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.

Nate Sweitzer

Illustrator Nate graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. His work tells human stories via conceptual solutions and textural mark-making.

“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.”

Jo Tomsick

Jo is an oil painter working in the Sandhills of North Carolina. As a dedicated student of Visual Arts Passage for several years, she credits the programme with giving her a community of artists to grow alongside, and with helping her to find her voice.

“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.”

Chiara Vercesi

Chiara is an award-winning illustrator based in Amsterdam. Recognised for her vibrant style and atmospheric brushstrokes, her illustrations are attention-grabbing and bold, yet light and with a natural flow.

“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.”

Shane Cluskey

Shane is an award-winning Irish illustrator and designer. He trained at the School of Visual Arts in New York and Illustration Academy in Kansas.

Shane’s work has garnered recognition from the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, and Communication Arts. His clients include The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Simon & Schuster, Politico, BBC History and Sony Music.

“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).