The Only Animation I Don't Like

I'm going to sound like an anti-progress curmudgeon with this statement but I hate animated gifs. Hate them! Nothing will get me to leave a webpage faster than an animated gif. I see that movement and I'm already clicking on another link to get away.

This shouldn't really be a problem for me but I'm seeing them more and more frequently. A drawing blog I follow has had two or three posts including animated gifs recently. A couple bloggers I follow have used them. It's a good think I don't follow any of the cute cat websites anymore because they seem to be the number one producers of them. It hasn't happened yet but I could see myself narrowing down my blog list if I find the author uses them frequently. I hate them that much.

You would think I'd be okay with them (not love but at least be okay) because I'm such an animation fan. Okay I'm really more of an animation junkie. I can't stay away from the stuff. Given my choice of movie it's always animated. But there is something about the repetitive movement that turns me off. The ads that use them will never ever ever receive a single click from me. And the artists who create animated gifs, even if they do amazing work outside of that, will never end up profiled on this blog. I know it sounds grouchy of me. But the next time you see one, just watch it for a couple minutes. Tell me if you feel nauseated. Tell me how fast you click off the site.

Myke Amend

I don't often pay attention to the ads on websites. I've learned to look past the margins even when they flash and dance. So when I went to Wapsi Square a couple days again, I'm shocked that I noticed a small (non-flashing) ad on the right side. The ad was for art prints but the picture was what caught my eye. It's one of the first times that I can say that I found a new artist from an advertisement.


Myke Amend's work has been described as everything from gothic to fantasy to steampunk. I would simply describe it as freaking incredible. He's a painter, an etcher, a mixed-media artist and all of it is really beautiful work. His images tend to be very detailed particularly his paintings. Perhaps his most famous image (The Rescue) is an incredibly calm and sparse painting that somehow looks detailed. It is all whites, grays, and browns. The airship is incredibly detailed and the submarine is somehow vague as if brought up from the depths and still not sure of what it is above the land. I love the tenticles on the left hand side. This for me was a strangely calming image. I contrast that with Deady, a darkly colored image of a teddy bear that seems to have been murdered. There is a look of surprise on the teddy's face that is vaguely unsettling. I'm impressed that Myke has been able to calm me and disturb me in seconds.



Check out both of those images here. But neither of these are the images that caught my eye in the ad. That was Behold the Machine, and I might have to look into buying a print of it. I have also seen an image of it on a journal so I will definately purchase one of those. Great art and journals are my weakness. I'm not sure why this particular image strikes me as much as it does. I love the mix of the ice and the airships. It speaks to me of old time adventures and exploration. It has something of a Jules Verne feel to the painting. I love the markings on the larger ship and the incredible detail that goes into it. The first time I looked at it I didn't even notice the tiny polar bears that have made their home on the cliff side. I find new details every time I look at it.





I hope Myke won't mind that I posted it here since I found it on a very nice steampunk wallpaper site. And since he offers it as a free e-card. Over the past three years I've realized how much I'm drawn to the steampunk movement. Myke's images (particularly his airships) are a perfect example of how to do steampunk well. Check him out if you get a chance.