Chillon Castle at Montreaux, Switzerland.

I Love castles! So I was very excited to visit CHATEAU CHILLON! 

Sadly it was raining,so I couldn't take the boat to take pictures of the front view like HERE, but I will be back :)

Lyon,France's Flower Tree by Choi Jeong Hwa

When I visited Lyon, France I fell in love with this flower tree, it was such a bright  and beautiful contrast against the old world architecture, so you bet I took way too many pictures of this tree, but here are the top 3 best pictures:

The Flower tree was created by Choi Jeong Hwa, who creates amazing public art, here are some of my favorites:

Here is a video where he explains the philosophy behind his work, that I found at the Creator Project:

visit his website to see more of his work: http://www.choijeonghwa.com/ 
Or his creator project page for more videos: http://thecreatorsproject.com/creators/choi-jeong-hwa

Musee des Miniatures et Decors de Cinema: Lyon, France

Visit their website to see more from their collections at http://www.mimlyon.com/

My kind of tiny library

Ooooh everything tiny is so cute!

Now I know where I will live if I were thumbelina

Paper Cutouts

More tiny paper cutouts!

A bug's Life!

I want a studio like that, only of course way bigger

I <3 Natural history museums, even more the tiny ones!

Hehe Artist supplies in tiny world, of course I loved it!

"Where Books Come to Life" by Andersen M. Studio

Check out this amazing stop-motion promo by Andersen M. Studio:

Dani Jones

This week Illustrator of the week is Dani jones! I really love her digital illustration, they have a touch of traditional style, it looks to me like acrylic and gouaches! I really like her illustration style and she's quite a very active illustrator is so inspiring to read her blog! plus she gives such good advice, tips, as well as really good tutorials. I plan to do the following tutorials:

• How to Draw Children.
• Get the Most out of your Line Drawing.
• 50 Facial Expressions and How to Draw them.
• The Value of Color Studies.

She also create The Illustrated Section, a great place to sell your webcomics! I been thinking that sometime in the future I would love to start a comic series, so the illustrated section would be a great place to sell it. 

So check out her website: http://danidraws.com/

Her blog: http://danidraws.com/blog/

And the Illustrated Section: http://theillustratedsection.com

She also just finished a Children's book called " Once upon a Time" is quite charming!:

Go read it here: http://danidraws.com/onceuponatime/

She also shares her process, which is very informative.

COLOR by Victoria Finlay.

I just finished reading "Color: A Natural History of the Palette" by Victoria Finlay and wow what a read. It was so good that the last chapter I read it oh so slow, because I didn't want to finish it and when I did I sat quietly taking everything I learned from this book, my mind quickly remembering my favorite parts and I knew that this book has stirred something in me and I will for sure re-read it again in the near future(probably on my flight back to Mexico) It has become an instant favorite.


Anyway this book chronicles the travels of Victoria Finlay, a journalist and writer who traveled 17 countries to find the stories behind the pigments that are in our color palettes. Some came from the bodies of mummies, others carry the blood of an insect, and there are sea snails that cries purple. I could go on, but I leave that for you to read and find out. Each chapter is a color and my favorite chapters were Red, Indigo and Purple,fascinating stories, but mostly because it brought back some good childhood memories of my hometown :)


I love the cover it goes very well with what the book is about. And she has written another book called "Jewels: A Secret History" Which I already put it in my to read list. Though I'm not one into jewels, I will still read it because when reading Color I not only enjoyed finding out where the pigments came from, but also enjoyed Victoria's travel experiences, the cultures she encountered and the people she met in her journeys.


So read it! and guess what? she has a blog! Visit it here: http://victoriafinlay.com/


Buy the book HERE.


And now I'll leave you with a quote from Victoria Finlay that I got from her Blog:


"It is sometimes the small things, the ones we take for granted, that are the most wonderful"

Flipback Books

I came across this video at the Casual Optimist blog! and I knew I had to re-shared it!. 

I'm really digging the little flipback books because as someone who takes public transportation, bikes and walks, this little book would be so nice to carry when I don't want my usual book to weight me down or if I'm in the mood for some light reading and/or if I need a little extra room in my purse :) After all I carry a lot of things!!!

I would also love to see little artbooks or little comics printed in that format, I think it will be fun to read and look, what do you think?

Though I have to disagree with this ARTICLE from the Guardian, I really don't see how this little book could kill the kindle, and this ARTICLE shows that I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

Since they were released here in Europe, I'll see if I can get my hands on one and I'll share my opinions about the real thing.

Enjoy the rest of your monday!

Haas & Hahn's Murals

Last Murals of the week, I promise.
These are the murals of Haas & Hahn, it sure gives a different personality to the town no? Who would have though a mural could be a positive change.


From their site:


"Haas&Hahn is the working title of artistic duo Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn. They started working together in 2005, when they filmed a documentary about hip hop in the favelas of Rio and São Paolo for MTV. Inspired by this visit, they embarked on a journey to bring outrageous works of art to unexpected places, starting with painting enormous murals in the slums of Brazil together with the local youth."


I Love, how as artists we have a wonderful way to start change for the good.


Read an article about them HERE


Visit their website @ http://www.favelapainting.com/home

More Mural Love.

I'm still in mural loving mode from posting my pictures of the walls of Lyon, anyway here is another organization that does something similar but different style. Love Letter (love the name) involves mostly beautiful lettering. They are from Philadelphia, USA. Definitely a must see. 

Check their webpage for more @ http://www.aloveletterforyou.com/

PS: It also wakes my curiosity of doing a mural!