"A group of warriors confront that which stands between them and the power to save their people in this rotoscoped animated fantasy short created by Morgan Galen King’s Gorgonaut studios. Starring Jon Tomlinson, and featuring music by Strand of Oaks, Ice Dragon, and Jonn Ollsin"
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Short Film: Exordium
Posters: Gol Hah Dov
"Dragonborn Gol Hah Dov" by Portland-based illustrator Mark Molchan
Limited edition prints available for purchase from the Bethesda Store. US$40
Link Round-Up: December 31, 2013
"Go Boldly" by Burbank-based illustrator Drake Brodahl
Prints available for purchase from Etsy. US$35
How copyright law gave us Star Wars, on account of how George Lucas was such a fan boy.
The Original Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise Model Turns 49
Recovering The Classics is a beautiful crowdsourced collection of original covers for the greatest works of fiction in the public domain. It’s a collaboration between DailyLit, the Harvard Bookstore and the Creative Action Network.
Saber each family moment together: George Takei's Star Wars-themed Christmas tree.
Tatsuo Horiuchi came to art late in his life, and with an unusual tool. At age 60, he was inspired by graphs he saw, and started using Microsoft Excel to make art in the style of traditional Japanese scenes. See more on Spoon & Tamago and Bored Panda.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Video: Minecraft Sword Chalk Art
Video: Minecraft Disney Castle
"I always admired the sheer beauty of the Disney Castle and so I decided to build it inside Minecraft. I ended up putting so much effort into it that I had to share it with others and what better way to do that then make a parody of the latest (2013) intro. It turned out to be my YouTube animation debut."
Sweets: White Chocolate R2-D2
White Chocolate R2-D2 by Pastry Chef Fernando Arreola at The Fairmont San Jose
This droid is on display at The Fairmont San Jose for the Star Wars Exposition sponsored by the Tech Museum. It is composed of 150 pound of chocolate.
Metalwork: Hobo Nickels
Hobo Nickels by Barcelona-based artist Paolo Curcio ("mrthe")
"One aspect of Curcio’s process that’s really amazing is his ability to use coins made from multiple layers of metal (referred to as clad coins) which he then strategically reveals to create colored flourishes and background patterns.”Visit Paolo Curcio’s website to view many more examples of his fascinating numismatic artwork. To purchase a piece for yourself, check out Ebay.
Crafts: Skyrim Shoes
Someone has been busy leveling their smithing skills. These incredibly detailed Skyrim shoes were hand painted by Crispy Walters.
Crafts: Hobbit Scarf
This There and Back Again Story Scarf retells the story The Hobbit in something like a combination of map and pictograms. It looks like the level map of an old Nintendo side-scroller.
Crafts: Thror’s Map Embroidery
Thror’s Map Embroidery by Sarah (The Dalek's Teahouse)
"It’s done at last! This map took me around 55 hours over the course of 2 months, and it’s just under 14” x 11”. The pictures aren’t the best, since they were taken with my iPod and the map is resting on an uneven surface. I’ll attempt to take some better ones once it’s framed, and I’m sure the folks at Desert Bus will do a much better job of photographing it when it reaches them.
Speaking of which, I made this project for Desert Bus for Hope, which raises money for Child’s Play every November. It’s an extremely entertaining event, and has many, many awesome auctions and prizes donated by both crafters and companies. If you are a geek, I can guarantee you will find something you love there.
Anyway, that’s my spiel for today. I’m proud of this piece, I’m proud of where it’s going, and I’ll be sad to let it go. I hope you all like it!"
Posters: Akira
"I've always have been a fan of Katsuhiro Otomo's creativity. His elaborate characters and profund interpretation of society, often reflects a familiar impression about the philosophy of relationships.
The 1988 movie adaptation of Otomo's story depicted a cyber-punk japan in the year 2019 ( only 5 years from now...) and had an incredible influence upon me- a city boy from the Bronx-ready to embark on pursuing a curriculum of art at Pratt Instiute. It's with the utmost respect, that I pay tribute to him and his story of AKIRA with this vector tribute - and I now share it with you."
Fresh Take: Knighting of Link
Available for purchase from Society6. US$16 / $37
Based on the 1901 Pre-Raphaelite painting "The Accolade" by Edmund Blair Leighton.
Fresh Take: Sherlock: Animated Series
"Sherlock: Animated Series" by Angela Taratuta
What it might look like if Don Bluth produced a version of Sherlock.
What it might look like if Don Bluth produced a version of Sherlock.
"I started a project taking random screencaps from the BBC show Sherlock (A Scandal in Belgravia episode) and redrawing them to look as if they were from a real animated series. This got an overwhelming response on Tumblr, so I thought I'd post it here too. I plan on drawing more screencaps from other episodes. And possibly animating mini scenes. I don't know, we'll see."
Comic Round-Up: December 30, 2013
"The Alan Moore Poker Game:The Killing Bluff" by J.K. Woodward
Prints available for purchase from the artist's website. US$15
Prints available for purchase from the artist's website. US$15
Interview: Jonathan Hickman and Tom Brevoort talk about Avengers #24.NOW, which kicks off the All-New Marvel NOW initiative.
Interview: Paste Magazine devotes its first comics-related cover story to an in-depth interview with Saga creators Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples.
News: Image Comics Partners With Dropbox for Digital Storefront Changes
Link Round-Up: December 30, 2013
"Cosmos 2013" by RedXen
Interview: Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer: an audience with geek royalty
Build your own life-sized StarGate with this tutorial from Instructables.
Paola Bennet wrote a song entitled "Heal" as a farewell hymn to Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor.
Sophisticated Star Wars Fans Dress in TIE Fighter Argyle
What if HP Lovecraft wrote "hot singles in your area" spam? The horror.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Sweets: Bag End Cake
"Well, I think this turned out well!? It’s my fantasy cake I think. I’d love to have one for me, hehe.
Conor loves the Dwarfs Song in The Hobbit, both the one that Thorin sings and the end titles by Neil Finn. They are his sleepy songs. So I thought a hobbit cake would be appropriate.
I started with one large cake and two smaller cakes, with a 10oz/10oz/12oz mixture for the cake for ease of sculpting. Crafted the shape, applied buttercream and then icing and decoration. Gandalf, the door and windows are fimo, for mementos. Gandalf is a foil frame with fimo outer."
Sweets: Hobbit Hole Cake
The Pink Cake Box has done it again! This time, they've captured all the cozy hominess of Bilbo's Bagend in an elegant little cake designed to please the aesthetic tastes of a five year-old without sacrificing the magic that was Peter Jackson's vision. Love it.
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole and that meant comfort." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
DIY: Middle Earth Map
Make your own with this tutorial from Instructables.
"This year for Christmas I decided to create a present for my wife. We are both nerds and the release of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" put into motion a project I had wanted to do for a while but had put on a back burner due to school. My wife has always voiced a desire to have a large map on the wall of our office. Initally I thought to make a duplicate of the map that is used in the film but I thought it wouldn't be large enough so I instead decided to make a huge map of Middle Earth for the office. I liked the idea of a map but I wanted to make it look a little more unique and aged than just a simple map. So I set out to make an aged map of Middle Earth and wanted to take you along on for this unexpected journey."
DIY: Thrors' Map
Make your own with this tutorial from Instructables.
"Some of us like books, especially the maps in them. I really like "The Hobbit" and I thought I should make Thror's map. I couldn't find a suitable map to print, all of them were black or white or weren't the same map as the one in the book. I made a printable map, that was like the one in the book. Here it is: http://i.imgur.com/3TGWD82.png Print it with a laserjet printer and off we go."
Merchandise: Thorin’s Map Candle Holder
Thorin’s Map Candle Holder by Genevieve Joyner
Available for purchase from Etsy.
Crafts: Handmade Dwarf Pipe
Handmade Dwarf Fantasy Pipe by Engrossed Designs
Available for purchase from Etsy. US$179.99
“A beautiful pipe made of amazing aged ambrosia curly maple wood. Each pipe is hand made by my father, a marvelous mentor and craftsman who’s been involved in wood working for many years.”
Concept Art: Bag End
"Loosely based on Bilbo's house in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the scene consists of 100% Hand-Painted Textures using no photo overlays. The textures are Diffuse only with Spec on certain props (No Normal Maps). The final scene was assembled in UDK."
Link Round-Up: December 27, 2013
Funcom Holiday Card 2010
Source: Kotaku
Source: Kotaku
10 to Watch in 2014: Comic Book Creators
The 10 Most Important RELAUNCHES in Comic Book History, as chosen by Newsarama
Elysium Concept Art: Elysium was one of the best-looking sci-fi movies of 2013. This exclusive concept art helps show how Blomkamp created his vision…
Here's how Top Cow makes comics: Story still reigns supreme
The Most Amazing Images NASA Took of Earth From Space This Year
What's So Great About Marvel Comics Right Now? TNA's Christopher Daniels is a Marvel fanboy. Can he convince one of IGN's DC fanboys to buy some new books?
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Link Round-Up: December 26, 2013
Promotional xmas card for Graphic Classics
The 8 Best Video Game Scripts of All Time
10 Comic Book DEATHS That (Mostly) Still Matter, according to Newsarama.com.
Alan Moore and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Bleeding Cool picked the ten worst comic book costumes of 2013.
David Briggs' The Dimensions of Colour, a comprehensive online explanation of traditional (what you've probably been taught) and modern colour theory, and its applications to visual art. Invaluable for artists and non-artists alike. (The answer: probably some kind of brown. Yes, your kindergarten teachers fed you lies.)
Doctor Who Collector Series Watches
10 Comic Book DEATHS That (Mostly) Still Matter, according to Newsarama.com.
Alan Moore and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Bleeding Cool picked the ten worst comic book costumes of 2013.
David Briggs' The Dimensions of Colour, a comprehensive online explanation of traditional (what you've probably been taught) and modern colour theory, and its applications to visual art. Invaluable for artists and non-artists alike. (The answer: probably some kind of brown. Yes, your kindergarten teachers fed you lies.)
Doctor Who Collector Series Watches
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Ads: Apple Holiday TV Ad
A teenage boy surprises his family with a thoughtful holiday gift, in an Apple ad designed to suggest that it's okay to always have a mobile device in your face.
Crafts: R2-D2 Tree Skirt
Make your own with this tutorial from Team Fighting Mongoose!
"For about $8.00, this epic tree skirt was born. I purchased a yard of 72″ grey felt and another of blue (the ribbon and other accents I had in my arsenal), although my lack of measurements found that a yard was not quite wide enough for the skirt to be one piece, I was able to pattern it into three pieces with the same end result. In hindsight, I probably would not have needed the full amount of blue felt, but again, I had no pattern, plan, or measurements in mind when shopping; only a vision and a wealth of Google R2D2 image results to service as a rough guideline.
After a few hours of trial and error, the finished result turned out amazing. I am notorious for over-estimating my crafting abilities and not being able to realize fully my designs, but this is a project that I am extremely proud of. I’m just sad that the tree can’t be up all year round."
Link Round-Up: December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas Halo Style
Source: PickyWallpapers
7 Famous Museums Handcrafted Out of Gingerbread
The 12 Days of Doctor Who from Dorkly
ArchDaily presents Architectural History of the Christmas Tree
The Force is Strong with these Christmas ornaments
A gallery of 10 Great Geek Christmas Ornaments from Neatorama
PopSugar points the ways to some Ornaments to Geek Out Your Tree
The 12 Days of Doctor Who from Dorkly
ArchDaily presents Architectural History of the Christmas Tree
The Force is Strong with these Christmas ornaments
A gallery of 10 Great Geek Christmas Ornaments from Neatorama
PopSugar points the ways to some Ornaments to Geek Out Your Tree
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Link Round-Up: December 24, 2013
Plants vs. Zombies Christmas
Source: PopCap.com
The Marvel Universe Is Way Better When Ghost Rider Is a Hamster
Mighty Mega offers a look at the Incredible Concept Art For The Hobbit
The Most Beautiful Space Stations in the Universe
Top 10 Comic Book Events of 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Short Film: Decor Amore
Here's a short holiday film about a nutcracker who finds true love during the Christmas season.
DIY: Zero Christmas Ornament
Make this Zero ornament for your tree using this
1. Downloadable the template from the Spoonful Blog.
2. Print the ornament on regular white paper or cardstock and cut out the pieces.
3. Starting with one half of Zero, fold the bottom piece up and the ear down, then use glue or double-sided tape to secure the pieces to the back side of Zero’s body so the design is two-sided. Repeat this step with Zero’s other half.