Active Fine Art Posts
News: Japanese Artist Mutates Underwater Creatures Into Beautiful, Glowing Specimens
UPDATE: Looks like the previously featured mysterious translucent skeletal specimens aren't the work of unknown scientists, but rather a project by Japanese scientist-turned-artist Iori Tomita. Tomita majored in fisheries as an undergraduate student, and has since used his knowledge to create a beautiful collection of mutated sea creatures, called “New World Transparent Specimens". Tomita creates his specimens by dissolving their flesh, and then injecting dye into the skeletal system.
How To: Make brooches out of felt that resemble old Hollywood stars
This tutorial uses Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn for inspiration, but you can use this to make a brooch resembling any Hollywood icon or celebrity! You will need some felt, some yarn for the hair, rhinestones for accents and a craft pen for details.
News: Hacking Photography With Chrono-Cubism
Brazilian photographer Diego Kuffer says he's "hacked" the idea of photography with his chrono-cubism method of compositing photos into collages, resulting in a vibrant tracking of time, space and movement:
How To: Mount a Chinese painting or Sumi-e ink drawing
This two part video shows you the materials needed to mount a Chinese painting. Chinese brush work leaves finished paintings a bit wrinkled and wavy. You will need a specific mounting brush and all purpose flour to make a mounting paste.
News: The Greatest Artist in the Universe
Who other than Mother Earth? Below, a selection of 10 images from the USGS' Earth as Art, a collection of stunning photographs from the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites. The bright color is a false effect produced by satellite sensors, but the texture, shapes, patterns, scale- that's all real.
How To: You Won't Believe Just How Crazy These 75+ Nikes Are About to Get...
Did you know you can use your Nike sneakers as a fishbowl? Or video game controllers? Or dueling race cars? In honor of Nike's 78th birthday, Paul Jenkins, a graphic designer in the UK, held a themed "redesign" initiative for this year's London Design Festival. The results are incredible.
News: Enter the Trippy Vortex of Optical Distortion
New York based studio softlab's latest installation "(n)arcissus" is an eye-bending site specific installation currently on display at the Frankfurter Kunstverein art center in Frankfurt, Germany. The piece, made with over 1,000 mylar and vinyl laser cut panels, hangs in a stairwell, measuring 9 meters tall from the lobby ceiling.
News: Grafitti Dog Goes For a Stroll
Nowhere Near Here, by Pahnl, is made with the graffiti light writing technique (stop motion animation that uses a combination of light with stencils and long exposure photography). Over 300 hours in the making and more than 200 stencils later, the tale of a "dog running around the city at night, doing whatever a dog does": Vocals by Karin Dreijer Andersson of the Knife and Fever Ray.
News: 1,200 Hot Wheels in Perpetual (NOISY) Motion
Chris Burden's latest piece is a portrait of L.A.'s hot mess of traffic, entitled Metropolis II. The artist has constructed a miniature highway system, complete with 1,200 custom-designed cars, 18 lanes, 13 toy trains and tracks, and a landscape of buildings made with wood block, tiles, Legos and Lincoln Logs. Burden tells the New York Times:
News: The Birth of Skateboard Culture
Beautiful images from photographer Hugh Holland's recent show at M+B Gallery in L.A., "Locals Only", a portrait of 70s skateboard culture.
How To: Draw a male torso or man's body for anime or manga
This instructional video will teach how to sketch and draw the male body (a man's torso or upper body, chest, abs, rib cage, and shoulders) for character design, comics, manga, anime and video game concept art. Learn step by step how to draw from a simplified torso and upper body using geometric shapes. Learn how to sketch and construct a basic body form quickly. The video demonstrates and narrates how to quickly create an efficient concept design from concept idea into a fantasy or sci-fi ch...
How To: Sketch a woman's face at 3/4 profile
Learn how to sketch a woman's face at 3/4 profile. This drawing tutorial is done in Photoshop.
How To: Sew a simple and romantic halter dress out of scarves
This shows you how to make a beautiful and simple halter dress. You will need at least one scarf (more if they are sheer), a few yards of your favorite fabric, scissors, a needle and thread, and a measuring tape.
News: Microsoft Kinect Has Never Been So Alluring
Think beautiful bokeh photography + just a hint of TRON sensuality and you have photographer Audrey Penven's lovely series entitled "Dancing with Invisible Light: A series of interactions with Kinect's infrared structured light".
HowTo: Hold-No-Secrets Transparent Clutch
Like the anti-privacy spy doorknob, the transparent clutch isn't for someone with something to hide. But for those who hold no secrets, there's something truly elegant about the design, which has made an appearance on several different high fashion runways:
News: Eat Me Dresses
Love Lady Gaga's meat dress? Then check out Sung Yeonju's series entitled "Wearable Foods". The recent graduate of Korea's Hong Ik University creates garments out of a wide variety of edibles, including "Tomato #2", which was used by H&M for an ad campaign.
How To: Throw clay mortar and pestles on a pottery wheel
A mortar and pestle is a pair of tools that has been used since antiquity for grinding spices. This tutorial shows you how to turn some raw clay into a ceramic mortar and pestle on a pottery wheel. Make sure to glaze it using non-toxic glaze!
How To: Draw over one hundred manga or anime eyes easily
Eyes can be used for a variety of expressions, especially in manga or anime where they tend to be very large and round. This tutorial shows you a way to quickly and easily draw one hundred eyes for your manga or anime characters.
How To: Master proportions when drawing the human face
This tutorial shows you how to master the use of proprortions. Ignore most of the formulas given in professional books. Learn how to draw accurate and proportionate human faces directly from memory, and learn the most accurate proportions for the human face.
How To: Make a reversible polar fleece dolman sleeve jacket
This jacket requires very little fitting and is easy to make, which makes it an ideal idea as a gift. This tutorial shows you how to take any pattern for a dolman sleeve jacket and turn it into a reversible jacket. Make it out of polar fleece for a lovely winter coat.
How To: Make over a bland and boring blazer into something exciting
Have a boring, outdated blazer or jacket in your closet? This tutorial gives you some great ideas on how to turn a boring white linen blazer into something a little more stylish and trendy. You will need a sewing machine for most of these ideas.
News: The Northern Lights Are Even More Spectacular in Time-Lapse
Aurora borealis (or the northern lights) is a naturally occurring, beautiful light display caused by "the collision of charged particles directed by the Earth's magnetic field." Below, an electrifying display of time-lapse footage taken in Tromsø, Norway, by Tor Even Mathisen. Shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.
How To: Make an applique that you can use on latex clothes
Latex can be a sexy and cool material to make fabric out of, but a plain black latex shirt can still be a bit boring. You can create your own appliques that you can apply to latex clothing using sticky paper.
Calling All Entries: The National Geographic 2010 Photo Contest
National Geographic is holding their annual Photo Contest, in the categories of People, Places and Nature. If you're interested in participating, check out the guidelines now. Time is running out- all submissions must be in by November 30th.
How To: Draw a simple sketch of a Thanksgiving turkey
This guy looks a little nervous - as well he should be, for it's Thanksgiving season and someone might be wondering how he'll taste in a deep fryer! All you need is some paper, pencils, ink pens and an eraser!
How To: Draw a nerdy guy with glasses, braces and big ears
Portrait drawings are difficult for most artists, but one thing's for sure— drawing nerds is as easy as they come. Nerds are easier to draw because you can stray from the formality of portraits, putting your own spin on it, over-compensating the details, exaggerating the dorky features. It's a drawing class in its own, and Merrill shows you how to draw his version of the NERD!
How To: Draw a realistic copy of the superhero Green Lantern
With the movie coming out soon, everyone is going to want to learn how to draw their own version of the Green Lantern. This video goes into strong detail and shows you how you can draw a Green Lantern in about an hour.
How To: Draw someone with pronounced arm muscles from the back
Draw someone from behind who has muscular arms! Arms look different from the back than they do the front, and this video tutorial goes over in detail how you can accurately draw arm muscles from the back point of view.
How To: Draw someone with muscular arms from the side view
If you're drawing someone in profile, and they have strong, muscular arms, you'll need this tutorial. It demonstrates how you can draw people from the side and, using perspective and a strong working knowledge of the human body, draw realistic arm muscles.
How To: Draw a muscular arm from the front view
If you want to draw someone with a muscular arm from the front, this tutorial is for you. Using perspective and an advanced knowledge of the human body, you're shown how to draw male and female arm muscles using the front view.
How To: Draw the Annoying Orange using colored pencils and pens
Animation tutorial not included. Be warned, this is a very annoying tutorial. You will learn how to draw the Annoying Orange step by step, starting with a pencil and then adding ink and colored touches near the end of the project.
How To: Draw a male pilgrim for Thanksgiving
You can use this project for any sort of school project, decoration, poster, invitation or other Thanksgiving themed craft. This easy tutorial shows you how to draw a simple sketch of a pilgrim father, complete with buckled hat and shoes!
How To: Throw a small ceramic mixing bowl on a pottery wheel
A perfect idea for a gift this holiday season! Throw a mixing bowl or ceramic serving dish on a pottery wheel. Make sure you use a non toxic glaze, with no lead in it, if you're using it to store or serve food!
How To: Throw a ceramic bottle or bud vase on a pottery wheel
A bud vase is a small vase, about as large as a bottle, which holds small flowers - or buds. This tutorial shows you a few different methods you can use to throw one of these small vases on a pottery wheel.
How To: Throw double bowls on a pottery wheel
Double bowls are bowls that are connected together, such as a container that can be used for dip and salsa. This tutorial shows you how you can throw two similar bowls and attach them to create your own ceramic double bowls.
Tech Couture: Fluid Dress 2.0
Casual Profanity's Fluid Dress 2.0 pumps gallons of blacklight-reactive fluid through 600 feet of knitted tubing. Set to the tune of “Cherry” by Ratatat, but perhaps more fitting for Lady Gaga. Except Robyn went there first (scroll down, 13 seconds in).
Real Life Cyborg: Man Plans to Implant Camera in the Back of His Head
Professor Wafaa Bilal of New York University plans to soon undergo a surgical procedure that would temporarily implant a camera in the back of his head. The project is being commissioned for an art exhibit at a new museum in Qatar. The Iraqi photographer will be a living, breathing cyborg for an entire year, during which the implanted camera will take still photos every minute, simultaneously feeding the images to monitors at the museum.
News: Artist Paints the World Invisible
“Western Imports”, by artist Cayetano Ferrer, uses inkjet prints to create site-specific optical illusions in public spaces.
How To: Do a quality drawing of Disney's Mickey Mouse
Love Mickey Mouse? Then show your love for the famous Walt Disney character by drawing him. But don't worry, you need not be an artist to make a great Mickey drawing. It's really just a bunch of circles. Follow along with this video to sketch Mickey out the easiest way possible!
News: Vote Now to Electrocute This Artist
Oleg Mavromati's latest project, Ally/Foe, allows online voters the chance to electrocute the Russian artist at a mere fifty cents a pop. From November 7th to November 13th, viewers of Mavromati's livestream can pay to vote “innocent” or “guilty.” 100 guilty votes result in the artist voluntarily shocking himself in front of the camera, live, with his homemade electrocution machine.