imagery

PicLens: 3D Viewer for Web Content

If you’re getting bored with the 2D aspect of the web and enjoy browsing photos/videos, check out PicLens. It’s a preview of the changing face of the web (perhaps Web 3.0?). It’s slick, interactive, and most importantly–fun! PicLens incorporates top media and retail sites: YouTube, Flickr, Amazon, and Google. After you download the free program, you’ll get an icon in your browser that you could toggle to and fro. When pressed, Piclens enables full-screen viewing of various media. Be warned, if you scroll too fast when in the 3D wall, you may get a lil queezy. . .

Artwork: The Tank & the Butterflies

Posted by Sherrie Thai of Shaireproductions.com

Tank & Butterflies T-Shirt by sherrie thai of shaireproductions

This Tank and Butterflies t-shirt illustration was digitally created and is a commentary on society’s ignorance/greed ultimately destroying the fragility of nature’s beauty. However, like all art, it’s open to interpretation. =0)

Artwork: Tribal Eagle


This tribal eagle was created by hand, scanned, then cleaned up on the computer. I rarely use the Wacom tablet for concept art and illustration. For me, the tangibility of drawing on paper far outweighs the coldness of the computer.

Since the Olympics and July 4th are coming up, it’s a fitting time for a self-promotion. After creating the artwork, I thought it would be interesting as a shirt. I’m trying not to create many duplicates of artwork on paper and t-shirts, but this one seems to work well as both.

Artwork: Dual Dragons

I actually created this dragon design a couple years ago for a 18×24 glass etching–to be placed in a gallery. It was a good 100 hours of work. Unfortunately, the glass etching was accidently destroyed by another’s hand. I was glad to have saved the original design, and thought it was time to give the dragons a new life.

This tribal style artwork was created by hand, then scanned, and digitally colored. The top dragon is created in an Eastern/Asian form, while the bottom dragon is done in a Western style. The inspiration of this piece was personal–growing up Chinese-American and being privy to the two cultures. It’s a duality, but never as one.

Music Innovation: The Genie

Musicians like The Genie is what makes art such a source of inspiration. On his Myspace bio, it states that his performances involve “live looping, slide guitar, and beatboxing.” The Genie proves that art in itself is about evolution, growth, and pushing the envelope.

Graffiti’s Gone Mobile!


Voice of the Streets is a interesting site that gives graffiti writers and artists a way to receive feedback on their work anonymously. Because it’s in Beta form, the functionality of the site isn’t really smooth, but the concept is pretty hot. The graff artists could upload their work and receive a unique QR Code (which conveys info like URL, images, phone numbers, etc), all the while uploading their own voice message. If someone recognizes the work, they could leave the artist a voice-mail response to their work.

There aren’t many uploads to this website and it seems to be a global project, so there are language barriers involved. Adding a simple text feedback option could be advantageous to the site so artists could translate the response if it was in a different language or if the voice-mail fails somehow.

Engaging the graffiti artists with their public/fanbase through technology is an interesting one as it provides an open, anonymous channel of communication, while increasing visibility for the artist.

Artwork: Dragon Bodysuit


Here’s a throwback to Asian tattooing styles. The drawing on the right was the initial graphite drawing on vellum; the girl was drawn separately. They were then scanned, cleaned up, collaged, and digitally colored in Photoshop.

I haven’t designed tattoos in a while, so this image has been clawing its way through my head till now. I owe so much to tattooing–as an illustrator (picking up different visual styles) and as a designer (logo work and lettering). It’s also made me realize that everything has potential and can be a source of inspiration. With such a rich history (dating back to paleolithic ages), it’s great to see that tattooing is rising past being a mere fad. The inspiration for my artwork “Dragon Bodysuit” is the Irezumi or Japanese tattoo, and the artist and master tattooist, Horiyoshi III.

Here are some notable artists who’ve created artworks of tattooed women: Richard Chesler, Caroline Young, Luis Royo, and Olivia.

Inspirations: Art & Life

I became inspired today by two very different artists. In Talib Kweli’s “Listen” music video, the urban art of Kofie is incorporated as motion graphics. The video is a few years old, but the artwork is still hip and vibrant. Kofie’s work is very deliberate, yet expressionistic. Hip hop has created a platform for a global youth culture and it’s always fascinating to see different art-forms merge.

Another inspiration was seeing the film “War Photographer” and being exposed to the deeply moving documentary photography of James Nachtwey. He braves the battlefields and streets to capture the human condition and the stories behind them. His photos are morbidly beautiful and intimate–art with a conscience.