Lost Checkpoint: The Dystopian Vision of Artist Rostislav Zagornov

Ukranian artist Rostislav Zagornov amazes me. I stumbled upon his work by a happy accident while killing time on ArtStation and one illustration after another just blew me away. Especially the image titled Mashaundbear. It is by far the most endearing, and perhaps darkest, homage to the Russian folk tale Masha and the Bear the internet has to offer. I had to contact him to see if he was willing to let us feature him on the blog. Thankfully, he was and sent back this note:

Hi, excuse me for bad English)) So, you can use any work you see...And thanks for attention to my artworks))
With best regards, Rostislav Zagornov
Kyiv, Ukraine

There is no real bio info for Rostislav. He doesn't have his own website. No art blog. He doesn't say all that much about himself anywhere. But, here is what I do know. In 2002, he graduated from Kramatorsk Institute of Economics and Humanities. Currently he is a concept artist/texture artist for Terminal FX, a firm that specializes in visual effects for film, TV, and commercials. And, sometimes he goes by two different pseudomyms: Datem and Attemme. But recently, his real name seems to be garnering the most attention.

Take a look! Everything from his original creations to his Star Wars and video game based fan art features the richest, loveliest color schemes while portraying a dark, dystopian future that even the greatest fantasy and science fiction writers would envy.

You can also explore all of Rostislav's work for yourself on ArtStation, DrawCrowd, and DeviantArt!
Click any pic to enlarge.

Our Favorite Gay Mario Fan Art!

When Donkey Kong was first released July 9, 1981, Nintendo probably had no idea that protagonist Mario would become a lasting cultural icon that is still going strong more than three decades later! Of course, there is an extraordinary amount of Mario fan art on the internet. But the other day while nerding out searching for cool Mario illustrations online, we noticed a piece of gay Mario fan art...then another...then another. We decided we had to dig deeper. So, after spending hours online giggling, here's our favorite gay themed Mario fan art from the interwebs!

*All artwork copyright of its original artist.