Weak week

It's going to be a strange week. Ending one job, sticking with another; classes begin Wednesday; loss in the family; drama around every corner... Just a lot of change and turbulence, I guess.

Anyway, onto the two selections for today...

The first one being "Ground Zero" by Slinkachu.

















In a form known as "street art" (kind of obvious) Slinkachu painted small figurines from model train sets, later photographing them in strange scenarios all around NYC. Once he finished his photo shoot, he left the figures there to be discovered by whoever might have happened across them.

Pretty cool, eh?
Featured in Dezeen, 08/29/08

The second selection (which I happen to think is wicked cool) is Moodstream, by Getty Images.

This online brainstorming tool provides the user with music, images, video, and an enormous set of options with which to customize their own stream, all combined into one very entertaining, inspirational, and incredibly dynamic experience. Definitely check it out! It's fun to just sit and watch, or tweak the settings and see what you enjoy most!

I think it would be cool to slow down the image duration and outline a story based on what ideas come to mind. Can you think of other ways to let this tool inspire you?

See you tomorrow! =)

Don't worry about it

...easier said than done, eh?

Anyway, a sort-of random splattering of postings for today, but interesting as always!

The first is this insane wallpaper by James Jean for Prada store locations. I wish I could make something like that, much less create enough of anything to cover a 17' x 200' space. Wowza! Imagine the commission on that one! It's gorgeous. Don't forget to scroll right for full effect!

Secondly, I found this way-cool article, "Old-School Portraits See Resurgence Online" (courtesy CNN) about a guy who makes tons of money painting people portraits to use as Facebook photos or online identities. It's interesting to think about how we're portraying ourselves and who sees it, and how they may see it differently. As mentioned in the article, we create identities for ourselves based on what we do online, whether we're conscious of it or not. Where do we hold accounts? Where do we comment? How active of members are we? The list goes on. It would be interesting to have my online identity analyzed, though I doubt anything they come up with would be much of a surprise.

And finally, as a reminder to [mostly] myself and the few of you out there who may read this:



















nataliedee.com

Dress for Success, dawg

I can't believe I said "dawg." New low for me. Hope it at least raised an eyebrow, if not an internal chuckle. Anyway, you'll get it in a minute.

This is one of the most entertaining, interesting, and solidly-true illustrations I've ever seen. I want to call it an infographic... I suppose it would be, right?

(click for full view)



















Totally awesome. I'm particularly a fan of the river of failure and the bottomless pit of illiteracy.

Don't Walk, Moonwalk

Why should we simply walk when we could moonwalk or strut?



















Check out an artist who isn't afraid to be herself - Julia Pott. Her stuff is crazy and she is always honest in her posts. Seems like a silly lady.

I don't know about you, but I'd love to make My Little Pony illustrations by commission. Aaaannnyyyday.


Her work is typically very strange (sometimes disturbing, IMO) but sometimes very witty and touching.
























If you like, check out her Etsy shop. There are some very cool prints available for ~$10. Good stuff!

Introducing: Art + Sound

So I came up with (what I believe to be) a very original and massively interesting idea today. Why not pair a piece of art with a song/sound? I'm familiar with a wide variety of music and I feel like ya'll are probably just itching to reap the benefits.

I'll [continue to] preface this by saying that the song/sound I choose is just one option, just one opinion of what I think compliments/relates to the art. I am open to suggestions. I'm also trying to set a mood for each piece. Tell me your impression. I may even include multiple options on each piece, for experimentation's sake. This could be a wonderful way to discover new music if people comment!

So here we go, Art + Sound #1

Theory of Levitation (Detail) 2007, Anna Fidler.

Anna is from Traverse City - Michiganders FTW! Click here for the enormous 83"x96" painting. (Sorry about the tiny images... can't find any large, hi-res versions.)

And the song?

Hunting Bears - Radiohead.

Take a few minutes, turn on the youtube video, and gaze at the piece (I intended it to be the detail, not the full piece).

What do you think?

Mondaze

Monday: You can imagine how I feel about this entire situation.

Anyway, I have returned after the weekend, ready to post some more stuff for ya'll. I'm also brainstorming some new concepts for posts, so get ready.

First post today is some DIY/Interior Design inspiration. I smiled when I saw this:



















I don't know how many people have that many pieces of furniture lying around (my mom would, but our tiny home is like a flea market...) but if someone did, I would recommend doing this. It would be crazy functional - shelving, drawers, and it would free up a lot of space. Rad as hell.

I am totally crazy about this illustration by Erika Somogyi:

















Awwww...















That's it for now. Maybe more tonight, who knows?

Mish-mosh

Apologies for not posting yesterday (mostly to myself... nobody else reads this currently.) Yesterday was a not-so-good day, but I did save a few things to post today.

The first thing is the art of Linnea Strid.

Check out the link on her name for more of her oil paintings. I am beyond impressed. Holy cow.

And for you indie kids out there, now you have a way to occupy your time between being ironic and squeezing into your pants.
The Indie Rock Coloring Book includes Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, The Shins, and more!

This video combines my love for infographics and fairy tales! WINNER!

Have a good weekend, whoever you are! (My weekends typically start on Thursdays. Isn't that nice?)

Darren Waterston

For my first "real" entry, I figured I'd mention one of my favorite artists, Darren Waterston. I was first introduced to this guy by my boyfriend (who happens to be a studio art major) after he took notice of his art on an album cover of the Silversun Pickups. (By the way, if you don't know of this band, they are fantastic. Sort of an uber-contemporary Smashing Pumpkins sound, mixed with I-don't-know-what-else. I saw them up close at Lollapalooza and I have to say I enjoyed their performance most of all.) Anyway, his work is very haunting, yet beautiful. Everything is very organic (whether nature is represented blatantly or not), and it's just, well, gorgeous. And very inspiring. I'll let you decide.

Pretty awesome, right? What do you think? Know of any similar artists?

images via darrenwaterston.com

Christening - Where's the Champagne? And the boat?

Ahoy! This is a preliminary post until I feel motivated enough to customize the look and feel of this site and settle on a format. As of now, I'm thinking "In Other Skies" will be primarily design-based, focusing on any and all artistic and design-related things, including my opinions, cheap deals, and who knows what else. It will most likely contain round-ups of things I find on other blogs. Sounds like just about every other design blog out there, huh? Well, I'm hoping this will be something a little more unique - something quirky, with my own spin on things. I like cute and pretty things as much as the next girl (actually, I probably don't) but expect to see things on here with a bit of an edge, both visually and textually. We'll see how this turns out. I'll start off broad and hopefully narrow things down a bit.

Oh, and by the way, did I mention I plan to update this semi-regularly? (Yeah, right.)

Please help me in my efforts to make this a successful blog - though I am well aware the bulk of that responsibility lies on me. Comment, link me, contact me, do anything! Let's make this into something fantastic!