“Curiosities” 3D Paper Airship Shadowbox
Once I figured out out how to do a hot air balloon I knew I couldn’t stop there! Here is my first (though definitely not my last) attempt at a 3D dirigible/airship. This shadowbox measures 12” x 12” and the back is finished so it can hang on the wall or stand alone on a shelf. I used a combination of glossy and matte papers, but the shiny parts aren’t nearly as shiny in person as they look on the photos. I have a light source directly above my photo area that can give a false impression with its glare.
Each 12 x 12 shadow box takes approximately 10 hours to complete. They start their lives as canvases and are covered by cardstock and paper, then embellished with mixed media accoutrements. I made the dirigible and the boat using a similar method to my Christmas ornaments. Check out the tutorial here.
Dystopian Metal: The Art of Greg Brotherton
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- Watchtower
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- 3 Wheeled Horn
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- Into the Void
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- Mercury 5000- It reminds me of Abraham Sapiens from Hellboy
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- Migraine Machine
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- Oracle
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- Search Engine
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- Sounding the Furnace
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- The Lift
Metal is one of the most satisfying mediums I have ever worked with and I hope to get a chance to do more in the future. But even if I never do, I will always love metal art. The strength and flexibility of the material means an artist is really only constrained by the bounds of their imaginations (okay, and sometimes their tools). I really enjoyed these metal men and the world I imagine them inhabiting, especially the “search engine” and the “observatory.”
You can find more of Greg Brotherton’s artwork (including many different angles of the pieces I chose for my post), as well as pictures from his studio here.
I always like to hear about people from the Midwest finding success, and it looks like Greg is one of those people. Here’s his bio:
“Born in Ames, Iowa, in 1968, Greg experienced a somewhat nomadic childhood, spending the majority of his youth in Utah and Colorado. His interest in the mechanical surfaced at age five, when he began disassembling anything with screws in it. By the age of twelve he had taught himself to mine his backyard with homemade explosives (no injuries!). Then, after being successfully ejected from a series of public and private learning institutions, Greg, equivalency test in hand, entered the Colorado Academy of Art, beginning his undergraduate studies at sixteen.
In 1987, after receiving a degree in graphic design, Greg set off for California. Over the next two decades, he forged a successful career as an award-winning commercial artist, while honing his skills as a sculptor.
With a consuming drive to build things that often escalate in complexity as they take shape, Greg’s work is compulsive. Working with hammer-formed steel and re-purposed objects, his themes tend to be mythological in nature, revealed through a dystopian view of pop culture.
Greg’s work has received international recognition, has been exhibited throughout the United States and is collected worldwide. In 2007, he was invited to serve as the featured artist at the Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED)Conference in Monterey, California, joining the ranks of some of the most prestigious artists, luminaries, and scientists of our time. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where he continues to sculpt and experiment.”
Music to Steampunk by: Just Glue Some Gears On It
Don’t be fooled by the title, this song is actually advocating that people DON’T simply glue gears on things. Thank you Reginald Pikedevant! This song is hilarious and I appreciate the sentiment.
Albert Robida
Albert Robida (1848-1926) was a french illustrator and science fiction writer. You can find a good article about his life here. Below is a small sampling of this prolific artist’s work.
“Going to the Opera in the Year 2000”
1880 illustration of something eerily like a flat-screen television
Steampunk Art by Brian Kesinger
steampunk avengers by BrianKesinger on deviantART.
Brian Kesinger is a wonderful illustrator/artist with definite Steampunk tendencies. I ended up on his site because of the image above, but was totally charmed by his series of images depicting the friendship between be-bustled lady Victoria and her octopus, Otto. He recently appeared at SteamCon in LA and his artwork was featured on the schedule, pictured among the Otto and Victoria images below.
For Whom the Gear Turns 