Sean Cheetham

Sean Cheetham is recognised as one of the most acclaimed young figurative painters working today. In 2005 he exhibited in the Portrait Award, at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and was included in American Artist Magazine as one of their 25 Artists Of Tomorrow.

Below is a collection of his looser portrait work. You can feel a real connection to the painters of the late 19th century, too, like Delacroix, Corot or Courbet, or even further back than that. And that's what makes them so appealing to me: the continuation of an important way of creating art that has been largely ignored since the beginning of impressionism.

Jared Muralt's sketchbook

Every now and then you come across an artist whose work just flaws you. And not just one incredible piece of artistry, but every picture of theirs you see. This is true of the Swiss illustrator, Jared Muralt, founder of the illustration and graphic design studio, BlackYard.

Jared attended art school for a year in his native Bern, Switzerland. He is largely self-taught, receiving much of his study through books regarding art history, anatomy and comics. All of which are explored in his work and clearly visible in his sketchbook drawings below. There are so many of these drawings that it was damn hard trying to pick only a few.

For more of his work check out his website or his instagram feed. Seriously, every post is unbelievably good.

Vincent van Gogh

"I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say 'he feels deeply, he feels tenderly."

- Vincent van Gogh

Mario Wagner

I always pay attention to the shows that Spoke Art and their sister gallery, Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco, put on. And one recent show at the latter gallery was "A Glow That Transfers Creativity", a solo show by artist and illustrator, Mario Wagner. The exhibition contained technicolour paintings and installations including collage work and TVs.

German born and based in Berkeley, California, Wagner's work effortlessly combines minimalism, sci-fi, hope, despair and nostalgia.

Charles Bukowski - "The Laughing Heart"

This is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful, soulful, life-affirming poems ever written...

The Laughing Heart can be found in Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories by Charles Bukowski.

Liz Brizzi

Born in France to Italian parents, Liz Brizzi grew up in Los Angeles. Working from her downtown graphic design studio, she captures the desolate beauty of the urban outskirts of the city in her mixed media paintings.

Manipulated photographs are collaged onto wood panel, with layers of acrylic washes on top. The back streets of LA are presented with a raw edge which shows the rapidly disappearing history of a city in constant change.

Kim Cogan

Kim Cogan paints San Francisco in a way that is rarely seen but always recognisable. He captures the city with it's distinctive characteristics without having to show the Golden Gate bridge, trolley cars or Alcatraz in the background. All the icons have been removed.

His paintings have soul. The sunlight reflects off buildings in a cool haze and the night scenes glow and hum with neon light. There are no people and no cars; just silence and atmosphere.