Russell Abrahams is a 20 year old student who is an illustrator and graphic design living in Cape Town, South Africa. What I like most about Abrahams work is the line work and the refinement he puts into this, creating detailed, professional imagery using his own found style of mark making. I especially like the image above due to the lack of colour, and how this relates to my own work. This also reassures me that images using only block colours of black and white can be successful. The textures of the skin relate to the development and ideas I did on drips, and dripping skin, and creates an interesting vibe behind this portrait, where the woman seems slightly eerie due to how her skin is almost showing movement.
Comparing the first image to the image above, I looked into colour and how different colours effect the style and overall intention of a piece. The colours used in this image make the piece have a brighter feel, and make it seem less daunting and make the drips of the skin seem more comical rather than creepy, and even though she has the same expression, this image suggests a mouth open due to surprise and suggests positivity, whereas the black and white image suggests a screaming face, or a face of shock. Due to how colour can change the entire outcome of a piece, this research has led me to be certain of my lack of colour in my work, because within my work I want to create pieces which seem daunting and can make an image seem incredibly negative compared to looking positive.
With this image Abrahams was focusing on subliminal messaging and how children are raised, but follows the same style and technique of 'dripping' skin, just using a different media. I like how the positivity behind the bright colours contradicts the tragic connotations of how children are raised 'around some pretty messed up stuff' (- Abrahams), and I like how the colouring isn't normal (eg: blue hair, bright pink face) and that makes the image seem slightly off or eerie. The wide eyed expression makes the child seem creepy because he appears to be shocked, or staring directly at something.
