Is there no end to the stunning portraits? Well, no. (Yay!)

Alyssa Monks

Kiss 2011, 72×48, oil on linen

Tell 30×20, oil on panel, 2011

 

Using filters such as glass, vinyl, water, and steam, I distort the body in shallow painted spaces. These filters allow for large areas of abstract design – islands of color with activated surfaces – while bits of the human form peak through. In a contemporary take on the traditional bathing women, my subjects are pushing against the glass “window”, distorting their own body, aware of and commanding the proverbial male gaze.

 

 

 

Kumi Yamashita

Constellation – nails on wood with a single black thread

Constellation is an ongoing series of portraits by New York artist Kumi Yamashita known most prominently for her innovative light and shadow sculptures. Each image is constructed from a single unbroken black thread wound through a dense array of galvanized nails mounted on a painted white board, meaning that the darker areas within the portrait are formed solely from the density of the string.

Craig Alan

American artist Craig Alan creates unique portraits of pop-culture icons using people as pixels. Some of his famous pieces include Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy and the Statue of Liberty, but probably the most incredible one is the portrait of Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

 

Andre Wee

Between Creation and Destruction, 2012

 

 

Roy Nachum

Colorblind: Golden Boy 2011, Oil On Canvas, 186.69 cm Diameter (73.5″ Diameter)

Forever in your eyes. Here we are again ready to be. Deep but barely there, whispering: I shall be magnificent.

Colorblind: The Queen, 2011, oil on canvas

 

Seung Mo Park

wire mesh : via thisiscolossal.com

Using a process that could be the new definition of meticulous, Korean sculptor Seung Mo Park creates giant ephemeral portraits by cutting layer after layer of wire mesh. Each work begins with a photograph which is superimposed over layers of wire with a projector, then using a subtractive technique Park slowly snips away areas of mesh.

 

matt wisniewski

 

 

 Initially I take a number of portraits and textures I’d like to use and experiment with quick overlays. Once I find a combination that works I’ll expand on it. In terms of technical stuff the actual overlay is as simple as using lighten or multiply in Photoshop. Most of the work is deciding positioning and what parts of each image to show, cleaning things up and matching contrast.

Unique Photo Displays

The world is filled with unique and amazing ways to show pictures of your family. From kitchen back splashes to window screens there are so many unique and awesome ways to enjoy the images of your life.

 

 

 

 

Great kid friendly projects

Summer is here. Schools are getting out and…. Acht!  What to do with the kids?  Well I’ve got a round up of some fabulous artistic kid-friendly projects.

Amazing book of art projects Let’s Make Some Great Art from Marion Deuchars.

 

Great project based on the work of Ted Harrison from That Artist Woman

Fabulous crayon and water color project based on the work of Wolf Kahn.

 

Food color tinted bubbles blown onto paper.

 

Garbage clouds made from lids and other such stuff glued to cardboard and painted.  Cluster them together to create a sky, A Cluster of Clouds – Katie Weymouth.

 

So easy and cool, watercolor on paper with salt sprinkled on it.  The salt soaks up the colors and crystalizes as it dries.

 

Gotta love anything made from kid handprints.

 

 

Is It Art or a Playground? I Say: Playground Art.

When I ran across more photos of Hakone Pavilion by Tezuka Architects (which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago) I began to wonder how many other fun and beautiful play spaces there are out there for kids.  It turns out there are a lot of them… and they’re amazing.  I can’t imagine the excitement that I would have had to be able to play in some of these environments.  Alright, yes, I would still be excited.  Wouldn’t you?

 

Hakone Pavilion | Tezuka Architects

 

Net Z33 | Numen

 

The Patient Gardener | Visiondivision

 

Magic House | Luckey Climbers

 

 

Columbus Commons | Luckey Climbers

 

Brumleby | Monstrum

 

BUGA 05 Playground | Rainer Schmidt Landschaftsarchitekten

Play in Japan

If you’re looking for amazing things to do with your kids in Japan…. look no further.  (Click pix for more info.)

Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam Woods of Net Knitted Wonder Space 2009

This piece is the “sculpture forest at the Hakone Open-Air Museum which,

includes several sculptures that children can play on. These include the “Woods of Net,” created through a collaboration between an artist and a team of architects. The pavilion is made entirely of wood, using traditional techniques seen in Japanese temples. A huge, brightly colored net hangs down from the middle of the pavilion like a giant hammock.

On the Overnight Tour at the Enoshima Aquarium. (C)Enoshima Aquarium

 

The Sagamigawa River Festival; approximately 1,200 koinobori hang from wire strung across the river.

 

You can even tour ninja villages!  Awesome!

Stunning Portraits

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been a sucker for a great portrait.  I’d walk through the museums and look into the faces of people long dead and wonder what route they took to get to the studio.  Did they pass markets?  What did their shoes feel like? What did the roads feel like beneath their feet?  It’s such an exciting notion – to be transported in time to when the paint was fresh and wet.

But then there are some portraits make you wonder more about the artist.  portraits like these. Can you imagine deciding that you’re going to make photorealistic embroidery portraits?  Or use naked humans as your paint?  How about composing the heads of screws to create portraits?  I think they’re all amazing and beautiful and I hope you click through to learn more about the artists.

 

Cayce Zavaglia

detail of Sophie – Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool and Acrylic on Linen, 14 x 35 inches – photo © Cayce Zavaglia

detail of Aunt Lin – Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool and Acrylic on Linen, 16.25 x 29 inches
photo © Yatzer.com

 

Andrew Myers – Screw Art

Portrait of John. Dimensions 48 in x 48 in x 5 in. Medium: screws, oil paint and phone book pages

Portrait of Bill. Dimensions 24 in x 24 in x 4 in. Medium: screws, oil paint and phone book pages

 

Chris Dorosz – Paint Drop Sculptures

stasis 13

stasis 24 (jeff and sheldon with children)

 The ‘paint drop’ sculptures develop the idea of the ‘staple paintings’ further by trapping fallen paint drops in a grid work of clear vertical rods.  Through the viewer’s movements in aligning and de-aligning these pixel-like paint drops, full body portrait forms emerge and vanish.  By placing my subjects in a form of ‘stasis’  through the medium I mean not only to protect them for a little while, but alternately to underscore the tenuous nature of human physicality  where any moment life as we know it might just collapse into a pool of droplets or drift upwards into the atmosphere.

I hate that I don’t know who this artist is.  But I couldn’t leave it out. I found this image, uncredited, on Pinterest.  I think it’s amazing though.