Unexplored Ruins 06 (Buddha) by Renju Mv

In the subreddit r/ImaginaryLandscapes, I saw this digital painting that blew me away.

(click to enlarge)

I love the detail & scale of this mystical landscape, featuring animals (including monkeys) and a giant buddha statue in a mountainous jungle environment.

The artist is Renju Mv, and I would recommend checking out his other work on Artstation or deviantArt. The talent, skill, and vision of artists like Renju are breathtaking to behold.

Beeple

 

 This was the first example of Beeple's work that I saw & was like, "Wooooah!"

I have been following a bunch of artists on Instagram, but one of my favorites is "Beeple", the pseudonym of Mike Winkelmann. 

Beeple creates amazing, mind-blowing 3D and abstract imagery every day, for over 10 years! The quality and output of his work is absolutely astounding to me. It is super-human levels of artistry.

Some of my picks are posted below, but it's difficult for me to choose favorites of his work, because I love it all. I would suggest just bookmarking his pages and following them. 

Website:

beeple-crap.com

 Instagram:

beeple_crap

Facebook:

beeple

Twitter:

beeple

Black and White Moth

 I saw this cool-looking black and white camouflage-patterned moth sitting on my desk while I was on my computer. I let him hang out there, but I wanted to get a photo to add to my nature album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

Solar Eclipse 2017

Yesterday, I was able to watch the solar eclipse as the moon's path crossed in front of the sun. It's one of the cosmic events that is able to capture everyone's attention.

The last major eclipse I saw was a lunar one, where the Earth's shadow turned the moon blood red.

Unfortunately, I'm in NJ & we weren't in the path of the totality, where the entire sun is covered and the sky goes dark. However, it was still cool to see (through special glasses) the shadow of the moon as it slowly worked it's way past the sun's disc.

Here is a photo of me looking super cool in my eclipse glasses. I had absolutely no equipment to photograph the event properly, so I tried to take a pic with my phone through the filtered glasses lenses, but it didn't work very well since the moon's shadow wasn't visible at all.

There's a Bee in my Tea!

I was looking at older nature photos I've taken, and saw this one that was pretty cool from September 2015.

It was a bee that went into my cup and grabbed onto the string of my tea bag. It was licking off the honey that was soaked into the material:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

 

Fungus Photos

UPDATE: More fungus photos added!

I've been taking a lot of nature photos, mostly of animals & plants. I thought it was time to add some pics of strange fungi to my album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

 I got down on the lawn to get an elf's eye view of this mushroom in the grass.

 

This fungus that looked like orange flowers was growing in a linear cluster.

 

 This large fungus looked like a folded up pancake.

 

There were several protrusions of fungi growing from this rotting stump after a rainstorm.

 When I opened this photo up, I realized there was also a small slug right above the fungus:

Find the Grasshopper

(click to enlarge)

 I've been on a roll photographing animals & nature this summer, and added this photo to my album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

I was sitting in the back yard, and saw this small grasshopper land among the green blades of grass. I got as close as I could, so you see some of its cool details. In the photo, it blends in well with the lawn. It's coloring is a natural camouflage.

"Fantasy Photos" on Facebook

I posted recently about starting a Facebook page for my graphic design business, Paul Micarelli Design.


At the same time, I created a page for my startup business, Fantasy Photos.

Fantasy Photos is a company I started that specializes in fun, custom portraits. They are perfect for gifts or special occasions. If you are reading this and have a Facebook page, please give the page a "Like" to support my efforts.

Facebook:

Facebook.com/FantasyPhotosLLC

For many years I created these special portraits for my family & friends. After I got laid off from my job at a graphic design studio this year, I decided to follow my own dream by starting Fantasy Photos.

I also offer the Fantasy Photo Booth service, for parties or live events. I take the customer's photo against a green screen, & replace the background with a scene of the person's choice! It has proven to be very popular at festivals and shows that I've attended as a vendor, and I'm looking to book more events.

Visit the website at www.FantasyPhotos.net for more info. Thanks!

Daddy Long Legs

I added a new photo to my nature album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

Earlier this week, I saw this daddy long legs spider on a leaf. I was able to get in close while it was resting there.

We have these creatures all around us... but when you look at them, they are are totally bizarre.

Hummingbirds

At my parents' house, my Mom has hummingbird feeders in her gardens. She loves these tiny, fast birds and also has hummingbird decorations around the house.

When I sit in their sun room on the back porch, there are hummingbirds that always buzz around the feeder by the window. I decided to try to get some footage of these speedy creatures, so I set up a lawn chair right underneath one of the feeders.

I had to stay perfectly still & wait for maybe 5 minutes, then they started hovering around and approaching the feeder. First a male came, then a female, & then both perched on the feeder at the same time. Finally, a third hummingbird came and they had a scuffle and they all flew off.

Originally, I had about 4 minutes worth of footage, but it was a lot of the birds just sitting there & drinking. I edited the video down to about a minute and a half, so it didn't get too boring.If you are watching on a computer with speakers, you can turn the volume up to hear the buzzing of their wings and their chirps at certain points.

"Hummingbirds" by Paul Micarelli

Paul Micarelli Design on Facebook

Facebook:
 Facebook.com/PaulMicarelliDesign

Although I have been writing on this blog for a dozen years, I've never really tried to monetize it, other than posting about designs available in my store. This is more a leisurely pastime for me, for my own enjoyment and for those who want to read The Monkey Buddha.

My career has been in graphic design, and a few months ago I was laid off after 15 years with a studio with whom I had spent my whole career. It was fairly unexpected, but I had been unknowingly been preparing myself for that moment. I actually wasn't as upset as I would've imagined. Although I felt anxiety at the set of problems ahead of me, I also felt a degree of freedom. After working every weekday 9 to 5 for all those years, it was weird not having to keep to a schedule.

However, I did not treat unemployment like a vacation. The very same week, I was updating my resumé, ordering business cards, and adding work to my online portfolio.

Coroflot Portfolio:

Paul Micarelli

Graphic Designer

Although I wanted to find a new job, a part of me wanted to see this as an opportunity to create my own vision of a business. After many years of creating custom portraits for my friends & family, I formed Fantasy Photos in May 2017 and started my first business.

Even when working in the studio, I had been doing freelance work on the side. Now I am also trying to grow my design business. I've been learning about internet marketing and building web pages to expand my expertise.

I just started a Facebook page (finally!) for my graphic design business. I specialize in all forms of print & digital media, and have a lot of experience with branding and promotions for small startups. I have also worked with the biggest companies on the planet, so I work with clients of all sizes.

If you or someone you know could use my services & skills, do not hesitate to contact me through this website or social media. Thanks!

The Original Fidget Spinner?

My Mom had this classic-looking toy on her kitchen table. I picked it up and put my thumb & pointer around the black cube in the middle, and gave it a spin.

A little later, I was joking with her & told her that I looked it up online. I said it was the original "fidget spinner" and was worth $500! She said "Really?!?!" & believed me for about 2 seconds, before I started laughing.

I couldn't find anything about it on Google, but it appears to be an old game where you spin the cubes to show random letters Then, maybe you try to make words out of it? It's not as fun of an explanation as being the first fidget spinner, but it was an still interesting old-school toy.