Gorillaz go Bananaz

Bananaz, a documentary

Director Ceri Levy filmed alongside and behind the scenes from 2000 to 2006, from first drawings, animations, music and the musicians, through to the faces behind the voices of Murdoc, 2D, Noodle and Russel Hobbs. The result is an unsanitised, free-wheeling documentary film; an intimate, honest and often hilarious account of the working relationship between Albarn and Hewlett.

watch it HERE

Original source: http://www.babelgum.com/gorillazgobananaz go visit.

Visionary Artist: Alex Grey

The second of our Visionary Artists profiles.

This time we have Alex Grey who is presenting his personal encounter with mind parasites. During a group LSD experience in the 1970's, he vividly saw beings from above feasting on the group's energy. The beings, he believed, were actually orchestrating chaotic behaviour from the group. The incident led Grey to see humans as part of "an energetic food chain."

part one

part two

http://www.alexgrey.com/
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2...

 

 

These Visionary Artist video Interviews are shown courtesy of http://uk.youtube.com/user/theduderinok

Be sure to check theduderinok's video channel as he has one of the greatest collections of esoterica I have had the pleasure to discover.

All Hail the Dude.

Visionary Artist: Andrew Gonzalez

Here is the first of two profiles on visionary artists.

First up is Andrew Gonzalez, who's work I first noticed in one of the Spectrum Annual's a few years back. The 3 part Interview is from the C-Realm Podcast: Creatures of Imagination where artist A. Andrew Gonzalez talks about his use of entheogens as tools in the creative process.

part one

part two

part three

  
http://www.sublimatrix.com/
http://c-realmpodcast.podomatic.com/

 

 

These Visionary Artist video Interviews are shown courtesy of http://uk.youtube.com/user/theduderinok

Be sure to check theduderinok's video channel as he has one of the greatest collections of esoterica I have had the pleasure to discover.

All Hail the Dude.

Zack Petroc

Gnomonology.com have just released Part One of Zack Petroc's 'The Form Of Anatomy Series'.

The One Hour lecture discusses issues of anatomical structure, demonstrated on Zacks own multi-part maquette of skeleton and muscle groups. Zack starts by covering landmarks on the skeleton and the rhythms of it's gesture, then group by group he introduces the muscles, their origins and insertions.

The whole lecture is fascinating and nods towards an excellent series. The lecture is demonstrated with ZBrush but strictly sticks to anatomical discussion so is approachable from any artist interested in Mastering the Human Form.

This first Chapter covers:

• Skeleton Landmarks
• Muscle Origins and Insertions
• Muscle Group Gestures
• Rhythms of the Muscle Groups
• Weight and Balance
• Reading Form through Silhouette

Can't wait for the next chapter, Zack has mastered the anatomy and it fantastic listening to his lectures. The model used in this series is also available for download at Zack's website here://www.zackpetroc.com/

I first learned of Zack when Gnomon released Digital Sculpting - Human Anatomy - a lecture which covers the 'outer' Human Form working in Maya then moving on to surface details in ZBrush.  There are several other available videos from Zack here://gnomonology.com/inst/17 including the 'Making of Ramboillet' and 'Female Anatomy' Tutorials.

 

Also there is an interesting tutorial written by Zack over at://www.computerarts.co.uk/

 

 

1 2 3 4

Beth Cavener Stichter

I thought I would share some images from Beth Cavener Stichter's website http://www.followtheblackrabbit.com/.

The animalistic sculptures capture both an emotional personality and psychological tension in their proportions and gesture. A view into the human condition frozen within animal form.

The sculptures create an empathy with the viewer. You feel responsible for them - want to help them...

I couldn't possibly do them justice with words. So here they are...

 

Her Artists Statement reads:

"There are primitive animal instincts lurking in our own depths, waiting for the chance to slide past a conscious moment. The sculptures I create focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal and human forms. On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath the surface they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, and pack mentality.

          Both human and animal interactions show patterns of intricate, subliminal gestures that betray intent and motivation. The things we leave unsaid are far more important than the words we speak out-loud to one another. I have learned to read meaning in the subtler signs; a look, the way one holds one's hands, the tightening of muscles in the shoulders, the incline of the head, the rhythm of a walk, and the slightest unconscious gestures. I rely on animal body language in my work as a metaphor for these underlying patterns, transforming the animal subjects into human psychological portraits.

          I want to pry at those uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human. The figures are feral and uneasy, expressing frustration for the human tendency towards cruelty and lack of understanding. Entangled in their own internal and external struggles, the figures are engaged with the subjects of fear, apathy, violence and powerlessness.

Something conscious and knowing is captured in their gestures and expressions. An invitation and a rebuke."

 

 

 

All information & images gathered from Beth's website here:

http://www.followtheblackrabbit.com/index_main.htm

World War Robot

I'm looking forward to the iminent release of Asley Wood's World War Robot.

Get yourself over to Ashley's site here, subscribe to his blog and check out the Future Lions

The guy is a genius.

Scott Spencer / Gentle Giant Studios

I love the projects Gentle Giant Studios get to be involved with. Gentle Giant would be a GREAT studio to work with, they variety of techniques and diversity of clients would make for great creative experiences. Scott Spencer the lead digital sculptor at Gentle Giant was one of the first artists I read about, a couple of years back, when I'd just heard discovered ZBrush.

From original Thread here: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=047113

I'm dying to get some 3D printing done and Develop a project which utilises the SLA, but technology costs money and my dreams are oversized. I remind myself that I am only at the beginning of this digital workflow, but my ideas and pursuits are years ahead of reality. I really need to win the lottery or something so I can jack the client work and get this stuff out of my head....

Zombies.... Zombies should be everywhere... In every movie and every TV show. You cant go wrong with Zombies...























and finally a painting tutorial showing the process of skin painting...

From Original Thread here: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=48840

...on the same Stingerhead as seen in Wacom's Cintiq advert....

I gotta steal me one of those...

Gears of War

Kevin Lanning

You may not have heard his name but you've seen his work.

















The high-res character design models for Gears of War are stunning to behold.

Showcased in the recent Ballistic Publishing book - d'artsiste Character Modelling II, Kevin's workflow of creating high res characters then reducing the polycount to create the low-res In-Game characters with jaw dropping results.

Check out his interview and a host of stunning models here at CGSociety:
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4040

and a myriad of concept designs for GoW can be found here...

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94247

Ron Mueck

There is no denying the supreme craftmanship of Ron Mueck, who without doubt stands in line with greatest sculptors of all time; Michelangelo, Bernini, Rodin... Ron Mueck.



http://blip.tv/file/94203?filename=Brooklynmuseum-RonMueckFullVersionForHighSpeedConnections559.flv



The Hyper-Realist Sculptor started his career as a modelmaker for TV and Film, notably supplying animatronics and puppets for the Jim Henson/George Lucas movie Labyrinth. Moving eventually into the Fine Arts with his Satchi commisioned piece Dead Dad.



Mueck's works are sculpted then cast in resin or sometimes silicone so that each hair can be punched into the surface. Seeing his work in print or online is fascinating but seeing them for real is mind blowing and somewhat disturbing.



















































































The Gaurdian have a great article on Ron Mueck here: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1842696,00.html


Flickr Photo set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/themodern/sets/72157601021948061/

and for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Mueck

Antoine-Louis Barye

The First of my artist profiles, which will focus on sculptors from antiquity to the digital age, and give a brief outline of their career and showcase thier works that fascinate and inspire me.
_
First up is Antoine-Louis Barye, the French 'Romantic' sculptor whose animals studies and mythological scenes capture the energy and tension of the moment in the twisting forms of his stylized but studied sculptures.


Born in Paris, Antoine-Louis Barye (September 24, 1796-June 25, 1875) began his career as a goldsmith, like many sculptors of the Romantic Period. After studying under sculptor Francois-Joseph Bosio and painter Baron Antoine-Jean Gros he was in 1818 admitted to the École des Beaux Arts. But it was not until 1823, while working for Fauconnier, the goldsmith, that he discovered his true predilection from watching the wild beasts in the Jardin des Plantes, making vigorous studies of them in pencil drawings comparable to those of Delacroix, then modelling them in sculpture on a large or small scale. In 1831 he exhibited his "Tiger devouring a Crocodile", and in 1832 had mastered a style of his own in the "Lion and Snake." Thenceforward Barye, though engaged in a perpetual struggle with want, exhibited year after year these studies of animals--admirable groups which reveal him as inspired by a spirit of true romance and a feeling for the beauty of the antique, as in "Theseus and the Minotaur" (1847), "Lapitha and Centaur" (1848), and numerous minor works now very highly valued.

Barye was no less successful in sculpture on a small scale, and excelled in representing animals in their most familiar attitudes. Examples of his larger work include the "Lion of the Column of July," of which the plaster model was cast in 1839, various lions and tigers in the gardens of the Tuileries, and the four groups--"War, Peace, Strength, and Order" (1854).
In 1852 he cast his bronze "Jaguar devouring a Hare." Fame came late in the sculptor's life. He was made Professor of Drawings at the Museum of Natural History in 1854, and was elected to the Academy of Fine Arts in 1868. No new works were produced by Barye after 1869.
The mass of admirable work left by Barye entitles him to be regarded as one of the great animal life artists of the French school, and the refiner of a class of art which has attracted such men as Emmanuel Frémiet, Peter, Cain, and Gardet.

(From Wikipedia.)