Here’s an interesting look at the beginning of hip hop culture.

Martha Cooper was a photo-journalist living in New York City when she first began documenting the origins of B-boy (short for break-boys) and hip hop culture. While other New Yorkers at the time saw this movement as a trite, uninspired or even offensive fad, Martha found a new form of expressing art. Through her camera lens we recount the infancy of hip-hop culture, from the alleys and subways of New York to the masses beyond the boroughs.

A friend sent me this today, and I thought I’d share it here. It’s animated graffiti, and it must have taken an awful lot of work. You can find more of his surreal graffiti and drawings on his site.

If I were ever to have children, I would inevitably mess with their heads with the likes of this, so it’s probably best I not go there.

[via Boing Boing, a few weeks ago]

What happens when take Garfield comic strips, which aren’t really that funny, and completely remove Garfield from them? They turn into genius pieces of surrealism.

Garfield Minus Garfield, if you haven’t already come across it, is fantastic. I just love these.

I’ve never really been able to draw, and I’ve always looked jealously upon those who can, so last weekend I picked up Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

A friend in high school recommended I read the book, and I’ve seen it mentioned online many times since, so finally, ten years later, I decided to picked it up. If nothing else, it looks quite interesting.

The main goal of this is to get to a level where I can entertain myself with doodles during meetings. It’s maybe not the noblest artistic pursuit, but it’s worthwhile nonetheless. Right now I draw patterns and stick men. I’ve included a digital example of my skill level.

I am a little worried, however, that by studying the craft I might lose a little of the raw sincerity that exists within my pieces.

I’ve been sketching a little each day. I’ve found I’m actually not too bad at copying other people’s simple sketches, but I’m absolutely terrible at trying to draw anything from my imagination or real-life. I don’t understand how you’re supposed to draw anything in 3D without using vectors and matrices.