A New Art Form that Involves your Favorite Beverages

Florida State University is drawing attention from the art world, and surprisingly, the attention isn’t focused on the art department, but on what’s being photographed through a microscope.

Have you ever wondered what the molecules of your favorite beverage look like?  Well, Florida State University did, and what they found is truly a beautiful and artistic display.

Most of us know that when light passes through a crystal it is refracted into a rainbow.  So, imagine if the crystals we used came from your favorite beverage.  What would you expect to see?

Florida State University has been drying drops of beverages on glass slides; allowing them to dry out into clusters of crystals and then passing light through them as they take a look through a microscope.  The affect is a kaleidoscope of color.

Above: Vodka molecules,  Here: Tequila Shot

Each image is unique due to the composition of crystals.  For example, sugary beverage crystals will look different from pure beverage crystals like what might be found in Vodka.

Don’t be fooled though, this process is hardly simple or quick.  As true artwork it can take many slides of a dray, crystallized beverage to find a single image that is worthy of being called art.  Michael Davidson, a scientist and now artist, has taken up to 200 slides before finding a shot he believes to be art.

These images are being sold as pieces of art.  BevShots, based in Tallahassee Florida, is a good place to start shopping for these colorful pictures.

You are sure to be transfixed by the combinations of colors and patterns that the microscopic molecules create.  The variety of designs is mesmerizing.  As you peruse through the multi- colored crackle effect derived from vodka, to the bold blues and greens of a tequila shot, to the almost floral imaged produced by Coca Cola, you will sit in both awe and anticipation.  No two images are alike so you are sure to find something that catches your fancy.  More that likely you will be caught up in the experience of art at is most unique and mind blowing.

Pictured Here: Coca Cola

Beverage molecules as art?  Who Knew!

Photos found at: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/tiny-bubbles-your-favorite-drinks-magnified/

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Related articles

• Tiny Bubbles: Favorite Drinks, Once Magnified, Become Art (abcnews.go.com)
• Purple haze: What party drinks look like magnified 1,000 times – and this one is just a vodka and tonic (dailymail.co.uk)
• Pictures of alcoholic drinks under a microscope reveal colourful patterns (telegraph.co.uk)

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Colors to Market by…

Using a particular color to market a product or brand is nothing new — but it’s effectiveness has never been higher.

All colors have some sort of symbolism that contribute to traditions, cultures, religions, concepts, superstitions, and feelings. Some of these colors are even thought to stir physical reaction in people. This encourages companies and organizations to choose their branding colors carefully.

Mr. Marketing, Rob Weinberg offers this advice: “Extend your message with colors as you would your logo, tagline, URL or other branding tools. Reinforce your color choices at every turn and you should find people recognizing them…and you.”

Do you think this is true? To draw on an example from his article, Make Selling more Colorful (http://www.pomeradonews.com/2011/10/26/ask-mr-marketing-make-selling-more-colorful/), Weinberg points out how Tiffany and Company uses robin’s egg blue boxes to wrap jewelry. This has been so effective that the color is recognized as their own (even though no one can own a color). If another company chooses to use the same color, their products or services might be mistaken for the jewelry company. In this situation, the company who follows may generate business from doing so or they may be looked down upon as a cheap knock-off. In other words, they’d have to return to the drawing board — literally.

While this approach may not produce the desired results, the thought process is right on target. They noticed how a certain color attracts a niche market and encourages those people to buy a particular product. This means the start-up company is probably close to developing their own branding package with a carefully selected color scheme — just like Tiffany and Company.

Weinberg implies the chief reasons why companies and organizations use colors in their marketing campaigns and branding techniques is because they are effective tools for non-verbal communication. Since colors can evoke a physical response from individuals, company’s use all sorts of colors and color combinations to advance their purposes.

A good example of this is the color red, which is said to encourage the feeling of hunger. It also attracts attention, elevates heart rate and gets people excited. Therefore, is it a surprise that fast food chains like McDonalds, Wendy’s and Burger King all use red in their logos? At the time when fast food was becoming popular in American culture, a lot of thought was going into the cognitive and subconscious effects of colors. Confirming studies and business successes encouraged other companies to approach color branding with high regard. This is why American grocery stores like Costco, Jewel-Osco, and Winn-Dixie use the color red in their logos, along with pharmacy stores like Walgreens and CVS.

This branding technique is widely applied. With the competitiveness of the marketplace today, it is necessary for companies to perform some sort of market research, or in depth study of color before unveiling a campaign, logo or new color scheme.

After all, the secret is out. Colors are great marketing tools. Now, allow us to ask; what color defines and promotes you best?

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How to Make Your Own Oil Paints

In a previous blog post, we discussed the benefits of making your own paints, rather than buying commercially-made paints from art supply stores. Two of the most appealing reasons for making your own paints include the ability to control the color and the quantity of the paint that you make. In today’s blog post, we’ll take a more in-depth look at how you can make your own oil paints using just a few simple supplies.

The two main ingredients you’ll need for making your own oil paints are powdered pigment and an oil, such as linseed oil (which most oil painters usually have on hand anyway). The tools you’ll need to mix the ingredients can either be a mortar and pestle (shown above), or a sturdy spatula and a flat glass surface. The mortar and pestle is the preferred choice because it will allow you to grind the pigment into finer particles.

To make your own oil paint, place your desired amount of pigment onto the glass surface or into the mortar. Add a small amount of oil and grind together the pigment and the oil using your pestle or spatula. Be sure to start off with a small amount of oil, because you don’t want your mixture to be too runny.

As the pigment absorbs the oil, note the consistency. If the mixture looks too dry, add more oil. If it is too oily, add more pigment. Your goal is to create a mixture that resembles the consistency of toothpaste.

Once the pigment and oil are thoroughly mixed, then you are ready to paint! The process is as simple as that. Your homemade oil paint can be mixed with commercially-made oil paints, and it may be stored in tubes or airtight jars for future use. segmation dot com.

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The Benefits of Making Your Own Paints

Did you know that you can easily and affordably make your own paints right at home? The supplies needed to make oil paints, acrylics, watercolors or pastels are fairly inexpensive and they can be easily purchased online or at a local shop. You don’t need a giant studio or an excessive amount of supplies to make your own paints – all you need are a few basic ingredients pertinent to each medium, and a tabletop that you can use as your work area.

You might wonder, “Why should I bother making my own paints?”

There are a number of reasons why it is beneficial for artists to make their own paints. For starters, when you break down a specific medium to its individual components, it helps you to understand the nature of the medium. Taking part in the process of creating an oil paint or a pastel stick provides invaluable insight into the qualities of that particular medium. Plus, the magic of watching loose powdered pigment transform into a usable paint can become part of the overall creative experience.

One of the best things about making your own paints is that you can control the hue, value and intensity of each color. If you need a specific shade of green that is difficult to mix using commercial paints, you can create your own. If you need a range of blues to create skyscapes and seascapes, you can create the exact colors that you need and save them for future use.

It’s easy to forget that there was once a time when all artists either had to make their own paints or purchase these supplies from a local artisan. The vast majority of artists today buy their paints and art materials off the shelf. Most artists don’t even think twice about how these materials are made or what is actually in them. This has changed our relationships to our art materials. By making your own paints, you can reinvigorate your connection to the materials that you use to create art.

In future articles, we’ll take a closer look at the process involved for making oil paints, pastels, watercolors and acrylics.

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