Alonline » art

Wim Delvoye – weird artist, clever website

Al — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:41:08 +0000

I’m not sure I like this guy’s art, although some of it is definitely more to my taste than the rest, but I rather like the way he has designed his website. He’s built a nice orthogonal 8-bit town to provide meaningful links to various aspects of his work. His Art Farm is clearly visible as a farm, and his more scatological pieces are hinted at by having a toilet to click on. Definitely a clever way of presenting your work to the viewer.

Painting Jack Sparrow

Al — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:07:08 +0000

This is quite cool. It’s always interesting to see how experts ply their trade, and in this instance the painter is certainly a Photoshop expert who produces a very good resemblance of Jack Sparrow. I like the way the layers are built up from skull to full portrait, with good detailing as well. I only wish I could draw or paint like this.

Learn how to draw at 5min.com

Amazing biro art

Al — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:53:14 +0000

When I was in school I was friendly with a guy who could draw amazing cartoons with a biro. He still has this ability, as far as I know, and is an excellent artist. However, this guy had taken biro art into the photo-realistic realm, and he does it scarily well. When you first see these pictures you assume they are photographs, but when you watch him work you can see how well he can draw with a simple biro. I’m impressed.

Astrona – top quality space art

Al — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:29:37 +0000

I came across this site today and it took me right back to when I was a young kid and just getting into SF. At the tender age of 10, or 11, I can remember finding a discount book bin in Woolworths, and buying trashy SF and fantasy books for 10p: one of the deciding factors in which book to buy was the artwork on the cover. Good cover art can evoke a sense of wonder and conjure up exciting possibilities, and can make you dream of great things to come in the future.

Seeing some of the art of Chris Foss and Tim White reminded me of books I have read and loved, and really brought back that feeling of wonder I had as a kid. I wish my library was here with me now, rather than still in my mother’s house, as I could happily pick up a book I haven’t read for 20 years and try to relive my childhood again. Although I doubt I’d ever again fully agree with Robert A Heinlein’s politics, or see the Lensman series as anything more than a fine example of antique SF, or read 2001 without having the images from the film colouring my imagination, or realise that God Emperor of Dune might actually be the best book of the series, or find the time to read the Gormenghast trilogy: although I’ll never be able to do those things again – I really want to.

Anyway, back to Astrona as it’s a website worth visiting. Have a browse of the art on offer there and see if it kindles any excitement and wonder in you. If it does then get out and read some SF, because I’m going to. I’m bored of playing games at the moment, and I’m getting bored of the Internet as well, and I have a vast library of quality SF, some of which I haven’t read in 20 years. So I think I’ll start with either E.E. Doc Smith, Heinlein or Moorcock, and then work my way through to more modern stuff – I’d like to see if it’s possible to regain my sense of wonder again.

Rice field art

Al — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 22:42:30 +0000

Cool art created in rice fields by careful planting of different types of rice. The designs are well executed and must take a lot of careful planning to make sure that they are planted at the right time, and that they are legible once sown. The results are great, but ephemeral.

Salad Alien

Al — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:33:37 +0000

Clever use of salad to make an excellent representation of an Alien.

Faces – clever picture

Al — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:43:13 +0000

PaintJam – can you tell what it is yet?

Al — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 02:18:58 +0000

This is clever. Even cleverer than some of Rolf Harris’s best works. I absolutely guarantee that you won’t be able to tell what is being painted until he finally spins the board. Watch, and be impressed.

Stephane Halleux – more steampunkery

Al — Thu, 03 May 2007 00:34:32 +0000

These are rather wonderful steampunk(ish) designs. I like a number of the vehicles, the cockroach style creature riding the bike is fantastic, and the robots are cool as well. I only wish the site was in English, and that there was a price list as well.

Retro-futuristic postcards from 1900

Al — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:55:39 +0000

This series of postcards shows what people were expecting the year 2000 to be like. I guess humans just don’t like conforming to stereotypes, and so we have not developed any of these technologies, apart from television, yet. Still, it’s nice to see the faith the Victorian era had in the advancement of the future. If only we had the same faith today.