UK Wired

Possibly a bit weird that I'm quite as excited as I am about seeing this. It's looking good I think, some nice type - I like the squirmy 'start', it's a good springboard, and that header sans is lovely (not sure what it is though, I'm not very good at type-spotting). Some great illustration too, although I'm not sure about the clash of that orange with the orange-toned photograph on screen, but perhaps it will make more sense on paper. Nice portrait too with some lively colour (even with the floating punch-in-the-face arm). The article doesn't mention credits for these unfortunately.

Original article at SPD.

Plundered from Binky the doormat.

LEGO Twitter Fail Whale

LEGO Twitter Fail Whale, originally uploaded by tveskov.

Full marks for effort.

Aoyama Hina

sacla-fee600, originally uploaded by hinaaoyama.

Some amazing papercuts...

More here.

Picasso: Challenging the Past

I went over to the National Gallery a couple of weeks ago to see the new Picasso exhibition there. I'd really recommend seeing it, it was so interesting. His painting is so full of expression, even when his works vary to such a huge degree stylistically I feel he could not help but communicate a sense of how he felt about the subject. For instance, portraits of his first wife from the beginning of their marriage and a couple from later in their relationship certainly betray a lot of feeling about her beyond those of her being a muse. One felt even sarcastic. I can't say I've felt that about a painting before.

One of the more obvious questions the exhibition presents is that of originality and authenticity - these are all paintings openly based on other artists' previous work - and what that means. What is inspiration, and what is, frankly, copying? Picasso presents a range of works where he more than successfully demonstrates that a confident personal style and vision is what shows through beyond subject matter. I think spirit matters too. A lot of this work felt like it was produced for the enjoyment of painting and exploring the concept first and foremost. Anything slightly more commercial just would not, by it's nature, communicate this spirit.


Olga au col de fourrure, Pablo Picasso, 1923.

Words Are Pictures

I came across some fantastic work by Craig Ward today. It's so inspiring, and also really interesting to be able to see the work in progress on his blog. I find other people's work processes quite fascinating, perhaps because I'm not all that confident in my own; it helps de-mystify these fantastic finished pieces a little. Sometimes I don't feel like I exist in the same universe as some of the amazing artists I guff about on here.

Cartoon by Tom Gauld for the Guardian

110. 3d Friends, originally uploaded by tom gauld.

Lovely lovely things.

The Face

The Face 10.87, originally uploaded by nevermindthepollocks.

Ahh, the good old days. A whole Flickr pool of The Face.

The Nature of Things

A lovely bit of surface pattern by the very talented Helen Dardik. I noticed this whilst catching up on my blog reading after my holiday. Helen often posts brand new ideas and patterns on her blog but this one really stood out to me. I love how it doesn't over-sentimentalise our connection to the natural world, but celebrates it in a positive way.

Helen's blog.

I'm back!

View from Sears Tower, originally uploaded by ant217.

I've been off galavanting, but I have my feet back on the ground now. Plenty of posts in the offing, I promise...