The Ideal Beauty of the Human Body in Art

The idea of the perfect human body is a result of culture: religious functions, economy, advertisement and other factors.

The definition of beauty is not an immanent and objective quality of things, since every age, place and social class formed its own ideal of it, ideal beauty is corresponding with the aesthetic feeling of people of a respecting period.

“History of art” as a relatively young science earlier was called subjectively “aesthetics”. Art was supposed to evoke religious contemplation and/or sensuos and mental delight., as the ancient poet Heliodor postulated.

However according to the great historian Ranke the task of an historian is plainly “to tell as it really was..”, and not his own opinions or feelings.

Actually nowadays we are not any more allowed to call something objectively beautiful, only “to me it is beautiful” or “I like it”, especially since art expresse the disorder and confusion of mankind.

It seem, that there is no more ideals and “anything goes”…

- A Short Introduction to European History of Culture

I have always been fascinated by the “Death’s-head Hawkmoth” used in the “Silence of the Lambs” poster ever since the movie came out way back when. For those who are not familiar with it, these moths are easily distinguishable by the vaguely human skull-shaped pattern of markings on the thorax. But if you look closer, the image used in the movie poster incorporated an original sketch by Salvador Dali which he later collaborated with Philippe Halsman called In Voluptas Mors (1951) where he used actual women to form a large skull.

It is by some creative chance that I’ve stumbled upon a similar imaginative individual who celebrates the human body in all it’s glory, manipulating stock images to create a totally new concept. Let me introduce you to the dreamlike but artistically talented works of…

Cecelia Webber

Our featured artist for today once questioned why we are made to feel so ashamed of the human body especially in the Western culture and so much of the rest of the world? “Isn’t the body a beautiful, wonderful thing, deserving nothing less than to be celebrated?” Cecelia alighted upon a petal in her mind, a new-found platform from which she could quietly challenge the status quo: she created a digital image of a flower constructed entirely from photographs of the naked human body.

Caterpillars and Butterflies

Traveler

Reach

Chrysalis

Cerulean

Monarch

Fuchsia

Vivid

Flowers

White Dandelion

Sunflower

Sunflower (blown)

Blue Bell

Blue Lilac

Cherry Blossom

Jungle Pink

Dragon Flower

Note: Cecelia also dabbles in paintings as a medium, you can get a taste of her works of surreal cityscapes in black and white by heading over and viewing them all from her updated website.

Where to find Cecelia Webber on the web

Website: ceceliawebber.com

Blog: Cecelia Webber’s thoughts (NA)

Social Networks: Twitter, Facebook

Visit other prodigalconcepts.com features…

Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features.

Art Deco is based on mathematical geometric shapes. It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources.

Michael Myer’s (a.k.a. drawsgood) illustration’s falls nothing short of awesome. I first got a whiff of his genius when he did an illustrated series of the characters from the T.V. series “LOST”, immediately I became an instant fan and I’ve been stalking him ever since.

Today I bring to you his rendition of DC heroes and villains (note: actually it’s just one villain but I’m looking forward to more and will update this post when Michael is ready with them. ) He creates them in the styles of modern art deco minimalists which caught my fancy this last couple of years. I’ve been seeing them around a lot lately, mostly cult classics of movies or TV and comic book characters. The layout is simple, the color is flat, the font is classic, the texture is vintage or grunge the impact is jaw dropping, well at least for me it is. But I’m hoping to convert some of you today with the help “drawsgood” himself.

Check them out and enjoy! And may you find inspiration in these masterful works of art by Michael Myers!

DC Heroes

Superman

Batman

Robin

Wonder Woman

Aquaman

Flash

Green Lantern

“as featured in Green Lantern in 30 graphic inspirations”

Green Arrow

DC Villains

This is the only DC villain Michael has illustrated so far, but I’m sure he’s working on something and when he’s done we’ll post them here. Besides Lex Luthor is all the super villain you need! He’s a genius, unforgiving, conniving, sneaky, rich, no one knows what he’ll be up to next.

Lex Luthor

One day I will have one of this framed and adorn the walls of my personal office, but for now I’m happy just to be able to check them out from time to time.

If you like Michael Myers creations you may purchase a print copy at imagekind.com or make a statement with his wearable artwork as shirts at threadless.com

Find Michael Myers on the web

Website: www.drawsgood.com

Blog: Drawsgood Illustration and Design Blog

Portfolio: Deviantart, Bēhance, Society6

Social Network: Twitter, Facebook, Linked

Visit other prodigalconcepts.com inspirations…

With baby photography one name stands out for me among the crowd and that would be no other than Anne Geddes, she’s well renowned for her baby portraits usually dressed up in fantasy styled outfits and garden settings. I was introduced to her work a while back (some time in the late 90′s) when I received copies of them printed as postcards and greeting cards, I fell in love with her concepts. Anne has an eye that can see babies from a very surreal perspective and presents them mostly during their earliest days of innocence, when one couldn’t help but be awed as the babies look serene and magical.

I’ve decided for this post to celebrate the birth of Iñigo and make a compilation of creatively portrayed babies in photography. Babies in different poses and scenes shot by Anne herself as well as some images by other photographers I stumbled upon along the way. I hope you all enjoy and get enough dose of inspiration to grab that camera and immortalize the little tykes at their age of innocence.

Anne Geddes and her Surreal Babies

Anne Geddes style of children’s portraiture broke some fresh ground in the early 90′s. She has a few published work and some awards in photography excellence to back her years of experience in the industry she has grown to love. And if being interviewed by Oprah doesn’t count as an achievement, then let her work speak for her talent.

Carrie Sandoval and her Babies in B&W

Carrie Sandoval was always into anything that has to do with arts even as a young girl. She worked as an Art Director for an advertising agency before she had her first baby, a boy who gave her a new career direction. “Becoming a mother was the catalyst that caused her love of photography to blossom.

Adele Enersen and Mila’s Daydreams

Adele Enersen is from Finland, I believe Helsinki to be exact. She’s not a professional photographer but makes this list because of her creativity. A copywriter and a concept designer by profession who took time off from work to have her baby “Mila”. To avoid disturbing Mila’s sleep Adele just takes a few minutes to create a concept and take a snapshot using a point and shoot Canon IXUS 750, then it’s back to the crib for the little angel. Adele Enersen will have a daydream-book out soon, inspired by her blog Mila’s Daydreams where she portray’s her daughter in a wide array of dream like poses and settings, using anything readily available at home she can get her hands on as props which is planned to be published sometime in 2012 by Balzer + Bray.

Related Articles

6 Baby Photography Tips for Beginners

Baby Photography 101

Baby Photography:21 Cute and Meaningful Black&White Baby Photos

30 Adorable Examples of Baby Photography

On a personal note Iñigo finally arrived around 11:50 am on October 25, 2010. He’s a handful but manageable and it’s really something else to hold him, it’s like magic.

Enter the young up and comer Ian Jasper Reyes from Tarlac City, Philippines. Fresh out of college, he pursued his love of challenges for creating surreal photo manipulations with very impressive results. His humble beginnings started out by playing around with small scale TAGS and SIGS just for his personal amusement. He eventually started joining contests which helped secure his confidence with his work while he gradually pushed the envelop for a larger work canvas. Ian Jasper *slash Vinc found inspiration from the works of other artists on deviantart.com and wowmagz.com to name a few.

Currently focusing his artistry on his brand new passion for large dimension digital canvasses he proved time and time again that he can overcome it’s downside, like how frustrating it can sometime gets to fill it up with elements that would mesh nicely together. But Vinc seems to be doing this pretty well. And we are featuring him here at prodigalconcepts.com because we acknowledge that skills and talent knows no age, and if you happen to have found your calling early you will just keep getting better and better. Ian Jasper or Vinc clearly proves this to be true.

Enjoy “the Vinc’s” imaginative renditions

Wandering

Somewhat

Sky High II

Replace

In the Air

Mountaincold

Habitat

The Floating Idea

Approaching

Derived

Clouds

Close Enough

Where to find Ian Jasper Reyes on the web

Website: vincgfx

Social Network: facebook

Affiliations: DistortedPixel, pinoyrepublic.org

Ian Jasper Reyes also works as a design and technical freelancer if you find yourself in need of his services you may get in touch with him directly at his website. Thank you!

Annie’s style of lighting combined with the use of bold colors and poses in the 80′s got her a position with “Vanity Fair” where she photographed celebrities for the American Express ad campaign that won her a Clio Award which is given to reward individuals for creative excellence in advertising and design. We all could learn a lot from Ms. Leibovitz’s style of photography or just be inspired by what she has already done. In this post I would like to share some of her work from 2007 when the Walt Disney Company hired her to do a series of photographs with celebrities in various roles and scenes for Disney Parks “Year of a Million Dreams” campaign.

So drop everything for awhile and let’s bring out the inner child in all of us, during the time when anything seems possible and worries are a million miles away. Let’s all just sit back and find inspiration in the photos of Annie Leibovitz.

Alladin

Jennifer Lopez as Princess Jasmin and real life hubby Marc Anthony as Alladin, this is obviously “A whole new world”.

Whoopi Goldberg as the playful Genie, is there still time for my three wishes Genie? There is? Whoppi! Hehehe, I couldn’t help it!

Alice in Wonderland

We have here Beyonce as Alice, then Grammy winner country crooner Lyle Lovett as the March Hare then last but not the least Mr. Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter.

Cinderella

Scarlett Johansson accidentally left a glass slipper or is it a shoe in Cinderella.

King Arthur

Roger Federer traded his tennis racket for a sharper “Excalibur” as King Arthur.

The Little Mermaid

Julianne Moore dreams of feet as Princess Ariel while Michael Phelps practices his Olympic lungs in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

Peter Pan

Mikhail Baryshnikov the Russian dancer daintily flies into the room as Peter Pan, while Gisele Bündchen looks ravishing as Wendy, and although she’s too small to be recognized at first glance Tina Fey spreads some magic dust as Tinkerbell.

Pinocchio

Julie Andrews poses as the Blue Fairy while looking at Abigail Breslin “Little Miss Sunshine” herself as the apprentice fairy in Pinocchio

Pocahontas

Run Forrest ruuuun, seriously it’s Jessica Biel and her obviously strong legs running through the forrest as Pocahontas.

Snow White

Rachel Weisz rolls around with some forest critters as Snow White.

And of course Snow White’s friend Princess Aurora better known as Sleeping Beauty wouldn’t be awake if it wasn’t for Prince Charming *slash Prince Phillip and who better to pose as a prince than David Becham.

And they lived happily ever after…

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this post, now I want to share with you my first wish to the Genie, I wish that if people likes this article that they share it with their friends using the social bookmark buttons and leave comments. Does that count as 2 wishes already?

Find Annie Leibovitz on the web

Vanity Fair Profile: Annie Leibovitz

PBS Photo Gallery: American Masters

Andrew Smith Gallery: American Music

A very Special Thanks goes to thedisneyblog.com and milliondreamphotos blog for the hi-res images I used in this post, you guys are awesome!

Let me give you a sort of guided tour around the house that could possibly be mine in another life or parallel universe. Excuse me while I drool during the walk through.

Roof

Shaped to represent the waves of the ocean and almost totally covered with thin bendable photovoltaic panels to supply enough energy to the house. The Fish House’s roof is partly carpeted by grass to help cool it’s interiors even on the warmest days and provide some outdoor leisure spaces.

2nd floor den

Roomy and airy this 2nd floor entertainment area, with high ceilings that effectively help in distributing and circulating natural air coming from the sea, it also has a floor to ceiling view of the ocean that will make any guest want to stay long after the party.

Masters bedroom with T&B

A luxurious masters bedroom with open toilet and bath and a view of the garden, the Fish House integrates nature into its living space perfectly. It’s like living outdoors with all the amenities and comforts of a modern home.

Pool

A key part of the Fish House is the large pool that almost surrounds the entire structure like a moat, being a house with a full ocean view the pool links the house to the landscape and ultimately creates a visual connection with the sea.

Submerged den

This is actually my favorite part, a den with a view from the inside of the pool, here you can relax watching your favorite movies while being underwater and without getting wet. I bet the acoustics here will blow your mind!

Floor plans

To know more about Guz Architects

Visit guzarchitects.com where you can find a gallery of their works and discover their inspirations to create the living spaces that’s eco friendly, functional and beautiful.

Now what if you are like our featured artist of the week, he doesn’t visit toy shops simply to purchase someone else’s work, although I’m sure he has quite the collection. He also goes inside the magical emporiums to be inspired and probably to get some raw materials because Jim Faustino makes his own toys, yup he’s a toy maker of sorts he’s a regular Geppetto. He’s also an Illustrator, Painter, Comic book and Action figure enthusiast and the skill that brought him to our attention, a Sculptor. Another talented Filipino doing what he loves and being good at what he does Jim is a world class act and an inspiration to all of us.

Aside from his day job Jim Faustino is also a part of an eclectic team of artists at www.glasshousegraphics.com which is a professional service firm who collaborates and brings together individuals from different areas of expertise.

Now it’s time to hold on to your seats because we’re taking a ride to the candy store of sculpted goodies… and other stuff by Jim Faustino.

Toy Sculptures

Mark / Dirk Daring (G-Force)

Lobo (D.C.)

The Terminator

Betty Boop

Mico Jacko

Monster

Another Monster

Elf or Fairy or Dwarf

Compilation of early works

Darna

Wolf

Viktor

Druid

Other works

Wristbeads feat. Slipknot (accesories)

A Christmas (wall mural)

Archies (fan art)

Inhuman Royal Family (fan art)

Pinhead from Hellraiser (fan art)

Find Jim Faustino on the web

To know the back story of each creation visit Jim Faustino’s gallery at deviant art. As “the Joker” from Tim Burton’s Batman said “Where does he get those wonderful toys?”

Portfolio: deviantart.com | glasshousegraphics.com

Trivia: Jim together with his brother Jeremiah won the Philippine Graphic Fiction Peoples Choice Awards 2010 early this year for the comics category with their official entry “Hunger”. You may view the results at the Neil Gaiman interview. View the results here

The internet is overflowing with rare gems. Websites that we can consider a great find in the multitude of websites trying to get a piece of that popularity pie. As a web designer I am often on a quest in search of new skills I could include to my arsenal. And one time I was so inspired by doodle art during my research for my articles “We will, WeeWillDoodle” together with those awesome illustrated websites I’ve featured in “Inspiration: Cultural themed website designs”, that I felt like I had to try it out for myself right then and there, but I was immediately reminded of my limitations because my freehand skills are limited to just doing basic shapes and tracing.

Not to be deterred so easily I sat down to checkout our good old friend Google looking for a tutorial on “how to draw cartoons” which brought me to the website of Jeff Scarterfield from Costa Rica. As fate would have it, it was effectively titled “How to Draw Cartoons Online”. A website that teaches anyone how to draw cartoons. His style is very simple and easy to follow that anyone can do it and the lessons are totally free. You can use it for your projects or if you want to make a hobby out of it. Whatever purpose it may serve this site is one of those rare gems out there. An inspiration and a great resource of drawing styles and technique.

About Jeff Scarterfield

Jeff started drawing at a very young age and soon enough it became his passion, his subjects range from cartoon animals to people and everything in between. A traveler among other things and currently calls Costa Rica home. He put up his website on December of 2007 with a very clear goal — creating simple-yet-effective drawing lessons in hopes to help as many people as possible to become better at drawing… and of course – to inspire people to start drawing too! A cool guy who I think would be fun to hangout with he is really there to help you and inspire you. I hope you all enjoy his lessons as much as I did.

Lessons from Jeff Scarterfield

80′s Cartoons – Skeletor

Skeletor is the arch nemesis of He-Man “The Most Powerful Man in the Universe” a cartoon series from the 80′s. Jeff shows us how he recreates Skeletor using a symmetrical approach.

The initial framework for Skeletor

The final output

View the complete tutorial

Anime – Chibi Characters

Chibi is a Japanese word used to describe a “small thing or a person with a small body”. In manga it often refers to a childlike version of the original characters.

the framework for the Chibi character

View the complete tutorial

Movies – Avatar Dragon “Leonopteryx / Toruk”

In the movie “Avatar” there is a rare dragon that the humans call “Leonopteryx” and the Na’vi people refer to as “Toruk”. Jeff shows us how to draw “the Last Shadow” with just a few strokes.

the frame for the dragon

the final output of the Avatar Dragon

View the complete tutorial

Be Inspired to be an Inspiration

Totally awesome right? Be sure to check out How to Draw Cartoons Online website for more of the complete set of drawing lessons. Jeff has a lot of drawing tutorials available and he continues to update his website with new lessons as well as new categories all the time. And remember to be inspired so you can also be an inspiration to others. If you find this article useful or interesting please help me spread the word and share it with your friends by clicking on the social bookmarking button “Sharing is Sexy!” at the end of this post, Stay Sexy!