Goth-Trop Cocktail, sharpie marker and pen on paper

Our featured artist today, Sean Bernhardt, is an artist and illustrator currently located in New Jersey. Sean’s illustrations feature often grotesque line-art and a camp-horror aesthetic rendered in stark black ink on white backgrounds.

MAC/ALEX CALDER/WALTER TV flyer

Skulls, bones, body parts and a bizarre beach-vacation aesthetic factor prominently into Sean’s illustration works. As we touched on in our last feature, the artist’s works exist in the dark side of paradise. I rather enjoy the way that Sean manages to coax a fun-in-the-sun sort of feeling out of his stark skulls and psychedelic imagery.

The front page of Sean's website

Sean also works in collage, and has had his works featured on t-shirt and clothing designs for various companies. The artist’s recent works in the field of collage have seen him collaborating with Cory Patterson to create illustrations with photographic backgrounds. Sean’s illustrations imposed on idyllic surf photos serve again to emphasize the contrast between darkness and light in his works. 

Good Days, collaboration with Cory Patterson for waves for sale art/photo book