Most of the pieces are not pure black-and-white, a lot of them have a splash a tiny bit of color. While they feature some color they’re still perfect for the purpose of our study though and I’m sure they’ll get you’re creative juices flowing whether you’re a hardcore black-and-white buff, color lover or somewhere in between. Enjoy and be inspired!

I love coming across illustrators that blow me away at first contact. Joao Oliveira definitely falls into that category, I had never seen his work but the class and style of his pieces is very impressive.

Joao’s work is both classic yet modern at the same time. In the first two pieces Joao uses the extreme contrasts black-and-white allows combined with digital effects to attain a classic sci-fi look. The third and fourth illustrations look much more classical but still have digital elements that makes them very intriguing.

Multi-faceted designer and illustrator Pete Harrison loves to combine a black-and-white base image with colorful lighting effects. By using well placed lighting effects and strong contrast his pieces nearly pop off the screen.

Italy based Alberto Seveso needs no introduction in the illustration scene. Dark backgrounds with hues of gray and some color splashed in give Alberto’s work a modern look with a classic undertone.

Mike Harrison’s non-digital look immediately sets him apart from the general field. In the pieces below Mike uses deep dark backgrounds, black-and-white models and a soft splash of color to set the mood.

Alessandro Pautasso combines classic black-and-white photography with vector splashes, swirls and patterns to create a sexy marriage of extremes (classic looking photography with very digital looking elements).

In the pieces below Alessandro uses a gray on gray base to create low contrast between the background and the models. This makes the bright colors in his work really stand out.

Christopher Haines, located in Australia, has a very broad style to his illustration. In the Electro set below Christopher uses monochrome color bases that he then brings to life with “designery” purple.

Belgian illustrator Bram Verhaeren has a lighthearted open feel to his work. The pieces below have a soft look to them due to the fact that Bram uses little black and instead goes with subtle hues of gray.

I also feel that Flash’s good name has been spoiled mostly by designers who love making pretty sites but know or care nothing about usable, user centered web design.

See more of the awesome submissions to the Noir chapter on Depthcore.

Just like the in the dark illustration showcase you’ll notice that dark backgrounds allow the subject to really stand out. Colors will “pop” more and the use of lighting effects becomes much more dramatic than it would have been on a lighter background.

This showcase is divided in four parts. First up are the typographical illustrations that make good use of the dark background in respect to light and color. Below that are sections for typography made from light, metallic effect typography and typography flavored up through smoke.

The pieces below make great use of vivid colors and gorgeous light effects. If you want to see more from an artist just click the name to check the site out.

Craig Shields
Craig uses dark backgrounds and a black and white base to make his subtle use of color really stand out.

Alex Trochut
Alex’s Beautiful decay is colorful on any background but the pure black background makes it liven up like no other background color could.

Go Media
Funky colors get a bit more serious on a black background in this piece by Go media.

Kliment Kalchev
Kliment uses a fruity gradient in his logo and accompanying illustrations to set a playful yet serious mood.

Nicolas Alexander
This piece has a great sense of motion and creative use of typography.

Pablo alFieri
Pablo has so much great typography work he could fill a whole showcase by himself. Make sure to check out his other work!

Rodrigo Braga
A colorful an heavily detailed piece that gains grounding from a black background.

Theo Aartsma
Theo’s awesome work is so full of detail that these small size images don’t do them justice. Head over to his Depthcore page to see them full size.

ShinBinary
Nik shows that while vivid colors can really stand out on a dark background, you don’t always have to go that route to impress.

You can use lighting effects to liven up a typographic illustration, but why not simply turn the text into light? Some examples below.

Guilherme Marconi
Guilherme’s illustration has a neon effect on all of the type.

Theo Aartsma
Another one by Theo. This is probably a made up symbol but one thing is for sure, it’s a beauty.

Tony Ariawan
Tony’s light streak illustrated type has a magical feel to it.

Mark Mustaine
Mark Mustaine created these by hand using slow shutter photography. Very impressive!

What’s shiny and lends itself very well to being illustrated in combination with stylized light and reflections? Metallic substances of course!

Alex Trochut
Alex makes the gold 3d type really jump from the background in this piece.

Emeric Trahand
Trust the KDU? Maybe, I’ll trust Emeric though, that’s for sure!

Rodrigo Braga
Rodrigo doesn’t overdo it with the reflections and ensures the bottom illustration radiates pure class.

Lastly we have smoke effects. Smoke stands out very well on a dark background and can really set a mood. I couldn’t find that many smoke examples unfortunately.

Von
Von’s piece isn’t really smoke but has a similar look. The piece gives me an uneasy and eerie feeling (in a good way of course).

Daniel Gordon
Daniel combines smoke with a strange effect on the type to set a strong mood.

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Most of these are in here because I think they’ll inspire with their use of typography, effects or a unique approach. There’s a few on the other hand that are here simply because I’m a huge fan boy for stuff from my youth. New Conan and Red Sonja films? Hell yea!

So what movies get you excited?

The majority of these came from the movie poster awards. Give them a look-up if you’re into movie posters.

This pulled me over the edge to do a showcase on digital painting, something I’ve been following for years now. Even if you don’t know the first thing about digital brushwork you can still be greatly inspired by the awesome color choices, composition and sometimes totally unique angles these paintings have.

So forget about your doc types, drop that Wacom pen and simply get inspired by something totally different. Digital painting at it’s best.

Note : I need your input! Please read the note at the bottom of the post.

01. Artgrerm | Visit site

02. Roboto Kun | Visit site

03. Omen2501 | Visit site

04. Aneyeoni | Visit site

05. Alexiuss | Visit site

06. Chris de Lara | Visit site

07. Gunner Romantic | Visit site

08. Jason Chan | Visit site

09. Jesse van Dijk | Visit site

10. Jo Yang | Visit site

11. kheleksul | Visit site

12. Kunkka | Visit site

13. Rado Javor | Visit site

14. Marc Brunet | Visit site

15. Marta Dahlig | Visit site

16. Pavel Lagutin | Visit site

17. Rozefire | Visit site

18. Ruan Jia | Visit site

19. Enayla | Visit site

20. Tea Young Choi | Visit site

21. Michael Oswald | Visit site

22. Wen M | Visit site

Instead of doing the usual showcase I’m going to do one with less creatives but more of their work to let them really shine. Be sure to head over to Behance to check the rest of their work.

01. Adam Spizak | Adam Spizak’s site

02. Akimo Lee | Akimo Lee’s site

03. Matthias Bauerle | Matthias Bauerle’s site

04. Danny Ronald | Danny Ronald’s site

05. Maciej Robak | Maciej Robak’s site

01. Sean Rodwell | Sean Rodwell’s site

02. DB + EM | DB + EM’s site

03. Jerico Santander | Jerico’s site

04. Didier Guy

05. Jill Greenberg | Jill Greenberg’s site

06. Matias Posti | Matias Posti

07. Miles Aldrige | Miles Aldrige’s site

08. Orikon | Orikon’s site

09. Ricardo Salamanca | Ricardo Salamanca

10. Steven Young

11. Gian Paolo Tomasi | Gian Paolo Tomasi’s site

Please keep in mind that these are not work safe.

01. Candybird | Candybird’s site

02. Junko Mizuno | Junko Mizuno’s site

03. Kukula | Kukula’s site

04. SKAFFS | SKAFFS’s site

05. Jarovich | Jarovich’s site

06. Liz Lorini | Liz Lorini’s site

07. Aleksandra Marchocka | Aleksandra Marchocka’s site

08. Miss Van | Miss Van’s site

9. Lostfish | Lostfish’s site

10. Fafi | Fafi’s site

That’s it for this showcase. If you’re interested in this type of work you might want to give the sexy side of illustration a read in which four character illustrators have their say on working in the erotic illustration field.

As always with these showcases, let me know if I missed any great artists in the comments so I can include them in follow-up showcases!

01. by Absolut | Absolut’s site

02. Triangle carton package

03. by Daniel Eek | Daniel Eek’s site

04. Happy cider

05. I need help

06. Lush

07. Clear men

08. Illy | Illy USA’s site

09. Boot collection

10. Sprinkles

11. Perrier

12. by Orgut Cayli | Orgut Cayli’s site

13. by Route 29

14. by Studio43 | Studio43’s site

15. by Catherine Harvey | Catherine Harvey’s site

16. Puschkin | CPuschkin’s site

This last one is my personal favorite, for obvious reasons;)

If you want more packaging design inspiration check Packaging world, Veerle’s blog, Smashing Magazine or have a look at the cool hunter.

If you’re a fan of modern illustration you’ve no doubt noticed that those of the digital school like using extreme lighting effects and vivid colors to make an impression. One very effective way to give these elements extra power is to use a dark background for your piece. This ensures that you’ll have the basis to make the lighting and color really stand out.

I’ve searched the web and my hard drive for some eye catching examples. Enjoy and be inspired!

01. Daniel Delgado Volchaire | Daniel Delgado Volchaire’s site

02. Cristiano Siqueira | Cristiano Siqueira’s site

03. Atila Meireles | Atila meireles’s site

04. Brian Gossett | Brian Gossett’s site

05. Mischa Loppies | Mischa Loppies’s site

06. Jeremias Virtanen | Jeremias Virtanen’s site

07. Bosslogic | Bosslogic’s site

08. Mike Orduna | Mike Orduna’s site

09. Xegalstudio | Xegalstudio site

10. Peter Maciocha | Peter Maciocha’s site

11. Sakke Soini | sakke Soini’s site

The following 10 artists and studio’s definitely know what they’re doing though. So enjoy the work and be inspired.

01. Emeric Trahand | Emeric’s site

02. Allesandro Bavari | Allesandro’s site

03. Quentin Shih | Quentin’s site

04. David Waters | David’s site

05. Partners Portugal

06. Lauri Ahonen | Lauri’s site

06. Sullivan & Lane | Sullivan & Lane site

07. Heiko Klug | Heiko Klug

08. Dave Hill | Dave’s site

9. Anthony Harmon | Anthony’s site

10. Impossible is nothing campaign

11. Usefull recourses
If the above has gotten your creative juices flowing but you don’t know where to start when it comes to photo manipulating the following links will help you out.

Making good cut-outs and extractions
Refine edge
Defringing hair on Computer Arts

Interresting making offs from Eagis Strife and some usefull tips
Eagis Strife tips and tricks
Making of Venus
Making of Hidden Place

Random usefull tutorials
Vivid color effects on Computer Arts
Blur effects on Computer Arts
Bottle as lens on Computer Arts
A bunch of tuts on Psdtuts

That’s a wrap! Let me know if I missed any great artists/studios or tutorials.