Art Wortd Coop

This video, and the interview re-published at artnode, seem like more proof that the brilliance of the artist is often quite distant from the brilliance of the onlooker. Surrounded by "modern technology", he might, in retrospect, appear like a child enjoying his toys. Especially in the interview, it seems like it's the journalist who has all these great ideas, and Warhol just happily agrees with what he hears...
The enthusiasm for new technologies, when watched twenty years later, has something funny, but also something eery about it.
But if you read carefuly, there is one remarkable moment: when the journalist suggests that Andy (and the other artists) can now do everything by themselves - music, video, editing, etc., the artist agrees. But when asked if he has been doing it, he answers he hasn't had time because he is still exploring the visual art side of the computer.
So beyond this enthusiasm for all that is new, lies an aproach that is at once pragmatic and somehow... healthily conservative?

(via)

A free brush set for Adobe Illustrator from Human Nature. This pack contains four brushes that will turn your strokes into organic shapes that look a lot like alien insect creatures...

You can get more effects by experimenting with different stroke size, color and layer transparency.

To use, load the PDF file in Adobe Illustrator (Use the File>Open method, not click+drag) and open the Brushes Palette (Window>Brushes). Download

Wow, Art Paw was featured on the HGTV blog "Design Happens" by Kristine Brabson. The article titled "Creature Comforts" was posted earlier in Feb. and you can read it by clicking here. If I would only check my web logs more often I would have noticed the spike in traffic. Thanks for the shout out Kristine and we would love to work on your puppy Nico. You listed some very talented artists and we are happy to have been included.

luisnct.com



Keywords: epic war space battle art ships over planet fight concept ship art scene by luis nunez de castro

George at the Behold the Geek! comics blog doubled the size of my 1:2 scale Mjolnir papercraft template to create a full size (1:1 scale) version of Marvel's vision of Thor's mystical hammer. Nice work George! I am hoping to post more Marvel Comics papercraft designs in the future. My current Marvel work in progress is a 1:2 scale version of Blink's quiver from the Age of Apocalypse storyline.

A stunning brush set for Adobe Illustrator from HumanNature84. The pack contains ten art brushes which can be used for drawing organic graphics or decorating abstract compositions.

If you experiment with different stroke sizes, colors and layer opacity value, you will get a variety of eye catchy effects...

To use, load the PDF file with Adobe Illustrator (File>Open) and bring up the brush palette (Window>Brushes). Download

Nice ship in hangar scene by mikems.ru.



Keywords: 3d three dimensional docked spaceship in hangar scene concept from by mikems.ru sci-fi russian concept art

This handsome pup is Clyde. I am usually hesitant to work on hard profile portraits however in this case I think it turned out really nice. Sometimes when a pup is staring off the canvas in one direction your eye will follow that stare. I think in Clyde's case we are left wondering what he is thinking about and his noble calm expression tells us a lot about him.

About the Art: This was a painterly project and if you check out his proofing set you will see some softer versions. This sample has a crisp posterize effect on top of the painterly work. Lately I have been wanting to see more contrast in my work and I have been playing more with filters on top of the smudge work.

Here is what I imagine:
I invite all of you to my house (Warsaw, Poland), and together we sit and watch I Love Alaska. Maybe it's not because this is the perfect work to be enjoying with a group of people you've only just met. (It probably isn't). Maybe it has more to do with how surprizingly far this blog has led. In many ways.
One of them is you. Right now, there are hundreds of you coming to this blog every day. There is over a hundred people following New Art "formally" via blogger.com, plus many many others via feeds and such, plus the hundreds of people who drop by every now and then... I've been receiving your kind e-mails, and enjoy visiting all the blogs, portfolios, sites that you publish or recommend. Some of you have been coming here nearly since the beginning, but it's also very exciting for me to get feedback from newcomers. I've come to know you a little, and, so to speak, enjoy your company on this ride. Many of you are in the arts, others are students, for many of you I suppose this is more of a curious entertainment. All this means not only that you enjoy the art I showcase, but certainly, to some extent we share a common sensibility. Wouldn't it be delicious to have just a part of us meet and enjoy some of this art together? Sit down, have a glass of wine, watch the film, then talk about art and life and simplicity and complexity, and how the mountains are majestic, and America does or doesn't influence the world, and share other references (all the Brokeback Mountains, Into The Wilds, Cremasters that come to mind...), ideas, passions. (You know, meeting in real life someone you've hardly even known online ;))
Not a festival, but a get-together.
And then of course we would party all night, and probably go to the shore of the Vistula river, and maybe make a field trip the next day. But the moment of a genuine and common esthetic experience, together, would have been ours.
This is what I imagine.
And you know what? - we actually could do it.
(To be continued)

In the articles section of iStockphoto.com, I found a great material about using color modes when working with vectors. 

Wow... I've been out the shop the last few days due to something very flu like. Trying.... to... shake it... OFF!

Check out Dan Luvisi!







Keywords: colorful watercraft ocean cliff tower surf race concept ships stylized robotech macross valkyrie plane robot ship concepts

Oh were this the universe!
Were it but a combination of lines, a simple picture of perfection, were the universe a set of twigs and seeds with their mathematical omnipotence!
Oh were there nothing else, nothing but the point where everything meets, nothing but the shape it all embodies. And the shadow of the reflection of a shadow of the Work, just to outscore its very depth of space, just to give us the distance we need to be closer.
Oh were it all we need, the joyful meeting of vectors, the unswerving presence of fragility.

Oh were there no shadow in the top left corner, coming from elsewhere.

Both pictures are of sculptures by Christiane Löhr.

Here is a simple, two piece papercraft lion coin bank. It makes a perfect project for young children just learning the ways of papercraft and when finished, they can use it to store their allowance. This bank is offered by the Practice Loan Company on their website here. As you might guess by the coat of arms on the lion's tummy, the company is located in England. Thanks Andy for letting me know about this one!

Sometimes clients will submit a handful of photos that all fall a tad short in some way. You can tell from all of the photos submitted of Sophie that she is an adorable little Yorkie. She is just as cute as a button and unfortunately she is about the size of a button in most of the images submitted. It is important to get up very close to your pets when shooting images for an Art Paw pet portrait. In the final image above we can see Sophie's pretty eyes and I was happy to clone out the hand in this image since the coat was well lit and had plenty of detail. At 176 kb it was a little low in resolution, however it will work fine for the 12 x 12 canvas ordered. I am really having fun with this project and plan to proof later today. I think Sophie is going to turn out really fun.

We do have a couple of great pages on the site with tips for taking good pet photographs:
http://artpaw.com/phototips.html
http://artpaw.com/phototips2.html

I am loving my job today, and loving this adorable Schnauzer. Kozmo lives in Bloomington Minnesota. I am also working on his brother today, Newman. His human tells us that Kozmo is the older more mellow pup. A sensitive boy, he will pin his ears back if you raise your voice.

About the Art:
The sample above is one of my bolder options provided. I created it by using my painterly style, and I worked and smudged the pixels around in the soft way I usually do. Then when I got it to a happy place I made a duplicate image and posterzied my work. Then I painted on top of that posterized layer with digital paint strokes and smudge finger painting. The background is a brand new ground created from and old ground and the shape tool.

This afternoon I am working on Miss Tiffany. I think she is an American Bulldog although I could be very wrong. She may be a Pitt. I do know she is a stunning girl, and I do know that this pet portrait will ship to Ft. Lauderdale Florida. I also know I have a lot more work to do, so I should get back to it.

This stunning pup is Trooper. I just uploaded his proofing set. The eyes in this original photograph were lovely and I immediately fell for this big guy. This pet portrait will ship to Coronado California. I visited Coronado once when I was a teenager and it was a lovely place. My old assistant Matt always asked me where each piece was shipping, he was fascinated by the fact the we are able to attract clients from all over the globe. I was always so crazy busy with orders I often would not even notice addresses until it was time to package things up, so I would tell him "I dunno". Lately I have been wanting to get away so I am really starting to be aware of the destinations of my artwork.

The artist going by the name of Above made this stencil in Lisbon. (I actually know the lady sitting on the right - she is one of Lisbon's classic characters). In a gesture the artist herhimself admits robinwoodesque, Above is selling prints of this picture and will give all the profits to two charities she has previously selected. More info here.

VW Beetle Series, Part 6
The template for this Herbie the Love Bug papercraft was originally published in a 1974 issue of a German Disney magazine for kids. I couldn't locate a picture of the finished model, so assembling this Beetle was largely a matter of trial and error. The template has four pages and if it were printed one page per letter size sheet the resulting model would end up being about 10" (25 cm) long. I chose to print two template pages per sheet which gave me a final model about half that size. A download of the template can be found here.

This is a short fragment of my work called The Actors. The first volume - Reconnaissance lasts 50 minutes. You can see this excerpt in sort-of-HD here.
Any galleries interested in showing this work, write me, and I'll send you a DVD.

I know this week's header is not too spaceshippy:) I made the shot a while back... It was heavily influenced by Close encounters of the third kind and I'm trying to keep with my animated header theme. Next week though... I'm dropping a bomb of an article on you so stay tuned in!

Here are some recent posts from the conceptships.org board. Sorry if I left anyone out... I gotchu next time.



Artbot


bbzwbbzw


il_barbudo


Marian


RAIVAN


Punchy



Hypnoville

Best of conceptships.org conceptships weekly header #44 February 20th - April 16th, 2009

Keywords: best of conceptships.org forum board posts digital concept spaceship model art google sketch up renders

Collection of some vector templates for business stuff.
Author unknown. Only for personal use.
1 AI : 1,3 MB

Download

1 of 6 collections of some tattoo cliparts.
Authors unknown.
1 AI : 2,9 MB

Download

The safari browser. Very useful for your web presentations. Enjoy!
Author unknown.
1 AI : 6,8 MB

Download

A nice old vector aircraft.
Author unknown. Only for personal use.
1 AI : 1,2 MB

Download

Today's video is a very short clip of dinner preparation at our house. My good friend Sheila was visiting earlier this week and she shot us working in the kitchen. If you are like us you have experimented with a variety of fancy premium foods for your pets. I find the most important ingredient can be love and enthusiasm at dinner time. Enjoy the silliness and happy Friday.

When I did my first pizza paper toy I really hadn't planned on doing any other ones, but shortly after I finished my first design I came across another unusual pizza I just had to do. Could it be the beginnings of a pizza papertoy series? Time will tell. ;)

In the US in 1999 just before Star Wars: Episode 1 was released, Pizza Hut participated in a massive advertising campaign to promote the movie. Part of the campaign involved pizza boxes that featured nine different characters from Episode 1. One of the characters on the large size pizza boxes was none other than Darth Maul. This papertoy is a miniature replica of that box. The first pizza papertoy had a supreme pizza. This one has a pepperoni pizza. The template info is as follows:

Template Info
Scale: 1:4
Finished Size: 4"(10 cm) x 4"(10 cm) x 1/2"(1.3 cm)
Number of sheets: 2
Number of parts: 3
Difficulty: 1/5
Download: Here

My father doesn't understand the Internet. Writing a single email can take him an hour or more. When I talk to him about how I'm finding work (and getting paid) on the Internet, he is dumbfounded.

In my father's world, you go to a place of employment, you fill out an application, and you wait to hear from a manager. In my father's world, you go to a physical place, called "the office," and work for the greater part of the day. Then you come home, eat dinner, perhaps read a book or watch TV, and go to bed.

Suffice it to say we are not living in the same world.

The collapse of the current economy is my father's world. We will look back on this pre-global economy, how banks used to work, how governments ran, how corporations churned out cash, how medical insurance was dispensed or not dispensed, and wonder how it all hung together for so long.

After this crisis is over--if our economy is to regenerate and be given a second life--I believe we will see a new model of business rise up from the ashes of the old economy.

A decentralized model. A global model. A democratic model. A model based on social technology.

Corporate capitalism will still be there. But it will exist alongside its younger sibling like a warty inmate imprisoned inside its own structure.

Collective intelligence will provide the counterpoint to ego-driven profit-mongering. Because collective intelligence promises a dissemination of knowledge, a sense of connection with the greater community, and a spirit of creativity and invention. Most of the things that, ironically, corporations lack.

We will be motivated to share our knowledge and combine our skills more than we will be motivated to make a quick buck. We will come to see the benefits of helping a community, rather than destroying it.

The current crisis was brought on by a profound lack of collective intelligence in major sectors of the economy. Banks were blindsided by investment firms; investment firms were blindsided by corporations; and the US government was blindsided by all of them.

Alliances were formed on the basis of self-interest. Each sector was only looking out for itself. This is the rot of corporate economics, bending the rules to make more money for one institution and not another. The system was rigged toward personal gain.



Social Technology Means Something Different

How will this change? How can this change?

Social technology is not based on personal gain. Social technology is about connection and sharing.

Social technology is a new way of relating to each other. But in contrast to the "exchange" of my father's world, which is quid pro quo, social technology is a macro-level exchange that regulates itself.

Knowledge is free. Wikipedia is created by hundreds of thousands of people. When you search for a term in Wikipedia, you do not "see" the exchange. People have done the work to aggregate and synthesize the data for you. Therefore, exchange occurs on the macro-level, not on the micro-level as it was done before. Social technology is a free exchange of resources and information.

For some reason, I want to help others succeed in this new economic model. Why? I don't even know who I'm helping. Most likely these global citizens don't live in my city or country. I've never met them before, but I want to connect with them for some reason. The greater good is not an abstract concept anymore. It is a global democratic economy in action.

In this new world, resources are not limited; they are abundant. Jobs are not few; they are many. Ideas are not exchanged between people in a room; they are exchanged between whole populations.



Here are some examples of how social technology is transforming our world.

1. My professional blog is my storefront.

People who are interested in my SEO services can read about what I am doing on a weekly basis. They can find out about my clients. They can investigate my business. They can learn about my background and decide if my services match their goals.

How is this social technology?

Without a bricks-and-mortar building to sell my wares, I can conduct business with vastly diminished overhead costs. With fewer overhead costs, I can base my services in communication. In fact, my business revolves around social communication. My professional blog gives away "free knowledge". And my advertising is built into my product.

2. Higher Education needs to be re-examined. Self-education is key.

I don't believe in higher education. I would say it is little short of a scam. Look at all the people who have degrees and can't find jobs. Wasn't that the reason why they got the degrees in the first place?

And what about those who took out loans? Like my girlfriend who has the emotional and financial burden of over $100,000 in debt.

After devoting yourself to a specialized field for X number of years, you graduate learning there are only certain jobs you qualify for. The other jobs require different degrees.

Who came up with this system? The reality is most people change their jobs seven times before they are 35 years old.

The Internet and social technology will eventually make higher education obsolete. We are beginning to see the tears in the fabric already.

In a fluid, global economy, self-education means that the people learn technical skills from the knowledge available to them. And their merit is determined not by institutional certificates but by their work performed. Knowledge resists institutionalization. Eventually, it will be that you miss out on an education by going to school.



3. Experts are available on the Internet.

In my father's world, you had to pay to get information. In my father's world, you needed a degree to gain "knowledge". In my father's world, you needed money to make money.

In my world, information and knowledge are free. Not only that but information flows down infinite channels.

One of the most innovative social technologies is Yahoo! Answers. At first glance, the service may seem banal. But when you step back and think of the implications of this interface, it is truly profound. On Yahoo! Answers you ask a question to the online public. For each question you ask, it costs one point. You are given 100 points to begin with. After you ask the question, you wait for a message in your mail box alerting you that someone has answered your question.

You can accrue points by answering questions. I was so delighted to use this social technology the other day that immediately after asking a question, I wanted to answer one. There is a feed on the main page with all the questions being asked in real-time. You can pick one and answer it, providing you know the answer.

One girl wanted to know if she should quit her restaurant manager position that is paying her $50,000 a year but killing her in the process. I wrote back, "Quit your job and find something that deeply fulfills you. If you are doing what you love, the money will follow."

The question I needed to ask was technical. But answers are answers. If someone is in a pickle and needs help, it doesn't matter if the question is technical, philosophical, or emotional. The answer can make a difference.

Why am I so thrilled about Yahoo! Answers? The service allowed me to find several answers to my question from different people and it put me into contact with an expert.

Yahoo! Answers, like Wikipedia, demonstrates the power of collective intelligence.

And there are other ways to find experts on the web. With the proliferation of blogs, you can find an expert on any topic, sub-topic, or sub-sub-topic. Bloggers will want to share their knowledge with you because they are passionate about the information.

I've had lots of success with contacting people through their blogs. Not once have I been denied the answer to my question.



4. Contract bid sites such as Elance.com can provide you with a significant source of income.

Elance.com is a site for freelancers of every feather--called providers--and employers--called buyers--looking for virtual labor. Before you can search for jobs, you have to take an initial test about the site itself. You then set up a profile and buy credits based on your chosen field. Twenty credits costs about ten dollars. Each bid can cost between one and four credits, depending on the length of the project. To make a bid, you write a proposal.

You can look at the buyer's information and see their track record; how much money they spent on Elance and what other providers say about them. This transparency aids in the process of knowing which bids to go for and which to avoid.

The real gem of Elance is its popularity. There are fresh jobs constantly. While a major complaint is that the bidding system allows the buyers an advantage over providers, you will also find a wide range of buyers with a wide range of budgets. I'm working for an SEO company in San Francisco and being paid reasonably to write and syndicate press releases. The more jobs I'm awarded on Elance, the more I'm able to solidify my reputation and gain a competitive price from my work.

Why is this social technology?

Individuals are sorted and matched according to a system of needs. I can provide a skill to someone on the other side of the world, which opens up my job market exponentially. A buyer can find higher quality work for cheaper by not having to go through the monopoly of corporate providers.

What is the result? Big business is being undercut. Small businesses and entrepreneurs are able to thrive. Recently I talked with a major SEO company in Chicago. I wanted to know if they were hiring. The person who answered the phone said they were not. "Have you noticed the economy isn't doing so well?" he said. "Well, advertising budgets are the first to go."

"I have a different theory," I said. "I think the economy is in major transition. I provide SEO services and haven't found any lack of opportunities. I think it's your position as a large company that's hurting."

Elance is the future of the workplace. Everyone outsources everyone else. Everyone works from home.

Big corporations will crumble under the collective force of millions.

Conclusion

Okay, I'm not so naive to actually think that corporations will become extinct anytime soon. But I'm excited about a global democratic economy that is emerging and that is helping me from being poor. After the despair of my father's world passes, we will wake up to what we can do with technology and collective intelligence .

Some of the possibilities are already beginning to dawn on us.

ARTWORK BY CHRIS JOHANSON

xtrm3d portfolio on cgsociety.org.








Keywords: french concept artist modeler polygon engineer at naughty dog santa monica christophe desse 3d concept spaceship model design render art