The Stylized Decadence of Lowbrow Artist Ben Newman
Marijn Kruijff
09/18/2020
24 min
0

The Stylized Decadence of Lowbrow Artist Ben Newman

09/18/2020
24 min
0

Like many, the British lowbrow artist Ben Newman has been drawing during childhood, but like few, he has not stopped doing since. When he broke his leg as a teenager and was confined to a hospital bed, his mother brought him some copies of the British sci-fi comic 2000AD to kill time. When he discovered the eye-catching imagery of Simon Bisley‘s Slaine he was hooked instantly.

simon bisley slaine

Illustration from the comic ‘Slaine‘ by Simon Bisley

simin-bisley-fistful-of-blood

Blondie” from the ‘Fisful of Blood‘ comic by Simon Bisley and Kevin Eastmansimon-bisley-biker-girlBiker Girl Simon Bisley

Biker Girl‘ by Simon Bisley

Monsters, Demons and Female Warriors

Until then, Newman always liked to draw but there was no real purpose, he did not consider the possibilities, and here a mesmerizingly grotesque universe was presented with dudes turning into monsters, demons all over the place and gorgeous female warriors with massive bosoms. From that moment on he started to draw a lot more, and over timeese developed his own style and universe inhabited by cheeky ladies, confused robots, muscular fairy tale figures, voyeuristic squids, zombies and other perverse “nonsense”.

Newman has worked for numerous underground magazines like Bizarre and Cinema Sewer. Below you can take an extensive…deep… dive into Newman’s risky art…

Submarine‘ (2016)

Madeline’s Exam‘ (2010) from The Bondage Set

Bondage

This remarkable painting was exhibited during the 2nd London Festival of the Art of Japanese Bondage in 2010.

ben newman bondage

Madelines Lesson‘ from the Bondage set (2011)

lost There was so long at the end of last year when I didn't have anything I could post, and now it all seems to be coming at once! This is a oil painting on a jigsaw I finished recently titled

Lost‘ (2012)

Jigsaw

An oil painting on a jigsaw entitled “Lost“. On his blog he mentions that the actual painting will be up for sale at some point (at an exorbitant price probably; as it took him forever).

s.f. horror Ben Newman

Mishap on the International Space station‘ (May 2012)

Girls and Corpses

A work Newman produced for Girls and Corpses magazine. The latter describes itself as sort of like Maxim Magazine meets Dawn Of The Dead. Each issue is filled with images of beautiful, scantily clad young beauties posing with hideous, decaying, festering corpses. This pic is more pseudo-horror with emphasis on silliness rather than scariness.

Rodeo Angel‘ (2013)

Cowboy Hat Pap Smear

This engaging painting the artist drew for a chapbook that Horror Sleaze Trash (nsfw) published in 2013. The Australian poet Ben John Smith who is also the founding editor of the magazine sent him a few different bits and pieces of writing to base a drawing off of. There was a single line “Cowboy hat pap smear” that caught his attention and inspired ‘Rodeo Angel‘.

This piece is available in a limited edition on the artist’s site.

ben newman art

Three Little Pigs‘ (2016)

Three Little Pigs

This reworking on the well-known fable The Three Little Pigs was a struggle to finish for Newman. Years before he already had worked it up to a certain level but got sick of it, and it ended up on the shelf. It was eventually his wife who convinced him to finish it. In retrospect, the artist thinks that the long gap contributed to a better result as he had become a better draftsman in the years that followed.

Tessa’s Sword of Truth‘ (2016)

Robot Boyfriend

This is a giant poster of Tessa, one of the characters from the fictional movie Jenny Bones: Legend of the Peril Squad, disciplining some nasty biters with her Sword of Truth!’ The story line goes as follows: “Jenny Bones, her robot boyfriend Coop and her slacker best friend Tessa are the Peril Squad. Along with their loyal pet Tundra they live a happy-go-lucky life of treasure hunting and partying, until they uncover an ancient military artefact, and accidentally start a process that could spell the end of time itself…

Provocative Odyssey

The Peril Squad must set off on an epic adventure to the far ends of the world – from the mystery strewn wild woods of Loon to the fighting pits of the Slave King to the creeping terror of the Never dimension. Journeying under the seas and through the skies, encountering mystical acolytes for a lost religion, seeking answers in the Lost Mines, and still fitting in some time for some dancing! Join Jenny Bones on her provocative odyssey of danger, sex, fighting and romance as she faces an enemy the likes of which the world has never known…”

Good Girl‘ (2016)

(2015)

ben newman art

Jenny Bones: Legend of the Peril Squad ‘ (2015)

Repurposed‘ (2015)

Cute Hippy Chick

Newman is a fan of post-apocalypse dystopias in films and books, In this work he wanted to draw a post-apocalypse UT-opia, including a cute hippy chick.

Cinema Sewer

A sketch he did for Cinema Sewer. These kinds of assignments are great because it gives the opportunity to not sit in front of the computer all the time, he says on his blog.

Adjusted Tracking‘ (July 2013)

Big Perv

A personal work that depicts a melting male figure (probably the artist himself) holding an old-fashioned remote control while a TV (+ VCR) robot spitting out ……all the sexy women who were featured on TV and in movies during Newman’s adolescence and made an impression on him. On his blog he explains,’ I’m a big film nerd; sometimes I feel like all the films I’ve watched, particularly when I was younger, have seeped into my mind and re-wired the way I see things. And as I’m a big perv, one of the biggest things to make an impression on me was all the sexy women in films!

ben newman art

Breaking Eggs (The Seasons Set)‘ (2012)

Tentacle Nurse‘ (2013)

Unfinished painting entitled ‘Squid King‘ (2010)

Squid King

This is the first work by Newman I came across He finished this painting entitled ‘Squid King‘ in 2011. You can find it in our article on The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife.

Ben Newman Art

Little Red Riding Hood‘ (2007)

Little Red Riding Hood

A grotesque erotic adaptation of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood with a giant muscular Big Bad Wolf pulling down the panties of the naughty female protagonist.

Black Lagoon‘ (2012)

Horror Classic

Painting inspired by the 1954 horror classic The Creature From the Black Lagoon, with a young girl in an inviting pose lying on the wooden quay.

Heat‘ (2012)

Recess II ‘ (2012)

Scrappy

Newman painted an earlier version of Recess in 2010:

ben newman art

Recess‘ (2010)

He liked the concept but the actual drawing was pretty scrappy, so he drew this different version a couple of years later.

Joker and Harley‘ (2011)

Suggestible‘ (2008)

Personal Favorite

With this piece the artist participated in the Bizarre competition, although it turned out not to be the one they liked best. This pic took him along time, mainly because of the amount of different elements going on. It is one of his personal favorites.

ben newman art

Handle with Care‘ (2009)

ben newman art

Church Property (The Rude Set)‘ (2010)

ben newman art

Devotion (from The Seasons Set)‘ (2012)

ben newman art

Sticky Fingers (The Seasons Set)‘ (2012)

ben newman art

Preliminary sketch, drawing and finished painting of a nude girl poon a bed

ben newman art

The Devil’s Harp (The Fantasy Set)‘ (2008)

pony play by Ben Newman

Drawings Newman made for Bizarre Magazine under the title ‘Pony Play‘ (2010)

ben newman art

Family Business‘ (2009)

ben newman art

ben newman egg cups

(2010)

ben newman art

The Dark‘ (2016)

ben newman art

Geeky Girl‘ (2011)

ben newman art

From the Bondage set (2009)

ben newman art

Poor April O’ Neil‘ (2010)

ben newman teenage girl with older man

Image drawn (2012) from a screengrab taken from an old grindhouse film entitled ‘The Cheerleaders‘ (1973)

the cheerleaders 1973

Still from ‘The Cheerleaders‘ (1973) by Paul Glickler

naughty girl with lollipop

Goldilocks‘ (2008)

dancing seductive female in transparant dress

High on the Beach‘ (2016)

ben newman sensual art

Eeny Meeny‘ (2008)

ben newman tied girl with public

Dirty Snow‘ (2009)

ben newman totem

Leyla Rose‘ (2010)

ben newman gas mask

Penelope Purpleton‘ (2013)

the beach girls 1982

Speed paint from 1982’s movie The Beach Girls (2014)

ben newman bush monster

Winter’s Promise‘ (2012) from the ‘Seasons‘ series

ben newman schoolgirl

Sketch of Phoebe Cates in 1983’s movie Private School (2013)

ben newman Maleficent

Maleficent

ben newman nude female

Zlata‘ (2011)

ben newman elevator

ben newman haunted

Haunted

ben newman girl and sheep

Spring Rites‘ (2012) from the ‘Seasons‘ series

aroused-red-haired-girl

Commission piece (2013)

spit exchange erotic

Unfinished painting (2011)

ben newman sketch naughty girl

Sketch (2010)

ben newman sketch pin-up

Sketch (2008)

Christina Lindberg.

Christina Lindberg‘ (2010)

Jenny Bones: Legend of the Peril Squad

Tripping with Tessa‘ from the comic Jenny Bones: Legend of the Peril Squad (2015)

ben newman war girl

Nuka Gola‘ (2011)

ben newman comic

ben newman alice in wonderland

ben newman masks

ben newman honey

ben newman Bikini Bible Chan'Bikini Bible Chan' (2011)

ben newman pin up with gun

ben newman horny monsterFeatured in the magazine Bizarre in 2011

ben newman detail horny monsterDetail of the previous image

sex police ben newman'Sex Police' (2011)

Miss Nude America Ben Newman'Miss Nude America' (2010)

nude on bed ben newman'Nude on Bed' (2010)

schoolgirl Ben Newman

Merry Xmas 2008 Ben Newman'Merry Xmas 2008'

neanderthaler and pin up Ben Newman(2008)

masked pin up Ben newman'Masked Pin-up' (2008)

erotic ghostbusters ben newman'Haunted' (2012)

tentacle erotic ben newman

Kinky Casey Ben Newman'Kinky Casey' (2012)

Christina Lindberg Ben Newman'Christina Lindberg' (2012)

ben newman joysticks'Joysticks' (1983)

ben newman jenny bones

ben newman giant holding girl

ben newman erotic drawing

ben newman christina lindberg'Christina Lindberg '

Ben Newman Ornella Muti'Ornella Muti ' (2010)

ben newman worship'Worship ' (2012)

ben newman Ewa Aulin

A quick sketch of Ewa Aulin, star of the movie Candy 

ben newman erotic nun 

ben newman wanted

ben newman girl near stream

ben newman Cosmin Vasile

Cosmin Vasile

ben newman bloody mouth

ben newman Lydia Darling

'Lydia Darling '

ben newman female shoe smith

ben newman gameware

'Gameware '

ben newman tattoo commission

Tattoo commission

ben newman erotic art

ben newman ring girl

ben newman senusal girl and robot

ben newman sensual female soldier

ben newman female Roman soldier

ben newman sensual mouth

ben newman phone call

ben newman primitive nude girl

'All the Things I Never Told You '

Click HERE to check out the art of the Californian Lowbrow artist Van Arno…!!

More of Ben Newman recent developments on his Instagram account…!!

Next week we’ll examine the risky Lowbrow art of one of my favorite recent discoveries!

What do you think about the art treated in this blog? Leave your reaction in the comment box below…!!

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