Hey!!
Today’s feature is Californian illustrator Eric Petersen. I came across his work on one of my favorite sites, which is also a great magazine publication that you should check out, called  Juxtapoz.

His style definitely has some retro vibes, mixed with super sleek clean lines. I love the colours he uses in his work, super bright complimentary colours laying side by side.

Petersen states on his website that his influences are instructional graphics, video games, and the look of 1940s’ comic books. He creates his work digitally, and adds a texture that references printed material (vintage comics. The clean lines, and lack of detail in his work remove the human element that is found in non-digital drawing.

His subjects are people, and environments. He creates the most bizarre and interesting scenarios using the human form. I really enjoy the juxtaposition of the organic bodies and the hard shapes and spaces that he drapes them over. He uses multiple figures in his works to convey action.

None of his figures have eyes, which I feel even further removes the humanness from the humans depicted. They seem zombie like, and as though they have no direction, and no emotion.

I think it’s interesting that Petersen keeps that bit of roughness through the texture he includes in his work. The fact that he is deliberately trying to remove the human element is really interesting to me, and maybe that’s a part of what draws me to his work. I love a good clean line, a good drawing in perspective, and a beautifully drawn figure. The combination of people and shapes is visually interesting. Please check out his awesome website to see more!