Phil LePine’s work is really quite something, although when you consider he’s been at his job for nearly a quarter of a century, it’s little wonder that his work spans a variety of styles. It’s an inspiring portfolio because illustration these days has become so specilized most people only work in a very limited styliztic range.

Choosing a showcase picture for Jay Montgomery was very hard. Not because there wasn’t anything to find… no, no quite the opposite. Archiving 16 years work of illustration work, his site is a lush collection of some of the finest realist illustration I have seen. Check out the ‘How I work’ section too for a neat insight into his work process.

Dutch designer and illustrator Metin Seven has a site that is full of his work, including several different styles of illustration. His best works, I think, are his photo realistic 3D illustrations, some of which cleverly illustrate the topics at hand.

Gracia Artigas is an illustrator who designs snowboards and tattoos. She works in a variety of styles, but I enjoyed looking at her painting portfolio most. Check out her blog too for some really nice life-drawing sketches.

Minako Saitoh Botsford paints some amazing Ohimesama (a term akin to what I understand as princess…) pictures in Photoshop. Her women have a retro 50s glamor feel, even if they are made on the computer.

Amazingly painted, realistic fairies and other magical beings form the bulk of Susan McKivergan’s work. Her work has been featured in various magazines, and she is a prominent member of the art community DeviantArt.

Vicky Woodgate’s work looks deceptively simple, yet her crisp artwork conveys a sense of graphic realism that celebrates our everyday world. Subscribe to her newsletter RSS feed to get updates about her art and work.

No, you are not looking at a photo taken by a trigger-happy astronaut from their latest spacewalk. One of Nick Arthur’s specialties is photo-real illustration, and as you can see, he’s more than capable of delivering the goods.

Tim Jessell has a huge portfolio online that is probably just the tip of the iceberg of work he has produced throughout his career. Among his many accomplishments is the picture book Amorak which he wrote and illustrated.

Gloriously painted with beautiful expressions, Mike Thompson proves time and again he lives up to his title as the ‘hip-hop Norman Rockwell’.