Hands down, the best steampunk build I've seen in weeks:
Steampunk Portal gun!! And it lights up!Made entirely from scratch by DeviantArt geek girl batman-n-bananas, who constructed an entire steampunk Chell costume to go with it, thereby making her my new hero.
For her long-fall boots, she incorporated a giant spring into the heel:
If you need me, I'll be over here poring over her list of gun materials and plotting ways to construct my own. (Mwuah-ha-haa!!)Next, Arthemise spotted this spiffily steampunked Dalek :
Believe it or not, the Dalek itself is a plastic bottle of bubble bath! (Also, I don't think "spiffily" is a word. But I'm going with it.) Made by Alex Holden. (More details on how he did it at the link.)
Here's a steamy way to store your kitchen spices:
Danielle W. found this spice rack tutorial over on Instructables - perfect for a touch of "mad scientist chic" in the kitchen! (I wish there was a pic of it full of test tubes; that must look pretty darn awesome.)
$11.95 over on Amazon
Steamduck!!
That is all.
And just look at these amazing illustrations from Thaddeus the Boss, by Heather Theurer:
Christina A. sent it over just for its amazing illustrations, and in fact you can buy prints of some of them at Heather's website here.
There are a lot of artists out there doing steampunky things with insects: beetles in pocket watches, dragonflies with gears on their wings, etc., but I haven't posted any 'til now because, well, bugs give me the creepy-crawlies. (I blame the grade school project that forced me to catch, kill, and mount something like 50 different insects. Yeah. Traumatized for life.)
Still, while looking through a link one of you sent in this week, I stumbled across Mike Libby's Insect Lab, which I think may be the gold standard in steampunk insect art:
He's either replaced or surrounded the body with springs and gears, and I like how the long coil on the front mimics the butterfly's natural...uh... coil thing. (Clearly that project taught me so much.)
Libby has plenty of squirm-inducing beetles and spiders and stuff, too, for those of you with braver constitutions. Me, I'll just stick to looking at the pretty butterflies.
Preeeetty.
And finally, I have to show you guys the awesome sketch Ruth D. sent in:
The monocle really gives him a distinguished air, don't you think?
Have a steamy Saturday, everyone!
Steampunk already has some fabulous titles to its name, but now the genre is breaking into children's books in a big way. Author Emilie Bush actually e-mailed me about her "steampunk bedtime story" last month, and though I haven't read it yet, Her Majesty's Explorer is getting nothing but rave reviews from everyone from The Bloggess to Captain Robert of Abney Park.
Steamduck!!
That is all.
And just look at these amazing illustrations from Thaddeus the Boss, by Heather Theurer:
There are a lot of artists out there doing steampunky things with insects: beetles in pocket watches, dragonflies with gears on their wings, etc., but I haven't posted any 'til now because, well, bugs give me the creepy-crawlies. (I blame the grade school project that forced me to catch, kill, and mount something like 50 different insects. Yeah. Traumatized for life.)
Still, while looking through a link one of you sent in this week, I stumbled across Mike Libby's Insect Lab, which I think may be the gold standard in steampunk insect art:
He's either replaced or surrounded the body with springs and gears, and I like how the long coil on the front mimics the butterfly's natural...uh... coil thing. (Clearly that project taught me so much.)Libby has plenty of squirm-inducing beetles and spiders and stuff, too, for those of you with braver constitutions. Me, I'll just stick to looking at the pretty butterflies.
Preeeetty.And finally, I have to show you guys the awesome sketch Ruth D. sent in:
The monocle really gives him a distinguished air, don't you think?Have a steamy Saturday, everyone!
HOLY GUACAMOLE! THOSE BUTTERFLIES ARE REAL!!! I browsed his site and all of his work is really amazing! I am absolutely in awe that he took real insects and turned them Steampunk! Coolest thing ever!
ReplyDeleteYay Saturday Steam is back! I have some steampunk to share, these awesome masks, steampunk animals and insects
ReplyDeleteI hope I did the link correctly. ;)
I love the butterflies...they make me think of Hawthorne's "Artist of the Beautiful."
ReplyDeleteWOW...I'm speechless...in a good way!
ReplyDeletei don't know if you've seen this before... but i was floored!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31cl8Obftdg&feature=player_embedded
Butterfly coil thing=proboscis
ReplyDeleteI might be the eleventy-thousandth person to say this, so feel free not to post it, but the link to the Insect Lab only goes to the image link for the logo.
ReplyDeleteWhoops, thx for the heads up, Anony! I just fixed the link.
ReplyDeletecapturing butterflies and killing them just to make something "pretty" is horrendous.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with previous comment catching and killing insects to make art is pretty sick
ReplyDelete(Claps hands excitedly)
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking for new books for my book loving 4 year old. Particularly ones that I can enjoy too and extra points for not being pink or having the word princess in them.
If you haven't seen the steampunk children's book Margaret Magee Meets Morris you should totally check it out! It's available in the itunes book store.right here
ReplyDeleteIts a great story and the art is really fantastic and colorful! The same writer also did a more adult pulp fiction steampunk web series that is really fun! You can go to her web site here: inaristream
You guys shouldn't be afraid to post your names re: the insect art! I'm not going to bite your head off or anything - if anything, I'm inclined to agree with you.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I know many insect artists only use bugs that have died of natural causes, and I have no problem with preserving beauty in that way. In fact, every butterfly reserve (is that the right term?) I've been to (& I've been to 6 or 7) sells mounted butterflies; they collect the insects that have died each day to preserve. Not saying Libby does, since he doesn't specify, but it's possible.
Oh, and for the spiders & scorpions & stuff, many people pay exterminators to kill those, so at least this way they're being turned into something... well, beautiful to some people. ;)
Talking of steam punk. Have you read the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carringer? I think you'd love it, steampunk, vampires, werewolves, and accessories :D
ReplyDeleteSam
Just because of that last picture, which is really cute, I think you should have a contest to see who can come up with the best drawing or version of the Ep Bot
ReplyDeleteJen, you should check out Rich Sandomeno. Saw him on Project Accessory this year and he has some amazing metal accessories. Spragworks displays his stuff. There are some "corset" style rings and cuffs and he does custom work too.
ReplyDeleteI know this isn't exactly your Epbot robot, but I saw a print here (title is Escape) that reminded me of the little fellow. Just thought you might be interested. :)
ReplyDelete