Artsy

You may or may not enjoy hip-hop (let alone underground hip-hop), but I thought that this video was pretty appropriate for the blog here; it's for a song called "Artsy" by The Grouch - give it a whirl!

Nice!

Please excuse the French, lol

I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie

Holy Crap

WATCH THIS:

!

My head hurts... I'll talk to you soon.

Eddie

Art Is Technology : Technology Is Art : Part 2

In an earlier post, I went into this concept about the intimate relationship that art and technology/science have with each other.

I saw the following video the other day and thought it'd be perfect to share it here.

YOU GOTTA WATCH THIS:

Contraption II
by PeteRock

Now, THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

If that's not a work of art, I don't know WHAT is, lol.

Alright, that was pretty dang cool - keep an eye out for other cool videos like this in the future!

If you see any that would be good to post here, let me know :)

Gotta go, I'll talk talk to you soon.

Eddie

Bob Ross

Put your learning cap on, it's time to paint with Bob!

As a kid, I used to watch Bob Ross paint on television ALL the time, just as many others did. It's amazing to see how these paintings come together - he makes it look so simple!

It's ridiculous.

Originaly, I tried to post a 30 min. instructional video of his here, but it looks as though there is a copyright infringement issue? That's kinda dumb if you ask me, this is blog is free publicity!

Anyway, If you've got about 30 min., watch the video by clicking on the following link for a good ol' fashioned painting lesson:

Click here --> Bob Ross - Peaceful Reflections

Now, tell me that wasn't freakin' cool!

As long as I've known about Bob, I have yet to try out his methods - I'm totally lagging.

Anwyay, I gotta get goin' - I'll talk to you soon!

Eddie

Andy Warhol

I have a confession to make...

I have mixed feelings about Andy Warhol, as an artist.

On one hand, he was committed to his way of seeing things, created some REALLY great imagery, shared a lot of interesting things through his work, basically invented photoshop...

On the other hand, he was all about doing the same thing over and over again and, a lot of times, it seems that he didn't even care that much about the work itself.  Sometimes he'd just have other people make his work FOR him (?).

Interesting.

Anyway, I still consider him to be an artist, I consider myself a fan, I have been to a couple of exhibits showcasing his work and I have learned a TON from looking into who he was as a human being, for real - I have mixed feelings is all.

Check out this video, his stuff was pretty cool:

I hope you enjoyed that and if you ever get a chance to check out his work at a museum or just on the web, then I really do suggest that you do that sooner than later.

The number one thing that I learned from Andy, is that it's extremely important to be productive (which I'm guilty of not being, so maybe I haven't learned the lesson entirely).

Gotta run, I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie

Jean-Michel Basquiat

This guy's pretty special if you ask me.

His work is so urban yet culturally diverse - I'm not even going to get into this, check out this video:

AWESOME.

I'd suggest searching the internet for images of his paintings, and if you want to learn a thing or two about him, I suggest starting over at Wikipedia - they've got a pretty good article over there (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat).

I'll talk to you soon :D

Eddie

Dr. Seuss

This man needs no introduction - Dr. Seuss is an icon.

I do, however, think that we generally tend to forget about how great his work really was.

He was a true artist who had A LOT to say, and it's apparent in most of his work if you can learn to read between the lines.

Besides, I'd say he had some pretty dope rhymes, lol.

Now, let's watch some Green Eggs & Ham!

That was awesome - now go and revisit the man's work if you haven't in a long time, it's seriously phenomenal to see just how MUCH great stuff he actually managed to create :)

I'll talk to you soon!

Eddie

Mark Kistler

Mark Kistler is a guy who teaches kids and adults how to draw, I think he even has a television show.

When I was in 6th grade, my teacher tought us out of his book Draw Squad, and let me tell you, his instruction had an EXPLOSIVE effect on my drawing skills.

I decided to buy my own copy of his book back then and I still own it.  I definitely recommend his book, checking out his videos, his website, etc., if you feel that you don't know how to draw, but would LOVE to learn.

Anyway, I finally decided to show some instructional stuff on here but I chose one of Mark's videos just because it's kind of light and fun and you don't have to be amazing at drawing in order to follow along.

Check it out:

Ok, so I know it's a little on the kiddie side, but still, I think it's pretty cool.  If you can learn to look past that, I think you can get a lot out of his stuff (especially if you don't already draw).

Mark's website is more for parents and teachers who want to get their kids started on drawing (http://www.draw3d.com), but he has a lot of videos on YouTube that may be useful to you if you're just starting out.  Either way, I think this is a good starting point for anyone interested in drawing, or you may just want to check out one of his books at the bookstore (I reccommend Draw Squad).

Alright, I gotta go, I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie

Norman Rockwell

Probably the biggest influence over me, in my drawing, has been Norman Rockwell.

I don't even particularly like Norman's work as much as a lot of other artist's, but I truly feel like he was the most influential because I fell in love with his work at such a young age.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I can draw very realistically - thank Norman.

My goal, as a kid, was to be able to replicate anyone else's work because I felt that meant that I was just as good as they were, or maybe even better because I didn't have all these fancy paints to paint with - just some colored pencils and pastels.

Then, one day, I saw a porcelain stuatuette of his most famous self-portrait in the living room of someone's home, who was dear friends with my parents at the time.

I asked my mom who that was and she bought me a book with a TON of Norman's paintings in it.

I was in awe.

I thought, "How am I ever going to replicate HIS work??  His paintings look like photographs."

To say the least, I became obsessed with replicating his work; later it was photographs and when I got older, it was just plain life.

Watch the 1st part of this documentary I found on YouTube, it's pretty cool:

I hope you thought that was interesting, I know I did.

Alright, well I gotta go.  I'll talk to you soon.

Eddie

Sam Kieth

Oh boy, this particular artist has a very special place in my heart.

I'll try to be brief about this (but will fail miserably)...

When I was in 8th grade, I used to watch a television show on MTV called MTV's Oddities.

The Head, anyone? lol

If you saw this show back in '94, then you know what' I'm talking about.

Anyway, the show kicked off by running a cartoon series based off of a comic book called The MAXX.

I'd never heard of the comic book at the time, but I loved looking at comic books as a kid (I hardly read them, I only liked the art, lol) and was instantly sucked into the show because of the comic book "look" that this show had.

After watching the show, I found the comic book at a bookstore in the mall one day and from that day on, The MAXX became my favorite comic book of all time.

Some people identify with Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man...

I identify with The Maxx.

Anyway, I'd suggest you check out the comic book but I know it's not for everyone.

Here's a video for the intro of the show from way back when:

I know you may be in the dark about what the show was about and whatnot, but the important thing is that you got to see the ART!

I LOVE Sam Kieth's art.

I'd also suggest that you go to Sam Kieth's website (http://www.samkieth.com), but he hasn't been running that thing AT ALL, for ages - he must be busy working all the time.

What I WILL suggest, is that you check out his work - I'm pretty sure you can find a lot of it on the internet.

Even if you don't, I hope you enjoyed that video all the same.

I gotta run - I'll talk to you soon!

Eddie

Derek Hess

Derek Hess has been one of my favorite artists, oh, probably since high school.

Anyway, I looked ALL over the internet for a good video with his art in it so that I could share it with you here, and this is the ONLY video I found!

I'll be honest, I'm not much of a fan of the song being played during the video, but I DO think it's appropriate, considering the work that he has done:

Good stuff, right?

His work is just phenomenal to me, he even has a few pieces in the Louvre!

He also has SO much great stuff on his website, you gotta check it out (http://www.derekhess.com).

Anyway, I gotta run, I'll talk to you soon :D

Eddie

Kofie One - Draftsmen

Here's a video from a guy who goes by either Kofie One or Draftsmen.

His work means a lot to me because I have been working, professionally, as a draftsman for over 8 years now, so I have a different appreciation for his work than most people probably do.

Anyway, this guy is AWESOME, check out his website, he's got a TON of stuff there to see (http://www.keepdrafting.com).

Gotta run - I'll talk to you soon!

Eddie

Alex Grey

As promised, I would like to introduce you to (in my opinion) one of the most amazing artists of our time - his name is Alex Grey.

For those of you who are already familiar with the artist, can I get an Amen?

Anyway, I think this video captures the spirit of who the man is and what his art is about:

If any of this video resonated with you at all, do yourself a HUGE favor, and check out his books, check out his website (http://www.alexgrey.com) and really explore everything he's made.

This guy's art truly changed my life, it's phenomenally remarkable.

I REALLY hope you enjoyed that - and I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie

MC Escher

Maurits Cornelis Escher, was my favorite artist when I was in 7th grade.

I learned how to shade in my drawings thanks to this guy!

I still love the man's work, just because he was a mathematical wizard AND a true artist.

Check out this video, I think it's a cool homage to the essence of what his work is all about:

There's a ton of books out there, for pretty cheap nowadays, that pretty much cover his whole career - I highly recommend you check them out at your local bookstore!

Keep an eye out for another video from another one of my favorite artists of all time tomorrow!

Take care, I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie

Thanks To Banksy

I have always been a HUGE fan of graffiti art (though I'm not a fan of vandalism - not the same thing, I know).

Well today, a friend shared a video with me about a phenomenally COOL thing that just went down in Bristol, England - thanks to a graffiti artist that I have personally respected for a long time now...

See for yourself:



I think that this is probably a first in art history, so let's take a moment to acknowledge art history - in the making!

If you ever hear of any awesome and outrageous stuff like this, please let me know - and if it qualifies, I will do a post about it here!

Gotta run, I'll talk to you soon.

Eddie

Mucho Mucha

Another favorite artist of mine is Alphonse Mucha.

He was one of the pioneers of Art Nouveau, a older form of VERY decorative art.

I love his style because I feel that he captured a lot of beauty in his paintings, his compositions are top notch, and I really just love how there's this "gypsy" quality throughout the "meat & potatos" of his work.

Check this video out, there's a lot of cool stuff in it:

What'd you think?  Pretty good stuff, right?

Glad you liked it :)

I'll talk to you soon!

Eddie

Personal Heroes

My favorite artist of all time, is Leonardo Da Vinci.

This may seem like the obvious choice to make because of his popularity, but the only reason why he is my favorite is because of how much his work and outlook on life resonates with me.

I found the following video on YouTube, and it seems that it was created in 1985, though I don't know how accurate that is - if you ask me, it's very well done.

Obviously, whoever made it copied his drawings in order to animate them - but I feel that it's a VERY loyal representation of the man's work and I just wanted to share it with you here.

I think you'll get a kick out of this:

I guess you could say that good ol' Leo is my "Personal Hero"

What's yours?

I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie