Colossal | A blog about art and visual ingenuity.

Creature Cups: A Wildlife Surprise in your Coffee Cup

Creature Cups: A Wildlife Surprise in your Coffee Cup tea home cups coffee ceramics

I love these ceramic creature cups by design group Yumi-Yumi out of Brookyln. At the base of each mug rests an animal that’s slowly revealed as you consume your tasty beverage. Good to the last dripping octopus. (via etsy)

Tiny Illustrations Drawn Inside Matchbooks by Jason D’Aquino

Tiny Illustrations Drawn Inside Matchbooks by Jason DAquino matches drawing

Artist and illustrator Jason D’Aquino draws incredibly small illustrations inside of matchbooks. His muse is frequently pop culture itself, with numerous references to horror films, famous artworks, pulp fiction magazine covers, and even human anatomy. If you happen to be in New Orleans D’Aquino has work available at the Shop in the French quarter, and he’ll also have work at Art Basel Miami through Red Truck Gallery. (via juxtapoz)

By Christopher on October 18, 2012 • drawing matches

The Hilarious Costumes of a Dog Named Trotter, Photos by Sonya Yu

The Hilarious Costumes of a Dog Named Trotter, Photos by Sonya Yu dogs

The bar for fine art photographs of dogs in goofy costumes was set quite high in the 70s and 80s by photographer William Wegman and his Weimaraner companions Man Ray and Fay Ray, and while I suspect 20% of the entire industry of the internet is spent sharing adorable pet photos, it’s rare to see a single animal transcend the rest. Some worthy contenders recently have been Theron Humphrey and his dog Maddie, and also Seth Casteel’s underwater dogs. But a new pup has thrown down the gauntlet and her name is Trotter, a one-year-old French Bulldog lovingly captured by her owner, San Francisco photographer Sonya Yu who bills herself as a Professional Food Pornographer. You can follow Trotter’s dressy exploits on Yu’s Instagram feed but also check out her personal work which is outstanding. (via the fluffington post, which apparently, is a thing)

By Christopher on October 17, 2012 • dogs

A Separate Reality: New Paintings of Dystopian Worlds by Alex Andreev

A Separate Reality: New Paintings of Dystopian Worlds by Alex Andreev science fiction painting illustration digital

Trying to categorize or summarize the genre of Alex Andreev’s (previously) digital paintings is nearly impossible. Part science fiction, part dystopian future, the scenes are equally disturbing and beautiful, his characters inhabiting a world Andreev tells me is deeply influenced by Soviet-era literature, music and movies. Based in St. Petersburg, Russia he works primarily with Adobe Photoshop and Corel Paint and relies only on a small selection of brushes and colors to create each illustration, meaning there are no special effects or 3d-rendering of anything. Andreev recently published an art book, A Separate Reality, which is available through Blurb.com.

By Christopher on October 17, 2012 • digital illustration painting science fiction

Where the Internet Lives: The First-Ever Glimpse Inside Google’s Data Centers

Where the Internet Lives: The First Ever Glimpse Inside Googles Data Centers Google architecture

So it really is a series of tubes. For the first time ever Google has posted dozens of rare photographs inside and around its data centers revealing the absurd level of organization, energy and design that goes into powering some of the largest, most powerful systems plugged into the internet. My absolute favorite aspect is the color-coordinated design of their infrastructure as it correlates to the Google logo. What wonderful attention to detail. See many more photos of their eight data centers and Street View imagery of their Lenoir, NC data center at Where the Internet Lives. All photos by Connie Zhou.

By Christopher on October 17, 2012 • architecture Google

3D Illusion Drawings by Ramon Bruin

3D Illusion Drawings by Ramon Bruin optical illusion drawing 3d

Freelance artist Ramon Bruin has been working on some fun 3D illusion drawings, here are three of my favorites. You can see a bit more of his work over on Facebook, and if you liked this also check out the work of Nagai Hideyuki. (via my darkened eyes)

By Christopher on October 17, 2012 • 3d drawing optical illusion

Light Studies: Experimental Light Photos by Kim Pimmel

Light Studies: Experimental Light Photos by Kim Pimmel long exposure light

San Francisco-based UI designer and photographer Kim Pimmel creates extraordinary long exposure light photographs using a huge variety of common objects and technologies. Although the photos appear digitally rendered they actually merge simple things like ping pong balls, old turntables, and simple pendulums with LEDs, Arduino microcomputers, servos and other lighting mechanisms such as iPhone screens to make the photos you see here. His light studies set on Flickr is well worth your time and he also made a wild video using some of the same techniques. (via ruines humaines)