Russ Mills

British artist born in 1971 in Exeter, Devon. He graduated from Met university in 1995- completing a BA in graphic art and design. He has spent almost 20 years crafting skills, absorbing influences of visual culture. His current work is a clash of styles from classical to pop art surrealism focusing on the human form. He was originally interested in working in film, and animation however, it wasn’t until more recently in his career that he realized his true potential lied in work with the computer, pencil, and paper. His work is based on urban fine art and contemporary graphics. A collision of real digital media, illustration based on firm drawing. He focuses mainly on the human form particularly on the face. Russ Mill’s figures are both striking, and a bit chaotic. They’re feminine, while alluding a sense of masculine power. His work is powerful, it uncovers the human emotion that lies underneath the beautiful girls faces, and allows their mind to be spoken in an unforgiving light.

The process he uses to create his work consists of many steps. Mills first collects sources he feels would be suitable to the portrait he is working on. Such as random stripes of pencil marks, textured paper, and even toned paper. He simply draws the photograph he is working from and scans that in as well. He then delves into his chaotic experimentation with coloured inks, adding or subtracting pieces as needed. His works all convey a sense of chaos, and motion. The portraits have a dark, almost eerie look to them. His figures are seemingly translucent. Their harsh outlines, and quick pulses of shading and, highlights only illuminate a hollow figure. It’s almost as though these figures are ghosts of various people. 

In my opinion I like the way he uses ink a specific way to express the emotion in his work. The direction of the ink being spread across the human figures to create a sense of meaning. the limitation of colours lets the picture itself create a strong emotion. For example: This image of a girl it seems like she is trapped and wanting to escape what shows this feeling is the use of the red ink being spread across the top of her head and how the rest of her body is not visible. the emotion such as feeling lost, feeling of suffering.