Awesome Art & Design

(Loud Music) There are lots of videos out there of artists making bonsai trees out of twisted wire. What makes this particular clip so impressive is that the artist creating the amazing sculpture is a little girl who couldn’t be more than 10-years-old.

We can think of no better gift for an aviation fanatic than this metal model inspired by the iconic Hughes H-4 Hercules. Like the real Spruce Goose, this miniature has eight propellers, though these turn using a wind-up mechanism rather than 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney engines. The 219-piece kit is best for ages 14+.

Animators Michał Socha and his brother Jakub previously worked on The Simpsons’ Inside Homer’s Brain and the Build Your Own couch gags. Their latest creation is this low-fi animation which envisions The Simpsons as a family of extreme action stars in an all-digital world.

Coppertist Handmade creates some really wonderful little trinkets from various metals. Among their many unique items are these marble-finish brass incense burners in the shape of a house cat. Each one wields its aromatic stick like a kitty with a lightsaber while symbolizing independence, curiosity, and rebirth.

Dǒuyīn (TikTok in China) user Taogeceping posted this brief footage of an incredible sculpture of Joaquin Phoenix’s take on The Joker. Not only is the front of the bust incredibly realistic, but it also features a surprise when you walk around to its back. We’d love to know who the artist is so we can give credit where it’s due.

If you like the look of shipping containers, you can buy a tissue box holder inspired by their design. But if you’re a pro model maker like Adam Savage, and want something you can sit on, you build your own from scratch. You can get the digital files for printing the photorealistic vinyl stickers here.

Artist jedrek29t makes all kinds of neat dioramas by embedding objects into resin. Watch him build a scene of a miniature UFO as it hovers above a grassy field and starts vacuuming up cows in its tractor beam. He also integrated an LED into the spaceship so it works as a nightlight.

Embedding things in clear resin, then carving them allows for the creation of all kinds of unique objects. In this clip from Wood Workshop, he shows off a neat vase he made using cut up pieces of drinking straws, resin, and walnut that he shaved down on his lathe.

Macro Room set up various objects and vessels filled with water or paint on a platform and then dropped spheres, pins and balloons on them. They captured the resulting explosions with a slow-mo camera that spun around its edge, creating wild visuals that look like they were computer-generated.

14-year-old LEGO builder Alex Bailey created this 6-foot-long model of New York City’s skyline. The freestyle brick builder was inspired to build the miniature Manhattan after a surprise helicopter tour he took of the city for Christmas 2019. His proud mom posted video and photos of this amazing LEGO creation. Great job, Alex!

Silicone ring maker Enso offers some really great everyday jewelry that won’t break the bank. Our current favorites are this collection of rings that feature images inspired by the Calavera (sugar skulls) and tattoo roses commonly associated with Día de Los Muertos celebrations.

Min Zumi, guest artist at Sydney, Australia’s Authentink Tattoo Studio creates incredible 3-dimensional designs that look as if they were embroidered onto a patch, then slapped onto the skin. The intricate stitching details are amazing, as is the perfect drop shadow effect.

Bcompact’s hybrid bamboo staircase is hinged and attaches to one wall, so it can fold up flat when not in use. They feature an aluminum handrail on one side that folds along with the stairs. Each one is custom-fitted for the specific installation. The video shows off a few other folding items from designer Zev Bianchi.

It’s raining… sardines and mackerel? Just a normal day in the Haruki Murakami novel Kafka on the Shore. Anti-Anti’s cool graphic tee is an original design sure to elicit nods of respect from well-read strangers. Screen-printed by hand using eco-friendly ink on comfy 100% combed cotton. It also comes in a slim version for literary ladies.

Pay what you want to upgrade your creative tools with this bundle of award-winning design and drawing software, all while supporting good causes. Spend $30 or more and get CorelCAD, Painter, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, PaintShop Pro, over 1,200 brushes, 8,000 clipart and digital images, 1,000 fonts, and more.

Wally Koval and the followers of the Accidentally Wes Anderson Instagram page are on a mission to find real locations that capture the fastidious and whimsical style of filmmaker Wes Anderson. This 368-page book chronicles some of these wondrous destinations through images and stories, along with a foreword by Anderson himself.

Artist ZXY698 is an expert at painting wall murals. In fact, he’s so good at it that he painted a 3-dimensional facsimile of his girlfriend sitting on a park bench so he can visit with her even when she’s not around. Hopefully, she won’t fade away any time soon.

The Stria is an elegant and substantial drawing instrument that will look great sitting on your desktop. It folds to half of its length via a metal dovetail joint and opens to provide a 30cm / 11.8″ ruler. It features a wedge shape for confident line drawing, imperial and metric markings, and comes in brass or steel.

Swing for the fences every time you take a sip from these unique baseball bat mugs from Young Bat Co. Each one is handmade from the barrel of a real bat and can be custom laser-engraved or painted with text or images. They come in tall (12oz) and junior (6oz) versions. They make a great groomsmen’s gift.

Referencing Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and Susan E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders,” Stellavie’s gold-on-black print reminds us to stay true to ourselves and to maintain quality in our lives. The 27.5″ x 20″ piece is silkscreened on Italian fine art paper with gold ink. Edition of 250 prints, each signed and numbered.

Artist Yoni Alter creates these awesome abstract pointillist portraits of dogs by printing colorful circles onto a wooden silhouette in the shape of a dog. They come in a variety of breeds, and limited-edition art prints are available for each dog as well. We also love his 3D-printed bearded collie miniatures.

In this silly and slightly demented animated short from Super Dope, a little girl gets way more than she bargained for when she orders a strawberry cone from her neighborhood ice cream truck. Everything seems to be going wrong in 2020. Does dessert have to get ruined too?

Boutique rental company Lodgewell offers the coolest properties in Austin and the Texas Hill Country, and nothing keeps Austin weird like The Bloomhouse. Built in the ‘70s as a hippie dream – and renovated by ex-mayor Dave Claunch – the whimsical white meringue is 1,100 square feet but nothing else about it is square. Nothing.