Matt Heath
Wearable Art, Designed To Be Seen.
A lot of creative, collaborative and clever ideas have come from our skulls. Matt Heath sets out to show us that skulls don't have to be scary or evil through his use of color and detail.
“My origin story starts like this - I bought a computer. From there I just started designing posters for some friends’ bands. I’ve been lucky - I’ve been able to work with some great companies and people.
I’m mostly inspired by my previous drawings and exploring new ways to improve them. Every new drawing is a step forward and I’m driven to improve on the last. It’s important to me that I also take time out of my day to explore something creative - this is something I like to focus on in my life.
I’m always developing my skills, learning about different art mediums, and having fun with my work. It’s nice to have gained the attention of brands whose art products I love to use. This has led to some great collaborations and the opportunity to try out some awesome art supplies along the way.
For me, my work is less about the finished piece and more about the process. Just learning and trying new ideas within a similar theme will always help me improve my skills.
I don't have a lot of spare time so I try to complete a piece of artwork and move on to the next one as soon as possible. This means I’m continuously working on methods to achieve a finished piece in a short amount of time.
The designs I create for Ink Blot are designed specifically for t-shirt prints, as opposed to sketchbook scans that I had sitting around. I look forward to seeing each one completed and printed in person.
Ink Blot is awesome in that the business pays the artists well as opposed to countless other platforms where they pay virtually nothing and build their platform on the foundations of the artist's creativity. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to work with them as a creator.”
Emperuer
Empereur
Inspired by Takashi Murakami and Hajime Sorayama, Empereur includes original designed characters expressing the emotion of self empowerment and struggles people have everyday with a diversity of characters often represented as cybernetic organisms.
“I started designing after I graduated from high school in 2016. It started off small at first, I was just making some clothes and designing apparel alone but after a few people had seen my designs I started to build a following online. More people started asking about my designs and my designs even became in demand.
I take a lot of inspiration for my art from some of my favorite artists like Takashi Murakami, Tite Kubo, and Kanye West. I love to combine modern styles with Japanese culture in anime-derived designs.
The main motivation for what I do is very simple - it’s camomile tea. But it’s also the fact I enjoy drawing and creating every day and I love pushing my skills to ensure I can continue to do what I love for a living.
Long term I'd like to open a pop-up shop and have people come in to buy merch and enjoy my canvas paintings. Every time I post a new painting, digital piece, or newly designed merch, people ask about it and like it. This is a great achievement to me because it tells me that I’m doing something right.
My favorite design I’ve done so far is for sure “empereur STATIQ” because I used two mediums I wasn’t entirely familiar with: collage methods and photo manipulation with my art. But it came out good in the end and I learned new things about the software I use which is always a bonus.
Working with Ink Blot is fantastic. I like the convenience of not having to screen print the designs myself and I can continue to push out new material.
The ability to have the extra social media presence with models to show off my apparel is also great and having those key elements helps drive customers and people to my vision. That’s the best feature I think InkBlot has.”
RYUOKZ
Apparel Inspired By Anime
Apparel inspired by East Asian culture. Tokyo Ghoul and other Manga and Anime.
Apparel inspired by East Asian culture. Tokyo Ghoul and other Manga and Anime. Follow Ryuokz on Instagram @ryuokz.
T Doodlez
Cute Cartoon Designs To Show Off Your Quirky Side
T Doodlez is chalk full of fun and loving cartoons that tell stories.
“I started my love for art when I was very young. I used to love drawing cartoon strips from television programs I saw on TV.
It was always so exciting to come up with new ideas and stories my characters could go on. It really sparked my passion for creating art and designs.
I still mainly draw wacky and cute cartoon characters! The main character I draw in my work is called Roger Red. He’s an inkblot-style character and what makes him so unique as a design is that he can be anything.
People can see Roger as anything which means I can draw him in anything or as anything. He’s easily recognizable and I love coming up with different scenarios for him.
My main motivation for my work is that I just love to draw cartoons! Cartoons make people feel happy and if I can be a part of that then I’ll be able to make people feel happy too. It’s an amazing feeling to have.
My goal for my work is for it to be the next Kaws when it comes to characters. Kaws is so unique and recognizable and I’d love for my own characters to get to that stage.
One of my favorite designs I’ve created is Good Fortune Roger and I’d love to design a few more Good Fortune Roger shirts in the future.
The best thing about working with Ink Blot is they let me have full control over how my work is seen online. I get to decide how much my shirts sell for and they’ve given me an amazing platform to promote my work.
I hope that someday in the future I’ll be able to bring characters to life in a cartoon show. That’d be pretty awesome!”
Toile de Lina
Designs To Make You Smile
Located in the south of France, Toile de Lina (French for Lina's Canvas) is a brand full of colorful patterns and motifs. Its art comes in many forms, but is primarily created using watercolors, color pencils and pastel crayons.
“I started taking art classes about once a week with work and after a few years I discovered textile design and print art, and I learned how to digitize my work.
Art became something I loved to do and I wanted to focus on creating dreamy pieces for others because I knew it was something I needed myself.
What motivates me is the hope that the good energy I put into my work comes across in the pieces I create and brightens someone's day. I love to think that when people see my prints they’re filled with joy.
My favorite piece I’ve created so far is titled Hope and I loved bringing that work to life. I hope to create more pieces like it and continue to bring happiness into other people’s lives.
Some of my favorite things about working with Ink Blot include the great product shots for my shirts and how they’ve introduced me to so many other artists.
You can check me out on Instagram @toiledelina.
