The Elements of Drawing: John Ruskin's Teaching Collection at Oxford digitizes the drawings, engravings, and paintings that
John Ruskin collected (and created) for use in teaching drawing. The objects can be viewed separately or in their teaching order and context, with Ruskin's own catalog annotations. The site also suggests how modern art students can put the collection to use, with instructional video and a variety of drawing exercises. Ruskin also assembled another fine art collection for working-class viewers in Sheffield; you can see that collection at the
Museum of Sheffield, which also helps sponsor a digital reconstruction of the original museum building, the
St. George's Museum.
posted by thomas j wise
on Nov 14, 2011 -
5 comments
Two people involved in marathon, inspirational artistic efforts:
Six-year-old
Jack Henderson is offering to
draw anything in exchange for a donation to the Sick Kids hospital in Edinburgh, which treats his little brother Noah for bronchiolitis.
Meanwhile, artist
Patrick Joyce, aka The Incurable Optimist, is trying to paint 100 portraits before motor neurone disease (also known as ALS) robs him of his abilities, and, ultimately, his life.
Their works include, respectively,
A rubber duck riding a bike shooting lasers, and
Professor Stephen Hawking.
[more inside]
posted by penguin pie
on Mar 26, 2011 -
5 comments
While you may not be the shoe hoarder
some people are, you have shoes in your closet you never wear and you'd like to know what to do with them. Are they just boring? In that case you could just experiment with
new ways to lace them, or find a way to
make them light up when you walk into a room. Or you could draw on the shoes with
markers or
sharpies. You could also
paint them, going with the theme of your choice:
Art Nouveau,
Picasso,
Day of the Dead, or
any of the ideas here. You could cut
motifs from fabric and glue them on to your lace-ups,
cover your flats with new fabric,
bling up a pair of strappy shoes with glitter, or
embellish your flip-flops with some yarn. Is the old upper worn out?
Knit or
crochet a new one. Want to get where you're going faster? Make
custom roller skates, or
modify your bicycle. Do your shoes hurt your feet? Put them on your face instead as
a wrestling mask, or turn them into an
iPod case. Your shoes could also become a
birdhouse, a
planter, a
centrepiece, or an integral part of a
coat rack,
bookends or
leg lamp. If you're really not up to crafting, here are
11 non-crafty ways to recycle old shoes.
But what fun is that?!?
posted by orange swan
on Oct 29, 2008 -
22 comments
Viktor Schreckengost who died last year at the grand age of 101, was regarded by some as the father of industrial design. Every adult in America has ridden in, ridden on, drunk out of, stored their things in, eaten off of, been costumed in, etc… and there is no going past his gorgeous
pedal cars. Some of his work can also be seen online at
The Cleveland Museum of Art.
posted by tellurian
on Apr 28, 2008 -
9 comments
At least one commander told him, "Follow the soldiers' instructions, because they'll put their lives at risk to save you." But no one tried to censor his drawings or discourage him from going out on missions. -- Steve Mumford is a New York painter who was embedded as a "combat artist" in Iraq. The archives of his
Baghdad Journal make for fascinating reading. He has recently published a large
book of the art he created on this voyage.
posted by Gator
on Dec 18, 2005 -
9 comments
