Awesome Art & Design

Filmmaker Jesse Brass introduces us to Cayce Zavaglia, who creates amazing embroidered portraits of family and friends using cotton and wool thread. While the photorealistic fronts of her images are simply stunning, the chaotic reverse sides reveal the true nature of life.

Footage captured in and around Qatar’s Khalifa Stadium, as it went through a 4-year renovation, including a new sculptural roof and many other upgrades. We love watching the shadows move across as time passes during the daytime, and the fog rolling in at night.

We’ve seen how they made some of the eye candy in Blade Runner 2049, but this 10-minute clip from VFX house Framstore offers a plethora of effects breakdowns from Denis Villeneuve’s science fiction spectacular, from close-up character work to giant CGI set pieces.

NEWwooDESIGN creates these unique tables by engraving detailed maps of cities into oak wood. Each table has three layers representing streets, buildings, and water, and is coated with a resin that glows in the dark. Choose from several European cities, as well as NYC.

Love My Custom Wood handcarves these impressively intricate models of Han and Chewie’s iconic ride using a big hunk of white cedar wood. The large version measures 32.5″ x 21.5″, but there’s a smaller version if you don’t have the space or galactic credits to spare.

LEGO Certified Professional Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught and his team recently completed this replica of NASA’s SLS Rocket. The model measures nearly 25 ft tall, weighs 1100+ lb, and was built using 460,323 LEGO bricks, and took over 563 hours to complete.

Teenage Engineering – the folks behind the awesome Pocket Operator synths are collaborating with Chinese tech giant Baidu to create a robotic speaker reminiscent of Pixar’s Luxo, Jr. The R moves and grooves to music, while displaying patterns on its LED head.

Borrowing a page from 3D printing pens, Crayola’s new gadget transforms unwrapped crayons into a thick wax “ink” that allows for smooth drawing on all kinds of surfaces, including wood, fabric, glass, and more. It can even blend wax colors. Drops 8/2018 for $25.

What adventures await behind the rustic wooden doors of these unique notepads? It’s up to you to fill in the pages. Each notebook is handmade in Bulgaria using poplar wood by Rebellion Shop. They’re not cheap, but we still love the way they look.

Jordan Bolton Design makes movie and TV show posters that look like stacks of cassette tapes. The title and cast are on the cassette tapes’ spines, each with a different retro design. The typography definitely feels dated and clunky, but appropriate in this context.

A look at one of the slick 3D graphics workflows in the latest version of Autodesk Maya, the ability to no only model realistic hair, but to sculpt, paint, and groom a hairdo like a virtual hair stylist. Even individual strands of hair can be manipulated if you so choose.

3DSage got their hands on this nifty mechanical device from Japan – it’s a hand-operated gadget which follows the outlines of a stack of disks to move its arm, which in turn draws a corresponding image. A web-based conversion tool is used to design disk templates.

Glass artist Raven Skyriver demonstrates the team effort required to create a large sculpture of a sea turtle. His studio creates all kinds of incredible glass animals, including lizards, sharks, whales, seahorses, fish, octopi, and more. Video by Derek Klein Films.

Musician Alan Gogoll used a custom built camera and guitar rig to capture the vibrations of the strings on his acoustic guitar, then played a series of chill tracks with beautiful scenery in the background. The most soothing thing you’ll watch today. Listen on Spotify here.

Bobby Duke headed down to his local Target store and picked up a few rolls of aluminum foil. He then demonstrated how even the simplest household items can be turned into art. We’re not too sure about the design aesthetic, but it’s still a cool idea that anyone can try.

After wowing us with his million dot illustration, David Bayo is back with an even more intricate image. He claims there are about 3 million dots in this portrait, though we still have no idea how he keeps track of how many dots he drew. Find original images and prints of his work here.

Groot is made from wood and leaves, so it only makes sense that a sculpture of Baby Groot should be made from the real deal. Lignum started out with the stump of an old catalpa tree, and proceeded to sculpt it into Guardians of the Galaxy’s adorable little dude.

Inspired by the cluster of rocket engines at the base of the SpaceX Falcon 9, Andrew McCalip of Cosine Additive created this slick modern hanging lamp. Each of its nozzles is 3D printed from either polycarbonate or PPS-carbon fiber reinforced material. Appx. 34.8″ diam.

Sped up footage of drawings being created by one of artist James Nolan Gandy’s mechanical drawing machines. A complex series of gears, pulleys, and belts drives the pen mechanism to create spirograph-like images. Check out more of his images and videos on his Instagram page.

Maker Gustav Evertsson paid tribute to the 2018 Winter Olympics with a neat build. He created a series of motorized blades which he loaded up with steel wool and set ablaze. The resulting persistence of vision illusion reveals a fiery version of the iconic 5-ring Olympic logo.

To kick off the 2018 Winter Olympics, Intel launched 1218 drones, which formed the image of an athlete, then the olympic rings, as athletes mirrored the image below. The drone layer was pre-recorded for the live broadcast due to logistical issues, but it was still breathtaking.

Back in 2017, motion artist Philip Lueck created a weekly series of CG animations, each of which can be played in an infinite loop. Here, he presents a compilation of these fun and hypnotic clips. View the individual looping animations on Behance.

Editor Jim Casey of The Solomon Society put together this compilation of some of the most wonderful and memorable animated moments ever – mostly from Studio Ghibli, Disney, and Pixar films. Reneé Dominique’s cover of Moon River sets the perfect mood.