Drypoints, from Minu

My Jumper, originally uploaded by sissT.

This new series of drypoint prints from Minu are just lovely. Great characters, and beautiful printing. See more on her Flickr.

Life in Technicolour (nightmares)

I don't get around to watching a lot of music videos, but this just appeared on my tv screen for a few minutes, and now I feel like Chris Martin is going to haunt my nightmares forever. Or a Chris Martin puppet, specifically. I have no issue with puppets, cute puppetty music videos, or puppets in rock star likenesses even. I once saw Beck play an entire set behind a small stage of Jim Henson Studio puppets, and that was bloody brilliant. The main problem I had with it was, aside from the general creepiness of the puppets (possibly a deliberate attempt to avoid being too cutesy, but really, who can tell?) is that it's SO bizarre, SO disturbing, (eerie, frightening, ghoulish, gruesome, hair-raising, horrible, menacing, nightmarish, ominous, shuddersome, sinister, terrifying, threatening, unpleasant, weird, etc...) that not only does it sit very uncomfortably with the song - Life in Technicolour, quite a classic Coldplay-being-amthemic, optimistic type of song - it actually completely distracts you from it. It insists that you don't listen to the song at all.

So, to sum up... it's rubbish.

Thank you. That is all.

Beck puppets = good. Just for your own reference.

Beck's Puppets, originally uploaded by Samuel Stroube.

Lotta Bruhn

Lovely Christmas patterns from Lotta Bruhn. Those birds definitely have an edge of Charley Harper about them - no bad thing...

New from Recycle Club

originally uploaded by recycle club.

New characters on Flickr from the always brilliant Recycle Club. These images make me feel so happy!

Ubiki - Rawr!

I just found this great print after Holly mentioned his work. According to Ubuki "Rawr!" is what monsters say when they're hungry/want a hug. I couldn't agree more!
There are more gorgeous images on Ubiki's Etsy shop.

Sailor in a Cup

sailor in a cup, originally uploaded by Camilla E.

Camilla Engman has been posting the progress of her collaboration with Karin Eriksson on Flickr and her lovely blog, and I had to show you this little sailor. I think he's wonderful, and a beautiful hopeful colour to lift the melancholy feeling. Apparently there's also a heart in the bottom of the cup which Camilla says he is "looking for... or maybe he has lost it.".

Helen Dardik

I found Helen Dardik's blog and portfolio site today via Print Pattern, and it's fantastic! I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. She has a really exciting style and great use of colour and hand-drawn typography - see the bits I pinched from her website above.

Some Nice Packaging

Inspiration

Every so often I'll be feeling a bit low on the inspiration front and I'll come across something that will hit me like a giraffe in the face and remind me, actually, I have plenty of inspiration. I'm surrounded by it. Actually it's prioritising it that's more of a problem.

This really gorgeous sculpture is by Jennie Maneri and inspired by the brilliant Katamari. And if you've never played any Katamari you really really should.

Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century

mustachesofthenineteenthcentury.blogspot.com
Need I say more?

Lego Man Update

Thanks to some detective work (ie. a helpful comment - thanks Anonymous, whoever you are!) it turns out he's quite a popular guy. reddit has some more in depth information but surfice it to say he has been a very popular art installation - until someone dumped him in the sea that is. He even has his own website.

Giant Lego Man Found in the Sea

"No real than you are". What could it mean?

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A giant, smiling Lego man was fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort on Tuesday.

Workers at a drinks stall rescued the 2.5-metre (8-foot) tall model with a yellow head and blue torso.

"We saw something bobbing about in the sea and we decided to take it out of the water," said a stall worker. "It was a life-sized Lego toy."

The World is Going Simpsons Mental

First, a series of 7-11 stores across America magically turn into Kwik-e-Marts. Then Homer's svelte donut-wieldng figure appears alongside the Cerne Abbas giant. Now they've upstaged the world of fashion in this months' Harper's Bazaar with some help from Linda Evangelista.
I get the impression we haven't seen it all yet...

Hair Portraits

Mr Bingo's famous Hair Portraits. Available from a Mr Bingo near you. Or should that be Mr Bizzle? How mysterious.

Olivier Goka

I stumbled across these on Flickr - I love this guy's work, it's all consistently fantastic. Les Humains are my favourites but
Le Bestiaire and Robotheque have the same great characterisation. See his portfolio here.