Tinselman

I Don't Mind If You Forget Me

flickr photo by tamjpn, with notes, click to enlarge

I recently stumbled upon upon a book about the artist Yoshitomo Nara and his +graf A to Z exhibit in Tokyo. While flipping through the pages in the book store, I could have cared less that I couldn't read a word of it... I was so captivated by the photos. Within an old cider brewery, Nara constructed (with the help of the design firm, graf media) a miniature town! And hundreds of his whimsical beings populate the town. Borne of his imagination, it attracts the very old to the very young.

I searched online for photos of the inside of the exhibit but found none. The book, which is only for sale at amazon japan is stuffed full of them. I've never seen an exhibit so inspiring or fantastic; I only wish I could see it in person!

• More flickr photos
• Official A to Z page

Great Babylon

This Babylonian pillar, which now rests in the Louvre, is unbelievably huge. It's just one of many pillars that once held up an ancient temple in ancient Babylon.

The Mystery of the Vanishing Turtle

About two weeks ago, I was walking in front of the Grand Palais, and I saw this gigantic turtle. I was happy to be carrying along my camera!

I know nothing about the work or it's artist; there was no plaque of any kind. The next time I walked by, it was gone.

Final Resplicery

Justin Norman, of Shrieking Tree, has created two "Resplicery" films (as he calls them) set to the Myst/Riven soundtracks: "Escape from Comatose Mansion" and "A Weathered Dream Sequence". All in all, he's put together five of them, but I have to admit, "Escape from Comatose Mansion" is my new favorite (spooky!). You can watch all of them at his Resplicery page (but don't go there expecting to see something that looks like Myst... his work is wholly different).

Fake Worlds

I haven't played around with CG in a long time, but three days ago I discovered an unbelievably powerful application that calls itself Terragen2, and I haven't had so much fun building things in 3D in ages; not since I first stumbled upon that very first version of StrataVision 3D.

Terragen2 is the ultimate erector set. It's narrowly focused in it's purpose, but it's a ton of fun (though I'm just beginning to understand it). Yesterday, I created this terrain (feeling child-like in the process):
(click images to enlarge)

Return of the Pink

Pink Victory, 2007, by Maurycy Gomulicki

More Pink Tanks (and other pink weapons)
• War + Pink = Peace
• The Story of Tank 51 (Little Golden Book?)

Cosmic Beats in Outer Space

When I was in high school, it was impossible to turn around and release an album. I could have only dreamt of it. Now, anyone can do it. It's as simple as entering some information on your computer and uploading your recorded music. A couple weeks later it's in Itunes. And Rhapsody. And Napster. And anywhere else "online music is sold."

This is spectacular and wonderful. But also pretty bizarre.

My son is about to release his second album: an E.P. called Cosmic Beats in Outer Space". He asked me to do the cover, and I happily obliged, painting for him the above vintage space-era look-alike.

A New Eye

A few years back, I discovered a box of false glass eyes in an antique store. Their detail – down to the smallest capillary – was near perfect. I bought one of the eyes for only a few bucks.

For a long time, I kept it sitting around on my desk: it's craftsmanship was somehow inspiring. But the best part of my glass eye: it was perfect for playing pranks on unsuspecting friends and relatives, many of which were horrified as one of my eyes seemed to inadvertently pop forth from its socket (a favorite of my kids)!

Then, one day, the eye smashed to pieces. Shattered. I don't remember how. A sad day indeed. (I probably punched a hole through the nearest wall or something).

How would I ever get another false eye? It was impossible. I was bereft. I was lost. My inspiration was gone. My pranks... shattered (sort of like my glass eye).

And just today, I discovered the answer! Occularist, Kim Erickson: he labors with the same level of dedication and craft as those occularists of old. Take a look at this amazing video journal describing his work.

Bent

Painted today (click to enlarge).

My Nightmare

I've always had a lot of dreams. A recent nightmare was especially frightening so, the following day, I painted the culminating "scene" (the part that woke me up).

(click painting to enlarge)

House on a Wire

Precarious Home by Giancarlo Norese, 2007

(via core77)

Lights... Camera... Tintin!

The Hergé 100 year anniversary exhibit at the Pompidou, Paris.

Yes it's true. After all these years, our intrepid reporter is at last being immortalized on the silver screen. The film will be Directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, all of whom have signed up for a trilogy. In shimmering CG!

Jackson is careful to explain that, while Weta will maintain Hergé's timeless designs, the film and its characters will not look "cartoonish". As he says,

We're making them look photorealistic; the fibers of their clothing, the pores of their skin and each individual hair. They look exactly like real people — but real Hergé people!

Eek! Sounds a bit scary to me! I can't help but wonder why they wouldn't just stick closer to Hergé's time-tested ligne claire visual style: a look that generations have grown up with.

But I didn't grow up reading Tintin. I discovered the series in the early 90's, right around time we were starting Myst. About this same time, I was beginning to wonder how I'd ever render all the images that the Myst world required. Of course I'd draw them by hand; initially, I had no question about that... after all, that's how we'd done our previous works. And so, for about 20 minutes one day, at the very beginning of the project, I got out Hergé's The Black Island and began to sketch islands.

And then I turned around and quickly abandon the effort. After all, there's only one Hergé!

The rest, as they say, is history: we turned to 3-D. And though desktop computing power was at a minimum (relative to today), the addition of 3-D (Stratavision 3-D) allowed us to render thousands of images, not hundreds. More importantly, it instilled a maturity in the environment: enough to give users the sense they'd actually stepped onto the shores of Myst island.

And now we return to Hergé. While recently in Paris, my family and I visited the Pompidou (like all good tourists). On the way out, we discovered that we had just missed a Hergé exhibit (celebrating the artist's 100th birthday). Oh, how our hearts ached! But the catalog! There must be a catalog! Of course, I immediately rushed to the museum bookstore and found it: Hergé! And what a catalog! If you're a Tintin fan, I highly recommend this thick but small volume, practically stuffed full of original drawings, paintings, prints, and photographs.

I also picked up Tintin et Moi, an revealing biographical portrait of Hergé, told through the artist's own voice. The principle audio of all this is eerily compiled from 14 hours of in depth interviews, recorded in 1971 by Numa Sadoul. It's fascinating! (video preview)

Note: An article entitled A Boy's World: The Tintin Century is available in the latest issue of the New Yorker.

Untitled

Painted yesterday. click to enlarge.

• Tinselman gallery

Une Fleur

I just painted this and haven't really given it a title. I'm not even sure if it's finished.

Take a Second Look

Palli, digital paint, 27" x 40.5"

Richard Vander Wende has completely redesigned his website. Now it's faster, easier, cleaner, and he displays a larger selection of his fine art and concept art. Including the above spectacular creature. I finally saw a print of it the other day... unbelievable!

Previous Richard Vander Wende post:

Mickey-Ship Sees All

painting by Richard Vander Wende©2007, all rights reserved

Sky Bear

click image to enlarge

Unfinished concept for a small side project on which a good friend and I are working.

HANDLE WITH CARE!

I don't remember where I first ran across the glass creations of Leopold Blaschka (1822-1895) and his son, Rudolf (1857-1939). Their craftsmanship in glass was, and probably still remains, unparalleled.

(and yes, those plants are made out of glass).

Nancy Marie Brown explains a bit of their history in Flowers Out of Glass...

The flowers and plants they began making out of glass were not art, in intent, though breathtaking; they were a scientific undertaking: exquisitely accurate, exact in the replication of every last detail.

Prince Rohan displayed them in his castle. They were exhibited a year later at the Royal Botanical Garden in Dresden. Soon word of the Blaschkas' new work had crossed the Atlantic to George Lincoln Goodale at Harvard's Botanical Museum. Goodale had seen the squids and octopi. He decided to commission a set of glass flowers to be used as classroom aids, for teaching botany through a New England winter was the height of frustration. Specimens weren't readily to hand, except those pressed between herbarium sheets, the faded remains of glorious summer days spent botanizing. Flowers of glass would make an excellent alternative: "precise," "timeless," and "unparalleled..."

The Glass Flowers are now among the most popular exhibits at Harvard. TV and radio programs in four countries have featured them, as did a mystery novel in the Homer Kelly series by Jane Langton. Donna Tartt and other writers use the Glass Flowers as a Boston icon. Marianne Moore wrote a poem about them. And avant-garde photographer Christopher Williams turned them into symbols of human rights issues. Yet, "It took a long time for the faculty here to go from thinking about the Glass Flowers as a teaching collection to thinking about them as art objects," said Susan Rossi-Wilcox...

You can read more about their amazing history (which includes shipwrecks, Princes, and at least a few well-known historic figures) at the following pages...

• Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka and Natural History (great)
• The Glass Aquarium
• Natural History Museum 
• Harvard's Glass Flowers

Or you can just blissfully gaze at these delightful glass jellyfish photos. 

Lace Fence

Of their Lace Fence, the Dutch design team, Demakersvan, says:

What would happen if a patch of embroided wire would meet with and continue as an industrial fence?... The strong industrial fence is challenged in its function and appearance by a delicate lace decoration, showing how something which was meant for pure functionality can also be decorative.

(via: Craft)

Paper Trail

Please fill out this form before you enjoy Pheobe Washburn's endless paper trail.

(via: Moon River)

A Big Bright Red Future

Click to enlarge

I wouldn't mind visiting this future.

Oh well... don't think that's going to happen any time soon. And I can always visit the Modern Mechanix cover archive, featuring many more of Norman Saunders' fascinating illustrations.

And while you're enjoying all the vintage-future-madness, you must drop by the Modern Mechanix blog. I have to admit, I got a little carried away stumbling through their archives. What immense fun!

Sex Shop Grace

Suitcase sex shop, Xiamen street market. Below: wax museum figure, Xiamen

Design researcher, Jan Chipchase, travels the furthest corner of the globe for work and pleasure. From Campeche to Hukeng to Kyotera....

As a skilled photographer, Chipchase seems to enjoy focusing on the odd and often forgotten details of the world. You can see the world through his eyes on his Future Perfect blog.

Another backpack-around-the-world-with-camera source I continue to enjoy is a photo-book called Asia Grace, by Kevin Kelly. This unbelievable resource (with its accompanying website) is simply packed, from end to end, with the most amazing people and places on earth. One would almost swear that Kelly traveled back through ancient history to take some of these shots.

The Bicycle Ballet

This video's an unexpected gem. Performed in what looks like a high school gym, it can best be described as a ballet-on-a-bicycle.

(via: Blue Tea)

Easy Steps to Stunning Success

Justin Norman of Shrieking Tree does it again! Through the magic of cinema, he brings us another delightful little episode in his ongoing Re-plicery series: Easy Steps to Stunning Success! It will warm your heart. It will comfort your soul. And you will be replenished for the New Year!

The Mystery of Picasso

In 1955, French director, Henri-Georges Clouzot had the most amazing idea. He would film Pablo Picasso as he painted 20 artworks, ranging from quick sketches to widescreen color oil paintings.

My favorite are the oils, which were captured using time lapse photography. They're mesmerizing and give a fascinating insight to the artist's spontaneous process. The French government also liked the film—in 1984, it declared The Mystery of Picasso National Treasure. Unfortunately, because of contractual obligation, almost all of the art created for this film was destroyed at the end of the production.

Above is only one of the paintings from the film, taken from start to finish. The entire film is available on Amazon.

Kotex for a New Year!

The New Year is almost here, so let's get ready, people. Watching this video, by artist Douglas Coupland, for hours on end is a great way to celebrate! It helps to numb the brain for another year of endless consumption. Simply download it to your computer, set it to loop, and then enlarge it to fill the screen of your computer while listening to your favorite song. Hopefully, you'll put on something very fast. And loud. With a bit of attitude.

Black Swan and The Clock by Thom Yorke both work incredibly well, lyrically and musically.

F.A.B.

From around first to third grade, I couldn't stop drawing pictures of secret islands. I always included mountains, caves, and secret underground hideouts (but I always had so much trouble drawing the trees).

And, of course, a helicopter pad and boat dock were always necessary features.

Maybe that's why I so enjoy these cross-sections by Graham Bleathman. They illustrate the worlds of Gerry Anderson's "fab" T.V. shows: Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, and Stingray.

Bleathman has also released books of his cross-sections, a few of which can still be found.

Darling

Darling—Digital Paint 12/12/2006 (click to enlarge)

Yet another painting in my ever-expanding series of portraits. These will eventually be released in trading card format, bubblegum included!

copyright©2006 Robyn Miller. All rights reserved.

Carefully Arranged Clutter

Stephen's Victorian era home has finally become a perfect reflection of his taste. Or maybe it reflects something deeper than that? He's carefully decorated every square inch with sculptures, paintings, trinkets and ghoulish art. The effect is both warm and museum-like. But also unsettling.

If you can't get to Seattle soon, you can at least tour every room in this complete virtual tour, by Bradford Bohonus.

(via: geisha asobi)

Yum Yum Mr. Snail

Warning! This is not a real snail. It's a porcelain bowl by designer Hella Jongerius, the detail of which (down to the smallest level) is breathtaking. In fact, at first glance, it might almost look soft and alive.

But don't admire it too much. Because if you want a bowl of your own, you're going to have to shell out the big bucks. We're talking 1,900 dineros. And it doesn't make it any easier that there's practically no way to eat your Lucky Charms out of this baby.

Jongerius has a line of similarly themed animal bowls; you can admire all of them at Moss.

Monkey

Monkey — Photoshop, 12, 2, 2006 (click to enlarge)

I painted this yesterday. Maybe I should use more reference (like for the texture of weathered hardwood), but that can sometimes break my spontaneity and ruin a painting. So, I started this without knowing what I was going to make and, as I painted, I really did feel as if I was sculpting (and weathering) it into existence (fun!).

• For more of my paintings, go to my web gallery.

copyright©2006 Robyn Miller

X-Ray Acme Novelty Library

The vintage print art in yesterday's post naturally got me thinking about one of my favorite artists and writers... Chris Ware! Each of his books are nothing less than treasures... or better. I digest a new book, as slowly as possible, because I feel I owe it to Mr. Ware. I want to soak up every detail of the amazing worlds he's created!

What I like about his work are the characters. They're real. They're honestly portrayed... even dark and often cruel. But his comic novels are never oppressive: if they were, I wouldn't read them. Instead, they're weirdly uplifting.

Of course, the Chris Ware book covers (which are hand drawn) are graphic adventures in their own right. Now you can see all of them (in Supersized, X-Ray, 3-D-Vision) at the Chris Ware Acme Novelty Library's Archive.

Ipanaman Says

Such a strange little flier, isn't it? It was handed out at the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair; can you guess what it's advertising? Click on either of his shifty eyes for the answer!

Obviously, Tinselman has no room in his life for this shifty-eyed Ipanaman. But I do enjoy much of the artwork of that period. And world's fairs are a particular favorite here at Tinselman! That's why I practically couldn't tear myself away from the web archives of the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair (brought to us by the University of Chicago).

Many of the pamphlets and guides are visually stunning. And you can download the entire documents (like the one to the right) as high resolution PDF files! Yummy-fun!

To find the scanned files, first go to this page. From there, select 'keywords' from the drop-down menu. Next, make sure you select the 'Search only digitized items' check-box. Finally, without entering anything into the search field, click the submit button.

Have fun!

Previous World's Fair and Expo posts:

• Faux Victoria Falls
• Mareorama (and Suchlike)
• Yesterday's Transport of Tomorrow
• Atomium and Mini-Europe
• Big Happy Futurama

Banyan

I like sketching faces in pen and ink. I painted this one a couple of days ago.

Evolution Complete

Far back, in the twisted history of Tinselman, I began a portrait of the above large beast. I kept Tinsel-readers abreast of my work over the course of a couple of posts. Then I abruptly quit the painting and never touched it again.

Above is a near finished version of the painting. I never bothered to post this version.

To the left was what the painting looked like soon after I started.

And finally, there's this previous post of the painting in midstream.

Bug

Okay, I lied. I'll post again...

I painted this one this morning. Brush and ink, colored in Photoshop.

Round Face

Don't know what to say about this, other than it's all I have time to post. Did it yesterday with brush and ink: colored it in Photoshop.

Round face says, "breathe again and have a wonderful day!"

Killer Robotic Chair

The terminator is finally amoung us... in the form of this deadly Robotic Chair.

It may look innocent enough. Not so. I warn you... if you see this Robotic Chair, DO NOT make yourself comfy! This furniture is programmed to destroy all of humankind! And then regenerate itself to do it again!

It's creator, Professor Raffaello D'Andrea, feigns innocence: "It has no utilitarian value. It is an art piece."

Take a look at this death-dealing "art piece" in action!...

Soap Pads

This is not the stockroom of your local grocery. You are inside the Andy Warhol Museum, admiring (or possibly inwardly laughing at) some of Warhol's grocery box art.

In 1969, Warhol, a known workaholic, transformed "The Factory" into a literal factory and went to work screen printing and painting on pre-cut wooden blocks. Kellog's corn flakes, Mott's Apple Juice, Del Monte Peaches, Heinz Ketchup, and his most well known, Brillo Pads.

Warhol just knew they were going to sell like hotcakes but, when they were first exhibited at the Stable Gallery in 1964, Warhol's audience was disapointed. As art dealer, Eleanor Ward explained,

[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them.

Would you like to purchase a brillo box? Such a thing is possible! A number of galleries still have a boxes lying around.

• Contemporary visual work by Douglas Coupland

 

Budapest in Paint

Now that he's retired, my Dad has started painting. His greatest inspiration? Sadly it's Thomas Kinkade (and his "painter of light" sap). So most of the time Dad paints cute homes from a bygone era.

In stark contrast, Dad once painted this trolley from Budapest (where Mom and Dad spent a few years). This painting, with the housing project in the background and the daily grunge of Budapest, was anything but sappy.

I loved it. When Dad asked if I would like something he'd done, I immediately choose the trolley painting. I think he was shocked. He thought the trolley was a silly (and ugly) subject for a painting and had already gone back to painting houses. Ever since then, I've been hounding him to paint more contemporary subjects.

To see the painting at a larger size click the icon:

 

Milky Yum!

Milky by artist, photographer, author, screenwriter and playwright Douglas Coupland.

• More visual fun on Coupland's site
• A short film on Coupland's site (play music and watch)
• God Hates Japan – Coupland's Japan release
• Coupland's dead blog – New York Times

Original Milky candy box.

Shoddy Comic

Wimbledon Green is good stuff. In his short introduction, the cartoonist, Seth, spends a bit of time apologizing for the sketchbook quality, the poor drawing, the shoddy lettering, and the perfunctory page compositions and storytelling of the comic. He makes all these disclaimers and yet the story and the art is relaxed, unpretentious, and ironic. And great fun! It reads like a comic documentary.

Here are some pages: (click to enlarge)

More pages at Drawn & Quarterly

Living Blimps

Can blimps learn, adapt and evolve? Yes... when they've been designed by Qarl. After senseless pillaging by certain vicious Second Life land owners, Qarl had finally had it up to here! His solution: artificial life. Now his blimps lead much happier lives (sort of). Qarl explains:

blimps who (by chance) wander into dangerous areas will die, and their genes will disappear from the gene pool. blimps who (by chance) avoid danger will reproduce more often, and their genes will dominate the gene pool.

the blimps will “learn” to avoid danger.  they evolve.  by some definitions, they are alive.

Read more on on Qarl's blog.

Reader comment: Qarl adds,

one of the most compelling examples of artificial evolution was done by Karl Sims in the early 90s. he created virtual organisms comprised of simple boxes, each box having a virtual muscle between them.

from generation to generation, he allowed both the body shape and the muscle motion to change - he rewarded creatures that could move.

from these simple rules his system created snakes and fish and creatures with legs - rediscovering the forms created by mother nature millions of years ago.

Very impressive animations! If only these creatures lived within Second Life!

Scale Model Archive – Cities

Soviet Era Moscow, photo by Natalia Grishkina ©

Faithful readers of tinselman are fond of all things diminutive. And of course, nothing can be more impressive that a gigantic city, rendered in miniature form. This is why I have gone to incalculable trouble seeking out these scaled down wonders and bringing them together in this handy archive. For your tinselistic enjoyment!

New York, photo by Hurricane Joost (cc)

Edinburgh, photo by only alice ©

Shanghai, photo by Simon & Andrew ©

Shanghai, photo by Andrew Currie (cc)

Nanjing, photo by paul_ark ©

London detail, photo by HalderStream ©

London, cityofsound.com

Old Jerusalem, photo by MyNameIsOtto ©

Sydney, photo by mpgilbert ©

San Francisco, by Bechtel Engineering

Rome – 4th Century, photo by D. Lauvernier ©

Singapore, photo by mikeleecs ©

Havana, photo by nfolkert ©

Beijing, photo by Tom Vanderbilt ©

Cincinnati, photo by srhbth ©

Pompeii, photo by Chenzofilms ©

Tobu World Square (thanks, Don Draper!)

Legoland (thanks, Richard Ackerman)

Paris, under glass (thanks, malcolm)

If you know of other any other decent cities for our archives, let me know. I'll add it to the ever increasing list (as long as it's a half-decent photo).

More cities from past posts:
• Hiroshima
• 22 Acres of Brooklyn
• Futurama - City of the Future
• Futurama Film (great!)
• New York

Continued below are some photos that don't exactly count as "cities", but I couldn't bear to leave them out...

Reykjivik, photo by The Morally Superior One ©

San Francisco in Jell-O by Elizabeth Hickok ©

Copenhagen Settlement, photo by Robert Ra ©

Building within a Building

Don't be worried! This isn't the real Unite d'Habitation. It's just a gigantic miniature bearing the same name, by artist Tom Sachs. But I warn you; this is not your run-of-the-mill miniature. Mr. Sachs constructed his Unite entirely out of foam board and hot glue!