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Twitter Art Button
Posted On 07-01-2009 , 11:28 PM
"Boredom is not an end-product, is comparatively rather an early stage in life and art. You've got to go by or past or through boredom, as through a filter, before the clear product emerges." ---F. Scott Fitzgerald
I've been sick for the last few days, during which I had every intention of drawing. I even started a peice that is currently little more than an outline in my sketchbook. However, being sick, I couldn't get my brain to focus on anything as consuming as art.
It wasn't until tonight that my concentration (and a significant amount of boredom) finally brought pen to hand. And of course, what could be better tonight than making a personalized Twitter button? I know I've made a few of these previously, but I wanted to make one specifically for my personal use, rather than the more generic ones of before. More like the ones on British Movie Classics and Broadway Musical Nut.
I did a little searching around and looking at different styles. Then, finally came up with the below image.
Thoughts? Opinions?
I'll probably go back in and adjust the coloring on the bird at some point. He's a little rough right now. I also don't know that I like how the tongue turned out. I have a nasty habit of biting my tongue when I concentrate (something my fiance forever teases me about) so thought it'd be cute for my bird to do the same...unfortunately the tongue turned out looking more like a worm hanging out of it's mouth. *Sigh*
As it is, it is nearly midnight and my cold medicine is kicking in....so I'll call him temporarily complete. We'll play with him a bit more at a later time and see what I can do to fix him up. Oh, and if you're interested in seeing the original sketch (before I stuck the bird into Photoshop and worked my magic) here it is:
Feedback is always welcome and appreciated. Especially as I still want to tidy this up before I officially decide it is complete. So if you see anything wrong or just off about it, I'd highly appreciate the heads up.
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Inuit Art Sculptures
Posted On 06-18-2009 , 1:04 PM
I've been a little behind on my blogging the past week. Truth is, I'm working on a project for this site (no, not an art project) and have been...procrastinating. I'm not going to announce what I'm doing yet, but hopefully you will see the project's results up and running soon.
In the meantime, enjoy this video of Inuit Art Sculptures.
I'm a bit of a history fan, so when you combine history and art you've got my immediate attention. Hopefully, the art angle will make the video attention-worthy for anyone who visits here. History doesn't get enough good attention.
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Wedding Cake Final
Posted On 06-01-2009 , 11:47 PM
Well, the cake didn't turn out near as well as I would have liked, but the bride and groom were happy. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate pudding filling and chocolate icing. Three tiers (a total of 6 cake layers) and an unfrostinged single cake for the bride. The decorated cake was dark brown with a white spiderweb climbing the side and a white rose (with white leaves) on top.
The cake topper I ordered ended up being too heavy for the cake. Actually, the cake was too heavy for the cake. Apparently the chocolate cake I chose was so soft that it couldn't take much weight and the entire thing started tilting to one side (a leaning tower of cake!). Here are some pics from the reception:
1: The cake, in all it's leaning glory:
2: A close-up of the topper:
3: Bride and Groom cutting the cake:
4: Feeding each other:
There were a lot more pictures of the reception, but they are all friends and family pictures that (unless you know us) I'm sure none of you care about. The reception was great though. Black table clothes (on most the tables), white and red flowers streaming the table, and glass bottles labelled "Embalming Juice" used as vases. To top it all off, the bride and groom drove to and from the reception in their black hearse with "Just Married" painted on the back.
It really was a blast, and they loved the cake, even if I was disappointed with it.
P.S. Special thanks to the groom's sister, who actually photographed all this.
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Drawing Day Again
Posted On 05-27-2009 , 5:45 PM
I can’t believe it’s been a year already! June 6, 2009 – Drawing Day. Mark it on your calendars, email it to friends, blog about it, just get it out there!
June 6th of last year was the first international Drawing Day and now it’s coming again. This is day dedicated specifically to art and I ask, beg, that you participate. The ultimate goal of this day is to get 1 million people world wide drawing on the same day. It’s not just for artists, either. The drawings can be done by adults or children, men or women.
The rules are as followed:
1) pick up a pencil
2) draw something
3) put it online
That’s it. Simple. |
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Why’s it so important to me? Well, that’s easy. It’s a complete day dedicated to my favorite action. Who wouldn’t love that?
But it goes deeper than that. For years now, we’ve been hearing about schools pulling money from their art programs. As a society, we’ve been putting less and less emphasis on sharing art with the next generation of artists. But now we have a day specifically dedicated to that exact thing and I, for one, am not going to waste it.
So, if you are looking for more information, visit DrawingDay.org. If you are already convinced, then do something about it. You don’t have to buy anything or donate money…just take the day and draw something, then post it where others can find it.
Don’t be ashamed if you think you can’t draw, either. Honestly, those artists among us will be honored for your participation and promise not to judge. Scout’s honor…or, even better: artist’s honor.
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Cake Testing
Posted On 05-17-2009 , 8:05 PM
This isn't exactly an art project...but it is my latest project anyway and inquiring minds want to know about it.
Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know that in a few weeks I am making the wedding cake for a couple of my friends. This weekend was my test run. It has been years since I quit my job in the bakery where I learned to decorate cakes and I honestly have not done much baking since. I am clearly out of practice.
The cake I am planning is a chocolate cake with chocolate & white frosting, all done up gothic style (you'll see pics when I make it). My test cake was a white/chocolate swirl cake with chocolate pudding filling and chocolate icing. The decorations that I used on the test and the cake itself are nothing like what I plan for the wedding; they were just a way to get back into the habit of baking and icing decorations. Here is my finished piece:
Now before you submit this to Cake Wrecks, remember that it was only a test! A test that I learned quite a lot from. For example:
- It is drastically different to bake a cake in your own oven at home than to bake one in a fully stocked, specifically-built-for-this-purpose bakery.
- I don't have near as much counter room as I need and was forced to use the top of my washer and dryer for additional space.
- Not to mention how difficult it is to keep one's fiancé from sticking his fingers into the bowl!
- I also discovered that it is much more difficult to mix your own colors than to use the pre-mixed buckets of colors lining the back of a bakery wall....and never try to mix colors in a ceramic bowl.
- My bowl (not to mention my hands) will be pinkish-purple for the foreseeable future.
My most important discovery, however, was that whipped icing really won't work for cake decorating (something I should have known, but come on, can you remember the details of a job years after you've left it?). The whipped icing won't smooth correctly when icing the cake and won't hold its shape when trying to create roses, pearl chains, and other decorations. Hence the blob that are my roses *sigh.*
I've forgotten a lot since I left the bakery, obviously, and am very grateful to have done this practice run. I imagine everyone at work will be equally grateful, as I am bringing it in tomorrow in the hopes that someone will eat the thing.
Let's see: the wedding is at 5 o'clock on a Saturday. This test, which was a two tier cake vs. the three tier cake I will make for the wedding, took nearly 5 hours. I'm going to have to get up at about 6 in the morning to make the cake the day of the wedding. YIKES! Wouldn't take so long if I could bake it all at once, but each tier of the cake is two layers thick (making a total of 6 layers for the wedding) and I only have 2 cake pans.
Plus I was asked to make a special, no-icing cake for the bride, who hates icing. Hmmm...maybe I'll start baking the Friday before the wedding and just do the icing on the day of. Can't do it all before-hand, as a three tier cake won't fit in my fridge.
I want a bigger kitchen!
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Spray Paint Artist
Posted On 05-11-2009 , 9:06 PM
This weekend was spent in Las Vegas for my fiance and my five year anniversary...and as much as I'm sure you'd all love the complete details of our activities, I'm going to skip over that and get straight to telling you all about the amazing artist I saw while there.
One of the main attractions in Vegas is Fremont Street, a covered, "pedestrian only" street set up with venders selling anything and everything. However, also on this street is what can only be described as a spray paint artist. I'm including a video below. Unfortunately, I do not know if this is the same artist as I saw, as I didn't get his name, but this will at least show you all the art style I am refering to.
The artist's work was amazing, but watching him create it was even more so. The video above has not been sped up in any way...the guy is really just that fast! We watched him for maybe twenty minutes and saw him finish one piece and watched the start to finish of another.
The style of art is amazing; something I'd love to learn if I had the money to spend on a studio area that could support such a messy craft.
I'm including a link to a spay paint gallery that I found, so you can get a better idea of the kind of work that can be done in this medium. Again, I don't know if this is by the artist that I witnessed, but it is a good example of work for the medium.
If anyone happens to know who was doing the spray paint art on Fremont Street on May 9, 2009, I'd love to know. I'd also love to hear anyone's thoughts on the art!
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Invisible Car
Posted On 05-04-2009 , 11:10 AM
Sara Watson, a second year art studend of the University of Central Lancashire, has just been added to my list of random heros. Why? Because she took a car, donated from a local junk shop, and turned it into a piece of art.
She didn't do this by crushing it or creating a sculpture or by using any other contemporary art form that confuses my brain and blurs my vision. No. Sara turned the car to art by painting it into near invisibility.
She took the time to study the envirement around her, and reproduced that environment using the car as her canvas.
Read the news story here.
P.S. I'm not saying ALL "junkyard art" is bad. For instance, here is a really cute form of this style. However, there is quite a bit out there that I'm just not a fan of.
Have any examples of art (contemporary or otherwise) that you want to share? Comment below.
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Tutorials of the Month
Posted On 05-02-2009 , 1:51 PM
May 2, the beginning of a new month. This month features Mother's Day, as well as my own 5 year anniversary. Because of these wonderful days, one of the 2 tutorials for this month features how to turn photographs into a woodburning pattern, a trick that makes for great presents for any occassion (I speak from experience, as the example used in the tutorial is my own gift to my fiance tomorrow).
The other tutorial of May features how to create preview window graphics, a type of image becoming more and more popular lately.
I hope that you all enjoy these tutorials. If anyone has any suggestions for next month, I'd be glad to hear them. In the meantime, wish me a "Happy Anniversary" tomorrow!
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Updates & Witchetty
Posted On 05-01-2009 , 3:01 PM
I didn’t want you all to feel bereft of your weekly dose of Anika, but I honestly don’t have any art I can post today. I’ve spent the last week getting ready for my 5 year anniversary and planning this month’s “Tutorials of the Month.” I’m writing two new tutorials for this month, which will hopefully be up tomorrow (I’ll post here and let you know).
As for my anniversary…this week’s art project is a present for my fiance. Sunday is our anniversary, so I will post pictures of the present then. I would post them today, but don’t want to risk the chance of him seeing them. I think he’ll like the present though; I put a lot of time and – we’ll say “love” for lack of a better word – into it.
While I’m not posting my own art today, below is a beautiful and original piece by an amazing artist that I highly recommend taking a look at.
The Witchetty blog is written by Bee Joynes, a wonderful artist who is quickly creating her own style of artwork. Personally, I describe Witchetty as Tim Burton meets Disney (rather like "The Nightmare Before Christmas"). It has a slightly gothic feel, while still being warm and adorable.
Each of her characters are uniquely beautiful and each has their own unique expression and personality reflected in the paintings. Below is a taste of Bee Joynes artwork. Visit her site for more!
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TwitVader
Posted On 04-26-2009 , 12:03 AM
I think I may be addicted to buttons.
Here is TwitVader: The Star Wars Twitter button!
Help TwitVader in his mission to recruit troops to Twitter by putting him on your site. Just change the code provided to include your Twitter user name and he will be linked directly to your account.
Now, I'm not making any money off of this and do not own Star Wars or Twitter, so no one sue me, okay? Thanks.
View earlier buttons.
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