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I don't think this is the first time that I've seen a book used as a carving medium; however, this is perhaps the most impressive example of it that I remember.

Now, I have no idea if this requires the artist – in this case, Canadian Guy Laramee – to glue just the books together, or the books and all the pages, or what, to prepare for something like this, but the results are stunning. The one pictured above really stands out to me as the lighting of the building/cavern is perfect. Clicking the image above will display a much higher resolution version of the sculpture, showing you the detail work on the cavern walls, etc.

I love the imperfect nature of the medium; the way that the pages are tattered and worn and bent. I would think that doing something like this would be very, very dusty work and the idea of working in any reductive medium like this – as, I guess, almost any scupture work would be – frightens me. Dig a little too much in an area, and you can't just put it back. Patience.

There are many more examples of similar works on Laramee's site; click the "The Great Wall" and "Biblos" links under the "Recent Work" header for a look.

» Found at: Guy Laramee's Portfolio site

Fifty-Two

I ran across this today which was just too awesome not to pass along. We've all played Solitare on the computer; I mean, really... everyone has, right? And, as such, I assume that nearly everyone has won at least one game since Windows 3.1 was released years ago, so we're equally familiar with the neatly piled stacks of cards bouncing off the screen in celebration:

Bounce, bounce, bounce...

In this case, Lars Marcus and Theo (that's two people) have lovingly paid homage to that scene/experience by creating a 3d model of the 'win' screen! Their joint website shows how they did it, how many individual cards they had to create, etc. It's all very cool!

» Found at: Skrekkogle (via Quipsologies)

Wood

I like to think that I'm a pretty handy guy around the house. I have a respectable workbench in the basement (and garage) filled with tools. I've built a few projects in my time, including one or two semi-major projects (fences, large shelving, etc.)... but I've got nothing on Marc Spagnuolo, The Wood Whisperer himself.

I have no idea if I'd ever get around to building some of these projects, but like most shows on HGTV, I could sit here in front of my computer and watch his videos all day long. His video about making the hallowe'en bowls (see above) was what I watched first and, if it wasn't for my lunch hour only being so long, I'd have just kept watching everything else on the site.

There is a lot on the site that I still haven't looked at -- a 'guild membership' to help fund the site, a number of reviews and articles, etc. -- but it's all well put together. The video's have a great tone about them, with just the right amount of humour, safety advice and project guidance. I felt like there was enough information in the clip that I could have done the project myself, from raw pieces of wood to the final finish, which I don't always think is the case on other sites.

So, even if you don't plan on dusting off the ol' drill and rushing off to Rona or Home Depot for materials, check out these videos.

» Found at: The Wood Whisperer

Hybrid

A really quick post for a Friday afternoon...

I've always wanted a Gibson Firebird V guitar... something about them just looks so bad-ass. I've seen Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) playing them before, which adds to their bad-ass credibility, IMO.

I've also recently thought that getting a mandolin to play would be pretty cool. Fun for hanging out in the backyard and/or noodling about on around the house and such. But that's probably the influence of Old Man Luedecke and the Elliott BROOD rubbing off on me... which is awesome, 'cause these guys are making some great music.

So, since I'll never likely be able to afford a real Firebird V axe, why not combine these to 'wants' into one awesome hybrid? Enter the Epiphone Mandobird VIII!  (No idea if I'd really want this, or if I'd rather have a mandolin that looks more like 'it should', but when I found this today I just had to post about it!)

» Found at: Epiphone's website

Graphite

I found this through the MyExtraLife forums today and my goodness is it impressive.

In case you don't realize what you're looking at right away, this is a carving done on the tip of a (construction) pencil! The handle of the saw is carved from the pencil wood; the blade is from the graphite. The artist, Dalton Ghetti said,

At school I would carve a friend’s name into the wood of a pencil and then give it to them as a present. Later, when I got into sculpture, I would make these huge pieces from things like wood, but decided I wanted to challenge myself by trying to make things as small as possible. I experimented sculpting with different materials, such as chalk, but one day I had an eureka moment and decided to carve into the graphite of a pencil.

This artist has done a number of other pieces; in fact, on the linked article (below), he has a 'graveyard' of sorts of pieces that broke just before he finished them.  I can't find a website specifically for this artist, however, a quick Google returns several articles (all with the same images, text, as I've linked to); I'm sure this won't be the last we hear of him.

» Found at: Odd Stuff Magazine article

Costumes

Wow. These guys know how to do hallowe'en costumes. Yes, I realize that we're not even close to this costumed psudo-holiday right now, but ... just look at these. Incredible.

What actually brought me to this guy's site were his "Victorian -era renderings" of Star Wars characters. Equally impressive.

Mr. Greg Peltz, you are quite the talented artist.

» Found at: Greg's Blog

Hello

The iPhone 4 was announced yesterday at one of Apple's major press events, the WWDC. I think my next mobile phone will have to be an iPhone ... or, if my old 2nd generation iPod Nano dies, maybe I'll get an iPod Touch. Either way, this platform becomes more and more impressive with each OS release or product upgrade. Beautiful design inside and out.

» Found at: Apple

Tree

Two things: (a.) omgosh, this is awesome and detailed and colourful; (b.) I have no idea how the artist, Yulia Brodskaya, does such intricate work with paper. Outstanding.

Many more samples at her website, along with other her other works.

» Found via: kottke.org