Livio Scarpella is a contemporary Italian sculptor whose work harkens back to the incredible craftsmanship of marble sculptors from the 1700s.
His series “Ghost Underground,” which depicts ghostly souls, both peaceful and in anguish, are influenced by the famous veiled sculptures that rest in the Cappella Sansevero, a chapel in the historic center of Naples, Italy.
Via Livio Scarpella and Colossal.
Tyrion at the Eyrie.
Catelyn Stark, her uncle Brynden Tully, and a dispatch of the Knights of the Vale journey to the Eyrie while transporting their captive, Tyrion Lannister. Tyrion is dressed in the robes of a nobleman.
Bran Stark and Hodor journey north.
Weirwood lore shares some interesting similarities to Shinto practices, so I drew a shimenawa (prayer rope) around the tree trunk.
Mother of Dragons.
Danaerys wears Heian-period royal clothing and is seated on the Mongolian Steppes, a fitting analogy for the Dothraki Sea, far from Westeros.
The Red Viper Dueling the Mountain.
Oberyn Martell wields a naginata against Gregor Clegane, who fights with a no-dachi (greatsword) and a tessen (iron war fan). The three kanji on Clegane’s armor each translate to the word “dog”, in accordance with his family crest.
I considered giving Martell a yari (single-pointed spear) but I liked how the naginata drew parallels to the visually similar duel between Ushiwaka and the warrior-monk Benkei in the Heike Monogatari.
Via seiji on Redbubble, where these (and more) are available for sale as prints.
Ushio Shinohara (born 1932, Tokyo), nicknamed “Gyu-chan”, is a Japanese Neo-Dadaist artist. His excited, bright, oversized work has exhibited at prestigious institutions internationally.
Working primarily in acrylic gouache and colored ink, with some collage elements, Shinohara’s cartoon-like compositions are infused with primary colors, a humorous spirit, and a violent painterly touch.
The complexity of movement and impulsive nature that characterize Shinohara’s visual language reflect his unyielding creative energy.
Via Ushio Shinohara and .
At first glance, these may look like Russian Orthodox iconography from the Middle ages.
But they are actually striking illustrations of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Ukrainian artist Sergei Iukhimov.
Via io9 and Live Internet.
Paddington, the upcoming film that stars lovable childhood favorite Paddington Bear, released a photo on Tuesday showing the sweet bear standing in front of Buckingham Palace. Well, the Internet did not seem to think Paddington looked cute.
Most people thought he looked hella creepy.
And thus, #CreepyPaddington was born on Twitter and Tumblr. It’s a mashup of your childhood and horror movies (like The Shining up there) that will destroy all your fond memories of the book series forever.
Via E.
Tim Jenison, a Texas-based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in the art world: How did Dutch master Johannes Vermeer manage to paint so photo-realistically 150 years before the invention of photography?
Vermeer’s paintings are legendary for their realism, and many have speculated that he must have used some sort of optical technology, like the camera obscura, to get that result.
In fact, this does not work. The light projected by the lens obscures the color of the paint you are applying to the canvas. It makes the paint look too dark and too colorful. You must constantly turn on the light to see what color you have actually painted.
There is simply no way to accurately compare the paint color to the projection.
The way Vermeer painted this wall is consistent with a photograph. It is not consistent with human vision. The retina in your eyeball does some image processing to minimize the effect of light and shadow.
To your eye, the wall appears to have far less contrast than it actually has. Vermeer, unlike other painters, painted his walls the way a photographic camera would record it.
But what about something even simpler, using technology amply available at the time?
Specifically, a mirror. Which is exactly what Tim Jenison – with some assistance from Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller fame – decided to test.
There’s a ton more about what they did to test the theory in the full article at boingboing – these guys did not shit around when they set up their experiment. They even made their own lens using historical techniques – since of course modern lenses are actually too good to provide an accurate test of their theory.
Check out a trailer of “Tim’s Vermeer” documentary describing the whole experiment:
Via boingboing for the full article.
California-based glass artist Loren Stump specializes in a form of glasswork called murrine, where rods of glass are melted together and then sliced to reveal elaborate patterns and forms.
While the murrina process appeared in the Mideast some 4,000 years ago, Stump has perfected his own technique over the past 35 years to the point where he can now layer entire portraits and paintings in glass before slicing them to see the final results.
Artist Loren Stump via Colossal.