Mr. Shen - Arrogant

I can't grow a mustache or beard for the life of me. I find that people who do, without trying, are flouting their beard growing abilities.

Mr. Shen - Game On - Going the Distance

I've been quite busy with my latest Flash game and decided that it would be appropriate to post it here. Namely that it is in a functional state and includes most of the core mechanics. The rest is polish.

With each game I make, I'm trying to categorize it a special way. The last one was a simulation. This one uses that "paper cut out" theme to make it seem like you're sitting at a poor person's version of a theatre and watching a crappy puppet show.

I'm hoping to get the game released by next week.

Link: Going the Distance (Work in Progress)

Mr. Shen - Reunited

I wanted to go with something as simple as possible. It's like that photo of the horse where it blends in with the hills in the background. You try and try to see it, but you just can't. Once you do, however, you can never unsee it.

This is a top down view of two people, holding each other. Can you see it?

Mr. Shen - In the future...

Mr. Shen here.

Someday in the future, Jason and I will look back at this time in our 20s and laugh. We will laugh so hard that we will not need exclamation points.

Mr. Shen - Stain

Mr. Shen here.

I've always wanted to try this little "art exercise" that I read about online. Essentially you take a teabag and drop it on an index card. Then you illustrate something out of the blotch you get.

Apparently I came up with a clown, a man with large hair, an old timey water pump and a woman running away.

Interpret my visions, sir.

Mr. Shen - Branding

Mr. Shen here.

The idea was to take a brand we already know and rebrand it. You know, like making H&R Block a children's toy company or something.

All I'm curious about now is whether it'll make me play like Jordan or Tiger Woods.

Mr. Shen - Searching for Faith

Two of the most influential things in our society today.

The XBOX360 version includes the King James Version too.

Mr. Shen - Album Art

Mr. Shen here.

I decided to try a new way of illustrating. Basically, seeing what I could convey with simple shapes and try do something they'd put in the MOMA: The Museum of Modern Alex.

Mr. Shen - Unexpected

Truly unexpected.

Mr. Shen - Silhouette

Mr. Shen - I'm Sorry

Mr. Shen here.

Taizo Hori (aka Dig Dug) is sorry he has to do this.

Mr. Shen - Survival of the Fittest

Mr. Shen here.

This is a picture of Blattodea (aka the cockroach).

"They were here before man; they will be here after man and why? Because they eat crap." - Al Bundy

Mr. Shen - Holiday

Mr. Shen here.

I hope everyone has a happy National Build Your Own Furniture Day!

You should have seen the original idea I was going to run with. It was basically going to be the Ikea logo and that phrase: National Build Your Own Furniture Day. The End. Fin. How boring that would have been!

I've always had a fondness for the D.I.Y. kind of work ethic when it comes to creating furniture and whatnot. It's like doing those models you did as a kid, but on a larger, functional scale... and there's all these pieces left over!

This was done in CorelDraw12 and prepared in Photoshop 7.0. I've included a really concise tutorial on how I did this little ditty. The key point here is that you absolutely need the right lighting in order for "color range" to work correctly, otherwise you will have a terrible image to work with.

Mr. Shen - Vegetable Stamp

Mr. Shen here.

So here is a vector piece I did of a vegetable on a stamp. Would you pay 34 cents for a stamp like this one? Yea, neither would I.

Those yellow moon like objects can either be moons or potato chips/crisps. You know, the chopped up bodies of his fallen brothers and sisters. He sure is awfully happy about that.

Mr. Shen - Street Corner

I work on the corner of Technology and Skyport. I figure by the time 2027 rolls around, only a short 19 or so years from now, people will be living with robots and they will try to get dates then as awkwardly as they do now.

We follow the adventures of Alexander, the ugly water cooler guy, and Sally, the hot computer from the office across the way.

Mr. Shen - Video Game

RPG Lesson from Alexander Shen on Vimeo.

Oh, the things I have learned!

Mr. Shen - 8 Seconds - It Takes Two

It Takes Two from Alexander Shen on Vimeo.

I had a run-in with myself the other night.

Mr. Shen - Diagram

Mr. Shen here.

If you've forgotten how, this is how you're supposed to laugh at a joke.

Mr. Shen - Revisit - Remix

Mr. Shen here.

I decided to revisit the theme Remix that we did a few weeks ago.

Though terribly rough and incomplete, I tried to redo the song "Happy Together" on my guitar with background vocals.

You can listen to it here.

Mr. Shen - Holiday Cards

I've been away from my workstation (my apartment) for the last few days.

Happy holidays everyone!

The below is the original size: