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Be Inspired with Mayhem and Muse Mayhem and Muse offers a wide variety of inspirational posts; videos based on human talent, courage and achievement, and art, illustration and paintings that showcase the work of both famous and emerging artists. On the site, artists and designers can find inspiration for creative projects, and for those who simply need a pick-me-up, Mayhem and Muse offers a humor section that is bound to cheer you up.
Graffiti art is often an expressive, albeit illegal, way for street artists to express their opinions on social and political affairs. However, sometimes graffiti artist create fan art of celebrities, movies or computer games. This street fan art is simply a way of expressing appreciation for characters that have become a part of the artist's life.
Classic Arcade Games in Graffiti Art
Classic arcade games like Tetris, Space Invaders and Pacman have memorable, pixellated characters or objects that frequently find their way into graffiti fan art. The pixels can be created out of paint, tiles or painted squares of materials such as cardboard or wood.
Above: Fan art graffiti of the arcade game Tetris, made using colorful plastic packing crates.
Above: This gaming graffiti piece uses craft mosaic tiles to create a pixellated image of the alien characters from the arcade game, Space Invaders.
Classic Video and Computer Games in Graffiti
Besides arcade games, there are a number of classic computer games that have found their way into street artworks. Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, Lemmings and Worms were a staple diet for gamers back in the late 80s and 90s. With the advent of gaming consoles, gamers could play their favorite games from the comfort of their own homes instead of going out to an arcade.
Above: These tile mosaics show Mario from the popular Nintendo game, Mario Brothers, in a classic, pixellated style.
Above: This piece of street art uses beer coasters to create a pixel image of Link from the Legend of Zelda.
Above: Lemmings painted on a bridge over a busy road way. Several lemming graffiti pieces have popped up around the world, usually on bridges over freeways and highways. The artworks are often accompanied by the phrase, "Hello Lemmings!"
Above: A classic Worms character greets pedestrians from a street corner. The game's graphics changed drastically with the introduction of Worms 3D.
Recent Games
The current gaming industry focuses heavily on graphics. Computer games and console games now have highly detailed scenes and characters that present new challenges for game playing graffiti artists. Spray paint, however, can create a smooth, 3D effect when used by a skilled graffiti artist. Luckily there are many games that use a cartoon style for their characters, making a graffiti rendering of the characters easier for street artists.
Above: Graffiti artworks showing characters from Street Fighter.
Above: Commissioned graffiti depicting an image from the video game, Halo, followed by an artist's interpretation of a Halo character.
Above: Samus Aran, the bounty hunter from the video game series Metroid.
Above: The Sony Corporation commissioned several graffiti artworks to advertise their new product, the PSP. The googly-eyed cartoon characters are each holding a PSP.
Above: Bioshock graffiti art
Above: A spray-painted 22nd Century vehicle from the game R-Type
Above: Large graffiti piece of Starcraft's Typhus, smoking a cigar. Artists' mediums like spray cans and air brush canisters allow for a soft, smoky effect.
Nico di Mattia’s speed painting style “Arte Fusion” has gained well-earned popularity through his videos on YouTube.
Speed painting is a relatively new term which is used to define the process of creating a finished work of art in a short amount of time, usually for the appreciation of an audience.
Dan Dunn and Denny Dent are other world-renowned speed painters, producing large paintings by hand in just a few minutes. Unlike digital speed painters, traditional speed painters did not use an image reference or a primary sketch in their work.
Above: Speed painting of actress Jennifer Love Hewitt by Nico di Mattia.
Speed painting is now moving into the digital domain. Artists work in a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop, and with the aid of screen capture software create a video of the artwork during the production phase. These artists utilize a graphics tablet and stylus that allow the artist more control over their work than of they were to use a computer mouse. The physical motion is similar to that of drawing on paper, with the pen being the stylus and the paper being the tablet that communicates the drawn image to the computer screen.
Argentinean artist Nico di Mattia calls his speed painting style “Arte Fusion”, a combination of digital art and time lapse photography. The photography in this case is a series of screen captures compiled into a video.
LOST – John Locke – Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
Nico di Mattia has enjoyed global recognition for his work as a speed painter, following his first speed painting video in 2007 of John Locke from the series “Lost”. At the time of writing this article, the video had been viewed 5,967,799 times on YouTube.
Di Mattia builds each artwork from scratch, first sketching outlines of the subject from the image reference and then gradually filling in more detail. Watching an artwork grow from a blank page in this way is both impressive and inspiring.
SPIDER-MAN Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia.
Nico di Mattia’s popular Spiderman speed painting, also posted to YouTube in 2007, has received 5,858,314 views to date. Digital speed paintings are often based on a pre-existing image which the artist uses for reference during the creative process. Although di Mattia’s artwork retains elements of photo-realism, the use of brush strokes within the finished image is a distinctive signature of the artist. The result is a stunning replica of the original image, boasting realistic highlights, shadows and detail in the creative style of the artist.
Scarlett Johansson – Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
In another speed painting work from 2007, di Mattia paints actress Scarlett Johansson, paying special attention to skin tones, pose and detail. With 2,337,073 views, this popular video has inspired and awed many viewers, who enjoy both the skill of the artist, the feeling of interaction with the artwork and the beauty of the artist’s subject.
In traditional paint on canvas works, an artist must paint over areas that they feel need more work. With digital speed painting, graphics programs offer various editing tools for moving, color grading and layering specific areas of the work.
By working in layers, the artist can adjust the color levels, saturation or contrast, and add detail to the chosen area. Shortly after painting Scarlett’s necklace, di Mattia edits the skin below the necklace. A task made easier through the use of layers; the skin is on a separate layer below the necklace and can be edited without affecting the artwork on the necklace.
The early speed paintings of Nico di Mattia were “fan-works”, digital paintings of models, movie stars and famous characters. Included in his recent works are commissioned works for private buyers. Family portraits and personal photos are brought to life in a speed painting video set to the buyer’s choice of music.
Nico di Mattia’s website offers a gallery of the artist’s speed painting videos, illustrations and comic books. For more YouTube videos of di Mattia’s speed paintings, visit his profile page.
YouTube also offers the work of other speed painting artists, who often attribute their work to di Mattia as a response or adulation piece. Digital speed painting videos are growing in popularity and this art form promises exciting and interesting new videos from artists in the years to come.
