Great Minds: HEDOfloe

Today we take a look at those who express their love for Ringo in outlets other than writing. Some of us like to use the medium of art, and today we meet such a person. We have an exclusive interview with HEDOfloe, he is a desktop wallpaper artist who has created some stunningly evocative Ringo-themed works, which we have discussed in detail with him for you.



1) What filters did you use for your wallpapers and why? Please could you go into what effect you think they have on the composition of each wallpaper?

Well, I actually did not use many filters on most of them. I just use a mix of layers, such as layers set to Overlay or Screens to try to get different effects on them. These secondary layers are duplicates of the original image I want to edit, and imposing it on top of the original gives you a different effect. If you change the colors of the duplicate you get even more interesting effects. Then, I manually touch up the original image by smudging and using the clone tool to get rid of artifacts and just soften up the image in general. It takes a while with higher resolution images but the final effect is worth it.



2) When designing wallpapers, do you consider it almost akin to photography? Selecting preferable moments from Ringo's photographed life and capturing them in wallpaper?

I usually don't sit down and say I want to make a wallpaper. Instead, I see an image I like and then decide I'd like to see it more often so I turn it into a wallpaper. It is not really specific moments from Ringo's life or anything like that, just an image that has something I like whether a nice angle, cute expression, cool outfit, or something like that.



3) Your Jihen wallpapers portray nudes. Is this an attempt to provoke controversy, in a punk statement of aggression and rebellion, a comment on the boundaries of social taboo, or even a comment on gender?

The nudes are to be found in the Just Can't Help It! DVD. I do not take credit for taking the pictures of those models (which are not nudes since they have underwear on)



4) In many of your wallpapers, Ringo is presented as being in close proximity to the viewer. Is this to suggest an intimacy with Ringo, or a personal desire to be close to her? Do you feel your wallpapers do justice to Ringo's beauty?

Hahah, I would love to be in close proximity with Ringo but that is not why I usually make the wallpapers closeups. I always enjoy people's faces more than anything so that is part of the reason. But also, I am usually working with images from magazines or something with text on it and so usually the upper body is left text-free, or at least the face is. So it is also just a way of working around the limitations. As far as doing her beauty justice, I think I do :D. In some cases, I'd say I even make her out to be prettier than she really is!! To me, anyway =P



5) Is your computer adorned with these fantastic wallpapers?

Actually, I don't use these wallpapers. I probably used each of them once, if that, and then never used them again. I usually can't stand to look at my creative work after a couple of days, I notice the flaws and such that I would like to change so I don't use them again.



6) In one wallpaper, you present two instances of Ringo. Is this to suggest the different sides of Ringo, or simply a personal wish? Would you prefer to encounter two Ringos rather than just one?

I would love to see two Ringo's in one band! But, no, I just really liked those two images and had to figure out some way to get them on the same wallpaper so I would not have to change between two images. It is one of those few images that I am still happy with, actually.



7) Ringo's name is presented throughout in Japanese characters. Are you fluent in the language?

No, I am nowhere near fluent in Japanese!! However, I am studying it in college. As for the use of the Japanese characters for her name on the wallpapers, it was just because it is easier to place those characters than the roman ones for her name since it is common for Japanese characters to be read from top to bottom and not look as weird as if roman characters were organized that way.



8) Finally, I would like to address the most astounding of all these wallpapers. Ringo is presented in cartoonesque postmodernity surrounded by birds of all aggressions and sensitivies. Could you please go into some detail regarding how on earth you conceived of and developed this piece?

Those are images from booklets of Tokyo Jihen. The one with the birds is from the Kyouiku booklet. I do not take credit for making that image.