Jan 25

Salty, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2021

“Salty”, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2021

Jumping spiders are my favorite spiders. They’re cute, they’re floofy, they’re incredibly observant, and their athletic abilities are astounding. They also dance to woo the ladies like I never could.

The name comes from their family name “Salticidae.”

All pieces cut on scrollsaw, in this case exclusively using my scrap wood collection. Species: maple (regular and curly), walnut, mesquite, ipe, katalox, ebony, holly, cherry, & rubber tree (reclaimed from a cheap old jewelry box).

The main image upon which this is roughly based is “Come Closer, Jumping Spider” by Diaz Gio (@godzaid@giochimitsu), who has some amazing photography and an art account).

Feb 01

“Jabba’s Palace” – Daniel D. Brown, 2017, Wood Intarsia

My latest wood intarsia piece: a scene of Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine from “Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi”. I built this from a variety of domestic and exotic woods including mahogany, bubinga, bloodwood, purpleheart, walnut, lacewood, sycamore, and maple. All natural wood colors (NO stains or paints). The frame is bocote with mahogany splines. The work is finished with Tung oil and the frame with polyurethane. This work took several weeks (and many countless hours) to create, and I documented the entire process on my Instagram account. Videos can be seen in my “story highlights” on my profile. I made this for myself.

 

 

  The Making of Jabba’s Palace

from instagram:

 

 

 

Apr 06

Scrollsaw Nautilus Shell #1 – Daniel D. Brown, 2017, Pine

I recently bought a scrollsaw, and as practice I decided to make a nautilus-inspired shell using a method first invented by my cousin Steve Garrison. I started with a really old pine 2″ x 4″ I found in my basement.

(This is the one on top below, also shown with Scrollsaw Nautilus Shell #2 and Scrollsaw Shell #3).

How they were made:

Step 1: cutting wedges (I sued my friend’s miter saw)

Segments were cut on my porter-cable scrollsaw

Individual segments cut from the wedges.

Which were glued together in pairs

Then sanded and shaped with a dremel

 

I stained it with a vinegar/steel wool mix

And made a stand from some scrap

   

Aug 31

“Peregrines Over Pittsburgh,” Daniel D. Brown, 2016, Pastel Pencil

My latest pastel pencil drawing, “Peregrines Over Pittsburgh,” made in August 2016.

I’ve been watching our city’s peregrine falcons for 6 years now, both on webcam as they mate, nest, and raise chicks atop the Cathedral of Learning (seen in the reflection within the eye) and downtown (hence the skyline), as well as in person once the nestlings fledge over Oakland. I consider them to be Pittsburgh’s second avian mascot (behind the Penguin of course) and my favorite creature in the city. Buy prints of this piece HERE.

 

PeregrinesOverPittsburgh_DanielDBrown_2016_600
Peregrines Over Pittsburgh

PeregrinesOverPittsburgh_DanielDBrown_2016_Detail1_600
Detail

PeregrinesOverPittsburgh_DanielDBrown_2016_Detail2_600
Detail

And here is a timelapse video of its creation:

Music: “Acoustic Breeze” http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Apr 30

“The Workers,” Daniel D. Brown, 2016, Digital

“The Workers” is my latest piece in a series of digital artworks I’ve been creating with the intent of implying fantastical stories with individual beings or groups of beings. It is up to the viewer to create or decipher the story (and so far, I’ve found viewer’s interpretations even more interesting than my own). Also in this series: “The Refugee” and “The Guardian.”

SEND A QUICK MESSAGE IF YOU’D LIKE A PRINT.

I actually created two versions of this piece, and I waver in which I like best. But I believe this one is more conducive to story-telling:

“The Workers”

Detail

Detail

Detail
Detail

And here’s the original version (without the HUD or CRT screen effects).

“The Workers” Original

Detail

Detail