Those Crazy Leaf Carvings; What, How & Where To Buy Or Create Custom Ones.

In the past year, several sites (Treehugger, Toxel and Neatorama to name a few) have shown images of the asian art of leaf carving and more recently the Gblog from Gessato via lost at e minor, posted about the leaves again which got me wondering if you could have custom images made (the answer is yes, as you will see later in this post).

The tacky artworks have their kitsch appeal especially when it comes to using them to showcase religious and celebrity imagery.



Whether it's the Virgin Mary, Obama, Marilyn Monroe, Victorian Silhouettes or a tourist leaf selling Amish Country, the carved leaves seem to elicit a certain fascination.

















Custom Carved Leaves
You can actually have custom ones made from a photo or purchase previously carved leaves for about $25.00 from several sites (links at the end of this post).




How Do They Do It?
The Sixty Step Process


above: Huang Taisheng, master leaf carver at work

Creating leaf art is a long and complex process. Leaves are put through a 60 step process such as, manually cutting and removing the outer surface of the leaf while leaving the leafs veins intact which add detail into the subject matter of the carving. Pressing, curing and dying are also just a few of the steps needed to prepare the leaf.





Talented artist using magnifying glass, then skillfully carve their masterpiece by hand. No painting or printing is involved. The most common leaf used in leaf carving is the leaf of a Chinar tree, which is native to India, Pakistan and China. Chinar leaves closely resemblance the leaf of a maple tree:



Where To Buy Them:
Several websites will make custom leaf carvings from your own photo or sell already carved leaves in various Western and Asian themes.

http://www.foliagesart.com/Products.asp

http://www.leafcarvingart.com/

http://www.longal-craft.com/leaf-carving-art.html

http://stores.far-eastgifts.com/-strse-Art-of-Leaf-Carving/Categories.bok

Thanks to the above links for images and information.

The Best Halloween Costume Ever! Banksy's Flower Thrower Comes To Life.

The Design Director of San Franscisco's Y Studios, Pittsburgh born George Schnakenberg III, gets my vote for the best Halloween costume I've seen in years. With ample design skills and impressive execution, George turned one of stencil street artist Banksy's most famous works, The Flower Thrower, into a full costume designed to emulate the 2D image.


above: George created the flat looking outfit by creating black and white shadows on his pants, hoodie, bandana and gloves.


The original artwork by Banksy:

Matching the prop:


Throughout the Halloween evening, George had photos of himself taken with various friends and in various environments (please note, I have cropped and adjusted the lighting and levels on some of these images for greater visibility):





George even made up his face to emulate the stencil art:

and managed to eat:


Nice work George!
You've set the bar really high and I can't wait to see what you do next Halloween.

all images courtesy of George Schnakenberg III

Vintage Style Illustrated Star Wars Travel & Transportation Posters.

If you're a fan of vintage travel posters and George Lucas' Star Wars movies, like illustrator Steve Thomas, these Star Wars Travel Posters will quickly become amongst your favorites. Illustrated in the style of mid- 20th century travel posters, they advertise the merits of Star Wars planets, places and transportation.


above: detail of the Millenium Falcon from one of the posters

Although he created these a few years ago, they were recently brought to my attention by Dvice. They have yet to be produced, but he's working on it.






About the artist:


Steve Thomas has been working for newspapers churning out graphics and illustrations for more than 10 years. When not at his day job, he tries to come up with new and interesting ideas for illustrations. His love for vintage poster, propaganda and product art from the early 20th century and an interest in retro-futuristic art from the mid-20th has led him to create some great poster art, many of which you can see in his online portfolio or purchase on Zazzle.

Steve has also created marketing and advertising art for various companies, from label expo organizers to architecture firms. Some of his clients have included the Tarsus Group, Meteora, the Alderac Entertainment Group (Fantasy Flight Games), Synaptic Overload Games and ICON magazine.

He is available for commissions, just send him a note here. And don't forget to follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Be sure to check out his Zazzle store, in which he sells many of his beautifully illustrated posters along with other items.