Rising stars: graduates and hot new digital artists to watch in 2024

There are countless talented artists out there, but sometimes it can be a little overwhelming to know where to look. To spark some inspiration we've compiled a list of our favourite rising stars set to take over the art world, from young graduates to up-and-coming digital artists.

If you're a budding artist looking to kickstart your creative career, check out our guide to the best digital art software and best drawing tablets. For something a little more traditional, we've also got a handy guide to the best sketchbooks for artists so that you're ready to get creative whenever inspiration strikes.

“Where the Love Light Gleams was an editorial piece for Deseret News on the history of the classic holiday song I’ll Be Home for Christmas, as performed overseas by Bing Crosby with the United Service Organizations [USO] during World War II. I wanted to marry classical rendering with stylised shapes to portray this moment.”

“The Wild Swan is a personal favourite fairy tale about a princess from a kingdom taken over by a witch, who also takes her voice. She’s a saint in the story, but I imagine that a bevy of screaming, needy swans would be enough to make anyone lose their cool.”

“This piece is an editorial illustration for the College of William & Mary Alumni Magazine’s story on the US opioid overdose epidemic. It represents the challenge of addressing opioid addiction and also highlights the importance of taking a multifaceted approach.

Reportedly, over 67,300 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2018, many due to prescription opioids. The article explored various efforts to combat this crisis, featuring stories from social workers, lawyers and policymakers working on the front lines.”

Erin Ruffino

Erin lives in Upstate New York, where she graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree specialising in drawing and painting. She often works with graphite and oil paint to explore fantastical situations in nature, and is represented by RJD Gallery in Romeo, Michigan.

Reading psychology texts and listening to experts on podcasts inspire Erin to create work that mediates our inner critics by raising questions of self-improvement. Her personal fine art investigates the idea of developing identity through figurative surrealism, and personal images from memory, associations and pop culture are superimposed on her portraits.

“Inspired by country singer KaiL Baxley’s song Boy Got It Bad, I created a series of drawings where a boy outgrows his troubled past and sets sail for better horizons. Here in Act 1, each clap you can hear in the song is a chop of the axe as my protagonist strains to fell birch trees, which is symbolic of his past self growing out of control.”

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“Restless Dreams is a drama from leading audio dramatist Dan Rebellato and part of Radio 4’s series marking the centenary of Franz Kafka’s death. The art director suggested adding ‘by Kafka’ to a flying piece of paper. Subtle but effective!”

This content originally appeared in ImagineFX magazine, the world's leading digital art and fantasy art magazine. ImagineFX is on sale in the UK, Europe, United States, Canada, Australia and more. Limited numbers of ImagineFX print editions are available for delivery from our online store (the shipping costs are included in all prices).

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ImagineFX is the No.1 selling digital art magazine for fantasy and sci-fi enthusiasts! Featuring digital and traditional drawing skills, game design, manga and film art each issue is crammed with training and inspiration from leading artists in their fields. Whether it's learning from comic art's Adam Hughes, fantasy art's John Howe, or digital painting's Loish, ImagineFX has you covered. ImagineFX has been inspiring artists for 15 years!