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Science-Art Scumble #25

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


Welcome to this week's round-up of science-art links. Let's start off with this week's selected images!

This week's image is from artist Kaitlin Beckett, of the blog A Curious Bestiary.


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Beckett recently re-posted her painting Katana Sharks and said,

Several weeks ago I was asked by the folks at PangeaSeed if I would be interested in donating a shark-themed artwork for an upcoming event, to raise awareness about the barbaric and cruel practise of shark fin harvesting.

...PangeaSeed is a Japan-based organisation, and following on from an exhibition of shark works in Tokyo earlier in the year, they are holding a second show...

Kaitlin Beckett's creations run the gamut from samurai sea-life to steampunk birds. It takes a modern understanding of animals to reflect on zoology and create the bizarre denizens of her Curious Bestiary, and Beckett's a master at creating alternative species.

Here's another of Beckett's marvels:

You can find Kaitlin Beckett's Curious Bestiary at the following links:

A Curious Bestiary: art by Kaitlin Beckett

Curious Bestiary Blog

Online Store on RedBubble - check out the amazing prints

@curiousbestiary on Twitter

Curious Bestiary on Facebook

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Now on to these week's link round-up.

Tyrannical Time - Oddments & Curiosities. New painting by Leah Palmer Preiss, painted on a watchface.

2B. 2B. 2B. - The Idee Blog. Image search service Tineye (that I've mentioned before, here) reaches 2 billion images catalogued.

DeviantArt Staff picks: Astronauts - this appeared as a newsletter from DeviantArt of some of their favourite astronaut images.

The Creative Commons Licence as a "Revocable Covenant Not to Sue" - Compound Eye.

Music from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Björk - Geology in Art.

Win $3000 in our first information design competition - Information is Beautiful.

The Worth of an Albino Tree - Bill's Studio. Another stunning artwork by Bill Carman. Could a tree be an albino in its own non-melanin way?

Art, Science and the Historical Method - Philadelphia Area Centre for the History of Science (hat tip to Michael Barton)

With Friends at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge - Exploring Portland's Natural Wildlife Areas. Nothing more heart-warming than photos of a child holding a bug.

Nasutuceratops Finished - Andrey Atuchin Natural History Illustration. Nice painting of an unusual face.

The Cycle of Paleo-Art Mythology - ART Evolved. Craig Dylke continues the discussion (war?) between paleo-art as small imbrella scientific illustration, or paleo-art as big umbrella encompassing all types of fantasy and science alike.

Finally an ACTUAL Greg Paul Ripoff - The Paleo King.

Hackteria interview on WMMNA - Hackteria.

Wow, this is among the more spectacular anatomy illustrations I've seen - An Eye for Science.

A Robot Out for a Stroll - The Flying Trilobite.

Call for Participation: Hypothesis: An Art/Science Fair - The ArtScience Call

Edward Lear Sketches of Parrots - The Tiny Aviary.

Scooters and Dinosaurs - Love in the Time of the Chasmosaurs.

Biofilm Rock Art - Is this Bioart?

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement - Lines and Colors.

 

A couple of links about historical art critic John Ruskin:

Seeing through the sky - Gurney Journey.

A Geological Theory of Painting: John Ruskin's Modern Painters - Geology in Art.

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Scumble: ”A painting technique in which semi-opaque or thin opaque colors are loosely brushed over an underpainted area so that patches of the color beneath show through.”

From The Artist’s Handbook, by Ray Smith.

This began as a series of posts on my personal blog, The Flying Trilobite, as a way to brush highlights over the tremendous amount of science-based art that’s out there. I can’t begin to cover it all, so here’s a scumble over some recent posts that I found interesting, provocative, or otherwise caught my eye from the Science Artists Feed, and other sources.

Science-art is becoming an increasingly popular form of science communication and entertainment. Drawing from fine art, laboratory work, scientific illustration, concept art and more, watch how artists spread scientific literacy and play with the inspiring concepts in science. Doing the Scumble posts, I hope to connect artists with each other, and expose their work to a wider audience. Remember, a lot of these artists are available for commissions and have online shops for original art and reproductions. Why not put some art on your wall that means something more than “weird for the sake of weird”?

Put your feet up, make yourself an espresso and enjoy the science-art on the links above.

Click here for recent Scumbles and here for even earlier Scumbles.