Sidewalk Illusions

Optical illusions have always fascinated me, as has street art, but recently I have seen some pieces that have perfectly combined the two. Whether they are huge landscapes or small objects, most rely on perspective to produce an effect. If you look at them from any other angle, they are out of proportion and lopsided.

This is one of the most impressive I found. I admire the time put into such a temporary piece.

inspirationfeed.com 

While being one of the smaller pieces I saw, I like the realistic look to this one.

www.thegreenhead.com

I thought this particular piece was a very creative use of a corner, and I love the depth and believable look .

itlever.com 

Here are a couple for my fellow geeks. I love the depth in these two.

comicpoplibrary.com

www.deltaattack.com 

Doodles

There are those of us who simply cannot keep the pen separated from the paper, even when we have little time to create a masterpiece. The English language has coined a term for this. We call it doodling.

Even in an art form that is defined by quick and hurried sketches, some people (myself unfortunately not included) can create beautiful and unique artwork, simply by touching a pen to paper and watching what happens. I have chosen a few of my favorite doodling styles to list here.

While working with lined paper may not be preferable, some find a way to work around it, and even incorporate it into the doodle, such as these two pieces.

www.pinterest.com

www.pinterest.com

Another recently popular form of doodling is Zentangles. These are made by dividing a ground into blocks (or other shapes), then filling each section in with a different repeating pattern. They can be done in black & white of color, and each one ends up looking unique.

fashionplaceface.com

thelonelymaiden.deviantart.com 

Another common doodle includes a word or phrase, usually relevant to the design in some way. Bonus points if you can make it into a shape, like this very interesting elephant.

www.pinterest.com 

dcondry.blogspot.com 

Inspired: How a Book is Born

One of the most basic ideas in writing is taking a simple idea, and building on it until you have something new. If you look at any book, movie, television show, etc., you can get an idea of where those ideas come from. In some cases, the story has changed so much that the inspiration is hard to see, but in others it is very clear. Some, including a few of my personal favorites, make their sources intentionally obvious.

Many recent Young Adult novels base their story lines on historical events, mythology, fairy tales, or similar ideas, and have been amazingly successful. This list includes some of my favorite novels with clear source material.

1.) Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Rick Riordan)

Probably one of the most well known mythology based series, this young adult book and its sequels take inspiration from ancient Greek myths. The spin-off/sequel series Heroes of Olympus adds in a take on myths from ancient Rome as well.

2.) The Lunar Chronicles (Marissa Meyer)

This futuristic series is based on classic fairy tales. The first book takes inspiration from Cinderella, with the rest of the series based on Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White, all set in a post-apocalyptic future.

3.) The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (Michael Scott)

This series combines mythology of several different sources, including Greek, Egyptian, Celtic, Norse, Biblical, Japanese, and Arthurian legend. The books also include various historical figures and events, all meshed together in modern-day cities.

4.) The Blackwell Pages (K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr)

A similar concept to the Percy Jackson Series, this series combines the modern world with ancient Norse mythology.

Please feel free to comment any book suggestions for this list, and I will consider reading them! Thanks for reading!

Pumpkins

Fall is in the air, and so is Halloween! Costumes are being made, and decorations are starting to appear wherever you look. One tradition most of us look forward to is decorating pumpkins, and there is no shortage of weird and wacky designs to be found. Countless carvers will opt for the traditional Jack’O’Lantern smile or a painted monster face, but I have compiled a list of some of my favorites. (In no particular order)

1.)  Hamburger Pumpkin from whatsurhomestory.com 

Definitely an eye-catcher, this hamburger themed pumpkin is the first I’ve seen of this idea. I especially like the pumpkin seeds as sesame seeds on the “bun”.

2.) Cinderella’s Carriage Pumpkin from thenatureofgrace.blogspot.com

Although I have seen several of this design, I love the adorable fairy-tale appeal of them. A similar design would also make for simple carving work.

3.) Rainbow Fish Pumpkin from www.pinterest.com

I love designs based off books and this one is no exception. This sweet children’s book makes an excellent pumpkin design.

4.) Gollum Pumpkin from kelswhere.blogspot.com

Now there’s an eye-opener and no mistake. Speaking of book designs, Gollum from Lord of the Rings looks very realistic carved onto this pumpkin.

4.) Tree Bark Pumpkin from dailydalia.wordpress.com

While this design is simple and understated, it certainly makes a trick-or-treater look twice at its intricately carved lines.

5.) Hungry Hungry Pumpkin(s) from www.uwumca.com

I love that this one uses several small pumpkins in its design, as well as a LOT of detailed carving.

6.) Lucky Cat Pumpkin from www.bandofcats.com

Based off the traditional Japanese Maneki Neko (luck or fortune cat) with a waving paw, this design is most likely welcoming trick-or-treaters!

7.) Puffy Paint Pumpkins from www.simonedesignblog.com

This design looks very elegant and complicated, but they were painted with puffy paint! That would be a lot of hard work, but with a beautiful end result.

8.) Dragon Pumpkin from www.designbolts.com

This one must have taken a while to carve! The result? A fantastically carved dragon.

9.) Celtic Horse Pumpkin from www.designbolts.com

From the same list as the last design, I chose this one for its beautiful layers of carving and intricate curves.

10.) Pokemon Evolution Pumpkin from www.gamefront.com

I chose my final design for its layers and simple silhouettes. As a note to all the readers of this post, it was found in a search for geeky pumpkin carvings. There were so many that I loved, everything from Star Trek and Doctor Who to superheroes and video games. I found carvings from anime, movies, novels, logos, Star Wars, Harry Potter, dice games, viral videos, and many more fantastically geeky sources.

Please comment about your favorite designs, and thank you for reading!

 

Wabi Sabi

Hello all! Welcome to my blog, and I’m sorry there’s not much here. It’s taken me a while to get this off the ground. For my first post, I’d like to share a children’s book that has changed the way I look at art. Wabi Sabi by Mark Riebsein, and illustrated by Ed Young, is the story of Wabi Sabi the cat. Set in Tokyo, Japan, it is the story of a little cat’s journey to find out what her name means. While it is a charming story in itself, Wabi Sabi is quite a beautiful concept. The simple beauty in natural things; the unadorned, ordinary, imperfect state some, like myself, find so wonderful. It is a Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in simplicity, and offers the idea that the world has much for us to see, if we only opened our eyes.