Lines and Colors art blog

John Mattos

John Mattos
John Mattos has applied his crisp, colorful illustration style to editorial illustrations for publications like Time, Newsweek, Forbes, and Fortune; and commercial clients like Apple, Adobe, Microsoft and Citibank. He has taught illustration and drawing at De Anza College, Academy of Art University, and California College of Arts and Crafts and has lectured at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and the School of Visual Arts in NY.

His bright vector based illustration technique combines the artful use of gradient tones and a knack for “lost and found edges” that give a simultaneous feeling of dimensionality and strongly graphic composition.

His sleek, forceful image of a skier carving her way through a turn was chosen for the U.S. Postal Service’s official commemorative stamp for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Mattos’ online portfolio is unfortunately brief (though don’t miss the link to a second page), but there are a few additional images on his iSpot portfolio. His web site also includes a very quick look as some of his film work.

He will sometimes push his colors way back, fading them as if under a gentle glaze, and at other times punch them forward with intense hues.

I love the way in the illustration shown here Mattos lets you hang for moment to get your bearings before the dizzyness sets in.


Comments

2 responses to “John Mattos”

  1. I love the airplane! Very cool!

  2. wow, amazing colors! thanks for sharing Charley!