It’s a relaxing Saturday evening.
Saturdays usually feel like this – not the same as the other pressing days of the week. A work week behind me. A dark ambient rain track just finished playing in the background. On top of my computer is a light. In a way my desktop feels like the image below – just a lot more cluttered.
80s/early-90s retro-futurist editorial illustration with a vaporwave/synthwave and VHS-lo-fi aesthetic.
That is what this style seems to be according to a search engine or two. If you’re interested in more of the artist’s work checkout his page.
This type of artwork is interesting to me. I grew up in the 80’s watching series like Robotech and various anime. With the access allowed by the internet I’ve continued, although not as often, to search for these types of anime. The Ghost in the Shell movies are firm favorites. Neon Genesis Evangelion another series I watched growing up.
This is a particularly important part of the look:
- film grain
- subtle noise
- chromatic aberration / RGB separation
- slightly soft edges
- scanline-like texture
- faded blacks
- imperfect registration
- occasional glow around bright objects
That gives the illustration the feeling of something that has been printed, photographed, copied onto VHS, or viewed through an old CRT, rather than a pristine modern digital illustration.
But for now the artwork is what drew me back to that time and the memories around it. Some more interesting pieces for you to look at.
Thanks for reading : )