STEAM not STEM: Why scientists need arts training
Tag: art
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Happy Labor Day. Here’s a cat to watch you pee.
Today I finished a home-made medicine cabinet / picture frame for our bathroom. Teaching myself basic carpentry skills, and owning a home in general has made me appreciate all the work that goes into building and maintaining our dwellings and infrastructure. Thank you all for working so hard. Enjoy the photos!
The artwork is a print we purchased in Scotland on our honeymoon a few years back. It was lovingly created by Griddle Bone Gallery. We’ve named him Magnus.
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Merry Christmas!
I drew this for a Christmas card a few years ago, and I’m bringing it back for The Force Awakens. -
The definition of polarizing
Richard’s parents will do anything for their baby… and so will Paula’s. That’s why they’re working two jobs.
This keenly drawn ( animated GIFs! ) comic strip is what you might see if you looked up “polarizing” in the dictionary. It is perfectly split down the middle, telling the story of two people from different classes. The real fun begins in the comment sections, demonstrating how certain issues can cut the world ( and the internet ) in two. Enjoy!
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Best of #wcme15 Tweets
WordCamp Maine blasted off today, and it has been quite fun. MECA has been a wonderful host and has provided a backdrop of weird and wonderful art. Otto provided some yummy pizza. And Mendal taught me about the Periscope app. Before I head off to the after party, here is a list of some of my favorite tweets:
https://twitter.com/wonderboymusic/status/599647116148011008
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The things we save
A few years back, I was tasked with sorting through a handful of boxes containing various stuff my mother has saved over the years, and to decide what to keep, if anything, and what to dump. Like the good son that I am, I ignored this task and instead tucked the boxes away into a storage unit. Now I’m finally getting around to it, and I’ve found some neat things which I will share here in a stunning photo essay.
Hey, remember Clinton / Gore. That could happen again, right? I may put this on my car. 
An early watercolor from when I was 13 years old. On the back, the title is listed as “Credence Clearwater Revival”, and the boat is inscribed with the title “Manhunter”. So many mysteries. 
An early family photo from 1983. 
A pastel portrait of me drawn in France, well the version of France in Orlando, Florida at Disney’s Epcot Center. It was from a family vacation in 1991. It has not fared very well. 
The awkward, teenaged version of myself. I’m less awkward these days, but not by much! -
Megan and Rocco tag-team a logo design
In rummaging through an old sketch book, I found an old sketch that my wife drew for a client that we were working with about five years ago. I thought it would be neat to share a sequence of images showing how much an idea can mutate from start to finish. I remember that I really wanted the client to select Megan’s beautifully illustrated logo, and for a short while it seemed as though they would. But finally they chose a different concept altogether. Fonts used: Barrista and Catwing.
Here are the images, enjoy:
Megan’s in.itial sketches
After a few iterations, I digitized and colorized using Illustrator.
The completely different concept the client settled on.
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Wedding Planning Time Hop
I was rummaging through my art supply drawer and I found an old sketchbook. Inside were some rough drafts for our wedding invites drawn by the illustrious Megan Tripaldi. I was dumfounded! Luckily I had a speech prepared. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece on which the following words were written:
“I love you Megan Tripaldi. You were still called Megan Jackson exactly 3 years ago when you drew these drawings I found in a drawer tonight. I am glad that you said that you’d marry me.”
I’ll now take the effort to scan in the aforementioned rough sketches, as well as the final draft. Enjoy.
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Span tag paintings
My pal Chris is artist always experimenting with new mediums. He was excited to find that if instead of a traditional canvas, you were to use a web browser, and instead of paints and paintbrushes, you were to use HTML span tags, you’d get an interactive image resembling 8-bit artwork. What the heck is that? Here’s the Mono Lisa, for example:
Note how the appearance changes dramatically if you resize the browser. Span tag paintings are responsive.
In trying to create a photorealistic span painting of President Barrack Obama, Chris found that it was a rather tedious process. Thanks, Obama! I told Chris that using PHP I could teach a computer to make these paintings faster than he could. He was thrilled when my script produced the following image before he could finish his painting.
I then extended my script into this neat Backbone.js app, allowing Chris to upload any image which would automatically be changed into an HTML painting. I even built a color picker so you could limit the colors in your painting to a pallet of your choosing. Here is an image of acclaimed painter Bob Ross which was produced by script.
I’m glad that Chris made these paintings. You can see some of his favorites here. I like how you can make different patterns by resizing the window, and then BOOM! the image jumps out at you as soon as you find the right size. We also discovered that image will repeat itself at regular intervals.
Pretty good. Pretty neat. Please reply with your own painting.
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That time I gave a talk about Chris, and was nervous
Chris Sullivan is a pal of mine, a real stand-up dude, and a heck of a good artist. This one time, I gave a 4 minute talk about one of his art projects. You can watch it on the internet.
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In Praise of Property Design
This week Mad Horse Theatre is opening Alligator Road, a brand new play by Callie Kimball. In the play, the main character has lost her husband and inherited his hardware store. She covers every item in the store with hand-knitted cozies. Why, you ask?
You’ll just have to see the play.
Megan Tripaldi designed the props and the set dressings. She worked with a clan of knitters to essentially yarn bomb a hardware store. For those of you who know her, and how much she loves knitting and theatre, it will come as know surprise that this was a dream gig. She nailed it!
I got a look at the set tonight, and I was delighted by all the tiny details. I tip my hat to Megan and to Chris Sullivan who designed and constructed the set. I didn’t get to see the show because they were sold out. Get your tickets while they last.
