Otherwise known as Louise, Art&Ghosts creates stunning digital paintings/illustration. She uses photoshop /wacom combo to meticulously handcolor each image.These are inspired from a plethora of sources, including fairytales, mythology, dolls, spectres, dreams and nature….

Some Art&Ghosts facts:

My images usually begin with a photograph, a painting or a doll portrait. I buy many dolls then sell them on for this reason alone (so fickle!), although i do possess a somewhat overbearing collection of plastic animals, dolls house furniture and vintage frocks. My backgrounds are generally my own paintings or textures that i have created or photographed. Although most of my ‘completed’ work is digital, my sources are rather ecclectic at best. - louise

See an incredible array of these beautiful works by Louise after the jump more…

Drawing Day is a worldwide drawing event encouraging everyone to drop everything and draw for the sake of art. The internet is an open canvas. Help create 1 million drawings online this day and boost online art communities.

When is Drawing Day?
Drawing Day this year is June 07, 2008. Unless otherwise noted, Drawing Day will be the first Saturday of June each year.

What is Drawing Day?
One day a year, the world stops to remember that joy we had when we first picked up a pencil and created our first piece of art - that’s what Drawing Day is all about. The goal for Drawing Day is simple - to create enough drawings to make some noise worldwide for the sake of art. 2008 is the first year of this initiative. The goal this year is to aim for 1 million drawings worldwide.

Why is Drawing Day important?
Illustrators and artists alike often go unappreciated. The creation of art and illustration captured our minds ever since we were children and our parents turned the pages of our first book. These stories came to life via the illustrations that took us to an imaginary world full of inspiration.

Whether you’re a professional illustrator or you just enjoy the occasional scribble, you can give back to the illustration community by drawing on this day. By injecting more and more illustration and art into our community, we are not only showing our appreciation to our fellow artists, but we are spreading awareness of the joy of drawing. It is important that you contribute - Drawing Day will only be a success if we all participate and make some noise. So, please tell your friends and spread the word.

How do I participate?
To join in on this event is simple - as simple as picking up a pencil and drawing. However, the most important part is sharing your art with the world.

In today’s age of technology, the ability to share your art with the world is easier than ever. These are some of the of the best ways to reach a broad audience.

Attentions A Collaboration with Peter Jaworowski (www.hejz.com)

Spanish Born illustrator and graphic designer, Jericó Santander, operates in a very particular universe. His folio is a very professional and beautiful at the same time, highlighting his immense talent.What follows is a perfect compromise between technology and creativity, all flavored with a bit of ingenuity into the mix… This gives us access to the world through compositions in 3D graphics constructed and deconstructed. See more of his works after the jump.

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Forest Nymph

Gale Franey is a digital artist living in Vancouver, Canada. Shes been creating these visually stunning fairytale works since 2001. Her inspiration behind each piece comes from working extensively with refugees and homeless people. It is from those immensely rich experiences that have shaped her ideas and influenced the art and design, which ranges from fantasy to social complex issues.

Danielle’s Dragon

I’ve been working on this image for the past 4 days. It has taken me more than 50 hours in total, longer than most because I had to build the dragon piece by piece using digital images of iguana, monitor lizard, crocodile, and even some giraffe fur samples for the dappled effect on the wings. The fox is also comprised of many different pieces. I built several different backgrounds and foregrounds until I was finally satisfied with this one. I love building backgrounds and this one is made of at least 40 or more images.

The Green Violin

For more extensive information about Gale Franey’s stunning works, Photoshop tutorials, Flash animations and more, visit her website and blog. You can also see her other galleries on deviantart and flickr. deviant page and of course, after the jump. Oh, don’t forget to give them some sugar. more…