Paris, France based artist Amandine Urruty has always overflowed her whimsical drawings with fantastical characters. First featured on our blog here, Urruty is unique in her near exclusive use of the pencil medium. There is something about a pencil’s ‘primitive’ and simple nature that initially attracted her to it. Her illustrations exhibit a remarkable control of the medium, and despite its easy use, she says, she is able to embellish her work with detail and varied palette. Most recently, her palette is almost entirely monochromatic black and white. Although her pieces are bizarre at first glance, to Urruty, there is a part of them that is personal and specific. She builds many of her images on second hand toys and personal objects, fashioning equally playful and wicked creatures from them. There is an endless procession of mysterious bed-sheet ghosts, children wearing animal masks, disco-ball headed figures and others. They continue to evolve in her latest series of drawings, which is currently on view at Cass Contemporary in Florida.
Emerging artist 
Houston-born artist 
Filipino surrealist Jon Jaylo creates brilliantly colored and riddled oil paintings inspired by poetry and stories. His paintings have earned him the moniker "The Enigma" for his puzzling depictions of a parallel universe where animals wear clothes, children take on adult personas and gravity ceases to exist. Jaylo has said that he is never completely satisfied with his style, which varies from piece to piece, influenced by a range of artists like Rene Magritte, Paul Delvaux, Gustav Klimt, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, and William Bougereau. Opening September 12th, Jaylo will make his US debut with his solo exhibition "As the Moon Draws Water" at Distinction Gallery in California.