Awesome Art & Design

The opening of D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 Bob Dylan doc Don’t Look Back – featuring the zeitgeist Subterranean Homesick Blues clip with lyric cue cards – has gotten a redo with contributions from dozens of artists, designers, filmmakers, and musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Jim Jarmusch, and Wim Wenders.

Today’s most satisfying video comes in the form of this short clip from candle artist Charlotte Martel. Each time she creates a candle in her dip tanks, a bit of wax splashes on its sides. Now and then she needs to clean it all off and return the excess wax to the heat.

Vapor95 sells these colorful tapestries featuring artwork that combines classic Japanese style with neon cyberpunk color schemes. Each 60″ x 50″ tapestry is handmade and dye sublimated so they never fade. Designs include Ramen Village, Crystal Shower, and Together at Twilight. More cool Vapor95 tapestries here.

New York Times bestselling illustrator Kerby Rosanes presents another captivating and imaginative coloring book. Mythic World features over 55 mythical and legendary creatures set against some of the world’s most evocative landscapes and locations. The book is available in both paperback and spiral-bound editions.

These metal bookends from Pendulux look like the rayguns that astronauts and aliens might have used to battle each other in a 1950s sci-fi movie. They’re made from cast aluminum, iron, and brass and are perfect for displaying vintage comics, books, and magazines.

Glass artist James Mongrain and a team of assistants demonstrate the painstaking process of turning a molten blob of glass into an intricately scaled dragon in this 1-hour video from the Corning Museum of Glass. It’s also the most soothing thing you’ll watch today.

Artist Cameron Oehler of 1337motif makes awesome cutting boards and coasters inspired by video game pixel art. This set of six wooden coasters features pixelated images of Mario, Mushroom, Star, Boo, Bob-omb, and Goomba, each made from hundreds of cubes of colorful wood.

Dorothy’s print is a detailed vintage style map of the United States. Upon closer inspection, you’ll see that the city and state names have been replaced with the titles of over 1,000 classic songs. There’s even a Spotify playlist to go with. Measures 80cm (31.5″) x 60cm (23.6″).

Kings Wild Project presents another fantastic deck illustrated by Jackson Robinson. These cards feature intricate illustrations inspired by the 10-year battles of the gods in Homer’s epic 15,693-line poem, The Iliad. Available in Standard, Limited, and Gilded editions, along with uncut sheets for framing.

Patrick Adair usually makes really cool custom rings. But in this video, he uses his skills to create something totally different. Starting out with a bag of shredded currency from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, he cast the former cash in resin to create a unique conversation piece.

Collectible toy maker NECA presents a very special action figure based on Drew Struzan’s poster for John Carpenter’s The Thing. The 7″ tall figure has a bright LED light in its head and interchangeable faceplates which replicate the poster’s iconic burst of light. Look for it exclusively on the 2022 convention circuit.

Build your own desktop solar system with this wooden model kit from Robotime. As you crank its handle, eight tiny worlds spin around a glowing sun, simulating the relative speeds of each planet’s rotation. The 316-piece, 13.78″ tall model is best for advanced builders and takes about 7 hours to assemble.

We had no idea that Sharpie permanent markers came in so many colors. This Ultimate Collection comes with a whopping 115 markers, including a mix of fine, ultra-fine, neo, metallic, twin tip, and chisel tip markers. It’s also available in a 72-pen set.

Masters of Craft walks us through the painstaking process of restoring a 19th-century violin that came to them in a distressed and unplayable condition. The vintage Stradavari replica required heaping helpings of TLC, but the result is impressive.

Chinese artist 超哥的烧火棍 aka “Super Brother’s Fire Stick” shows how he creates a mural using a flaming stick of wood as his medium. We’re assuming he moves quickly and frenetically so as not to burn himself. Be sure to watch until the end for the reveal.

GlowBots answer the question “What if a Lite-Brite was shaped like a robot?” These customizable figures leave their design to your imagination. Each GlowBot comes with a perforated body with LED backlighting and 1200 glow pegs in four colors of your choice. Buy a three-pack and get all 24 colors.

Editor Casper Langbak of CLS Videos created this montage of scenes from movies that effectively used slow motion to enhance a mood or to punctuate action. That Quicksilver scene from X-Men: Days Of Future Past is still one of the best things ever. The track is Love…Thy Will Be Done by Martika, and here’s the full list of movies.

These precision-machined stainless steel puzzles from Japan have pieces that connect so tightly that their connections are nearly imperceptible. Despite having just 16 pieces each, they’re quite challenging since you can’t tell their fronts from their backs.

This fascinating short video shows how a factory adds ink to Mahjong tiles. After placing the engraved tiles onto a platform, a computer-controlled arm uses inkjets to spray precise amounts of red and black pigments onto the right spots on each tile. The machine has nothing on this artist who still makes Mahjong tiles by hand.

The Laowa 24mm Probe Lens has enabled some pretty amazing views of the world. Jens from Another Perspective stuck the long and skinny macro lens inside a piano to give us an up-close and personal look at its strings, hammers, and other mechanical components.

This short, but highly satisfying video takes us inside a workshop for a look at how to make perfect spheres from wood. The process involves using a curved cutting blade against a dowel that’s been attached to one end of a lathe. Be sure to check out tesssxkiersten82’s TikTok for more hypnotic woodworking videos.

NYC design studio Ceeze is known for their unique customized sneakers. Their Victory Chair features a seat cushion made from cutout Nike sneaker panels, each applied to a Nappa leather backing. The chair features a baltic birch frame and materials from 32 Air Jordan 1 sneakers. Only 10 chairs will be made.

Some of the most creative costumes are made from unusual materials. Take, for instance, this crazy armor that kitbash artist Kami Robo Yasui crafted from a 24 traffic cones. The red thermoplastic material is unlikely to protect him from weapons, but it should keep cars from running him over.