Dutch artists Alfons and Adrie Kennis are twin brothers who work professionally under the studio name of Kennis & Kennis.
They are highly regarded in the field of paleontological reconstruction art, where their paintings and sculptures portray prehistoric mammals and pre-humans.
What delights me about their paintings in particular is the blending of rendered images of the foreground subjects with graphic background elements, and a more daring sense of design and composition than is usually expected within the field.
In addition, their use of texture is just wonderful — neither slavishly realistic nor deviating from reality. They manage to convey a tactile sense of an animal’s fur or hide, or the skin of proto-humans, within the framework of an expressive technique that has a great deal of visual appeal.
Keep in mind when viewing their work that as artistically vibrant as the paintings are, like all scientific illustration, they must conform to the task of representing their subjects with scientific accuracy.
[Via National Infographic]