Thread Paintings: Densely Embroidered Portraits by Cayce Zavaglia

When scouring through the minute details of artist Cayce Zavaglia’s embroidered portraits (previously), it’s difficult imagine each work is scarecely larger than 8″ x 10″. Her process, which she refers to as both “thread painting” and “renegade embroidery,” begins with a photoshoot of each subject, namely friends, family, and fellow artists. Roughly 100-150 photos are winnowed down to a single selection which she then begins to embroider with one-ply embroidery thread on Belgian linen. She shares via her artist statement:

Over the years, I have developed a sewing technique that allows me to blend colors and establish tonalities that resemble the techniques used in classical oil painting. The direction in which the threads are sewn mimic the way brush marks are layered within a painting which, in turn, allows for the allusion of depth, volume, and form. My stitching methodology borders on the obsessive, but ultimately allows me to visually evoke painterly renditions of flesh, hair, and cloth.

Zavaglia is also interested with the backs of her portraits, a tangled mesh of thread and knots resembling a more abstract version of the exacting portrait on the reverse. In a return to her roots as a painter, she creates gouache and large format acrylic paintings of the backsides, effectively creating a painting of an emboirdery of a photograph. Included here are several works from the last two years including works that will be on view at Art Miami this December through Lyons Wier Gallery.

 

Turn Boring Vegetables into Spaceships and Racecars with Le FabShop’s 3D-Printable ‘Open Toys’

If you’re interested in advanced techniques for playing with your food, the team at le FabShop just released a series of 14 components you can download, print, and attach to your favorite vegetable, effectively transforming turnips into helicopters and eggplants into submarines. A sort of DIY Mr. Potato Head for the 3d-printing generation. The free accessories are called Open Toys, and all 14 components can be downloaded here. If you’re looking for more 3D printed toys just in time for the holidays, check out this list from Cults.

Breathtaking Aerial Landscapes of Iceland by Sarah Martinet

While on a recent trip to Iceland, photographer Sarah Martinet had the opportunity to shoot these amazing landscapes from a plane with open windows. You can see much more of her work (as well as more from this trip) on 500px and Facebook.

Image Manipulations by Martin Grohs

One of those things that you keep thinking about (when you are a design or art director) is “How in name of the God, this guy did this?” And since I started working with advertising, doing manipulations using Photoshop is one of the majors things among the creative community.  Check some of those works (by Martin Grohs).

New Photorealistic Illustration Videos of Everyday Objects by Marcello Barenghi

From soda cans and body parts to games and insects, he skillfully renders each piece using colored pencils and markers resulting a final object that looks like it could be grabbed right off the page. See more of his 150+ drawings right here.

Sheets of Glass Cut into Layered Ocean Waves by Ben Young

Self-taught artist Ben Young is a man of many exceptional talents from surfing and skateboarding to repairing furniture and working full-time as a qualified boat builder. He’s also spent the last decade exploring the art of sculpting with glass, an endeavor that’s become increasingly rewarding as galleries and collectors have started to take notice.

Using sheet after sheet of carefully cut glass, Young builds both abstract and realistic interpretations of waves and bodies of water, undoubtedly influenced by growing up near the beautiful Bay of Plenty on the northern coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Many people assume his work is made with the help of machines, or maybe even 3D printing, but instead everything is done completely by hand, from his initial sketches on paper to the manual cutting of each glass pane, a process he aptly describes as “a lot of work.”

 

Bird Sculptures Constructed from Wire by Celia Smith Look like Detailed Sketches

UK artist Celia Smith works with various forms of wire to create delicate bird sculptures and installations. While somewhat abstract in appearance, the pieces are almost lifelike in form and scale as if drawn with a pen. You can see over 50 different pieces by the artist on her website, and catch an interview over on Ideas in the Making. Not shy about her process or methods, she also offers wire sculpting workshops.

Designer Alexandra Khitrova Discovers a New Career through Her Stunning Fantasy Concept Art

Early last year motion graphics artist and Alexandra Khitrova decided to utilize some of the digital tools she had acquired in her profession to explore concept illustration. While she did study art in school, this was an entirely new creative realm, a pet project to explore realms of science fiction and fantasy where flying dragons mingled with terrifying storms and otherworldly beings were brought to life on the screen.

The reaction online and off was swift, and Khitrova soon found herself working on increasingly complex drawings as she suddenly began to get commissions. Now, only a year later, she is already working with a team of writers and artists on a feature film. You can see more of her work over on DeviantArt.

 

Vietnamese Landscapes Painted by Phan Thu Trang

Born in Hanoi, artist Phan Thu Trang paints decorative landscapes inspired by images of the city and Northern villages of Vietnam. In her colorful yet minimalistic paintings she works with limited colors and textures, focusing on only bare essentials to create each piece centered around billowing, pointillistic trees. (viaArt of Animation)

 

Psychogeographies: 3D Collages Encased in Layers of Glass by Dustin Yellin

Psychogeography is the act of exploring an urban environment with an emphasis on curiosity and drifting. Or, more colloquially put, a “toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for exploring cities.” For the Brooklyn-based artist Dustin Yellin, his toy box is full of everything he finds on the street—flowers, leaves, bugs, and even dead rats, which are then composed into three-dimensional collages and sealed behind resin.

In his most recent series “Psychogeographies,” Yellin uses multiple layers of glass, each covered in detailed imagery, to create a single intricate, three-dimensional collage with a mix of magazine cut-outs and acrylic paint. When pressed to describe what he does, Yellin struggles, but not with a lack of words. Here is an excerpt from a mini-essay “concerning the difficulty of saying something about what I do.”