Heroines ~ Artist Manara's Homage to Frontliners

Italian graphic novel artist/illustrator Milo Manara pays homage to the current pandemic's heroic women drawing rather differently than usual...

"Posting his work, he talks about his appreciation of doctors and nurses, ambulance drivers, cleaners, shop assistants, police, delivery workers and more. In terms of content matter, it is still recognisably his work, but it has a different focus."

Margaret by Moonlight ~ Making Mirrors Display!

Epic homage to Apollo software engineer Margaret Hamilton!

Sugi Circles ~ Japanese Tree Spacing Test

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 1973 engaged in...

“experimental forestry” and one of the experiments was to try and measure the effect of tree spacing on growth. The experiment was carried out by planting sugi (Japanese cedar) trees in 10 degree radial increments forming 10 concentric circles of varying diameters."

Artistic + Technicalities ~ Gropius on Bauhaus...

Hear about the Bauhaus from Walter Gropius himself... Plus here's some context with this Bauhaus docu...

ISU Launch Poster ~ Pat Rawlings Space Art!

Wow, I just found Pat Rawlings gallery pages which includes his poster art for the first summer of the International Space University at MIT just over 30 years ago! I was lucky enough to be an undergrad volunteer. One of my favorite posters, btw, an homage to another important Institute;-)

Eclipsed Dreams ~ Future Tourism That Wasn't...

The Atlantic spotlights What Would the Solar Eclipse Look Like From the Moon?

"In 1989, [artist Pat] Rawlings was working on illustrations for a collection of children’s science books by the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. Using acrylics, he painted a view of a solar eclipse as seen from the moon, and named it after the date when the next eclipse would cross over the continental United States: August 21, 2017. This week, Rawlings tweeted a photo of the painting, which is at the top of this story. “I actually thought 28 years in the future tourists might watch the eclipse from the Moon,” he wrote. “Sigh.”

P.S. Here's the real thing from Mon 8/21/2017...

"Scientists at UW–Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) observed the eclipse through the eye of one of the world’s most advanced weather satellites, GOES-16. The eclipse images from the satellite were taken at a rate of one every five minutes. Stitched together, the images show the shadow of the moon tracking west to east across the continental United States."

Plus here's a previous eclipse seen in March 2016 over ASEAN + Pacific region via the Himawari-8 Spacecraft in Geostationary orbit!

R.I.P. Ootje Oxenaar ~ Designed NL Banknotes...

Sad to hear that Ootje Oxenaar, the graphic designer of beautiful Dutch money and RISD instructor, has passed away at 87. I particularly liked his Sunflower design for the 50 Guilder note, which was NL orange plus harkened to Van Gogh and was a complete contrast to monolithic American currency at the time... 24Oranges spotted this self retrospective video by Oxenaar...

R.I.P. Peter Spier ~ Epic Dutch Inspiring Illustrator

Richard Sandomir in the NYTimes shares the sad news that inspirational illustrator Peter Spier has passed away at 89 from congestive heart failure. My very earliest favorite book -- i.e. when I was a toddler and my parents read to me -- was about Hendrika the Cow Who Fell in the Canal but as a teen I really spent endless hours on Of Dikes and Windmills. Amazing stuff about Dutch history, epic civil engineering, and the power of nature!

Slow Dance ~ An Art Frame That Warps Time!

Jeff Lieberman is at it again, this time Kickstarting Slow Dance...

"A picture frame that makes real objects appear to move in slow motion. By taking advantage of the limits of human visual perception, this optical illusion sculpture appears to be doing the impossible -- right before your eyes. Slow Dance combines technology, science, and art, in order to remind us of the natural mystery, beauty, and wonder that surround us every day."

WOVNS ~ Kickin Woven Textiles-on-Demand!

WOVNS is Kickstarting now to allow you to turn digital designs into custom short-run Jacquard-woven fabric!

"WOVNS is a platform that empowers everyone to create their own woven textiles. Unlike digital printing, weaving integrates a design into the very construction of the fabric, yielding a textile rich in both color and texture. WOVNS fabric is perfect for medium-weight apparel such as shorts, dresses, bags, and wraps, as well as home decor including upholstery, pillows, and throws. Or think of your own creative uses."

Vincent Who ~ van Gogh & Dr @ Musée d'Orsay

If only time travel...

"The Doctor and Amy take Vincent Van Gogh -- who struggled to sell a single painting in his own lifetime -- to a Paris art Gallery in the year 2010. Emotional scenes from Doctor Who Series 5 Episode 10, Vincent and the Doctor."

And here is good geo-biography of van G...

Rainworks ~ Water-Activated Urban Art!

Peregrine Church makes Rainworks urban art only seen when wet! Interesting variant on Reverse Graffiti!

Afripedia ~ African Arts & Cultural Creatives

Thanks to Africa Unchained's Emeka Okafor for spotlighting Afripedia. Check out their first handful of trailers...

Anthem Vet Memorial ~ Sunspot at 11:11 on 11/11

Behold Mike Spinelli's beautiful photo of Anthem Veterans Memorial!

"At precisely 11:11 a.m. each Veterans Day (Nov. 11), the sun’s rays pass through the ellipses of the five Armed Services pillars to form a perfect solar spotlight over a mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States."

Let's never forget those who had to fight or stood ready to.

Pop-Up Cards ~ Dahmen's Artistic Creations!

Kuriositas spots Peter Dahmen’s pop-up card creations!

McLaren F1 ~ Owner's Manual as Work-of-Art!

BBC's Matthew Phenix spotlights the Owner's manual as work of art...

"In this five-minute film, McLaren’s Design Operations Manager, Mark Roberts, discusses his first job with the company: illustrating the owner’s handbook for the F1 road car back in 1992. As he did with the car itself, McLaren chief Gordon Murray oversaw every aspect of the handbook’s creation. No surprise, the book was a clothbound work of art, every bit as meticulously crafted as the car it described. The illustration style -- pencil drawings with colour washes that highlight relevant areas -- is one that, with a modest smirk, Roberts calls “almost Leonardo-like.”

Howtoons ~ Tools of Mass Construction 2014!

The ultimate Tools of Mass Construction are shipping!

"The Howtoons book is out in comic books stores! This 360 page book celebrates our 10th anniversary with over 70 projects!"

Get On Up ~ The Epic James Brown Story!

James Brown, genius musician, bio-pic Get On Up!...

Magic Carpets ~ Chevalier's Smartbulb Artwork...

designboom spots French artist Miguel Chevalier's huge 50 x 10m (164 x 33ft) interactive light display -- Magic Carpets -- covering the floor of the former Sacré Coeur church in Casablanca, Morocco...