Month: December 2010

Hella 3D!

yanez

I feel a little off-kilter typing these words. I’m writing this post from my new PC laptop. This is the first time I’ve ever owned a PC, I’ve been on the Apple jock since I had my first Apple IIE computer back in the day. Navigating Windows makes everything feel backwards and upside down. Alas it’s a necessity to be able to process 3D images from the Fuji W3 camera.

The images in this post were shot with the W3 and downloaded to Fuji’s included software and then converted to 3D anaglyphs using Anamaker. I bypassed Photoshop in adjusting the images so what you’re seeing is pretty much straight from the camera. All of my previous 3D images have been created using Photoshop. As always you need red/cyan 3D glasses to view the images in 3D.

Peace,

Rio

Ps. I’ve got a lot to learn with the camera’s different parallax settings but I think I’m off to a good start. More photos to come soon!

Fuji W3 Test Shots

yanez

These are test photos with my new Fuji W3 3D camera. A wise man once said “it ain’t no fun if the homies can’t have none” and alas the camera’s software is not Mac friendly. I’m waiting to get a PC Laptop to transfer the actual 3D files but in the meantime enjoy these flat images!

Special thanks to the one and only Ms. Margarita Azucar for being my test model.

Peace,

Rio

Concept Art and the Adventures of Chicana Amy Pond

yanez

Good news! I’ll be hosting and DJing another 2 hour block this Friday on Radio Valencia (radiovalencia.fm). I’ll be joined by a co-host Katynka Martinez as we banter and kick out the jams across the airwaves and internet streams.

I’m in the process of designing a promotional artwork for the show that is based on the current image used to promote Doctor Who Season 5. Instead of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan as The Doctor and Amy Pond, it’s me and Katynka flying through the space time continuum. Yeah I know, it’s hella nerdy. What can I say? I’m totally on that Doctor Who tip these days. Above is my “in progress” of Katynka as the Chicana Amy Pond. I hope you can dig it. Stay tuned for the final piece!

Above are two portraits of my creative collaborator Mayra Ramirez. They’re concept art that helped me to work out some ideas and aesthetic curiosities for our 3D comic art project.  Ultimately we decided to go with different looks that I’m really excited to work with but I though I’d share these two sketches.

We had a great meeting today planning out the last details of our collaboration. We go full on into production next week and I can’t wait to see what develops. The deadline for MACLA’s Latino comic art show is soon approaching so this will be my primary creative project for December and early January.

Speaking of meeting up with homies, I want to tip my hat to my good friend Stan Heller. We spent Sunday afternoon exploring the many recent murals up along Lilac alley in the Mission. I’ll leave you with this animated gif that I shot during our adventure.

Peace,

Rio

Holy Green Screen Batman!

yanez

This past Thursday at SOMArts was the opening reception of our latest exhibit It’s All A Blur. The highlight of the night was a performance that took place on a giant green screen stage erected in our Main Gallery. The green screen was conceived by artist Tony Labat and was created to look like a cityscape that when walked across resembled scaling the side of a building. The performance and all subsequent hijinks on the stage were streamed live online.

The performance
Two realities: the stage and what it looked like streaming online

Not wanting to get left out of the action I shot a video of Lex and Rene having some fun in the piece.

Peace,

Rio

The Work of a Master: An open letter from an artist to a Mexican crime cartel boss

yanez

Guillermo Gomez-Peña just published this profound reflection on his personal relationship to Mexico and his national identity in relation to the increasingly bleak drug violence in the country and along the border. As a second generation Chicano I have been thinking a lot about the post-national identity that Guillermo refers to throughout his letter and how I fit into it. I highly recommend that you give it a read.

An open letter from an artist to a Mexican crime cartel boss

Peace,

Rio

Hybridity and Vanity

yanez

After having it on my iphone for months and months I finally tried out the official Rip Slyme Camera app. If you don’t know, Rip Slyme is a Japanese hip-hop group. I’m more of an m-flo fan myself but I love the graphics that you’re able to frame each shot with. I guess I’ve had the unique cultural relationship between Chicanos and the Japanese on my mind after the homegirl Mayra Ramirez posted a recent blog about Mona A.K.A. Sad Girl. Mona is a Japanese singer deep in the mix of the cholo subculture in Japan. I created a portrait of Mona in 2009 as part of my Hybridity series of Japanese cholos and cholas. In honor of our tangled web of cultural reciprocation here’s my best Rip Slyme Camera portrait.

You can download the Rip Slyme Camera app by searching for it on the itunes app store or by clicking on the image below.

Peace,

Rio