Painting: Shintaro Ohata

 

"2" by Shintaro Ohata

Painting and polystyrene sculpture

"Shintaro Ohata is an artist who depicts little things in everyday life like scenes of a movie and captures all sorts of light in his work with a unique touch: convenience stores at night, city roads on rainy day and fast-food shops at dawn etc. His paintings show us ordinary sceneries as dramas. He is also known for his characteristic style; placing sculptures in front of paintings, and shows them as one work, a combination of 2-D and 3-D world."

Sculpture: Mathematical Figures

"Paperclip Snub Dodecahedron" by Zachary Abel

"A snub dodecahedron made from 120 paperclips. I designed this in response to George Hart's paperclip snub dodecahedron challenge, imposing a few additional constraints of my own: the paperclips should support themselves without glue, solder, etc., and the pieces should be recognizable as paperclips, with as little modification as possible. In this design, half of the paperclips have been bent at the middle, and the other half are intact and outline the central triangles."

Link Round-Up: December 30, 2011

“1985” by Mike Mitchell

"This is a quasi self portrait of my formative years. "

15 Scientific Facts About Creativity

The 22 Best Infographics We Found In 2011 from Co.Design

Action figure fans have known about DC Direct's upcoming "New 52" figures for awhile, but Mattel will be delivering its share of updated toys in 2012 as well. CBR got a first look at Mattel's second wave of DC All-Stars figures coming in the new year, which will include Superman and the Flash in their "New 52" looks, plus Red Robin and Supergirl (the evil one in the black costume) in costumes from DC's previous continuity.

Gadgets, Games, Robots and the Digital World: 6 illustrations for a book by Dorling Kindesley Limited, a Penguin Company

How to launch a digital comic on iTunes for less than $200.

Imgur picks the best eleven photos of 2011.

Lego Creations: Hyperion Battlecruiser

Hyperion by Sven Junga

"The final addition to my SC II collection. Raynors Raiders Battlecruiser as it appears in the campaign. All in all I've been working 6 month on this model which is 115 studs long and includes around 15,000 pieces."

Sculpture: Bourrasque

Bourrasque by Paul Cocksedge

Bourrasque is a sculpture 25 meters in length and over 15 meters tall at its highest point. It is composed of 200 A3-sized sheets of electroluminescent material, a technology which has recently advanced rapidly to produce a range of sophisticated colour temperatures, in thin and extremely flexible sheets. Each of the double-sided sheets were hand-molded in London and assembled on site on a framework only just barely visible to the human eye.

Short Film: Saga Of Biorn

The Saga Of Biorn from The Animation Workshop

Event: Ice and Snow Festival

Ice and Snow World

Tourists check out some amazing lit-up ice sculptures at the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will be officially launched January 5, 2012.

Source: MSNBC Photoblog

Fresh Take: C-List Star Wars Characters

Plasticine Tatooine by Elliot Quince

Tired of hearing about Vader, Luke, Han and Leia all the time? Artist Elliot Quince decided to give some of the lesser known characters in Star Wars a bit of the limelight in his clay work Plasticine Tatooine. He could only imagine how bitter the neglected characters must have been at not making it big, how badly they were treated on set or how cruelly their lives have panned out since the movies were released. To put the spotlight back on the unlucky group, he molded their sad portraits with plasticine, a brand of modeling clay.

"Fame and fortune awaited for the lucky few but spare a thought for those who never made it big; those forgotten extras, downtrodden walk-ons and bitter bit parts," says Quince. "Plasticine Tatooine gives those lesser-known characters a chance to air their grievances and to lift the lid on life in the Star Wars second string." Buy the book.

Illustration: Then and Now

"Then and Now" by Dave Mott of MonkeyWorks Illustration

"The top image is a drawing I did in Kindergarten of Spiderman roping and riding a Monster. This weekend, I went through a large group of drawings I did when I was a kid. I was 6 when I drew that Spiderman drawing. That drawing is on the back of my Kindergarten assessment. I was always in trouble for never following the directions of the group. I didn’t want to follow the group, I wanted to do my own thing. That letter to my parents above is one of many.  Also, there were many parent-teacher conferences. According to my teacher, All I ever wanted to do was draw, never paid attention, too much of a daydreamer and so on. That was the reason why I chose to redraw that image from my childhood. Today there are many blogs where artists have taken what they drew as a kid and recreated it later in life. I thought I would try it, and now I want to do more. Now that I have my own child, I want her to be an individual and certainly to color outside the lines."

Seasons Greetings: Jabba the Snowman

“Jabba the Snowman” Lucasfilm holiday card from Bonnie Burton,

editor of The Official Star Wars Blog and the @StarWars Twitter account.

Short Film: Light of Life

The Light of Life from Daihei Shibata

Crafts: Harry Potter Proposal

Harry Potter Proposal by Don't Glorify Heroes

"How I proposed to my girlfriend fiance, Alley :


I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, it was the obvious decision to marry her, but it wasn’t so obvious as to how I would pop the question.

I have always wanted to do it big. I’ve entertained a lot of ideas, from renting ad space on the big screen at our local movie theater to display a giant graphic with a larger-than-life proposal, to doing a cliche write-it-out-in-christmas-lights-on-the-front-lawn gig. I figured, my feelings for her are massive, so the proposal should be equally massive.

Crafts: Cross Stitch Mario

8bit Mario Embroidery by Charlotte Powell

Sweets: Gingerbread Serenity

Serenity Gingerbread House Project by Kristoffer Gressli

The sweet ship from Firefly, known only as Serenity, gets served up in this custom gingerbread house created by Norway’s very own Kristoffer Gressli and his brother. Check out more photos on his Facebook page.

 

Short Film: SEED

SEED directed by Ben Richardson & Daniel Bird

An egg and an apple build competing broadcast towers that vie for the attention of a transistor radio. With its complex characterization and narrative of animal evolution, competition and reproduction, SEED is a beautiful and sinister stop-motion story about the struggle to survive.

Fresh Take: Browser Wars

"Browser Wars" via Imgur

Posters: Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings by Ian Wilding

Prints available at Society6. Shirts available at RedBubble.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Short Film: Alarm

Alarm from Meteorix007

Alarm is a very clever animation directed by Jang Moo-hyun from the independent team of MESAI.  It's dedicated to all of you out there who have difficulties getting up in the morning.

Link Round-Up: December 26, 2011

World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft by Simon Figueroa and Gabriel Leoni

Now available for $16 each at 72Pins. Or buy the set of 3 for $42.

10 Comic Book Covers Celebrating the Holiday Season

The 25 Most Awesomely Inexplicable Nativity Scenes

The Inspiring, Nerdy Toys of A. C. Gilbert: Early toys got kids interested in science and engineering through experimentation

Lando Calrissian Hand-Painted On A Colt 45 Bottle

A very Lego Dalek Christmas: The Addis family of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, like to decorate just like any other family during the holidays, but they go one step further: They build giant Lego sculptures (such as nutcrackers, churches and postboxes) every year.

Humor: Skyrim Meme

 

Seriously, see you again in March, everyone.

Source: Reddit.com

Short Film: Black Goat

Black Goat by director Joseph Nanni

Jacques Cowan is what the French call "a runner of the woods." He may be a foreigner in the new world but Jacques quickly learned the ways of the native people, their language, their routes, and their skills. But he didn't leave his life in another land for adventure, freedom, and wealth - he had much more in mind than trading pelts and cheating death. Jacques had listened intently to the stories that had crossed the ocean, extraordinary tales of mystical creatures and unknown forces. Black Goat finds Jacques mid-hunt, as he closes in on what others thought was a legend. What he doesn't realize is that the legend is on a hunt of its own.

Papercraft: Santagami

Santa Claus by Takeda Naoki

Quick Pic: Skellington Ornaments

Source: Medo B

Quick Pic: Godzilla Tree

Giant Godzilla Christmas Tree from the Aqua City Odaiba shopping mall in Tokyo

See more Monsterous Christmas Trees at Toxel

Quick Pic: Portal Tree

A Very Portal Christmas Tree

Source: The Verge
Via: Reddit

Quick Pic: X-Ray X-Mas

X-Ray X-Mas by Nick Veasey

Via: Gizmodo

Christmas may be a glaringly transparent consumerist tradition, but Veasey, who specializes in x-ray photography, decided to make it actually transparent.

Video: Christmas Flash Mod

Algonquin College. Exam week can be stressful on students. Inspired by the Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus, the Television Broadcasting students at Algonquin College wanted to showcase the new Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence by lightening the mood with the help of the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir and Darth Vader.

Video: A Krampus Carol

This (delightfully) frightening animated short written by chef Anthony Bourdain titled A Krampus Carol was originally meant to air on his recent No Reservations holiday special on the Travel Channel. The short, created by Zero Point Zero Production for Bourdain, was pulled from the air apparently when the show’s executives caught wind of its edgy content. Thankfully it has been posted in all its demonic glory on the internet.

"Krampus is Santa Claus' whip-toting Christmas sidekick. According to legend, Krampus joins Santa where he tends to the children on Santa's naughty list. No coal here though. Instead, Krampus whips and licks children into shape or carries them off in his sack."

Sweets: Angry Birds Xmas Cake

Angry Birds Christmas Cake

Video: Noël Christmas Light Show

Christmas Light Show on Rumine Palais in Lausanne, Switzerland

Source: Service Industriel Lausanne (SIL)

Papercraft: Steam-Santa

Download this Steampunk Santa paper toy from CubeCraft

Gallery: Bottle Christmas Tree

Christmas tree made of plastic bottles in Kaunas, Lithuania

Photos by Artūro Morozovo

This amazing thirteen meter tall Christmas tree was officially lit on December 4th, 2011 in Kaunas, Lithuania. According to the original sources like Delfi and Lrytas, the tree was constructed of thirty-two thousand plastic green bottles and forty thousand Christmas trees held erect on a metal frame.

Sweets: Skyrim Gingerbread House

Skyrim "Breezehome" Gingerbread House by FrostyStarcraft

This nerdy blonde chick decided to recreate Breezehome with a dragon on top and a dead giant spider to the side.

Seasons Greetings: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve by Bill Watterson

On window panes, the icy frost
Leaves feathered patterns, crissed & crossed,
But in our house the christmas tree
Is decorated festively
With tiny dots of colored light
That cozy up this winter night.Christmas songs, familiar, slow,
Play softly on the radio.
Pops and hisses from the fire
whistle with the bells and choir.
My tiger is now fast asleep
on his back and dreaming deep.
When the fire makes him hot,
he turns to warm whatever’s not.
Propped against him on the rug,
I give my friend a gently hug.
Tomorrow’s what I’m waiting for,
But I can wait a little more

Mash-Up: Grinch / Spider-Man

How the Grinch Sto.... by Deadlydelmundo

Video: Nicholas Was

Nicholas Was... from Nomsa

In 1989, comics author and novelist Neil Gaiman sent a Christmas card to friends and family that included a very dark take on the story of Santa en titled "Nicholas Was..." In the years since, it has not only become something of an expensive collector's item, but also an inspiration for fan-made works, including a rather inventive pop-up book. Gaiman challenged readers to create new interpretations of the story last year as well, and you can see the results -- which included a puppet version -- in a holiday blog post.

Video: A Very Arkham City Christmas

Blue Goggles Films imagines Christmas in the Batman: Arkham City universe with a short sure to make you reconsider your criminal lifestyle.

Set on Christmas Eve within the confines of the Arkham City prison, two of the Penguin's dullest lights on the tree attempt to enjoy the holidays together.

Fresh Take: Rudolph Turret

Read the story of Randolph the Red-Nosed Turret at The Valve Store

Sweets: Companion Cube

Gingerbread Companion Cube by IrkenIdiot

Everyone does gingerbread houses.
So I did something more...geeky.

Sweets: Pac-Man Cookies

Source: Loweypie

Mash-Up: Cthulhu / Grinch

"How Cthulhu Ate Christmas" by DrFaustusAU

"To everyone who has encouraged my work on The Call of Cthulhu (for beginning readers) over the past few months, I just wanted to say thank you. Happy holidays!"

Posters: Darwin

Darwin Portrait in Barrel of Monkeys by Pure Evil

Available at Pureevilclothing

Video: Elements of Design

"The Fundamental Elements of Design" by Erica Gorochow

A quick rundown of design fundamentals and how they are used to build an iconic brand.

Lego Creation: ATLAS Experiment

ATLAS LEGO model by Sascha Mehlhase

Via: Reddit

As part of an outreach project at the Niels Bohr Institute I have recently designed a model of the ATLAS experiment in LEGO^® bricks. It illustrates all details, from the muon and magnet system to the innermost pixel detector and will hopefully be a great eye-catcher for all generations. Here's some key features:

• about 9500 pieces
• roughly 1:50 in scale (close to scale with the LEGO^® man)
• material cost of about 2000 Euros
• about 1 m x 0.5 m x 0.5 m in size
• approximately 33 hours construction time (spread out over several weekends and after hours)
• around 48 hours to build the 3D model (a one-timer though)

Link Round-Up: December 23, 2011

"An Iron Man Christmas" by m7781

Dreamworlds Made Easy: Fantasy in the Age of Digital Photography

Epbot has posted a tutorial on transforming Christmas ornaments into Mini Hot Air Balloons.

Ewok Cupcakes from The Infinite Yums

The geekiest Christmas tree you've ever seen

Infographics: Comics on the New York Times Bestseller List

Knowing a painting is forged changes how your brain sees it: "Our findings support what art historians, critics and the general public have long believed — that it is always better to think we are seeing the genuine article. Our study shows that the way we view art is not rational, that even when we cannot distinguish between two works, the knowledge that one was painted by a renowned artist makes us respond to it very differently."

Marvelous News forum member Madnormigan built this custom 40" Sentinel action figure from foam, PVC, found objects, model parts, toy parts, and action figure accessories.

NS-FX's Dark Knight brake light decals may not be legal, but they're fun to look at.

"So I carve landscapes out of books and I paint Romantic landscapes. Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. They erode a bit more and they become hills. Then they flatten and become fields where apparently nothing is happening. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS. Fogs and clouds erase everything we know, everything we think we are." Biblios. The Great Wall.

Walls of Wonder: Amazing Science Fiction and Fantasy-Themed Murals

Why did Lacoste try to suppress a Palestinian artist's science fictional art project?

Link Round-Up: December 22, 2011

New Funko Bobble-Heads by Rebel Scum

The Best Data Visualization Projects of 2011

Geek Girl Gift Guide

Homemade Gift Ideas: DIY Gift Wrap

Megan Brain makes whimisical paper sculptures, as both fine and commerical art. Check our her her blog and website for more, after reading the interview where she discusses the process of creating her designs. 

Type Tuesday. How lettering is made for public display: hand-routing

Zombie Typeface: Even typographers need to prepare for the inevitable rising of the undead. To encourage them, Avery Oldfield, Jack Inscoe and Amanda Dockery made a typeface that reminds them to get ready with every word that they read.

Video: Splice Holiday Greeting

Splice Holiday Video 2011 from Splice Here

Minnesota-based post-production company Splice Here created the humorous Splice Holiday Video 2011 as their sci-fi holiday video greeting. The short tells a humorous tale of Santa trying to deliver gifts to surprised space station workers.

Quick Pic: 3D Christmas

3D Christmas by Julian Beever
Chalk art photographed in Surrey, England

Fresh Take: Charlie Brown Apocalypse

It’s The Great Zombie Apocalypse Charlie Brown by Dan Hipp

Short Film: Get Out

Video: ink&paper

ink&paper is a short film about the last paper shop and the last letterpress in L.A.

"There are days go by that there can be absolutely no business at all."

Video: Angry Birds Light Show

Ric Turner of Santa Clarita, California, the creator of the amazing Christmas Light Hero house light show from 2009, has now turned his home into an elaborate and interactive Angry Birds Christmas Light Game.

Help! The pigs are trying to ruin Christmas. Grab the sling shot and fire those birds! From the people who brought you the Guitar Hero Christmas Light game! Running on two computers and 10 Light-o-rama 16 channel controllers, uses more than 20,000 lights and less than one cent of electricity per game. Audio is broadcast on 99.1FM, and the controller has a long enough cord for people to play in their cars on the street. Easier than the iPhone version, and bigger too."

Mash-Up: Tintin / Cthulhu

Tintin meets Lovecraft by Murray Groat

Artist Murray Groat has a imagined a twisted world in which Tintin meets the horrors of H.P. Lovecraft, including Cthulhu and the Deep Ones, and visiting famous Lovecraft sites like R'Lyeh and the Mountains of Madness. Unfortunately, due to the Tintin copyright, the posters aren’t available for sale, but if the idea of the curious young detective navigating a bizarre and possibly malevolent alien landscape captures your imagination, I suggest you check out Charles Burns’ newest book X’ed Out.

Link Round-Up: December 20, 2011

Neverending Story eReader Cover by GrimcatProductions

"Have you always wanted to own a copy of The Neverending Story? Now you can! Modern digital book readers and tablets can holds thousands and thousands of books - truly a never-ending supply! ... These book covers are hand-crafted from high quality leather and suedes and bound with filigree and an auryn on the cover, just like the book we all know and love. These are made to fit Kindles and Nooks, and for an added cost can be done up for an iPad or a Galaxy tablet. They are a perfect way to protect your reader and gives it a high level of protection while attracting a lot of attention and comments from friends and passersby."

2011 in Lego Pictures: From the royal wedding to the death of Osama bin Laden, the English summer riots and the fall of Gaddafi, here are some of major news stories of the past 12 months captured in Lego by Flickr members.

Artist Li Wei does some amazing things in-camera. Rather than relying on heavy post processing with Photoshop, he prefers trickery with mirrors, acrobatic performers, wire-work, and a well timed camera shutter.

The interactive Codex Atlanticus is an interactive book containing more than 100 of Da Vinci’s most fascinating manuscript pages. The pages can be “turned” and it’s possible to zoom in on Leonardo’s sketches, and the inventor’s secret messages and notes, many of which can’t be deciphered with the naked eye.

The Modernist Nerd: Vintage Science Ads from the 1950s-1960s

The News in Lego 2011 from Daily Inspiration

Street Art Utopia 106 of the most beloved Street Art Photos – Year 2011

The Streets of New York : a cartographical exploration. Part II - 19th Century Expansion and Part III - The Three Dimensional Maps (a must see for the last picture, a scale model with 895,000 structures). More amazing pictures of the Panorama of the City of New York

This is Jeff Sanders, who builds things with Legos. Round things. Here's his blog, featuring videos of his work. Here's a Discovery News post on Sanders, with more pictures of his work. This Oregon Live article shows more Lego creations on his wall.

Vader/Skeletor mash-up. (via The Force.net)

Photography: Volcanic Activity 2011

The Year in Volcanic Activity by Alan Taylor

The Atlantic has published a gallery of the most spectacular volcano photographs of 2011.

Sculpture: Penguin

Penguin II by Jeremy Mayer
Created using typewriter parts.

Fresh Take: Game of Thrones Sigils

"Game of Thrones series" by Renaud Forestié

"House Stark"

Video: Terry Gilliam Christmas Card

Merry Christmas

Short Film: Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead by Airsoft GI and Northern Five Productions

Video: Real-Life BattleField 3

Video: Urban Flipper

"Performance of mapping giant pinball 3D on the front of the theater Célestins in Lyon, on the occasion of the Festival of Light 2011. Performance achieved by the collective CT Light Concept."

Project: World Tree of Hope

The World Tree of Hope

Every December, the Rainbow World Fund (RWF), the only international humanitarian aid organization based out of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community, erects an enormous Christmas tree in the Rotunda of San Francisco City Hall.  They decorate the tree with thousands upon thousands of small origami cranes inscribed with the hopes and wishes of participants around the country.

According to RWF Founder Jeff Cotter, "The World Tree of Hope joins together individuals of diverse cultures, points of view, spiritual beliefs, socioeconomic backgrounds and sexual identities, and taps into two of our most powerful resources – the human mind and heart – to give individuals a way to join together to express our hopes and intentions for the future of our global community."

Visit The Rainbow Fund to have your wish for the world inscribed on an origami crane and placed on the World Tree of Hope in San Francisco's City Hall.

Short Film: Jedi Ninjas

Jedi Ninjas by Team2X production

Team 2X is a professional martial arts performance consisting of members with experience in Hollywood films and television. With their unique talent in creating mind blowing fight sequences and GakAttack's passion for combining Visual FX with Martial Arts action. Jedi Ninjas became the result of this collaboration.

Sculpture: Glass Microbiology

Glass Microbiology by Luke Jerram

Part of the Trauma exhibition at London's GV Art gallery. The pieces all relate in some way to physical and psychological trauma inflicted on the body, contributed by a range of artists working in collaboration with medics. Trauma is free and will be on exhibit at the GV Art gallery at 49 Chiltern Street, West London, through February 18.

Quick Pic: Silent Hill Stained Glass

Pyramid Head stained glass by B & B Glassworks

How badass would this look set into a front door?  Now, if I could just find the woman who would live in that house...

Mash-Up: Simpsons / LOTR

Artist Mary Johan Juver has created quite the imaginative collection of mash-ups portraying everyone's favorite cartoon family as the charactersof  J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of The Rings series. The set is hilarious, and I'm surprised that using Homer Simpson to portray Aragorn hasn't been done before.

Artist: Scott Listfield

"The Parking Ticket"

Scott Listfield resides in Massachusetts. His site, the Astronaut Dinosaur is devoted to paintings of dinosaurs and - you guessed it - astronauts. The astronaut portraits are especially intriguing.  They almost seem to be set in a post-human world, maybe a post-apocalyptic world, devoid of other life.  They put me in mind of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

“While there are probably a hundred reasons I make art, I can think of two that, if either one stopped being true, I’d probably go do something else. First, I enjoy it. That might sound stupid, but there is no real glory in making art, it’s not any more noble a thing to do with your time than anything else. If I didn’t like doing it, I’d stop.

Quick Pic: Snow Dalek

Via: Gamma Squad

Illustration: Astronaut on the Outside

Astronaut on the Outside by David East

Here's an illustration based on a 2008 photograph of astronaut Ron Garan working on the exterior of the International Space Station. Compare it to the actual photo below. Via: BoingBoing