Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with art

Please help me remember a website containing digitized old illustrations and woodcuts.

odinsdream — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:29:13 -0800

Please help me find an online collection of old woodcuts and other decorative elements available as vector drawings. I've lost my bookmark to it. Example images inside. This website was a wonderful collection of old artwork that had been digitized and was mostly available free, or for minimal cost. The collection was organized into categories and included stylized capital letters, art deco, nature imagery, religious and ceremonial, etc.

I used the resources for our wedding invitations and programs, so I have a folder of a few of the files that I know came from this site. I've tried to research the filenames without success.

Here are the few that I have, in case someone recognizes one of them. I've converted them to PNG format for display in a browser, but they were all originally EPS:
alfredj.png
bradle1yorn.png
ornamentalm.png
orndaisy.png
platinm.png
stationers.png
vintage.png

Thanks!

How can I loop audio in realtime?

supyo — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:09:14 -0800

What software should I use to replicate the delay/looping effect that this video employs? I would need a metronome monitor separate from the input mix. It would be amazing to tweak the length of the decay too. http://vimeo.com/7722804 I looked at the Vimeo comments and found some helpful information. But I would like to hear of any other software suggestions people have. I do not have access to Ableton Live. I'm a classical musician wanting to experiment with realtime looping.

Quoted from the Vimeo comments:
"I had a laptop in a bag over my shoulder with Ableton Live running, but it's just a long delay with feedback set to 90% so it dies out and allows for development rather than looping into a noisy blur!"
"this is pingpong delay right?"

I know how to cook--but I still want a blueprint!

bookmammal — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:22:01 -0800

Blueprint artwork for recipes . . . has anyone seen these? Many years ago I saw some poster-type prints that were designed to look like blueprints of how to assemble common foods. I remember one for a taco, one for an ice cream sundae, and I'm sure there were several others. They looked very authentic and were very eyecatching! I'd like to purchase something similar for my kitchen--has anyone seen anything like this online or in an actual store? Googling has not been helpful.

What do the symbols on these tibetan wall hangings represent?

mgogol — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:33:04 -0800

What do the symbols on these tibetan wall hangings represent? Especially this one? Or this other one?

Arty, smarty, but with a party?

JoanArkham — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:52:00 -0800

Mr. Arkham and I want to take a long weekend-type mini vacation in early February, somewhere either driveable or a cheap flight from DC. Our usual M.O. for picking places is to find a cool event, then plan a trip around it. He summed up what we're looking for as "arty, smarty, but with a party." We love museum events like the Late Fridays at the V&A or Hirshhorn After Dark but we're also film and book nerds who go to horror and comic conventions.

We're mostly looking to stay within the U.S. but willing to venture farther if we can find an inexpensive flight. Walkable, arty cities like Portland (OR) and Toronto are ideal, but we don't want to go somewhere and then get stuck in a hotel due to bad weather.

Austin was a possibility, but I understand the bats aren't around that time of year so we'll probably save that for another trip.

So...anything cool and fun going on in your town in early February?

I'm in my mid 30's, have some money saved up, and thinking of going to art school. Yes? No?

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:11:35 -0800

I'm in my mid 30's, have some money saved up, and thinking of going to art school. Yes? No? I guess what I'm really asking is, will I be able to afford it? I have close to $100 grand.. but by then it might be down to 50-60..? I know.. it's 20 something per semester (thousands) so it's like going to USC. But that's only assuming I can get in. I'm starting by continuing at the local community college art classes and hope to build the portfolio there. I'm hoping I've taken enough to meet most of the first year requirements.. so maybe I could finish in fewer years, if I do it full time.

I'm asking here instead of looking at the art schools and contacting them, because I'm not even sure I'll go through with this. It all depends on this upcoming year, whether this being 'fired' will motivate me or bring out some unseen drive I didn't know I had. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I was fired. That's what's bringing this up... long story, but basically I'm at a point I have no job, I can't see myself going back to the fields I was in, I don't see anything out there I want/can do, and I'm not bad at art.. but I'm about as "not bad" at art as many many other people are. I'm not great.. but I could see myself still improving even now. Hey, I been playing bass 2 months and already playing Iron Maiden.. n u know Steve Harris is just insane.. so I'm a quick learner ;) (I might play at some gig too.. going from zero playing to up on stage in 2 months.. hmm.. just pattin myself on the back hehe) But it made me realize age means nothing. It helps that I looked like a kid my whole life too ;P

I feel good about my potential.. as in art skills, but it's the realistic element that worries me. Is this realistic?

Any words of wisdom? Success stories? Failure stories?

I'm really scared I'll lose the interest or passion, or just realize my skill only will plateau and never really reach that arteest level, or I'll be this washed up has been who's broke.

Help me stage some photographs of a very mischievious paper butterfly!

malocchio — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:35:16 -0800

What kind of mischievious situations could a paper butterfly find himself in? Ideas requested for a photo shoot. A friend of mine sent me a paper butterfly, who has a decidedly mischievious nature. I would like to take a series of pictures documenting his misadventures (to delight and amuse my friend), but I'm sorely lacking in ideas.

Said butterfly is approximately 6 inches wide by 4 inches high. Anything that will cause the slightest harm to mon beau papillon is completely off limits, although the appearance of imminent danger is certainly a plus.

I'd like to keep the staging as simple as possible, using common household objects and situations, but I might go the extra mile for a particularly ingenious shot.

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

What should I do this summer?

Paulefinch — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:31:16 -0800

What are some life-changing things I, as an art student, can spend my summer doing? Here's a little background before I get to my real question.

I'm a 19 year old, gay male student double majoring in Art Education and Studio Art at the University of Central Florida. I'm finishing my sophomore year this semester. After growing increasingly frustrated with the college grind, I want to make some changes! I don't like the fact that I have to have a degree to do what I want to do. What do I want to do? I want to design avant-garde clothing and performances. (e.g. Lady Gaga, Of Montreal, and the Cremaster Cycle by Matthew Barney) Instead of dropping out of school, which I know isn't a very good idea, I just want to develop the parts of my life not directly related to school. I'm considering dropping the Art Education major, because while I want love to teach, I don't think my school's College of Education is right for me. Next semester I'm taking a minimum number of classes (12 credit hours) instead of my typical 15-17, so I'll have more time to create work that my current schedule doesn't allow.

What should I do this summer? I really want to do something that will provide me with amazing experience. I would love to live abroad, study abroad (I have languages bases in French and German.), get an internship, visit museums, or get an apprenticeship. Basically I want to do something with my summer that will change the direction of my life for the better.

Is there something I haven't even thought of? I'm supremely interested in everything related to design, art, and culture, so I'm open to almost anything!

How much to charge for a catalog essay?

serial_consign — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:00:13 -0800

How much should a freelance writer charge for a catalog essay? An emerging artist peer asked me to write an essay for an upcoming show of hers. As a freelancer I know one generally tends to "ask for as much as they can" (and not blink) - but I really have no clue what the standard fees are for this type of gig. Anybody have experience and insight to share here? If it matters - I'm guessing this document will be 1000-1500 words.

What would I do without you guys, really?

Bageena — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:31:30 -0800

My friends and I are starting an artist collective in Phoenix, Arizona and we desperately need help thinking of a name. Can you help? Short explanation; I myself am an artist with, you know, the paper and the pencil and occasionally, some ink or acrylic or something. I have three friends that are photographers, another friend who's a painter, two friends who are musicians, and a few others who might also join. What we've decided we'd like to do is start a community blog where we all write individually what we're doing to try and break into the mainstream or just get our work seen. The main site will show all of our posts, broken down by individual members, along with a sort of swarm cloud that shows how often each artist works with the others.
Anyways, we've got a ton of great ideas already and we're excited to get a move on it, but we're stuck at what seems to be the first effing step! We need a name for our little community. We don't have a lot in common except that we all work normal 9-5 jobs outside of our passions for our individual work, we are all artists of one sort or another, and we all live in Phoenix, Arizona. I'm trying to think of names that are reminiscent of the desert or of Phoenix. I sort of like the idea of something ancient and awesome sounding. Really though, we're open to anything. I'd list the links to our websites so you could actually see our styles and who we 'are', so to speak, but I think that'd be a little too self-linky for me. So yeah - if your really that curious, you can look in my bio and I think there's a link there to my personal work.
So yes, I leave it once again to the most clever people I know to help me hop a hurdle in my life. Thanks Mefites!

Who coined term "Regionalism" in art?

tnygard — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:31:05 -0800

Who coined the term "Regionalism" in art, and when and why did they do so? This is the movement with Grant Wood, John Steuart Curry, and Thomas Hart Benton. Is there a historically significant story about how the movement came to be? I recall that it was not a term that any of the artists coined themselves, but I am not recalling specifically who did. A gallery? A critic? A magazine? A newspaper?

In what cartoon does Foghorn Leghorn say, "Kids coming up nowadays don't even know how to tie down their pumpkins"?

Joe Beese — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:49:24 -0800

In what cartoon does Foghorn Leghorn say, "Kids coming up nowadays don't even know how to tie down their pumpkins"? I've seen it attributed to "Henhouse Henery" (1949) - but this appears to be incorrect.

Print-on-demand that isn't CafePress, Zazzle, DA, or RedBubble?

katillathehun — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:48:19 -0800

I'm looking for a print-on-demand site for prints and possibly calendars of my illustrations. But not CafePress, Zazzle, DeviantArt or RedBubble. Who's left? DeviantArt has worked well for me in the past, and RedBubble seems pretty good too, but I'm looking for something with less of a community vibe to be my main storefront. I just want to sell the things! I've never been crazy about the quality of CafePress and Zazzle prints. I would even be willing to print some things the traditional way, but I'd still need someone else to handle the orders and shipping, and I like the upload-it-and-forget-it convenience of on-demand.

So... are there any other options?

Can you recommend a good book about the WPA artists program, or a great book that came out of the Federal Writers' Program?

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:29:02 -0800

Can you recommend a good book about the WPA artists program, or a great book that came out of the Federal Writers' Program? Bonus points if you know of a fictional story that uses it as the main theme. Recently my girlfriend and I spent some time going through the 1934: A New Deal for Artists exhibition at the American Art Museum in Washington. We both enjoyed it, and I plan on getting her the Smithsonian-produced art book for Christmas, but I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a historical book that looks at the WPA program itself, not necessarily what came out of it. A book discussing the rational, highlighting struggling artists, why it was important to fund the work, implementation of the program, etc.

She doesn't really read non-fiction (unlike me, who only reads non-fiction), so a fictional look at the WPA artists program would be amazing. I figure that probably doesn't exist, so recommend whatever you may have.

Also, if you know of a great book from the Federal Writers' Program, which was the same basic program but for authors, I'd love suggestions from that as well. I'm more inclined to give her a fiction book that came out of that program than a non-fiction book about WPA art.

(anon because it's a Christmas gift and my username is, in hindsight, far too obvious.)

How to get robots to send texts?

Chairboy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:13:38 -0800

Interactive art filter - how to get cute robots to send sms messages? Asking this question for a friend. He's designing an interactive art installation that uses small mobile robots which are infrared tracked by a Wii to trigger events in Pure Data. The next step is to find a way to get Pure Data to send text messages to participants in the project , probably using Frontline SMS. We are both a little tech savvy but not really coders - does this sound workable/do-able? what would be the best way to proceed here?

Information about travelling museums?

bwonder2 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:57:16 -0800

Can anyone please help me remember the name of an artist, a woman, I think from the Philippines, who created and carried her own museum? Or similar projects of "mobile/portabe museums/galleries".

Articles on law serving specific factions of society? Example of art.

tnygard — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:56:07 -0800

Hi all, I am looking for articles or books on how the law serves specific factions of society at the expense of others. I am specifically interested in the issue of art fraud and forgery, but I would be happy to learn about more general overviews on this issue as well. Is there a "classic" book on how law is socially constructed to serve specific factions of society at the expense of others? Or maybe an overview on the sociology or anthropology of law that you highly recommend? Or some key terms I should be aware of? My intuitive understanding of the art forgery example is that laws to prevent fraud serve the interests of people involved in the art market (dealers, galleries, museums, auction houses) but hinder artists that work in historical traditions because the border between a "copy" and a "pastiche" and a "forgery" and a "fraud" is blurry. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

How much memorization does art dance performance require?

Joe Beese — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:52:35 -0800

How much memorization does art dance performance require? I assume it varies between genres - and between roles within genres. But can useful generalizations be made about how much performance data retrieval per minute is involved compared with, say, playing in a symphony orchestra?

thanksgiving minus turkey plus nyc

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:01:40 -0800

Will be in NYC for Thanksgiving: Will things be open? Anything cool going on? My mother and I are not too into the rituals of Thanksgiving. This year we're ditching the family dinners and, instead, meeting in New York City to take advantage of the city, our vacation time, and seeing each other (it's been about 6 months since we last hung out). We'll be there from Wednesday-Saturday.

We have specific thing on our agenda (eating at Momofuku, shopping at Desigual, going to MoMA for free on Friday, experiencing culture shock at Brighton Beach, going to bars with photobooths), but I'm wondering if most places will be open on Thanksgiving Day and/or if there is anything particularly fun happening then.

I'm pretty sure that neither of us is interested in watching the Thanksgiving parade (again, not too into Thanksgiving as a holiday), and this is her first time to NYC. We like art, walking around, food and wine, theatre, and various other funky things (Mom is hipper than I am...). But, neither of us wants to spend too much money, especially since we know that a fun time can be had in NYC without breaking the bank.

Popped Art: How to Promote an Artist's Work?

prophetsearcher — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:42:18 -0800

Looking for advice for raising an accomplished artist's profile from 'recognized' to 'esteemed' - through promotion, exhibition, and sales. How to find trustworthy/high-end calls for entries to art shows and museums? And more. I'm helping an accomplished, recognized artist raise his profile to the next level. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Where are there quality listings of call for submissions for artists' works for exhibition? How do you get art into shows? How do curators identify artists for consideration when putting together shows?

Secondarily,
What are the best venues/methods for promoting an artist's works?

Specific questions:
1. Are there (not scammy or lame) listings of calls for submissions to upcoming visual arts exhibitions? Willing to pay moderate subscription fees if the list is of a high caliber...

1a. Bonus points for lists and resources geared towards religious art topics, and to Jewish/Israeli artists in particular.

2. In addition to building personal relationships with museum and gallery curators and owners, what are the best practices for getting art pieces into shows?

3. Other advice/best practices for generally promoting the work of an artist? The online side is pretty much in place (facebook, twitter, flickr, tumblr, site).

4. While I'm here, might as well look for advice regarding the sale of aforementioned artworks, especially re: pricing, marketing, distribution of giclees, photographs, and installation/site-specific pieces.

Thanks, AskMeFi!

Help Identifying Weird Old Nature Book

marxchivist — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:01:00 -0800

Help identifying weird old nature book, 1940's to 1970's. Links to images inside. I fished a falling apart copy of this from a trash can at a library where I worked about 20 years ago. I managed to scan three images from it: 1, 2, 3. Somewhere along the line I lost it, I'd really like to get my hands on another copy.

It could have been published anytime from the 1940's to the 1970's. It was 8 1/2 x 11" size, probably about 1/2" thick and had a green dustjacket. I had a page on each animal with illustrations in the above style. I was hoping someone might recognize the pictures.

Thanks!

looking for italian church art.

titanium_geek — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:13:20 -0800

religious-art-filter: looking for a specific image of Christ rising from the grave. I saw it on a TV program and I'd like to see it again. From what I remember, it was like a "forgotten artwork" kind of program, and they visited a small Italian church to see it.

The artwork was in the format of a painting, except 3D. So it wasn't a statue, but like a rectangular 3D sculpture on the wall. It was in a white stone- maybe marble.

The subject was Jesus rising from the grave- not the standard shiny-light-everywhere walking out, but an earthy, muscular, kind of beat up Jesus climbing out, giving the viewer a piercing glare. I think his hair was kind of snaky. I don't recall angels.

The artist wasn't a really famous on like Michelangelo or Da Vinci, I don't think.

The program talked about the techniques the artist would have used, maybe the discovery of a prototype image (??) and a bit about their artistic life. While I would love to watch the program again, the art work is what I really want to see.

TV program: Australia, 2007(2006?) most probably over the Easter period, maybe ABC or SBS.

Art work: Italian church, renaissance (?) Does it exist on the internet? Google is failing me.

Thank you.

The Wedding of Princess Ka'iulani

LadyOscar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:11:35 -0800

Has anyone heard of a mural painting called "The Wedding of Princess Ka'iulani" commissioned on his return home by a Japanese businessman who visited Hawaii and was moved by her short life? While I was writing an essay for Japanese class about Princess Ka'iulani (the last crown princess of the Kingdom of Hawaii), my husband mentioned that he had read a magazine article a few years ago about this painting in a Tokyo(?) hotel(?) that was a fantasy version of the wedding she never lived to see.

I figured this would be easy to Google, but for once the all-knowing net has failed me. The only reference I could find was one line in this article:
http://www.urbanmozaik.com/member_fea_archives/arc_princess.html

I tried searching in Japanese, as well, but with no better luck. (Although I'm not fluent, so I could have missed something.)

Does anyone else out there remember reading about this, or know any more details?

Name that American folk painter

fire&wings — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:41 -0800

This is driving me insane. What is the name of the 19th century American folk painter, called something like Franz Vogl, Kogl, Vogel, Fogel - something Austrian sounding - who drew very distinctive landscapes featuring buildings with mildly distorted perspectives and a lot of horizontal lines, usually titled below with calligraphic captions like "Miss Joanna Cunningham's House." I thought I bookmarked this guy when I found him but apparently not. His paintings have sold in excess of $300k so he is not unheralded, and there was a .com in his name set up by a collector looking for works. Have exhausted everything trying to find him on google.

Reference of Frames?

Viola — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:16:23 -0800

I need an affordable framing place in NYC/Brooklyn! I have about 10 prints I'd like framed for my wall, and many prints have somewhat unusual sizes that make it hard to find frames at various dollar stores and such. Ideally I'd like to drop off my prints at a store, discuss briefly which prints need matting and which just need regular frames, and pick them up the next week. I work just upstairs from a tony framing store in DUMBO, but if you've got a more affordable recommendation in Murray Hill or whatever, please send them my way!