Mountain Art and Illustrations

I have looked at ski and board graphics but it somehow slipped my mind to look at other visuals of mountains. I have of course, seen representation of mountains in art before but this is researching them on a larger scale. 

Mixed media collage inspired by Kanchenjunga by Chris Hagan.

The layers of colour in this word so well is helping create the illusion of form and depth. I can see how the artist has almost filled in sections to help with this and create the shapes of the different layers of  the mountain. Use of mixed media is also a brilliant way of showing this depth as well as creating other textures that can be seen in nature and on the mountain.

This image reminds me of the mountain seen at night when the mood hits it and the light is reflected off the snow and rock. The texture created in the sky matches this with is every so slightly star speckled night, not too many as the light from the moon is taking up the light filtered through to us. 

This artist has other work related to mountains:

 

                                                 K2                                                 Everest

An earlier piece to the others. The mountain in the almost resembles an active volcano due to the vibrant colours used. 

Liam Ashurst

This work isn't to my personal preference but there is a lot of work around mountains that is similar to this style or idea so it is worth looking at. 

Liam Ashurst is a Graphic Designer and for the most part of mountain artwork in the realm of Illustration seems to be closer to Graphic Design. 

 

 

His work reminds me of tattoo flash art to some degree. It has a neo-traditional feel to it, to an extent anyway. Simple designs, using thick lines with a vague element of traditional tattoo art. His work doesn't just consist of mountains but generally does have an element of nature. However he also does some fan based art such a as Pokemon and Start Wars and Space is although a theme that features a lot.

I have also discovered from his Instagram, that Ashurst has has a recent project with J Skis, maker of limited edition skis. This Wild Life project is the sort of collaboration I am very interested in. 

The images Ashurst create are very clean which isn't something I am drawn to. They are however popular designs, not just his but similar designs and are often chosen for tattoos. I think this is because they have a representation of wilderness, travel and adventure. 

Here are just some other examples of similar work:

 

                         Arno Van Praet                                                      Eva Svatur

Katsushika Hokusai

South Wind at Clear Dawn (Gaifu kaisei)

Japanese artist and printmaker during the Edo period, Katsushika Hokusai, is known for The Great Wave of Kanagawa 1823 (bellow) which was part of the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series (wood block prints). This series bought him acclaim not only in Japan at the time but all over the word as indeed it continues to do. 

 

The level of detail that has gone into Hokusai's prints is the work of a master. These are woodblock prints which would have needed a lot of skill. He produces earlier work but It was the South Wind at Clear Dawn piece that I want to focus on for now. 

I think his limited use of palate creates the illusion of a mountain being seen at low light, here as the name suggests, at dawn. I can see why he would have been drawn to mount Fuji, not only because of being born in Tokyo, at the time called Edo, but because of its shape. Straight away you can tell what mountain this is just by its shape and very simple detail. His use of contrasting colours also works well, I can almost sense the subtle red glow of the sun on the mountain at dawn, silhouetted against the blue sky.