Casja's SL Flickr Pick: The Eerily Beautiful Imagery of Diehi "Ralphie" Lykin

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Oof! This picture by Diehi Lykin, aka Ralphie, is called “Raven” and makes me want to invent a word. There is something unearthly about it despite the very corporeal body. The raven mask with the black background creates an absence, but one with features that we can barely perceive. I love how the red dot tattoo is echoed by the collar and the crown. In design, they often suggest that if you introduce a color, you should use it three times. Ralphie seems to be thinking about this when using color, particularly as, depending on how you define color, red is the only color in the picture.  

“Till the Last Flower Falls” is a beautifully romantic picture. Those are not scars, but a tattoo of roots which ties into the cascading flowers. Ralphie is very cleverly using colors three times. For example, there is the blue gown, the blue background, and blue in the crown. Then there is the red fabric lining, the red roots tattoo, and, so subtly, a thin red line forming a frame. Ralphie uses lines to frame many of her pictures, to great effect. 

“You’ll Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die” is an example of Ralphie using lines to frame her photo and make it integral to the picture. I love how the frame goes in and out in a way that defies physics but works so well to make the picture fascinating. 

Ralphie also has a blog called Sugar on Snails where details of her photos are shared. I love her stream and the way she uses geometric shapes, lines, circles, triangles, and grounding them in the picture in some way. She has the spark of genius that expresses itself with wit. 

See all of Cajsa's Choices here. Follow Cajsa on Flickr, on Twitter or on her blog.

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I found a new wallpaper for my phone.