Awesome Art & Design

“After probably about 200 sketches, I decided on the free-range chicken… and that makes sense to me.” TheCrafsMan shows us how he designs then sculpts a figure for resin casting, while wooing us with the most soothing voice in an art lesson since the mighty Bob Ross.

“Performance architect” Alex Schweder and artist Ward Shelley’s unique tiny home is only meant for residents with an iron stomach. The entire home not only spins in the wind, but it see-saws as its occupants move back and forth. We’re assuming the furniture is all nailed down.

Digital billboards, TVs and computer screens are everywhere. If you want a respite from – or just want to be amazed – check out Ivan Cash’s In Real Life (IRL) Glasses. They use polarized lenses that block LCD and LED screens. Their design is a nod to the sci-fi flick They Live.

Microsoft improves its premium all-in-one PC. It’s faster, and the Surface Studio 2’s 28″, 4500 x 3000 resolution touchscreen display is now brighter and has more contrast. Its storage maxes out with a 2TB SSD, while its GPU can be either a GTX 1060 or a GTX 1070.

Kaptain Kristian is back with his latest “visual love letter,” a tribute to the animation of the Walt Disney Company. He explores a dozen different techniques Disney animators have used to make their creations lifelike, and that any animator could use to improve their craft.

Alder + Ash presents a beautifully handcrafted mini cruiser board, lovingly made from a reclaimed oak whiskey barrel. It rides on 59mm Bones “all terrain” wheels with red bearings, and sports independent Bullet trucks.

Fiction Factory’s Wikkelhouse is a modular prefabricated house that uses cardboard and plywood as its main structural elements. Instead of rooms, the house comes in crosswise segments. Customers usually pick 4 or more segments for their house.

By laser-cutting patterns into a sheet of plywood, it can be made pliable enough to bend around a corner like a sort of hinge. Laser Artisan shows off a number of hinge patterns and tests them to see which ones are most flexible. Skip to 1:37 for the bendy bits.

Sculpture_Geek made a heartfelt tribute to Toys R’ Us by sculpting and coloring a bust of the company’s mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe. He also made an equally detailed base for the sculpture. Fans of the store could be in for a pleasant surprise though!

Meridian Maps started out making laser-cut wooden maps that come framed. Now they’re offering the maps as wall-mounted pieces that stick out 0.5″ from the wall. They are also working on a web-based program that will let you customize the map you want to order.

While the weight of a suitcase made from wood makes it a bit impractical, we still love the look of this beautiful piece of luggage that Ollari’s created from bent pieces of 8mm thick plywood. It always amazes us the kind of things you can do with just wood, glue, and some skill.

You’d like to think that the person who’s about to permanently ink your body would have double-checked their drawing, Inked’s interview reel with 14 tattooers talking about their worst mistakes is proof positive you should check the stencil 10 times before they start.

While Yoda may have passed away in Return of the Jedi, it is possible he could come back to life if there was a zombie apocalypse on Dagobah. Sculptor LoreCraft shows us what that horror might look like if it ever came to pass.

Creep out your friends and family with this amazing hand-carved wooden bust of the Predator. In addition to this foot-tall beast, Etsy shop Love My Custom Wood makes all kinds of nifty carved wood sculptures inspired by science fiction and pop culture.

Brain Magic’s Orbital 2 is meant as a keyboard replacement for programs such as Photoshop, Lightroom and more. Its joystick is also a knob and a button. Along with the 8 buttons around the joystick, you can program up to 256 shortcuts per application.

Change You Can Wear takes a momentary break from from crafting cool rings out of coins to transform a pair of U.S. half dollar coins into a tiny bell. It’s not exactly a useful thing, but it is a pretty nifty conversation piece.

Translating to “wood-grained metal,” Mokume Gane is an 17th century Japanese metalsmithing technique that fuses layers of nickel silver, copper (and sometimes brass) to create damascus-like patterns. Alec Steele shows off one of the ways to achieve the slick effect.

Artist 3D Sanago likes to sculpt iconic characters using a 3D extrusion pen. Watch in awe as he turns a stick of PLA filament into the deadly dragon from The Hobbit. And then there’s Rainbow Poop Cat.

The Zenlight Lamp is a minimalist and versatile LED lamp. It has a wooden case with a touch-sensitive button for power and brightness. You can attach it to its stand and use it as a desk lamp, or use its adhesive and stick it to walls and other surfaces.

Puppeteer and performance artist Tim Davies shows off his latest creation – a gigantic inflatable octopus puppet with articulated tentacles. It measures more than 13 feet high and 22 feet wide, yet has soft and smooth movements despite its size. More here.

Motion graphic artist and math lover Julius Horsthuis presents yet another unique fractal-generated environment for our eyes to drink in. This time out, we take a trip to a colorful temple on a strange alien planet that looks like it could be a level from a Halo game.

The Perfect Cut is a utility knife that comes with four minutely adjustable modules that let you cut sheet materials precisely and easily. There’s a 45º module, a 90º module, a variable angle module and a compass module for cutting circles.

Maladroit Modeller made a “dimensionally transcendental” diorama of the Twelfth Doctor’s TARDIS. The phone booth opens and you can see a model of the laboratory inside. The lab, which was made from scratch, is actually hiding in a space behind the phone booth.