Behind the Painting

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The Instagram account Paintings Analyzed is pretty cool.

Corporate Artists

From Married to the Sea.

La Grande Jatte

(via She Who Seeks)

Art Meme

(Thanks, WTM!)

Gallery

(via Fark)

Aug(de)mented Reality 2

Storyboard artist Marty Cooper makes delightful Sharpie and White-Out doodles that add a little something extra to real-life scenes. He gave us a video of them in May. Now we have even more, with volume two of his Aug(De)Mented Reality. Enjoy! (via Tastefully Offensive)

What is The Thinker Thinking About?

The sculpture known as The Thinker by Auguste Rodin is familiar to everyone. Even if you've never been to France and never studied art, you've seen memes of the statue, often on a toilet. But what inspired this muscle-bound intellectual and his contemplation? Who was he? And what's he thinking about, anyway? Although Rodin used live models, The Thinker is supposed to be a particular person that you know about. 

Dancing Furry Ball

Barnaby Dixon can make a puppet out of anything. He does just that in this video, fashioning a dancer out of a fluorescent silicon furry ball, and has another puppet narrate the process. The dancing puffball look neat, but the narrator, called Dabchick, is the real star of the show. (via Digg)

Medieval Killer Rabbits

Illustrated medieval manuscripts are full of funny animals, rabbits more than any other. Well, bunnies are easier to draw than humans, but why are they armed? Because it's funny! Yes, there's more to it than that, as Peter Austin explains. There's a two-minute ad at 2:07.

Brazilian Pysanky

@vilsonpessanka A Arte da Pêssanka - Um Momento de Magia em Suas Mãos Você já sentiu aquela paz quando se entrega completamente a algo, esquecendo até do tempo? A pêssanka é exatamente isso: um convite para pausar, respirar e criar beleza com suas próprias mãos. Cada traço de cera, cada mergulho nas cores vibrantes... não é apenas um ovo que se transforma - é você que entra em um estado de presença quase meditativo. Enquanto o mundo corre lá fora, aqui dentro você encontra seu ritmo. Os símbolos e padrões da pêssanka falam diretamente ao coração: proteção, esperança, renovação. Sensações que todos buscamos, não importa de onde viemos. Não é preciso ser artista. Não é preciso conhecer tradições. A beleza da pêssanka está no processo - na forma como ela nos convida a desacelerar e criar algo único com nossas mãos. Em tempos de telas e notificações constantes, essa antiga prática nos reconecta com algo que todos precisamos: o poder transformador de criar com intenção e presença. ➡️ Siga meu perfil e descubra como trazer esse momento de magia para sua vida. #pessanka #pysanky #pysanka #pisanka ♬ fundo de vídeo - Majorzin

Brazilian artist Vilson Kotviski creates beautiful Pysanky Easter eggs in the traditional Ukrainian batik method: design, wax protection, dye, wax protection, dye, repeat as indicated. Then remove the wax to reveal the beautiful artwork. Read more about Kotviski and see more of his work here. (via Memo of the Air) 

The Mona Lisa's Eyebrows

We can admire the Mona Lisa's smile, her eyes, and where's her eyebrows? Did Lisa del Giocondo, the model for the portrait, have her brows plucked out? Or did Leonardo just leave them out of the picture? 

August Moon takes us through serious research on the subject of the Mona Lisa's eyebrows, and what they are supposed to look like. In the process, we find that many of the world's greatest paintings are not what they seem on the surface. That surface is constantly being messed with in the hopes of keeping the paintings clean and undamaged, which still ends up damaging them. And we get a lesson in what really makes the Mona Lisa such a unique and memorable portrait.  (via Laughing Squid) 

Art Pain Scale

(via Fark)

Art Tip

#3157 A helpful tutorial

[image or embed]

— Emilius Duckberry (@emiliusdraws.bsky.social) November 17, 2025 at 6:40 PM

(via Everlasting Blort) 

Strandbeest Evolution 2025

If you aren't already familiar with Dutch artist and engineer Theo Jansen's Strandbeests, you are in for a treat. Strandbeests are lightweight wind-powered kinetic sculptures that walk down the beach on their own. Where they go and what they do depends on which way the wind is blowing- and how hard. We know that, but it still seems that they each have a mind of their own. 

Jansen's sculptures are doubly pleasing, first because you marvel at the mechanisms that make them work, and then because they are just beautiful. This new compilation video shows the different forms a Strandbeest can take, and the different ways they move. Even if you are familiar with Jansen's work, you will get a kick out of what the "beests" have been doing. (via Born in Space) 

Finding Your Hotel Room

We've all been there. You're in an unfamiliar city, your hotel is much bigger than you're used to, and you've been drinking. Sounds like a good time, actually.

How Did the Portrayal of Jesus Become White?

There are no contemporary images of Jesus because of the Jewish proscription against graven images. The authors of the New Testament didn't describe his appearance because it wasn't his appearance that was important. Isaiah's prophesy about the Messiah said that "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." So of course, artists later portrayed him any way they wanted to. 

It is my opinion that God chose the Promised Land to be at the crossroads of the three great continents for a reason- or several reasons. One is that all people of the earth could identify Jesus as their own. But that doesn't mean we should identify Him in a way that excludes others from doing the same.

How to Make a Glass Pumpkin

I love watching a glass blower. The process is so dangerous and intricate, and the finished product is so beautiful. It also makes you think of how this art is simple and ancient and almost magical. Yet it's also complicated and industrial, requiring equipment that neither you nor I will ever have access to. The glass blower makes it look easy, but we all know it is anything but. You have to wonder how much glass was ruined on his way to becoming a master of it. (via Memo of the Air) 

How American Gothic Became an Icon

Grant Wood's American Gothic is more than a famous painting. Sure, it's a great piece of art, but there's more to it than that. When it was first unveiled, the painting wasn't recognized as anything special. But the subject matter made it something worth talking about. In this video from Vox, we see that it was the people who saw the painting that made it special. They saw what they wanted to see in American Gothic. (via Digg)

Rabbits

(via She Who Seeks)

Barnaby Dixon's Bug Puppet

Barnaby Dixon, who made some unbelievable puppet designs before, is back with an impressive finger puppet of a glow-in-the -dark insect! One the one hand, it's cute and the fluorescent effects are neat. But the real magic here is Dixon's skills as a puppeteer and the way he makes the bug move so naturally with just his fingers. (via Boing Boing)