AW177's custom "Koi Dragon" Labbit

Allen Wen aka AW177 completely out did himself with this custom 5" Labbit that he did as a commission for a good friend of his! The colors were picked by the commissioner , and Allen did the rest, and it turned out amazing! Allen says that this was his first time using Sculpey, which he used to create the 'jade' pendant, home run man, it looks immaculate! Allen also went into great depth about the meaning of the custom, take a sec and read it below!

The Meaning of the Koi Dragon Labbit
In Japanese folklore, the koi fish represents courage, strength of will or persistence in the face of difficulty. Legend has it that the koi fish travels up the Yellow River to the Dragon Gate, transforming into a dragon which represents power and ferocity. The koi dragon is the phase where the koi leaps from the river through the gate, overcoming all obstacles and the adversity of the strong river to fulfill its destiny into a full dragon.

The 'jade' pendant is the kanji symbol for courage - it's a reminder to always have courage when faced with hardship and persevere to the end. Jade has many meanings in Chinese culture, meaning to draw in spirituality, longevity, luck, confidence, love and protection.

The Chinese red envelope in the mouth is a 'hong pao' with the kanji symbol for double happiness. In the tradition of the Chinese lion dance, 'hong paos' with money are handed to the lions through the mouth to bring good luck, happiness and fortune.

The lotus blossoms are flowers that start off small at the bottom of a pond, in the mud and muck and slowly grows up towards the water surface. They continue moving towards the light and once it reaches the surface, the lotus will blossom into a beautiful flower - overcoming the dark to reach the light.

This Koi Dragon labbit is a representation of all these ideals, to always have courage to overcome all hardships and wishing you all the best in life!

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

SKWAK 8" Dunny... revealed and confirmed!

It has been confirmed by the man himself via SKWAK's twitter that the release of this rad Dunny is going to be on the 18th of February, and is going to contain two versions the yellow which is the regular and the black which is going to be the chase! This picture was snapped from a frame of an interview done by Switched with KR president Paul Budnitz, and as you can tell from the picture this appears to be a clear dunny with paint on top, and the design is spectacular, wonder what KR is going to charge for this one... time will tell!

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

"False friends" Coarse double art figure release

Coarse unveils their long anticipated 'false friends' series, a set of two original vinyl statues. The release incorporates key coarse characters 'paw!', a monkey cross rabbit, and 'noop', a human like being, as they portray another episode in the ongoing coarse story. This time the dissimilar pair aspire to become companions - even at the price of their own identities. Demonstrating the underlying complexity of the brand, this series delivers yet another dimension to the world of coarse.

The German artist duo behind coarse, once again showcase their distinctive aesthetic. Their forms are dominated by smooth curves, hard lines and sharp edges, combined to point of a unity. In past years, coarse has become renowned for its definitive style, its meticulous attention to detail and the vivid dreamscapes painted by its story line. Recent coarse releases have almost always sold out instantaneously, and the scope of the latest offering proves why the brand has such an increasing worldwide presence amongst art toy and fine arts collectors.

In this chapter of the coarse narrative, the young noop begins to mimic the appearance of his natural enemy, paw!, a tactic to secure his own survival. However, after being acknowledged as a paw!, the noop becomes trapped behind this mask forever. A dangerous and fragile friendship takes its course.

This rare edition includes 'the colossal paw! and a freshly hatched noop, robed in his heavenly soft paw! suit.' The 13'' vinyl pair comes in glowing spring colors, put to sleep between two cotton pillows, every one embroidered with the individual running number. Safely packed in a hand crafted wooden box with a monkey rabbit nose handle and enclosed with a rubberband.

Limited to 200 pieces.
HK$ 4388 (around US$520)
Price includes global shipping

Available January 7, 2010.
Available only at coarsehkg and selected stores (tba).

Limited Christmas presale at coarsehkg online store, December 10, 2009
[presale will be open for 24 hours – shipping January 4].

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

Twitterrific's mascot "Ollie" prototypes auctioned for the American Cancer Society

The Iconfactory, a graphics and interface design firm, today announced that the original prototypes for "Ollie", the bluebird mascot for the popular social networking application Twitterrific, will be auctioned on eBay. Twitterrific enables users to view and post tweets to their Twitter account via iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac OSX. Ollie has become a widely recognized icon for Twitterrific fans and now these rare prototypes for the original vinyl toy are being auctioned for charity.

The auction will take place on eBay from November 30 to December 7, 2009. The Ollie character and the vinyl toy were designed by David Lanham of the Iconfactory and produced by StrangeKiss Art Toys. There are four original one-of-a-kind prototypes for the toy that will be auctioned as a set. Each Ollie is a different color and the set includes one flocked version. 100% of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society and will be matched by the Iconfactory up to $500.00.

Talos Tsui, one of the founders of the Iconfactory said, "We're very excited that these unique collectibles are being made available to fans of Ollie and Twitterrific and that we have an opportunity through this effort to support the American Cancer Society and the vital work that they do". After the one-of-a-kind Ollie toys are auctioned, the new toy will be available for purchase early/mid-December at the Iconfactory Gear Online store in two versions, Normal $19.95 and Very Limited Flocked Edition (fuzzy) $26.95.

The Iconfactory is an innovative design firm with offices in North Carolina, California, Atlanta, and Stockholm, Sweden. Twitterrific won the Apple Design Award at the 2008 World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco for Best iPhone Application in the Social Networking category.

Follow them on twitter...

@twitterrific • @iconfactory • @dlanham • @strangekiss

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

Primary Flight - Art Basel 2009 - Blue Print For Space - 33Third/Beats By Dr. Dre/ Ironlak

This year, Primary Flight broadens its reach with the addition of Blue Print For Space, a collection of contemporary Street Artists and Graffiti Writers, hosted by ArtCenter/South Florida. The art exhibition will showcase over 25 of today’s most active and unique street artists at its Miami Beach gallery. Blue Print For Space proposes that these “Street” artists’ works are not just thought provoking or visually pleasing, but are also the voice of a contemporary generation. Blue Print for Space premieres on Wednesday, December 2 with a Collector and Press Preview from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., and opens to the public from 8:30 to 10:00 p.m. (800 Lincoln Road at Meridian Avenue, Miami Beach). Guests are thereafter invited to join Primary Flight and friends at the Shore Club (1901 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach); event is by invitation only.

Supporting Blue Print For Space is a list of prestigious sponsors including Morgans Hotel Group, Ironlak, the leading paint brand among street artists, and 33THIRD, a nationally recognized supplier of street art supplies. 33THIRD will be providing paint supplies, as well as supporting Primary Flight’s partnership and artist relations.

For this year’s event, Primary Flight is also working with some of the biggest names in music and consumer electronics to combine the best in sound and technology with today's most prominent street artists. Beats by Dr. Dre and world leading audio/video accessories company Monster are donating several pairs of Studio headphones from the Beats by Dr. Dre headphone line from Monster. The products will be custom painted by prominent street artists including Retna, El Mac, Typoe, Santiago Rubino, Tes One (pair on the left) and London Police and will be on display at Blue Print for Space and then auctioned off to benefit the ArtCenter/South Florida's Arts in Education program.

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

PLASEEBO at ART BASEL MIAMI

Plaseebo is pleased to have 2 custom figures in the MULTIVERSAL Group Show
at Art Basel Miami Florida, which runs from December 3rd thru 6th. Both of these customs come with the patented Multi-color changing LED light. The icecream cone figure is titled "ConeBoy" and is 8” tall. The second custom is titled “Reactor” and is part of the ongoing Night Gamer series and this is 7” tall.

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

"Slagg" & "Mortuus Lepus" from OsirisOrion

Robert Ingellis aka OsirisOrion sent over a couple new customs for a few shows. First up is "SlaGG" (top) a custom 8" dunny he did for the upcoming Multiversal custom show on 12/3/09 at Art Basel! Next is his 8" custom Qee "Mortuus Lepus" for the upcoming Qee 2 Life show @ Genuine Artikle on 12/08/09. Both of these turned out great and if you can make it to either show, which is totally recommended, Rob's work is even more amazing in person!

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

Troy Stith's "Munnsai" custom munny...

Troy Stith just killed it with his latest custom titled "Munnsai"! This is a 8" Munny based off the concept of a Bonsai tree. Troy says that "I've always liked bonsai, but the idea was really born at the roots of the tree. I started there and moved up letting the tree develop naturally. The birds were a later idea and are actually 2 4" munny arms I had lying around. The tree portion was created through paint layering techniques and the rest is different kinds of flock and natural bits, plus a lot of glue!" This can be yours for only $100 (plus s&h) and will be available at his store HERE on Friday, December 4th at 3:00pm (EST). Unlike many his pieces this one doesn't have an accompanying story because it's looks and name say it all. Great job on this man, serious killer work!

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

*NEW* MUTT iPhone skins

Tyler Coey just sent over some rad new products that he has up for sale right now, and if you remember from the teasers last month(posted HERE and HERE), well, these aren't those :-) that's still in the works... but in the meantime MUTT dropped some iPhone skins. The artists featured on the soft launch are Project Detonate, Matthew Ryan Sharp, and Tyler Coey... more artists will be added on board in the months to follow. You can get the currently released ones on www.MUTTtoy.com for only $9.99! These are rad, so go pick some up today!

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

The Gardens by Tyson Anthony Roberts

Tyson Anthony Roberts is a painter based in Seattle, WA. He just finished up a painting titled "The Gardens" which is available in print form at 20x200. The painting is currently on view at Jen Bekman Gallery in an exhibition called 'Mixtape' and photos are available of the installation and opening. The Gardens was inspired by the music of Cafe Tacuba (particularly the song 'Hola Adios'). This is a really abstract piece, and really sparks my imagination when looking at it, I can't help but think about cactus for some reason though :-) You can check out more of Tyson's work via his website HERE.

Statement - The Gardens (painting) - Hola Adios (song)
“Hola, adios” are the fading lyrics to the song of the same phrase by Café Tacuba, a band from Mexico that incorporates a variety of genres within their music. The Spanish words hola and adios translate to hello and goodbye and these words are what come to mind when I look at The Gardens, which was painted while listening to a lot of Café Tacuba. The easy melody of the song comes and goes, and like the painting, interweaves streams of muted tones and articulates those with blasts of colorful accents. Within this, a direct narration conducts the assemblage of multi-directional patterns that leave not one side untouched. The painting and song equally explore the dichotomies of good/bad, happiness/sadness, and ultimately hello/goodbye. The painting accomplishes this by requiring the viewer to remain at arm's length to fully interpret the abstraction, and the song through the useage of a fleeting aural backdrop accompanied with clear and focused vocals. Hola adios.

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

*Voting Closed* • Unleash Your Symbiote Contest has some clear cut winners, CONGRATS!!!!

Click on picture to make much bigger!

We had a tremendous out pouring of votes and over 1,000 people weighed in on this contest! it was awesome to see such a great response, and all you customizers deserve all of the credit, you all did an amazing job with your pieces, thanks so much! Also a huge thanks to Symbiote Studios for doing this contest with SpankyStokes.com, they really stepped up and out did themselves with this, thanks guys, you totally rock!

First Place

#14 "Symbyeti" by Philip Newman (New Skool Tattoos)
-$500 gift certificate- to use at Symbiote Studios

Second Place
#13 "Goblin Bug Farmer" by Luckyorangerat (New Skool Tattoos)
-$250 gift certificate- to use at Symbiote Studios

Third Place
#4 "Mushie Warrior Hogo" by Denise Cortez
-$100 gift certificate- to use at Symbiote Studios

This has finally come to and end... thank you all who voted and to all that created such rad customs in this contest!

After a much long overdue, drawn out process of trying to find a voting system that I can incorporate on this site, I finally figured out how to get one up (crosses fingers), and now it's your turn to vote for your favorite custom Symbiote that was entered into our "Unleash your Symbiote" custom contest (original post HERE). We were going to narrow it down to 10 entries before you voted, but they all turned out great and thought we should leave it up to you guys to decide. The voting will go on for one week so this will be closed December 1st. Please only vote once, but encourage friends and family to vote as well, and if you need more help deciding, CLICK THROUGH for a full slide show of all the pieces from all angles.

Please chose your favorite Symbiote...

1."UD017" by RustedHalo2."Perry the Perv" by Erik Jorgensen3."Venom" by Rio McCarthy4."Mushie Warrior Hogo" by Denise Cortez5."Leonard Kufax" by Randall Smith6."SkullNinja" by Jess Lontoc7."Lammy" by Dolly Oblong8."MUMSKULL" by BeatNINJA9."Scrap" by Dave Gittleman10."Alien" by Gammaraybots11."Skumbiote" by Jay22212."Surfer" by Sean McNamara13."Goblin Bug Farmer" by Luckyorangerat (New Skool Tattoos)14."Symbyeti" by Philip Newman (New Skool Tattoos)15."Urban" by Rick Sans16."Fuzz the CIA Bear" by Valerie G

I would like to thank all that participated, you guys all killed it, and I would also like to thanks Symbiote Studios for making a really cool platform as well as putting together such an amazing prize package! You should head on over to their site to check out all their other goods, some rad stuff! Remember to CLICK THROUGH for more pics to help you decide on the winning custom!

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

"Invisible T-shirt" by Reece on TeeFury

OG Photoshop humor, hahaha, never get old! TeeFury is an awesome website that sells T-shirts for $9 a pop...the only catch is that it is only on sale for 24hours and then the next T-shirt is posted up! I have seen awesome shirts by some amazing artists on here and the total purchase price is $11. So that is $9 for the Tee and $2 for the shipping...that is an awesome deal that can't be beat! I will try and post the shirts up daily, or you can go visit the site yourself!

Money does go back to the artist and after today, this t-shirt will be Gone FOREVER! Today artist earns $1 for every tee sold. So make sure you get over there if yer diggin the design!

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...

Stefan Bucher's Daily Monster #53

Stefan is a super talented artist, and a super cool guy to boot! You can now follow all of his updates via his Twitter profile HERE, not on Twitter yet? Get a move on!

From Stefan's Blog:

Of course, Monster 53 is waiting for you, too. He clearly shares a hair stylist with 52, but there are some striking differences, especially in the tongue department. That's got to mean something, don't you think? Surely there are uses for such an evolutionary deviation both in business and in one's private life? Do you think 53 was born this way? Or does the third eye grow in during monster puberty? Does it affect 53's diet? I'm looking at your eyebrows right now, and from their movement I can tell that you're forming either a theory or an opinion or possibly both. Please, do share and...

CLICK THROUGH for more pics/info...

Back to original post...