Animals Coat of Paint in Place of a Coat of Fur Paintings

Sean Landers is an artists that doesn't limit himself on the kind of medium he uses or, on the subject matter he approaches in his art, that is said, it is mostly taken from his personal experiences.  Amongst the mediums he uses to express his ideas are: sculpture, photography, drawing, writing, video, audio and paintings.  "North American Mammals" this body of work is divided in 3 sections we have chosen his animal ones, the same way these animals have a coat of fur Landers' coat of paint transforms them with these tartan designs.  There is a lot of symbology and subtext behind these beautiful paintings where the visual art piece is just the tip, the same way the tip of the iceberg, the part above water, is the portions immediately noticeable, but there is so much more below.

Dreamlike Watercolor Paintings in the City

Taiwanese artist Lin Ching-Che (林經哲) paints these mesmerising water paintings perfectly.  They look just like some dreams, lack of details on the people and the surrounding objects, lights flared and out of focus in parts.  He also has a great eye for colours that help accentuate the effect.  Enjoy the dream and we will see you on the other side...

Body Weightlessness in Surreal Paintings

As much as we like Jeremy Geddes' perfectly produced Photo Realistic Oil Paintings, the realism is not the most outstanding feature, in our opinion, it is the astonishing feel and sense of weightlessness you get when you look at them.  In the paintings of the astronauts just floating or in the paintings "Acedia" and "A Perfect Vacuum" where the subjects are blown across the room and just frozen in time, in that position.

Concept Architecture - Billboard Housing for the Homeless

Slovakian company Design Develop, has come up with an open source non profit platform concept to create homes for homeless people.  It would be wrapped in advertising to subsidise or, eventually pay for the construction and running costs of the home.  This initiative is called "Gregory Project", the case study is based in the Republic of Slovakia, in the city of Banska Bystrica.  The construction would consist of a timber joist frame with a concrete base.  More information below.

Colored Pencil WIP Drawings

Freelance Polish Artist Łukasz Andrzejczak kindly shows us his artwork at different stages of completion, from initial drawing to completely coloured WIPs (Work In Progress).  We have shown one static image of the finished image and an animation of the different stages below it.  All the pictures can be enlarged if pressed except the one above.

Miniature Pencil and Ink Drawings with a lot of Detail

American Artist Taylor Mazer, has a special predilection and skill set when it comes to drawings small scenes in Pencil and Ink.  Even though they are tiny, Mazerhas manages to capture and to convey to the viewer, a lot of detail and information through them.  It is like looking at the world through the tiniest of windows.  We have included measurements to the drawings where the scale is not given away by his pencils and pens.

Hyper Realistic Drawings from the Heart

Rebecca Blair is a Canadian visual artist with a Hyper Realistic style very different to the ones we are used to featuring on DesignStack.  Her Art seems to be be driven, mostly, from her emotions and her experiences, good or bad, sometimes producing some raw and hard hitting drawings to encapsulate a bad situation or, the personification of feelings like hurt betrayal, loss...  Enjoy these beautiful and evocative drawings.

The Sound of Silence in Black and White Photographs

Vassilis Tangoulis is renowned around the world for his beautiful Black and white long exposure shots.  We have chosen 2 of his project to show you the beauty he manages to capture with his camera. The first is called "The Sound of Silence" whilst the second is called "Distorted Dreams" and forms part of his latest work.  Tangoulis' day job is as an Assistant Professor, he is a physicist working in the Chemistry department in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece.

Soothing Art in Surreal and Ethereal Paintings

Armenian Georgi Matevosyan (Георгий Матевосян) has a list of accomplishments throughout his life,  He graduated as an Engineer and Architect which he took up as a carer, for a time. Then he studied jewellery making and designing, but his love for art, is the one that trumped all his other interests.  Beautiful Paintings that give you a soothing and relaxing sensation when you look at them.  The thick brushstrokes help to add character giving direction, in their flowing motions.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we have...

Architecture and the underground Rat Tribe Inhabitants

Beijing China and the underground dwellings, housing mostly, poor immigrants (named Rat Tribe) that travel from outside the capital, dreaming of a better future for themselves and their families. We could give a passionate description of the way things are going around the world but we decided to give you an objective view, no emotions, description of this type of housing.  There is much to say, so we are going to continue the description below.  A video below, with one of the residents being interviewed.  Via aljazeera 

Photo-Realistic Airbrush School of Art

Dru Blair describes himself as a Photorealist Artist and Publisher.  In 1997 he decided to retire from his illustration work and start up the Blair School of Art, recognising teaching, as his true calling.  At the moment the school concentrates on teaching airbrushing techniques, classes ranging from beginners to seasoned users.  That said he is now looking at expanding the curriculum to encompass other mediums such as acrylic, digital, water colour, and more.  In the post we have included a video interview with Blair and two step by step paintings animations.  We have tried to give you a small feel for the range of paintings subjects he is a master in, below.

Batman v Superman and their Superhero R2-D2 Friends

British Digital Artist, Illustrator and Graphics Designer Steve Berrington brings together the worlds of Marvel, DC Comic and Star Wars in these R2-D2  Superhero representations.  On his website he says he drew them just for fun.  He then drew the Batman v Superman for the up and coming film, featuring the talents of R2-D2 and C-3PO and was asked to do the Droid Trinity.  If you are a fan of comics or of Star Wars, this post is for you.

Fairy-tale Worlds in Surreal Paintings

This is how Alexander Jansson describes himself "Some kind of "artist", digital mixed media illustrator, 2D/3D animator, mystery scientist, manager of Orchestre de Mystere, Resident of Gothenburg, Sweden".  We have chosen his work because of the beautifully Surreal feeling, that transports us back to childhood, when viewing his paintings.  Jansson almost acts a guide, walking us through the door, to these enchanting worlds and characters.  Vivid colours with different parts of the image alternating between focus and out of focus, really help give them a dreamlike quality.  Please enlarge the images when you are in the post in order to get the full effect.  We have included a video of the Ramone Bosco trailer, in which the combination of the animated images, as well as the perfectly chosen background music, help float us to a fantastic world of story telling and fairy-tales. Enjoy...

Celebrity Portrait Drawings Full of Emotions

British Artist Kelvin Okafor spends many hours, up to 100 per drawing, to bring us this photographic quality drawings.  The realism to him, is second to being able to capture the expressions and the emotions of the people who's likeness he is trying to reproduce.  Dedication, patients, long hours and an eye for details are what make these drawings so fascinating to look at.  We have included 2 Videos showing Okafor at various stages of work, so that you might be able to pick up some tips, for both drawing and shading.  We started with well known personalities, then moved on to everyday people and finished with his amazing details.  Enjoy...

Alice in Wonderland Rescue Animal Photographs

This is a touching story that covers Italian animal rescue charity, La Collina dei Conigli ONLUS (The Rabit Hill).  To celebrate their 10th anniversary, they decided to make a calendar with an Alice in Wonderland as their theme, as the first animal they took in was a white rabbit.  La Collina dei Conigli, consists of a volunteer work force, that take in animals that were used in lab experiments or neglected, rehabilitates them and then re-homes them.  Most of the animals they take in are rabbits, mice, rats, gerbils and guinea pig. Not only do they have to take care of the animals physical injuries and or disabilities, but once in the rescue centre they have to gain the trust of these little animals and show them that people can be a source of affection, attention and can be trusted, only once this is accomplished, a permanent home can be found for them. via boredpanda.

Dinosaurs - Palaeontology, Skeletons and Angels in Light Paintings

Darren Pearson lives and works in Los Angeles where he works as a Creative Director.  The nights though, are a different story, they belong to him.  He enjoys creating different Light Sculptures or Paintings, in different parts of the City.  This Light Art is achieved by taking long exposure camera shots of moving light, creating an image.  None of his works are achieved by using Photoshop.  We have included a moving painting in the form of a video, it can take up to a 1000 paintings to complete one of these videos.

Magic Realism in Surreal Paintings

Canadian artist Rob Gonsalves had two things growing up, a love for daydreaming and a love for art.  As he grew older he managed to combine these two aspects of himself into his art.  As well as a surreal feel, his art also has an optical illusion side to it, where your eyes and brain have to do a double take in order to process the image.  Gonsalves calls his style Magic Realism and the paintings below will definitely show you why.  Dreaming is an enjoyable emotion that is almost free, the only thing it is going to cost you is time, a price worth paying for...

Surreal M. C. Escher v Lego in Drawing v Sculpture

This project was carried out a few years ago by Andrew Lipson, he wanted to see if he could recreate Maurits Cornelis Escher's drawings using Lego bricks (1898-1972 famous for his impossible constructions drawings, like some of the ones seen here).  in a way, it is an easier process on paper, as it is easier to full the eye, than on a 3D structure.  To achieve the effect on the 3D model the bricks have to be arranged in a way that they look right, only from a specific angle.  At any other angle you would see pieces overhanging or the stretched construction of a particular part, see the waterfall side view.  Look at the details of the drawings and sculptures and you will see why they are impossible...

Sea Inspired Architecture with the Casa Caracol

Casa Caracol is a beautiful Seashell Houses owned by Octavio Ocampo, it is situated on the island of Isla Mujeres amongst the beautiful Caribbean islands.  As you will see from the video we have attached, everything in this house has a nautical feel including most of the fixtures, including the choral inspired front gates to the seashell shower head.  The video is in Spanish, that said, even if you don't speak the language you will still get a nice tour of the house.  The video starts a bit pixelated at the beginning but gets better very quickly. The house comes with 2 king size bedrooms, 2 full baths, 1 half bath, sleeps 4, with with 180 degrees views of the Caribbean Ocean and the best thing is that it is available to rent.

Chicken Wire Sculptures of People Frozen in Time

Italian scenographer, painter and sculptor Edoardo Tresoldi, has a real gift in being able to convey emotions and state of mind in a medium as void of detail as is chicken wire.  It is amazing how comfortable and deep in thought his sculptures look, it is almost like looking at a real person with their expression frozen in time.  We have included a video of one of his sculptures in which, you can see the optical illusion of the face tricking your mind, as the camera pans around it, have a look...  We have added Animations of the details of the various sculptures underneath their main picture.

Photo Realistic Watercolour Paintings

Before now, we had never seen photo realistic watercolour Paintings, Joe Francis Dowden has definitely shown us something new.  We have included a video that show part of two paintings where Dowden gives us some helpful tips.  The help is  not too in depth, as he is and Book Author, writes magazine articles, Presents TV, DVD’s, seminars, demonstrations and holds classes on a regular basis.  I think that if he divulged too many secrets it might hurt his income.  In this post we are sharing with you his love for the British Countryside.

Patience and Determination in Typewriter Drawings

American Artist Paul Smith created all of these drawings just using a typewriter.  He was born in 1921 with severe spastic cerebral palsy, which causes neurological problems.  In his particular case, he was not able to eat, clothe, or bathe unaided and had difficulty expressing himself in words.  He was unable to hold a pencil or a paintbrush, but when he turned 11, he found he could express himself through art, by using a typewriter his neighbour had discarded. He would steady one hand with the other and started creating drawings that eventually became more complex and in colour.  He even found out that if he pushed his thumb on the ribbon he could produce shadows on the image.  It is reported that he spent 2 to 3 hours a day drawing, taking him between 2 weeks to 3 months to complete one.  It is estimated that through out his lifetime he created more than 400 drawings.  He was a good Chess and Cribbage player and had a love for classical music.  He died in 2007, the video below chronicles more of his life and his drawings.

Black and White Photographs of Surreal Realities

Self-taught Graphics Artist Richard Smith, conjures unique images from Black and White photographs, to create photo-montage of Surreal Realities.  Smith takes pictures of every day items, things that most of us would overlook in our quest to get from point A to point B, as quickly as possible.  You can almost see pieces of him and the world he lives in, because that is where a lot of his inspiration comes from.  Any time he goes out, the road or the path he walks through, the railing he passes, the clouds in the sky or the railway tracks, animals he encounters all play a part in his drive to create new worlds, using as inspiration, the details of the one all around him.

Solar Kinetic Miniature Sculptures in a Glass Goblet

Polish Engineer and Artist Szymon Klimek constructs fantastically detailed miniature sculptures.  From all the ones he has done, we have chosen the kinetic, moving ones and what better way of showing them, than video?  We have included six of them plus images to give you a better feel for the beauty of these small machines.  They are powered by electric or natural light and made of very thin brass sheets.  Klimek fits them in a goblet which he tops with a transparent sheet to keep them protected and to make sure they are dust free.  When watching the video you will see that, as well as the movement of the machine, the goblet is turned to show a 360 degree view of the sculpture and all of its details.  Amazing work...

Nature in a Sculptured Glass Orb

This was a real find, Paul J. Stankard an American glass artist that encapsulates nature in his globes and glass forms.  We have included 2 videos that go into his life history and how he came to producing these intricate glass sculptures, so we are going to skip this.  The images can be enlarges so that  you can see some of the amazing details he manages to add in them.  Maybe more beautiful that the finish piece is seeing Stankard producing these small masterpieces, you can see it in the first video.  The second one goes a bit more in depth into his work and his relationship with the Akron Art Museum, which houses the largest public collection of his work.

Micro Architecture ex Laundry Boiler Room 8.6m²

After graduating as an architect, Christi Azevedo from Azevedo Design inc, decided to focus more on fabrication, rather than design.  She used her own place to experiment with materials like wood and steel, gaining knowledge of how to put together a construction project on a budget.  She is very committed to green values, that can be seen in this renovation of an old Laundry Boiler Room, which has now been transformed into a full service guest apartment.  The footprint of the building measures 8'-2" (2.4m) x 11'-6" (3.5m) which adds up to approximately 93 square feet (8.6m²). More information below...

Black and White Photo of Surreal Animal's Downtime

Thomas Subtil is brilliant at photo manipulation.  Amongst all of his work, we have decided to concentrate on his work with animals.  The First collection he calls Hakuna Matata meaning "no worries", in which Subtil explores what animals, in the wild, do with their downtime.  When the food has been taken care of and all the important day to day things have been attended to, it is time for play and this is how they do it.  The second collection is called Animetro, animals using the metro or underground to get to work, or some retail distraction or play.  Enjoy...

Bagged Superheroes in Painting

British artist Simon Monk has a love for comics and models of Superheroes.  His paintings not only look like the real thing, they also look like they are hung up in a plastic bag.  The illusion of the painting extends to the background which is sometimes painted as pegboard or tongue and groove, mimicking a shop setup and ready for sale.  He creates translucent paint that he applies through the course of months, to build up the layers giving the finished image more depth.  He prefers to work with with models of the superheroes rather than with photographs, as there is a better chance of capturing things like lighting and colour.  We have included two videos in which Monk explains how he came up with this idea and he shows the finish paintings which in the film seem to have so much more depth.