Presstube.com is a site I've dipped into now-and-again since college. James Paterson, the man behind the scenes, is an astonishingly talented artist who brings drawings to life through digital animation and Flash. His layered, loose, illustrations move so fluidly and with such depth that they become completely hypnotic in an elephants-on-parade sorta way.
Back in 2003, James created a screensaver for Mac and PC. A clean white surface broken by morphing inky black lines and bursts of colour. A perfect showcase for his mixture of art and technology. I used it exclusively on my sturdy old iMac G5 for years. Then, when I finally upgraded my machine, the screensaver stopped working. Turns out that it couldn't run on newer, Intel-based Macs because it was coded for the older Power-PC processors (I guess?). Ever since, I've kept my eyes peeled for an update. All the alternatives I've tried haven't quite cut it (although thecolourclock is damn beautiful)... until now!
Yep, as of 3 months ago there is a new version of the ALib1 screensaver (never knew that was its name) up on Presstube. A lucky bit of browsing brought me there today and I've immediately whacked it back on my computer (above), where it belongs. Hopefully this will be good news to some of my readers too, as I still get the occasional email asking if I know where to find a working version - I guess because my previous post does pretty well on Google.
It seems Presstube has changed a little since my last visit. It's more of a blog now and it also features the work of a handful of James' friends alongside his drawings and animations. If you've never visited before, or if it's been a while - have a look.
Bonus: James has made 2 new screensavers in the meantime.