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Thursday, October 16, 2008

DRB Exclusive: Steampunk Art Store Opens!


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DRB New Art & Gift Store Opens!
Featuring new exciting artwork by John Martin "The Morning Brew"

As the holidays approach, DRB answers requests of our readers with a line of branded gift merchandise - our new online store is now open! - featuring fascinating steampunk-oriented and whimsical original art.

DRB GIFT STORE

We love the support of our loyal audience, which keeps this site going. Now we can offer you some very special products - with more designs and options to come!




John Martin has captured the feel of DRB in his latest print

Special art commissioned by DRB:
The intrepid explorer girl riding some sort of espresso-powered flying machine, with her father - a renowned inventor - trying to catch up in a steam dino vehicle. There is excitement in the air and plenty adventures to catch.


Art exclusively for DRB by John Martin - Click to see bigger version

This artwork is available for purchase as a limited-edition print on John Martin's website, and also as a DRB-branded version in our online store.

Sepia Version:



Plus we offer new medallion designs on various products: coffee cups, clocks, t-shirts, etc:



We've been fortunate to receive some input from one of the world's leading brand designers Tim Girvin; here is what he has to say:

"...There's a curious quality to the spirit of DRB - and actually, that might be the exemplar: curiosity. That character comes from editors, it would seem -- it's a wandering, exploring spirit that surely I admire. When I first encountered the site -- I wasn't actually sure what it was. I mean, is this a site on coffee? A daftly dark blend... Or a space for coffee'd madness and eccentric explorations? Hard to know, hard to fathom -- but quickly enough, there's plenty to wander in. And the answer might be yes to all of them, right?

But I have to say this new illustration is really...well -- amazing! What a fabulous rendering -- detailed and wildly weird, Bosch-ian in sentiment, Dali-esque in dream, marveling in the madness ("the salt that keeps good sense from rotting", according to Nikos Kazantzakis) -- and the miracles of the world. I'd say that what this illustration does is create a new vision which strides away from the conventional site modeling, to something that builds a new kind of brand -- one that is more intriguingly eccentric -- it puts a stake in the ground, that's what I like about it."


Sounds like a good start, and we'll continue to explore the visual possibilites of DRB brand - "weird and wonderful, intense, quality brew for the mind and heart alike". Let us know whatever suggestions you have, we'd love to hear from you!


More caffeine-infused goodness from John Martin:

This is how we introduced this artist in our previous Biscotti issue: "John Arthur Martin from PopArtMart is working in a new genre of art called Pop-Surrealism. It's a whimsical visual feast, good with a morning cup, for sure:




Sneak Preview:
New upcoming releases from John: "Da Vinci's Code for Fun" - featuring Leonardo driving a Ferrarri Barchetta 250, with Mona Lisa riding shotgun.


"Da Vinci's Brainstormer" and "Campagna"


Da Vinci's Bolle Tank: Martin's version, and the original on the right - 1487, Codex Arundel, British Library, London.


CONTINUE ON TO GIFT STORE ->


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COMMENTS:

2 Comments:

Blogger jGrrl said...

Oh wow! I come here every post and I never say anything but I've sent your link to a dozen people ... I am sorry I always lurk so silently and nevr speak up - you rock and all your posts are awesome! This art is incredible! Congrats on acquiring such amazing work under your banner :-) How wonderful for you and for us readers!

___  
Anonymous KPhat said...

OMG, those medallion designs are simply amazing. I love those clocks. Very good job!

___  

Post a Comment

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  • Isn't Atlantis in the Bahamas? I'm pretty sure about this.
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  • Atlantis Bahamas is a sister hotel. This one is built on the artificial island, with restored QE2 ocean liner hotel nearby...
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  • looove the video...I'll be whistling it all day. Cute!
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  • I cant help but think that the Raccoon type animal dressed in the samurai outfit is a case of animal cruelty, but it's just so damn cute!
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  • where is that bus stop? From the road signs and lines on the tarmac looks London to me... but where?
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  • And here comes the two best jewels of the original http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJefVspR88M&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_esCf2GSTI&feature=related , I just love the dance.
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  • Will, it's a Tanuki.
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  • The "Heart Attack Grill" was about a block away from me when I lived in Phoenix. I remember the food being ok and the customers being unsightly (talk about OBESE). There was always some minor controversy about the way they had their "nurses" dress as well...
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  • Puggle? That's what you'd call a beagle/pug cross. Puggle dogs are, I'd say a damn sight more popular.

    These babies look like some new character in Homestar Runner.
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  • So adorable!
    Read more

  • There is now video of me feeding my latest echidna at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOKjcfEnXeQ

    den
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  • Wow. I love your photo sharing. Great pics, really. Stumbled your post. Keep on going.
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  • At least now I know where comes the inspiration for the BM in the manga Bio-meat Nectar.
    just look at the bottom of this page
    http://www.onemanga.com/BioMeat_-_Nectar/35/21/ :)
    Read more

  • Actually, the baby platypi are called puggles - it's the term for monotreme babies, not just echidnas. :) These guys are great, you've got to be careful with their delicate skin, but they really love to be held!
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  • bender!!! :D
    Read more

  • Knitted awesomeness from Steriogram:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asdN1jJw4EE
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  • Great video, anonymous - putting it in link latte.
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  • Great article, but I just wanted to point out that knitting and crochet, while both done with yarn, are different crafts. Knitters do not create crocheted objects and vice versa (well, some of them do, but you know what I mean). Of your pictures, the Cthulhu penguin, the eyeballs, the gollum hat, and Bender are definitely crochet. The rest are either knitted or a combination of the two.
    Read more

  • nice list! here's one of my favourites from the world of weird knitting:
    http://www.maxsworld.co.uk/sculpture/ajobforabear.html

    check the animations there too - more knitz.
    Read more

  • Actually, the Cthulhu penguin is knitted. The pink Cthulhu above it is crocheted.

    Oh, while we're at it the goal of creating these idols is not to live, it's to be eaten first.
    Read more

  • Of all the photos, 13 of them depict crochet, not knit. And the funny thing is, the ski masks are dissed as crochet but are knit!
    I'm a big fan of strange crochet.
    Read more

  • HEHEHEHEHE

    that is really great - I aint letting my knitting near my coffee!
    Read more

  • SWEETNESS!!!!

    I have got to get back to that Dalek I was trying to knit. I think the bottom part looked better than the one shown here; I just have to figure out a better top dome for it. I came up with a great way of doing the neck grill, too....

    To non-needleworkers, a good rule of thumb is to look for material that looks like its made up of a bunch of tightly-packed Vs. That's stockinette stitch, your basic knit stitch. (Knit when working on the right side, purl when working on the wrong side.) There are other stitches, like garter stitch, which looks like rows of little interlocking arches -- or like cheap fake chainmail, which is often garter stitch, spray-painted silver. (Convincing only at a great distance. Most of the knights in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" wore garter stitch fake-mail, because it's cheap.) But most knitting revolves around stockinette stitch, like the stuff shown above, so for these examples, that test will give you a good idea of which ones are knit and which ones are crocheted.

    Man, I *love* that squid at the top of the page. Absolutely gorgeous. The nudibranch is stunning as well.

    It's too bad the gal with the Dr Who patterns was forced by the BBC to take them offline. She had this awesome Ood that would've looked great next to the Chthulu knits.
    Read more

  • You missed these: http://killerbanshee.com/robotsandmonsters/index.html
    Read more

  • Why would anyone do this?

    I would suggest because of an incoming hailstorm: that car is a big target and definitely not cheap to repair.

    By the way, First.
    Read more

  • The frog! So touching! Was he shot? Just sick?
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  • Another way to use Tweet: to offer and accept a marriage proposal:

    http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/10/tweethearts-blogger.html

    Not sure if this falls into the good or the bad category.
    Read more

  • The frog probably ate a piece of that icefish.
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  • interesting...
    Read more

  • think there was a bbc documentary on this. called to mars by abomb. they had footage from a small scale model test. it does work.

    interesting because it takes the worry of weight out of the equation. instead of saving weight you build massive ocean liner level stuff because it no longer matters much.

    it was canceled because the fall out is unacceptable amoung the other risks...
    Read more

  • You'd think this project would immediately be called off instead of going as long as it did just by the fact that you'd severely pollute the atmosphere.
    Read more

  • With a clean fusion bomb fallout wouldn't be a problem but yeah with dirty nukes, Quote: "Freeman Dyson, group leader on the project, estimated back in the '60s that with conventional nuclear weapons, that each launch would cause on average between 0.1 and 1 fatal cancers from the fallout."
    Read more

  • Anonymous, as far as I know a H bomb is only "clean" because its fallout is small in relation to its destructive power. You still produce more than enough fallout simply because a fission bomb is needed as a detonator for the fusion. There is no clean nuclear weapon. The term "dirty nuke" can either refer to a fission bomb with relatively high fallout due to low efficiency or to a conventional chemical explosive with radioactive material around it. The latter thing does not cause a nuclear explosion, but scatters radioactive debris around. It is in no way suitable to power a spaceship.
    Read more

  • You have to remember the TIME this was invented in.... people seriously thought this planet was going to be obliterated by nuclear war in the 1950s-60s.

    And if there is a killer asteroid or extraterrestrial threat of any kind, it would be a last-ditch, everyone left behind is dead anyway, "When Worlds Collide" type of project.
    Read more

  • The interwebs have been absolutely abuzz with talk about this project. I've seen it in a few documentaries and more than a few posts. I did love that TED talk tho.

    We still need to solve the 'ol problem of traveling distances that would take tens of thousands of years however...

    Thanks for the comprehensive post!

    Austin
    www.sosauce.com
    Read more

  • There is no reason why we simply couldn't assemble such a device in Orbit and let fly from that vantage point.
    Read more

  • Project Orion and NERVA should be group projects for graduate Nuclear Engineering students. There should be ways to vastly improve performance and lover costs on both of theose systems.

    Launch from Earth? Of course not. However, as anyone who has ever read SF knows, space ships are most easily built in space.

    The cuts in time to Mars and beyond will prevent a lot of radiation problems.

    Oh yes, exploding atomic bombs in space will pollute it. How could I overlook something like that. Darn!
    Read more

  • Remember, the Sun is a natural nuclear fusion explosion that's been going on for about 4.5 billion years. Aside from that, all matter emits some miniscule amounts of radiation. Getting a sun tan is in fact a radiation dosage. And burning coal puts a lot of uranium in the air, since it's a trace element in coal. So an Orion ship's radiation should be kept in perspective.

    Building it in space removes most of the risk to earth. And Orion or a Nerva type nuclear rocket (much different) open the whole solar system to human exploration. Instead of trips lasting years one can get around between planets in weeks.

    Eventually we're going to have to accept that politically.
    Read more

  • Project 'Daedalus' from Great Britain was similar to this one.
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  • Read Footfall! Great read too!
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  • I've been a fan of Orion for decades. It's one of those Big Engineering concepts many engineers (and I am an engineer) are fascinated with. Adding to the attraction, the only thing keeping it from working is an international treaty.

    Project Pluto isn't nearly as big, but has the advantage of being dead simple overall. One person working on it described the vehicle as being "...about as complicated as a bucket of rocks."

    A ramjet is a very simple heat engine: cold air in, hot air out. For Pluto, the heat source was a nuclear reactor made from advanced ceramics, glowing bright yellow.

    The sonic boom from this thing making a low pass would collapse most buildings. The radiation it emitted would sterilize the ground under its path. (Maybe a slight exaggeration there.)

    They ground tested a developmental version of the engine, and seriously discussed building a test vehicle. That would have been dumped in the ocean after the flight. The realization that if they lost control of the thing it could fly over an inhabited area killed the idea.

    Still, you have to wonder if maybe we could use it to explore the atmosphere of Venus, or one of the gas giants...
    Read more

  • Stickmaker, really enjoyed your comment - told in plain terms, great overview
    Read more

  • It's not a bad idea once you get off-planet. Someday, one of the export products spent up the space elevator will be nuclear bombs to propel enormous interplanetary vehicles.
    Read more

  • this kinda thing is also a significant plot point in neal stephenson's anathem! that's where i first heard about it.
    Read more

  • It's not a bad idea once you get off-planet. Someday, one of the export products spent up the space elevator will be nuclear bombs to propel enormous interplanetary vehicles..
    Read more

  • The idea that Orion is inherently unclean is untrue. The reason a bomb can be dirty is the stuff that gets sucked into an explosion (including bomb casings) and then spread around. That is why normal ground-level detonations (where dust and soil gets sucked in) produce vastly more fallout than airborne ones.

    In the late 50s, the calculation was 1 to 10 premature deaths per ground launch of Orion. That isn't 10 specific people die - but that 10 people would statistically die earlier than they otherwise would have.

    I personally do not think that risk is unacceptable. Many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of people die prematurely every single year because of industrial pollution from cars, factories, industry etc. Likewise hundreds of thousands of peoples are killed or injured in road accidents, every single year. While these are tragic, nobody says the risk is unacceptable and we better give up cars/industry/technology and return to living in caves.

    Anyway, another point is the risk can be further reduced today. A modern Orion would use a ground-based pusher plate to reduce fallout, and would use better/lighter bombs so less casings to be sucked in too.

    The two remaining problems are EMP (electro magentic pulse), legal and political. The EMP problem can be solved by a sea launch say near the South pole. The legal issue is that it is illegal to take nuclear weapons in space or explode them - but this could be resolved by renegotiating international treaties if there was political will. The political problem is the biggest problem - many people, often regardless of how little they know about nuclear technology and nuclear science, are against anything nuclear, because it sounds bad to them or believing too much bad late night scifi.

    The reason we need Orion is its the only way we can get a substantial presence in space. One Orion is equivalent to hundreds, even thousands, of conventional rocks. If we don't start using energy and resources from space (the first step of which is a large presence beyond the Earth), we are going to wreck this planet before too long.
    Read more

  • huh?

    1. materials don't BECOME radioactive do they? the dust and stuff from a ground explosion doesn't contribute to the "dirtyness" of the bomb does it?

    2. why on earth would you LAUNCH with nukes? just use conventional rockets to get the thing into orbit (or just build it there) and then you can nuke away in space.
    Read more

  • That 01-1-10 deaths figure would presumably have been calculated on the LNT (linear no threshold) theory of radiation damage. While that is still politically accepted the hormesis theory that at a low level radiation is actually beneficial has the evidence going for it.

    http://www.jerrypournelle.com/archives2/archives2mail/mail311.html#hormesis
    Read more

  • Did a speech in 80's including this method as alternative to STS. Also included matter/antimatter propulsion. Only problem I foresee is NASA's history of accidents! That would be huge..
    Read more

  • those monkey waiters are cute but you better tip them good or they might throw their sh*t at you.
    Read more

  • The pic of the nuclear explosion reminds me of the metamorph from the movie Lightyears
    Read more

  • Rain which does each the ground is called verga.
    Read more

  • Sorry. Rain which evaporates before it reaches the ground is verga. We have a lot of it in the Colorado mountains.
    Read more

  • BE CAREFUL BECAUSE THE WORD VERGA IN SPANISH IS A REALLY BAD WORD.
    D.I.C.K.
    Read more

  • It's actually called virga.
    Read more

  • too bad there's no chtulhu comic :(
    Read more

  • Hi fist of all love your blog I've checking it for years. Second thing, my wife makes notepads and stationary with lots of these prints you can see them at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5858020 keep up the great posts
    Read more

  • Thanks for the very interesting selection. Speaking of italian sci-fi covers... be sure to check out the work of Karel Thole! His eerie covers got me interested in sci-fi literature when I was a little boy!

    http://www.mondourania.com/urania/u301-320/urania301-320.htm
    Read more

  • Wow, gorgeous, amazing stuff. Artist buddy of mine, Jason Chalker, does a lot of pulp inspired paintings - well worth checking out http://www.manlyart.com/
    Read more

  • Man, I need to go to space, that's where all the lusty, well-endowed woman have been hiding themselves all these years!
    Read more

  • FREDRIC BROWN
    not
    FREDRICK
    the typo is on the cover too
    Read more

  • WOW, incredible stuff!!

    THX & best wishes
    Read more

  • What, no Ed Emshwiller? No Edd Cartier? No Jack Gaughan?
    Read more

  • Son geniales las ilustraciones de las revistas de ciencia ficción futurista, sobretodo las que continenen tentáculos y robots.
    Read more

  • Great art & artist...

    But... no Richard M. Powers!

    http://home.earthlink.net/~cjk5/
    Read more

  • Have you guys heard about Alex Ross? Check this link:

    http://www.wildsvillegallery.com/catalog/index.php/artist/alex-ross
    Read more

  • Richard Powers... Ed Emshwiller... Edd Cartier... Jack Gaughan - wow, we definitely need part two!
    Mind you most of these artists were famous for their paperback covers.
    Wildman, thank you, Alex Ross is one the best artists for comic heroes.
    Read more

  • Absolutely impressive precis of a long neglected field of art.
    Would be rendered more perfecter if only the awful neologism 'scifi' was replaced by the true shorthand phrase, SF or if you prefer sf.
    Scifi is a ghastly term.
    SF is soooooooooooooooooooooo much more sophisticated
    Read more

  • Badger42 - I would agree with you, but there is a very respectable site Sci-Fi.com, so the tide of using this word is turning...
    Read more

  • Really very nice space..on day i have to show you my vision's of future... huts, and confratulations for the work!!

    Do you know Mas Yendo? Search for it, you will be happy
    Read more

  • I believe that there is only one golden age of every art form. Perhaps visit me sometime at:
    http://picasaweb.google.com/silverghost1951/ThePerilsOfKarenMorrow#


    SG51
    Read more

  • Thank you Silverghost, this link has made my day... what a treasure trove of cool pulp art, fantastic.
    Read more


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