A common influence... maybe: Josephine Wall

Lately I've been finding myself wandering the fantasy art community and enjoying the wide variety of styles within it, from light and cheerful to darkly beautiful imagery. Since I had already had brought you Dorian Cleavenger as a representative of the dark fantasy part of the community, I thought that it was only right to go ahead and balance it out with finding someone in the lighter fantasy side. As is my continuing problem with this particular cluster within the art family, I have an ever growing list of artists I enjoy. One artist I've noticed who doesn't seem to get very much notice by name but her work is fairly recognizable is Josephine Wall.

"Secret Land" by Josephine Wall 

English fantasy artist Josephine Wall (1947 - ) studied fine art at Bournemouth College and started work as both a designer and painter of Delphis Ware for Poole Pottery. It is interesting to see that her sources of inspiration include Arthur Rackham, Magritte, and Dali. With such a combination of styles, it makes complete sense when looking at her colorful and heavily detailed paintings with their complex mesh of symbols. By the mid 1970s, her work had gone international with exhibits of her work in Tokyo and Teheran. It was in the 1990s when her paintings had captured a fan base in the United States. A bit of a surprising source of advertising for her pieces actually came from pop star Britney Spears who used several of her pieces on her website. Now her works and products featuring her art is marketed by Sunbeams Initiatives, Inc which is based in Jacksonville, Florida.

While looking through the works of many of the fantasy artists on deviantART, I wasn't too sure if there was anyone who would have been influenced by Ms. Wall. I knew that I was going to be reaching out in to thin air on this but I picked 5 individuals and asked:

"With such lovely colorful pieces, I was curious if one of your inspirations is the fantasy painter Josephine Wall."

"Phung" by xnhan00

xnhan00.deviantart.com (Vietnam)

A digital artist from Vietnam focusing on graphic design and illustration, Nguyen Thanh Nhan also does works in pencil. His subject matters range from piece to piece, ranging from human forms to abstract depictions of nature. His color palette also changes depending on the mood he's aiming to evoke within the piece but all of the works he has up in his gallery have an airiness to them and a rather gentle feel.

Website: xnhan00.com

"Hi DawnstarW,

It's a great artist! But I do not take these works as inspiration.

My inspiration is the beautiful color photos!

Have a nice day,

Thank you!" ~xnhan00

Unfortunately, the remaining 4 artists have yet to respond so I present their work to you so that you may decide for yourselves if their inspiration was somehow sparked by the works of Josephine Wall or not.

"Swarm" by thienbao

thienbao.deviantart.com (United States)

Bao Pham, a digital artist located in the United States, is perhaps one of the few within the fantasy art part of the community who straddles the line between light and dark. From zombies and demons to beautiful women and fairy folk, his gallery shows a wide range of subjects, colors and experimental styles that he chooses to work in. This can be seen in some of his more well known pieces such as Narcissus and Tempered. Digging deeper into his gallery, you will come across his beautiful oils on canvas depicting flowers and fruit which he had done back in the latter part of 2010. There are also other traditional works of his which he had done as far back as 2008 on display which also include portraits.

Blog: bao22.blogspot.com

"Dream of Spring" by umedama

umedama.deviantart.com (Japan)

Located in Japan, Umedama Riko is a digital artist who seems to have been heavily influenced by Western art styles. Her works, featuring mostly children and animals, is filled with detail and a warmth to them that brings a smile to the viewer's lips. One of the favorites among deviantART viewers is perhaps one of her oldest pieces, Stray Child (2008), which is one of the examples of how her work can pull on the heart strings of those looking at the piece.

"Veide" by Folda

Folda.deviantart.com (Russia)

An artist residing in Russia, Yaroslava Kuznetsova works in both traditional and digital mediums. Keeping to mostly fantasy her pieces range from some well known mythological sources, creating Morgen theharpist (2010), to beings of her own imagination for the Berserk Trading Card Game as seen in Elderly Storm (2010). Complex and detailed, her pieces are brought to life with the use of earth and cool blue tones. 

Website: zhurnal.lib.ru/s/shatt_i_a/ (only viewable by those with Russian Federation access)

"Autumn" by PaulCZero9

PaulCZero9.deviantart.com (United Kingdom)

Paul Cartwright, a digital artist located in the United Kingdom, actually only have a few of his pieces up on his deviantART gallery but has a large collection of his body of work located at his website which he uses as an online portfolio. His work seems to be balanced in three ways with concept pieces, illustrations and sketches. It is surprising to discover that he has been featured several times in Digital Artist Magazine and Corel Painter Magazine.

Website: zero9studio.co.uk