Freaky Friday

There are few things freakier than creative taxidermy. This particular specimen was made in the UK and fetched £330 at auction. As the artist herself states, the odd human-like look was intentional. And for those wondering, the fox died of natural causes.

The fox's story seems to stop there, as far as the Western side of the web is concerned. However, this character became pretty big in Russia of all places. It's even made the news. The creator started getting fan mail on a regular basis, which has inspired her to make a couple more pieces like this. No doubt, they'll pop up soon enough.

Aside from its overall freakishness, it was the fox's dazed look that brought it popularity, and the critter became known as "Stoned Fox". It inspired a ton of photo-manips that spread like wildfire all over "Runet".  Here's a few examples:

"You've got some serious issues, my friend"

Freaky Friday

Something Lovecraftian. Can't go wrong with that, right?

Cthulhoid horror emerges by nightserpent

Freaky Friday

Perhaps not exactly what gangsters mean when they say: "you'll be sleeping with the fishes", but a striking image nevertheless!

Sleeping with the Fishes by Zilla774

Freaky Friday

Nothing seriously messed-up this week. Instead - one of my favourite pictures, since it's summer - the perfect time to go swimming and to eat lots of fruit!

Tasty by Einen

Freaky Friday

Oh dear. I very nearly forgot it was Friday. But fear not, I have indeed got something freaky for you. I also haven't posted anything pony-related for a while, so how about we kill two birds with one stone?

Pinkie-Pinkamena by pig-fish

Freaky Friday

Just one image this week, but I think it deserves a standalone feature.
"William" by Derek Walborn, ladies and gents.

"William took to the basement. He needed someplace dark. Soon everything would be better. Soon everything would change."

Freaky Friday

This week I'm bringing you the art of Robert Steven Connett (or vmaximus, as he's known on DevinatArt).
The artist specializes in surrealism and has a rather large gallery of phantasmagoric images (see the links above). He also has a very philosophical approach to art (which I see as a bad habit of needlessly overcomplicating life, but that's just me!). It's not rare for his images to have long and thoughtful comments, on DeviantArt especially. 
Here are a few of my personal picks from Robert's gallery:

Bad Dreams

Planktonauts V3

Microbia 1, in Blue

Red Microbia

Crustaceapods

Metaverse

Zoooids - Underworld II

Freaky Friday/Психоделическая пятница

I've stumbled upon quite a lovely painting that fits the theme quite nicely! The artist doesn't have any other surreal art in her gallery, but I like this piece enough to dedicate the whole post to it.

Aries in the Desert
by Atenebris

Freaky Friday

This Freaky Friday I've decided to feature something other than paintings/drawings. Instead, I'd like to bring a certain game to your attention.
It's called The Endless Forest. It's a social game that can be run either on its own, or set as a screensaver. Effectively, an MMORPG, but very different from what you'd expect from the genre.

What makes it interesting? Well, you play as a nameless deer. All other players can recognize you by is the unique glowing symbol that sometimes appears above your head. You can communicate only through body language and generic animal noises. You can do a bit of magic as well. Nothing harmful, mainly stuff that can change either yours or other players' appearance. There are no objectives in the game other than exploring the forest and hanging out with your fellow deer.
The forest has a couple of landmarks. Mainly a ruin and statues. You can read more about it in the wiki article. 

And, more importantly, what makes it freaky? Well.... they've got human faces! At what point did that seem like a good idea, I ask you! Stick a human face on anything other than a human and you'll end up with something creepy!  If you like the look, however, you can find some more screenshots, as well as the actual concept art, here.

My thoughts? Well, I have tried playing "The Endless Forest" a while back (at least 4 or 5 years ago). It doesn't look like it's changed much though. While I like the idea behind it, I didn't think much of the game itself.

Sure, having a screensaver that "transports you to a magical place" is fun and all. Especially since your character can't be harmed when you're away. But, having a screensaver that has to load and refuses to easily go away can get really annoying. Sure, you can play it as an application, but I don't think it offers enough to be a standalone game.

As for the social aspect of it, I think there simply isn't enough you can do with other players. Sure, I like the idea of limited communication, which adds to the illusion, so to say. It also means that annoying idiots can't ruing the game for you. But I just think that Journey does it better and simply is a better game in every respect. Sure, the forest is rather large for an open space, but you'll know your way around it in a day. Then what?

By the looks of things, "The Endless Forest" has not had a face-lift since it was released, so it doesn't exactly look breathtaking. I think it could have made up for the lack of activity with amazing graphics (I mean if it's an interactive screensaver, it's the looks that make or break it, right?). Since that's not the case, I think it's safe to say that there are much better time wasters out there.

So yeah. I don't care much for the game, even if find the idea interesting. But hey, feel free to give it a try if you like! It won't cost you anything.

Some areas in the forest grant random accessories. Masks are great. They hide the scary human faces!

Freaky Friday - stereographic edition

This week I've decided to show you the stereographic drawings by Dain Fagerholm.Not really my cup of tea, but I thought these were interesting enough to feature.
You can check out the artist's blog here. The first few pages have pretty much the same stuff - monsters with gems that look like D&D dice. But if you go back further you can find something more original. Like the first image below. 

I quite like this style. And yes, I've pretty much just put it there so you could read the post without something shaking at the bottom of the screen.

The stereographic images:

Asylum

Seven Headed Creature

Creature in Cube with Gem

Creature with Gem Over Head

Freaky Friday

What's this? A new themed day? Why yes, it is! It won't be a weekly thing though. I'm very aware of how horrendously behind I am on my weekly themed posts as it is.

Despite what some may think, I've never done drugs. And who needs them when there's plenty of surreal art out there! I don't "automatically" like every psychedelic painting under the sun. It's very "hit or miss". But certain pieces really manage to capture my attention, whether they're mysterious, or just downright messed up. 


This week I'd like to share the works of Anton Semenov, or Gloom 82, as he's known on Deviant Art. I'm quite fond of the desaturated dream-like quality of his work. Kind of reminds me of why I was sometimes afraid to sleep as a kid. Which I blame soviet animation for. I won't be surprised if it's also the artist's inspiration fuel. 
So here are some of my personal picks from Anton's gallery:

Noon

City of decay

Jump

Hostess of the copper hill

Home

Black dream

Thistle