Street artists look at the world like a blank canvas, waiting for them to inject beauty into the streets and walls. Thanks to the talented hands of artists abandoned yard and buildings, and dead-ends turn into true masterpieces. Graffiti is now vandalism-turned-art.

Nobody pays artists for their work, so it’s almost always a passion or a message that drives them to create these amazing sights. No one can tell them what to do and how to paint, and they don’t have to make sure that people will visit their "gallery" or if newspapers will give it enough coverage. It’s purely for personal expression, or to reflect the state of societal, political and social issues today.

Recommended Reading: 50 Absolutely Stunning 3D Street Art (Paintings)

Hence, in this post, I'd like to share with you 20 breathtaking street art paintings that are made in different countries all over the globe. There are more at the artist’s own site or portfolios. Share your thoughts in the comments.

Magenta (t.n.e.g.b.t.a.a.t.p.r.) by NEVERCREW. Seeing this mural, words from one popular song come to my mind, “I’m gonna send him to outer space to find another race”.

Street Art by Steve Locatelli. The criss-crossing pattern does not dim the beauty of this woman’s face, as she watches you from the wall.

Painting by ETAM CRU. The girl in a jam mural is just too awesome to not put in here. This painting is called Moonshine and can be seen on the streets of Richmond, VA, United States.

Street Art Graffiti by Roa. At first glance these rabbits look so cute, but the artist is obsessed with dead birds and skeletons (see more his works on Tumblr at your own risk).

Street Art by Kobra. This otherwise black and white yet still iconic V-J Day kiss is depicted in vivid colors on a wall in Moscow, Russia.

All eyes on you by iNO 1. This Last Hope painting features realistic baby eyes in pink and blue. It can be found in Athens.

Mural by Natalii Rak. A cross between the realms of art and painting, and reality. Water away, my child.

Street Painting by A’Shop. One for the Mural Festival in Montreal, Canada – "we wanted to have an old lady to represent the old school graffers that have been graffing here since the seventies and eighties.”

Cupido by TAM CRU. Fore! Love bomb heading your way!

Glasses by Man o Matic. We had one with the eyes of a baby, and here is a very realistic black and white wall painting of one from the older generation. Cool shades!

Graffiti bird by Luis Seven Martins, aka L7m. It almost looks like the little birdie smashed through some portal to another dimension. Look out for this one on the streets of San Paulo.

Graffiti by Rogue-one. This one will definitely make you do a double-take. A caption contest for this image will surely be a fun one.

Street Painting by C215. This unusually colorful girl can be found on the streets of Haiti.

A Fatal Attraction by DesOrdes Creativas. Located in Erminio Rial Park in Spain, this is one mural made of the stuff from a dream (or nightmare) sequence.

Street Painting by DesOrdes Creativas. Is this a prediction that bugs will eventually rule the world one day?

Street Painting by Liqen. This artwork is absolutely surreal, done by Spanish artist Liqen. Imagine seeing this is real life (in fact you can; there is a behind-the-scenes look at the link attached).

RESIGNATION by INTI. It seems like one part of this surreal animal symbolizes night and the other one, day. This mural can be fond in San Miguel, Spain.

Man House by MTO. The legend of Fred ILLE & Gwen VILAINE in Rennes, France. The picture is called “Catch me if you can” and it really looks like he is trying to get someone.

Street Painting by Fin Dac. Fantastic urban piece of art. The girl with tatoos reflects the state of today’s society.

Street Art in France. A mural of a massive scale, this ship looks like it is going places once they finish buidling it.

Ever been stuck on a problem you couldn’t solve, and trying to find the answer on Google simply added to your anger and frustration? Chances are, having a brain trust could have helped you solve the problem in a few hours, if not minutes. What is a brain trust and why should you build one?

Historically, a brain trust was a group of advisers who aided a state leader in making important decisions. The first brain trust was formed around US President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s. Nowadays, a brain trust is simply a group of your high-level peers. These are people whose fresh perspective on your problems will help you gain insights that would have likely taken many years to figure out on your own.

Recommended Reading: 6 Ways To Unleash Creativity In The Workplace

In this post, we’re going to explore 5 ways you can find and create your own brain trust, as well as participate in a larger network of well-informed professionals who help each other out when needed.

1. Harness Your Network

It makes the most sense to start with the people you already know. Build deeper relationships with your fellow freelancers, designers, writers, or advertisers, and bring their friends and colleagues into the fold as well.

Other good places are associations for your college or university. Alumni networks, fraternities and sororities, athletic or arts clubs; any activity you are/were a part of in school can be mined for potential brain trust members.

Remember that this isn’t your traditional network building. You’re looking for people who don’t necessarily share a common career, but instead a common vision for their lives. People who are going places and who want to have a support network to help them get there.

2. Send Thank You Notes

It’s hard to believe that something so simple and old-fashioned could actually be a powerful networking tool, but it’s true. People you’ve been inspired by, or who have helped you in some way (no matter how insignificant), will usually respond warmly to a short, kind note thanking them for the impact they’ve had on your life.

It hardly takes any time at all to send a thank you note, and yet it’s one of the most disproportionately effective things you can do to network and build up a brain trust.

It doesn’t even matter that you’ve been out of touch with the person you’re thanking for months, or even years. Almost no one will respond well to a sudden request for a favor from someone who hasn’t spoken to them in ages, but everyone likes to be praised.

3. Don’t Have An Agenda

It may seem counterintuitive, but you shouldn’t aim to just milk other people’s knowledge and experience; it’s slimy and most top-performing people can tell when you’re trying to always take and never give. Just as you’re building a trust of people you can go to in a jam, they also need to be able to rely on you to fulfill the same role.

Building a brain trust is sort of like networking in hyperdrive mode. To really get the most out of it, you need to become a master connector, i.e. know as many people as possible. You can do that easily by making introductions among your friends and friends of friends. Introduce people to others who might be able to help them, and you also create new opportunities to collaborate with someone.

4. Ask For Advice, Not Favors

This is related to the last point, but it bears repeating. Your aim is to provide value. Don’t be predatory or self-centered; remember that it’s not all about you. Think of how you would like to be approached by a colleague and try to provide the same experience to others.

A good rule of thumb is to give away at least 3 pieces of "value" to someone before asking them for something. It may not be immediately obvious, but a great way to add value to someone is by asking them for advice. That’s right. People love to give advice, and they love it even more when others take the time to let them know that their advice was not only appreciated, but followed.

If you receive a piece of advice from a brain trust "member" that worked out well for you, be sure to tell them – this is important for their self-confidence as well as possibly a good source of marketing testimonials for their business, if applicable.

5. Work Hard And Be Patient

Creating this kind of concentrated, highly effective information network won’t happen in a couple of days or weeks. It’ll take many months of effort on your part to build and maintain your own brain trust, as well as contribute your own knowledge and advice as it’s required of you.

However, its value to you and the effect it will have on your career will last a lifetime. Something to remember, that many people seem to forget or never really think about at all, is that if you want a good community, you have to build it yourself.

Almost no one is born surrounded by amazing, helpful people. If you want to break out of the limiting and often poisonous influence of friends and family members who attempt to smother you with their negativity or criticism, it’s up to you to locate a new "tribe" of people who will have a vested interest in your professional success.

Photography may help in growing your passion for doing things that may seem ordinary to others but feel absolutely unique to you. Indeed, even seemingly ordinary things like roads and cars can make a totally unique scene through the eyes of a photographer.

With effort and more importantly passion, one can produce amazing results like the picturesque shot below.

For this week’s Wallpaper Wednesday, we have compiled 16 long exposure wallpapers for your enjoyment and inspiration. Feel free to browse around and grab any wallpaper(s) that you like. And if you are into long exposure photography too, do share your shots with us in the comments section.

Recommended Reading: 60 Examples Of Beautiful Night Shots

Bright Night Sky. Available in 1680×1050.

Bridge. Available in various sizes.

Canyon Sunset. Available in various sizes.

City Highway at Night. Available in various sizes.

Highway at Night. Available in 1920×1200.

Hong Kong Timelapse. Available in various sizes.

Night Driving. Available in various sizes.

Paris City Night. Available in various sizes.

Red Long Exposure. Available in 1920×1080.

Road Traffic. Available in 1920×1200.

Shanghai Night Traffic. Available in various sizes.

Speeding Lights. Available in various sizes.

Tokyo City at Night. Available in various sizes.

Traffic. Available in various sizes.

Velocity. Available in various sizes.

In creating beautiful light painting masterpieces, the light source that people would normally use are glow sticks, LED flashlights, and even sparklers. This setup is enough to make simple shots or drawings in just one color, but if you want more out of light painting, you should get Pixelstick.

With Pixelstick, you can introduce more colors and push the boundaries of light painting to new territories. But first, let’s take a look at the device.

Recommended Reading: Showcase Of Dazzling Light Painting Artworks

What Is Pixelstick?

Pixelstick is made up of 198 full RGB LEDs fastened on an aluminum stick. A handle is attached perpendicularly to the stick, allowing it to spin freely. The stick can be split in half for easy transport. Pixelstick is powered by 8 AA batteries, and your imagination.

It works by shining 1 line of light (1 pixel) at a time to create a large-scale and accurate light painting. The color coordinated effect will show up as a light painting when shot under long exposure with your camera. You are limited to creating 198-pixel high images but there is no limit as to how wide your painting can be.

Pixelstick allows artists to go beyond the limits of traditional light painting and create giant LED creations on lovely terrestrial backgrounds. It recreates images very accurately, even allowing for sharp corners to show all within a height of 198 pixels.

All you have to do is prepare 24-bit uncompressed .bmps that are 198 pixels high into an SD card and slot it into the controller. From there you can choose the image you want to produce and begin ‘drawing’.

Here are just some other light paintings you can produce with a multi-colored stick.

Pixelstick is available on Kickstarter and you can get it for $300 inclusive of shipping fees inside the US; international buyers would have to add another $60 to get it shipped.