Artist Spotlight: By the hands of Jesse Auersalo

Jesse Auersalo is a Finnish designer, illustrator and artist known for his smooth, digitally airbrushed paintings that often evoke a shocking sentiment. His edgy signature style has made him the most recent recipient of Grafia’s 2015 Graphic Design of the Year, not to mention the graphic designer of choice for brands, such as Colette, Diesel, Sony Music Entertainment, Microsoft, Converse, Playboy, Fader, PRINT Magazine, Complex Magazine and Nokia.

Auersalo is re-writing the rules of digital art. In an era of a sharp and rigid digital pen, Auersalo’s art is smooth and fluid. Human elements are rendered gently with shading and shadows that could be confused as pencil or chalk work. His works are a mixture of surrealism, bizarreness and irony. These combined with Auersalo’s fascinating techniques emphasize the odd beauty, grotesqueness and often-macabre emotion of his work.

After Auersalo’s big Grafia win, Finnish advertising and communications agency, Miltton Group welcomed him as their new Head of Design. “Auersalo has paved the way for Finnish graphic design worldwide. He will further strengthen the tools that Miltton has for building world class marketing and communications solutions,” says Miltton Group’s CEO Mathias Järnström. We agree, Mr. Järnström.

Learn more about Jesse Auersalo and follow him on Instagram. 

Mural artwork created for an upcoming Red Bull Music Academy festival in New York City.

Handy Man. Shadowplay without a shadow. T-Shirt print for French clothing label, Sixpack France, rendered in Jesse's signature airbush illustration style.

Play With Fire. Illustration created for clothing label, Sixpack France. The surrealistic portrait of a human candle formed a part of their Dust to Dust collection, an artist series of graphic shirts.

Notural. Illustration for Tokyo based creative studio ANSWR’s artist driven clothing line, New By. An abstract skull is skillfully rendered, evoking the illusion of a fluid plastic form.

Mind Fuck. Fashion editorial project for Kasino A4 Magazine. The digital illustrations play with the theme, 'Mind Fuck.' Jesse featured exclusive pieces from fashion designer Heikki Salonen.

Viewmaster. A slick and seductive portrait, rendered with Jesse's signature airbrush illustration technique. Created for the cover of Computer Arts Collection Magazine.

Light infused album artwork for Record Collection, the third studio album by music producer, Mark Ronson. Released under the moniker Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.

Cryptocracy. Illustration for the cover of Cryptocracy, the debut album from Finnish musician, Huoratron. Cryptocracy has been described as journey of destruction, and Jesse's artwork signifies the musician's sinister vision. Released on Last Gang Records.

Sleepwalkers. Giclée print produced for an exhibition celebrating the launch of Project 999. The illustration showcases a jacket by Dries van Noten, and shoes by Junya Wantanabe.

B Later. With a human hand, Jesse crafts a malevolent looking 'B' letter in this editorial illustration for Grafik Magazine.

Happy Head. A morbidly captivating and paradoxical illustration. Created as part of a personal project.