Location: Earlville, IL
Website: Ray Frenden
Art Collective: Stylus

Ray Frenden is a prolific draw-er of heads and faces in all manner of discomfort, anger, and menace. His portfolio is chock-full of zombies, monsters, demons, and other unseemly characters (not to mention the pinup ladies!), drawn for posters and t-shirts for clients such as Threadless, Van Halen, Burton Snowboards, Rome Snowboards, Faesthetic and others. Currently he’s working on some comic strips, and I shudder to imagine the subject matter.

I was first wowed by one of Ray’s videos of his drawing process. I love his crazy color combinations and his linework is so crisp and striking. Obviously, I am also a fan of his amazing lettering work, and all the better when he mixes his intricate illustrations with hand-lettering. I was floored to notice that he is completely self-taught! It just goes to show you, kids: don’t stop drawing, and you can save yourself a lot of art school bills!