faces all day.”

I would… I do! More skeletons, ghosts, dinosaurs, robots and more here and here. And a couple for sale here. By Neil Solorance.

I happened across this sketch and a bunch more from an exhibition by Kurt Halsey Frederiksen and Julie West, amoung some photos on David Rettker’s site. They have a wonderful way of capturing expressions. So nice.

David Hofmann’s Box Doodle Project has lots of mad creations.

“The rules are quite simple:
Rearrange a box to make any kind of figure or object.
Make the most of least.”

Whether assembling 3D structures from several boxes, or using the flattened net of the box to create a character it’s a brilliant example of using your imagination to create something new from something used.

A little while before Christmas, Cookie and I started out on a set of paintings for our mate El to brighten up her studio and to match her new website ( designed and made by Cookie and Mattias ).

Cookie designed the original characters, and i helped to bring them alive on the canvas. Those outlines are fiddly! I’d forgotten how much i love painting.

See the finished pics here!

The colours are a bit crap as i took them on my camera phone. I need to sort out a new digital camera. Let me know if you love yours, i’d appreciate any good recommendations