I came across this this step-by-step pictorial on the construction of Damien Hirst's diamond skull today. Aside from feeling a little queasy from thinking too much about skulls and teeth, I was left feeling exasperated.

For the Love of God, as the skull is called, is a platinum cast encrusted with more than 8,000 diamonds—made by jewelers at Bentley and Skinner, not Hirst. Hirst claims to have sold it for 50 million pounds, but that's disputed.

So, dear readers—what's your take on Mr. Hirst and his diamond skulls, sharks floating in formaldehyde and maggots in a box?

You can get a sneak peek at the work in an online slideshow from MoMA and a slideshow from Slate.com. The MoMA slideshow (which requires Adobe Flash and Acrobat) focuses on his sketchbooks, subjects and conservation. The Slate slideshow looks at his relationship with art critic and anarchist Félix Fénéon, who championed Seurat's work and helped get it in the public eye.

Georges Seurat: The Drawings is on display at MoMA until January 7, 2008, with many related lectures and talks in the coming month.

Instant remedy for what ails you: a free, big ol' desktop picture of Bob Ross. Click here to get it.

(Via HOW)

We've put all 11 issues from 2006 in a digital format that is fully searchable and easy to navigate. All you need to open the files is the free Adobe Reader (available for download here if you don't already have it). Pop the CD into your computer, and you can browse through issues, search for a specific medium or artist, or print out articles to share with a friend! Web links in the issues are activated, giving you one-click access to helpful resources.

To learn more and order your own copy, click here.

Our sister magazine, Watercolor Magic, recently put up a video tour of Joseph Raffael's latest exhibition at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York City.

Nancy Hoffman offers insight into the show she describes as "a window to new artistic terrain," and the artist opens his journals to reveal the painting process that brought the work on display into fruition. You can watch the video here.

Finster, at 60, felt he was called by God to create art and set a goal of creating 5,000 pieces. By the time he died, he had created more than 47,000. Though Finster died in 2001, his northwest Georgia home—which opened last month as a public museum—still sits in what he called a garden of paradise. There's some dispute over the state of the land, as the New York Times reports.

My first exposure to Finster was through his commissioned cover art for rock albums such as R.E.M.'s Reckoning and the Talking Heads' Little Creatures. There's just something lively and manic about his work that attracts me—and a lot of people. Have a look at this great slide show from the Times about the artist and his work here.

After three years, it came to light that the painting she found was Three People, a 1970 work by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo that was stolen 20 years ago, the New York Times reports. She hid the painting behind a false wall in her apartment until she could get an art expert to confirm what the painting was.

Gibson will get a $15,000 finder's reward, and the original owner of the painting is putting Three People up for auction Nov. 20 at Sotheby's, where it's expected to fetch $1 million.

The girl's work raises all sorts of questions about abstract art, and her father's been accused of coaching her and even finishing or altering her paintings. Is she a prodigy or a hoax? I'm hoping the film opens near me soon.

Want to know more? A Slate article explores the whole story. Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum also weighs in. L.A. Weekly's article about Marla includes some pictures of her work.

Some questions that are answered in the article:
• If a product smells bad, does that mean it's toxic?
• Can I paint with oils without using solvents?
• What's that "AP" seal that shows up on lots of paint tubes?

Download the PDF of "The Top Questions on Health & Safety" by clicking here.

P.S. If you don't already have it, you'll need Adobe Reader to open the PDF document. (Most computers already have it installed.) You can get Reader for free here.

More from the Department of Art Made from Unusual Objects:
Employees at a department store in Osaka used 320,000 black and white train tickets as "pixels" to depict the Mona Lisa for an in-store display. In addition to the da Vinci homage, reproductions of the Birth of Venus and Renoir's Dance at the Moulin de la Galette are on display.

Via Pink Tentacle.

Just create, says the world. Go ahead and line up for American Idol or America's Got Talent or whatever. You can do it! And while you're at it, why not fill the web with your poetry, videos, art, musings, and every little snippet of creative detritus you can muster. And don't let anyone say it's wrong!

I find myself wanting to agree with some of his points. Even though I believe anyone who wants to express themselves with art should do so, I guess a distinction that's made here is on motives. Are you doing it because you truly enjoy it or to financially benefit from it?

... we've become so inundated with creativity ... that actual audiences for honest-to-goodness good art and real creativity and cultural production are driven into hiding.

Take a gander at the article and let me know what you think.