Italian artist Agostino Arrivabene has many beautiful paintings that it is challenging to choose a small selection to be featured here. His work reminisces art from the 17th century, i.e. showing a characteristic trait such as a dramatic spotlit against a dark background. His art piece “Ruah” (at top) has a wonderful texture to it, Arrivabene used oil paint and gold leaf on wood.

Artwork and photo © Agostino Arrivabene

Link via Agostino Arrivabene on Tumblr

The majority of Rebecca J. Coles’ portfolio is made up of paper cutouts of butterflies. “Each shape is hand drawn and then intricately hand cut from carefully selected paper, focusing on recycling a medium that would otherwise be discarded and lost. I dissect small details of colour, imagery and text into silhouettes that are then re-sculptured, pinned and encased,” ^[1] she explains.

1. "About." Rebeccajcoles.co.uk. Retrieved on May 25th, 2012.

Photos © Rebecca J. Cole

Link via Paper Runway

The watercolor art of N.S. David has a fantastical almost graphic novel feel to it. Her painting (at top) entitled “There’s No Waiting For Us,” seems like it is influenced from Art Noveau. I.e. the woman being central focus with a organic pattern framed around her, which looks similar to Alphonse Mucha’s artwork.

Warning: This post contains images with nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.

Artwork © N.S. David

Link via Ink Butter

“Inner Vision” is a beautiful mural by iNO. For this project, the artist is representing DESIGNWARS, a collective space that supports street artists, designers, and other creative individuals.

Below: “Inner Vision,” a video directed by Sectiongraphix and music by Ronald Jenkees.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photos © iNO

Link via Street Art Utopia

It is always interesting to see Elsa Mora’s latest paper creations. Her work is elaborate, methodical and simply beautiful!

See also: “Beautiful Paper Ring” and “Cutouts.”

Photos © Elsa Mora

Link via All About Paper Cutting

Artist Michael Mapes combines a bit of science with art for his “human specimen” series. He takes his own photographs, and then dissects and composes the pieces into box frames. Within each casing, he generally includes “hundreds of photographic samples and ‘personal/biographical DNA’ such as eyelashes, fingernails, fingerprints, dried tears, pet hair, botanical material, and family matter.” [1] Everything Mapes collects is placed into plastic bags, glass vials, magnifying boxes, Petri dishes, and other scientific materials. It almost sounds like he is part of the CSI team.

1. "Michael Mapes' Incredible Photographs Of Dissected Human Specimens." Huffington Post. May 5, 2012. Retrieved on May 23, 2012.

Photos © Michael Mapes

Link via Feature Shoot, Fast Company and Colossal

Illustrator Alexis Marcou has made a drawing entitled “Snow Queen,” which was created using makeup brushes and different blends of graphite and charcoal.

Artwork © Alexis Marcou

Link via Behance Network

I have always been an admirer of Spencer Tunick’s beautiful nude art. “Since 1994, he has organized over 75 temporary site-specific installations in the United States and abroad. Tunick’s installations encompass dozens, hundreds or thousands of volunteers; and his photographs are records of these events.” ^[1]

Warning: This post contains images with nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.

1. "Bio." Spencertunick.com. Retrieved on May 21, 2012.

Photos © Spencer Tunick

Artist Fraser Gray paints on different surfaces such as canvases, indoor walls, and buildings. His work has an interesting flow as the objects seem to intertwine in a chain reaction.

Artwork and photos © Fraser Gray

Link via Boooooom

TigTag’s light painting is done in one continuous long-exposure shot. Although the images look like they were photo-manipulated, in reality no Photoshop was used. All of her stencils are hand cut and placed on a custom built light box.

Photos © TigTag

Link via Light Painting Photography