Happy New Year!

To ring in 2024, I’ve been invited by the Netherlands (“NL”) to create a piece for CES once again. I’ve been very grateful for the on-going unique, creative challenges I’ve been able to collaborate with them. Here’s a teaser of the piece I created — to be further unveiled at CES in a few days!

There were a few major key points I wanted to tackle in this piece, tying to the NL goals:

For the Netherlands to achieve a circular, sustainable economy by 2050
Integrate a national conversation about Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion and Social Responsibility
To highlight the Netherlands as an innovative country
To distinguish the Netherlands Tech Pavilion apart from the many other booths and displays at CES — a very tech-heavy, tech-focused conference.

Right off the bat, I wanted to integrate plants and floral elements into the NL Pavilion design, especially at such a tech-heavy conference. I believe it shows NL's commitment to working together WITH nature, portrayed by all 70 startups at CES 2024 that all contribute to NL's goals for a circular economy.

Inspiration and Process

I recently learned about incredible women artists from the Dutch Golden Age, erased and forgotten from history and recently rediscovered: Maria Sibylla Merian, Rachel Ruysch, and Maria van Oosterwijck. (In more detail below.) I want to honor their botanical illustration work, ALSO because they were women who worked with paints AND were keen observers and students of science. I personally admire how some women artists of the time taught each other and learned from each others' work. This is all about community, growing together, and lifting each other.

Inspired by their work, I evolved components of their work to create the floral linework around the NL pavilion, using Adobe Fresco for drawing the linework as vectors.

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647 - 1717)

Merian set the standard for botanical illustration! Her step-father, Jacob Marrell, was a floral painter. Her work exhibits a beautiful intersection of botany and zoology. Not only was she a wife + mother, she was an accomplished author, entomologist, and naturalist. She studied insects closely, specifically the lifecycles of silkworms and caterpillars. She was all about living observation. It is possible that she helped tutor Rachel Ruysch!

Water Hyacinth with Marbled or Veined Tree-Frogs and Giant Water-Bugs by Maria Sibylla Merian

Rachel Ruysch (1664 - 1750)

Ruysch had an impressively successful career of 70+ years painting flowers! Her father was an anatomy and botany professor, who categorized a lot of specimen. Like Merian, she also had a strong influence of science in her artistic practice. Ruysch’s famous still-lifes included flowers that couldn’t bloom in the same season, while also illustrating flowers from a variety of angles. This revealed her deep knowledge and familiarity with these plants. She also impressively became a court painter in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Flowers in a Glass Bowl by Rachel Ruysch

Still Life with Rose Branch, Beetle and Bee by Rachel Ruysch

Maria Van Oosterwijck (1630 - 1693)

Oosterwijck lived independently, was able to join the local artists guild (uncommon for women of her time). Her work, known as “vanitas,” included aspects of worldliness, the pleasures of life, and “momento mori” — reminders of death and the fragility of life. Her work was bought by royalty (King Louis XIV, Queen Anne of England) which kickstarted a trend of floral and still life paintings in her time.

Roses and Butterfly by Maria van Oosterwijck

Roses, Carnation, Marigolds and Other Flowers with a Sunflower and Striped Grass by Maria van Oosterwijck

More notable women artists of the Dutch Golden Age:

Clara Peeters
Judith Leyster
Anna Maria van Schurman (first woman to attend university in Netherlands!)
Magdalena van de Passe
Margaretha van Eyck
Gesina ter Borch
Alida Withoos

How Their Work is Showing up at CES 2024:

Adapted their floral still-life work into digital with Adobe Fresco’s vector brushes

Overlayed floral design on top of pavilion wall design drafts, provided by So Expo

And I took elements of their still-life paintings and incorporated them into the “Sustainable Garden” VR painting, decorating and visually emphasizing remarkable inventions that have come from the Netherlands.

This is a component of the virtual “Sustainable Garden” that will be featured at CES 2024 at the Netherlands Tech Pavilion, January 9. Will you be at CES? Want to see my vision of 👾 tech + 🎨 art + 🌱 sustainability + 💖 humanity?

Come to our virtual “Sustainable Garden,” add to the garden with YOUR ideas of a more eco-friendly, sustainable Earth! The Garden will be available on Opening Day only but you'll still be able to add your ideas thru all days of CES!

TUESDAY, JAN 9
NETHERLANDS TECH PAVILION
Tech West: Venetian Expo @ Eureka Park
Hall G, Booth 62100

Thank you to the Netherlands, the Netherlands Consulate of SF in USA, Sietze Vermeulen and Jacco van der Aart for bringing me on-board with this wonderful collaboration!

More about NL & Climate Change, NL Tech & Challenges, NL & Human Rights, NL circular economy goals.

Virtual Reality, Art

"Avaloki" Research: Hokusai Compositional Studies

Estella Tse · February 21, 2020

For The Avaloki, I spent some time to do compositional studies of traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Hokusai was a master at designing movement and space on a 2D surface — it’s incredible.

I did these compositional studies before I painted the traditionally inspired painted scenes for The Avaloki. You can see how these inspired my art direction process for the film here.

The Avaloki is a VR narrative experience available for free on the Oculus store.

Art, Virtual Reality, Resources

VR Painting 101: How Do I Become a VR Artist?

Estella Tse · February 26, 2018

This is the question I get asked the most by fellow artists. I know being a VR painter can sound scary because it involves a PC, hardware you're not familiar with, and hella wires. But it's not that hard! This post is for artists who are not as tech savvy but want to learn more about painting and creating in VR!

I'll walk you through the things you need to know:
- the terminology so you can understand what people are saying,
- the tech involved,
- the creativity apps for VR, and
- my favorite VR artists you must follow!

To answer your question: you just jump in and get painting!

How Did You Get Started?

I was exploring VR in early 2016, going to tech conventions and conferences, trying out every demo I could. Every person who worked in the VR industry, I spoke extensively to them, asked their advice. I didn't know of anyone else painting in VR professionally at that time (the Vive and Tilt Brush didn't officially release until Apr 2016). I knew I was made for this field. I dished out the money to build a new computer and got my hands on an HTC Vive! From there, I spent hours and hours in Tilt Brush, painting my days away. The rest is history!

In short, I had the painting + comfort in tech to get started at the time that I did. I consider myself incredibly lucky with the timing of opportunities.

VR Terminology, Part 1

Virtual Reality
This is when you are completely immersed in VR.
Think: 0% opacity of the real world.
High-end headsets: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Playstation VR

Job Simulator, an example of a virtual reality experience. One of my personal favorites! Notice how you don't see any of the real world. You are fully immersed.

Augmented Reality (sometimes called "Mixed Reality")
This is when some aspect of the real world is visible (like Pokemon Go!).
The AR content may or may not be integrated with the real world.
Popular AR devices: Microsoft Hololens, Meta Glasses, your smart phones/tablets!

NOTE: This is sometimes called 'Mixed Reality'. The nature of emerging fields is that the terminology isn't set in stone yet so things will be in flux in the coming years.

An example of augmented reality, Holodog, a weekend Hackathon project I created with two other designers/developers. Left is my view using the Hololens — notice the digital dog is overlaid on top of the real life world (and doesn't exist IRL). Only I can see him in this scenario, using the Hololens. (Read more about our hackathon experience here.)

Errr..... Mixed Reality
Combination of both real world + VR/AR
Often used for film shoots or demo videos; videos to showcase content or use of immersive media.

NOTE: This is sometimes used synonymously with 'Augmented Reality' but means different things. The nature of emerging fields is that the terminology isn't set in stone yet so things will be in flux in the coming years.

This is an example of what a "Mixed Reality" shoot looks like. On the LEFT: This is what I look like during the shoot. I'm in a green screen room, I have a VR headset on. There is a 3rd-person camera recording me. On the RIGHT: there are apps that t… — This is an example of what a "Mixed Reality" shoot looks like. On the LEFT: This is what I look like during the shoot. I'm in a green screen room, I have a VR headset on. There is a 3rd-person camera recording me. On the RIGHT: there are apps that take the 3rd-person camera content + my VR content and outputs this view of me & my VR creation. (These photos are from the Google Research blog in the 'Headset Removal' experiment.)

"XR" or "xR"
This is often used to categorize all the "R"s — virtual, augmented, mixed, etc. Some people are using this as an umbrella term for all the immersive techs.

Equipment You'll Need

Headset ("HMD" Head Mount Display)
For the creative apps, you'll have to get either the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. You can do a search online to see what the differences between the Rift and Vive are.

I have both and switch back and forth. I like the ease of tracking for the Vive. I like the ergonomics of the Rift. Both are not perfect, as early tech goes.
A VR-ready PC Computer
The computer has to have a top-notch video card. This is imperative! The best one on the market right now is the GTX 1080 Ti. I tend to invest in the best computer parts in the moment in order to keep it as long as possible from this point forward. You can always upgrade parts as you go, too. Your videocard must be able to run at 90 frames per second. If it doesn't, you will get lag while in VR and you will likely get nauseous!

TIP: You can find already-built computers that will say it is "VR Ready." Do a search on its video card and make sure it's all good.
Physical space in your studio or room to do some VR!

VR Terminology, Part 2

Tech Key Words

Frames per second
I mentioned this in the HMD notes above. How many fps does your video card have to run?
3dof vs 6dof ("Degrees of Freedom")
This pertains to how much of your movement gets tracked. In 360 videos, you can look up, tilt, and look around you — this is 3dof and you are limited to standing in one place for this.

In 6dof, you can do those things PLUS you can move forward/backwards, left/right, diagonally in space.
Haptics
This is when your other sense are engaged: touch, taste, smell!

Content Vocabulary

Agency
How much control the user has in the experience
Presence
The feeling of "this is sooo real!!!", like you are actually there in that VR world
"Experiences"
A lot of people call VR experiences as 'games'. This is not always the case. It's often a hybrid between an interactive game or a film or something else. I've found that "experience" can be a broad, encompassing word.

Creative VR Apps

There are a few out there but I'm mostly going to mention the four popular ones:

Google Apps

Tilt Brush — This is the one you probably saw Glen Keane using! It's a lot of people's first VR experience, and it's one I often use to introduce new people to, too. It's the most intuitive, quickest way to prototype / ideate / play and doodle in VR!
Blocks — This is used to create low-poly 3D models within VR. With a few primitive shapes to build from, you can modify vertices, extrude faces, scale things huge or tiny. This is a superb app to use to quickly create assets for VR because it is low-poly.
(Being mindful of poly count is super important for extensive VR creations that will be turned into films/interactive experiences/games/etc.)

Oculus Apps

Quill — You might have heard of or seen clips from Dear Angelica. A lot of illustrators prefer Quill's brushes and functionalities. You probably have also seen a lot of amazing videos by the great Goro Fujita! New for early-2018: there's an animation feature now!
Medium — This is a 3D modeling tool in VR. Think: sculpting with clay in VR! The extent of how you can model with Medium is incredibly impressive. I've seen very intricate and complex models molded in Medium and then 3D printed out. So beautiful!

If you'd like to explore more VR creative apps, 3Donimus compiled a really comprehensive list!

My Favorite VR Artists!

Liz Edwards
@lizaledwards
https://lizedwards.artstation.com/

Danny Bittman
@DannyBittman
http://dannybittman.com/

Micah404
@micahnotfound
http://www.art404.com/

Sutu
@thenawlz
http://www.sutueatsflies.com/

Anna "Anna Dream Brush" Zhilyaeva
@AnnaDreamBrush
https://www.annadreambrush.com/

3Dominus
@3Donimus
https://www.youtube.com/3donimus

Steve Teeps
@Steveteeps
http://www.steveteeps.com/

Naam
@_naam
http://sketchfab.com/naam

Final thoughts...

I know there's a lot and can be intimidating! Hopefully this helped ease some of your anxieties. It might seem like we know what we're doing in this space, but it is honestly very experimental and hands-on.

So get a VR rig, grab your controllers, and start swinging some VR paint! I can't wait to see what you make!

Art, Virtual Reality

VR Watercolor Plein Air Painting: I Painted With My Eyes in VR and My Hands in IRL

Estella Tse · January 22, 2018

Liz Edwards has been plein air painting in Fallout VR! It's so inspiring to see her — well — kill off a bunch of enemies in order to just sit quietly and paint in peace. I was super excited to see her take VR art to this next level! I coordinated some time to meet with her in VR (one where I wouldn't immediately die on the spot lol) so we could have a paint session together.

We met in a multi-player VR gallery and settled into one of Danny Bittman's paintings. I chose a view where I sat in Danny's painting while looking out into the VR gallery space.

Instead of digitally painting with Photoshop, I wanted to try traditional painting while in VR.

Materials needed:

VR Headset (I used HTC Vive)
VR-ready desktop computer
Steam & SteamVR
A VR environment or place to go to.
BONUS if you go to a place with multi-player, then you can plein air with friends!
OVRdrop
Your medium / weapon of choice. Mine was traditional watercolors, which included:
- water cup
- Schmincke watercolor paints
- Pencil for sketching
- Brush
- Pen for any additional inking

The Setup:

This is a really odd thing. I'll try my best to describe it lol

You will look really cool... — You will look *really* cool...

Get all your VR stuff running
Load up the environment you'd like to sit in.
Take off your VR headset.
Launch OVRdrop
Set the OVRdrop setting to display your Vive camera
Set up your physical painting space with paints, paper, water in front of you. In the event of your water spilling (loool), make sure it doesn't knock onto any electrical stuff!!
Put back on your headset.
Adjust your OVRdrop window so it's a 'window' positioned where your paints are.
Notice how your hand-eye coordination will be a little bit off.
Attempt to paint.
Question why you are even doing this. Like, really. Why.
Contemplate the state of humanity while you are in a machine.
Continue and finish painting without destroying your eye balls.

Things I learned from watercoloring while in VR:

It’s HELLA weird to notice when your hand-eye coordination is off. In this case, it was my EYES (the Vive camera) placement that was off! It’s really uncanny.
It’s also a very strange feeling to be painting with my hands as seen through a monitor. It felt like this:

Cross-dimensional arm magic! ✨ — Cross-dimensional arm magic! ✨

The saturation + vividness of the Vive camera was really off. There would have been very little chance of getting the exact colors right.
It’s REALLY a strange idea that things were CLEARER and CRISPER in the VR space than IRL. SEEING the real life thru a blurred filter was really odd. My eyes were definitely happier to ‘rest’ in the VR space than staring thru the pixelated display of IRL.
This would be a VERY interesting exercise in getting rough design ideas down. It would be challenging (and probably HORRIBLE for your eyes) to try to do a lot of detailing. This would be a great exercise in value-grouping, learning how to paint loose to get the idea down.

How might this be used?

Well, Liz Edwards has been going into Fallout 4 and plein air painting with OVRdrop>Photoshop. I think she may have painted in Google Earth as well. (The OVRdrop window would be wayyy clearer with Photoshop, rather than showing the out-facing Vive camera like I used.)

Using Photoshop, artists could hop onto into Google Earth VR, sit at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and get a pretty realistic understanding of the perspective from up there. Or maybe sit on the Seine River, looking up at Notre Dame.

With “VR+Traditional Plein Air Painting” (I mean, what do I even call this? Trans-dimensional painting? Multi-reality painting??!), perhaps when the camera and resolution get better (Vive Pro?) it’ll lend itself to some more interesting paintings. There is still the absence of real LIGHT as it affects color and shadows as in nature. But perhaps this and the Photoshop method can lend itself to blocking in roughs. At the very least, it allows the artist to *feel* the environment, mass, form, and depth in a 3D space.

My First "Multi-reality"(??) painting!

I'll likely try a few more experiments! Here's my first VR plein air watercolor piece, and the full video of me and Liz discussing the weirdness of all this in the full youtube vid:

Thanks to Colin Northway and the MOR team; to Danny Bittman for letting us plein air in your piece!; to Anand Duncan for letting us plein air in your absolutely gorgeous VR dresses!; and Liz Edwards for being a splendid paint buddy!

Art, Virtual Reality

Mixed Reality Headset 'Removal' with Google Research

Estella · April 14, 2017

Soon after the launch of the Tilt Brush Artist in Residence program, fellow VR artist Steve Teeps and I were asked by the Google Research and Daydream Labs team to participate in some brand spankin new technology for mixed reality! It's best if you see it here, as explained by Tom Small and Avneesh Sud: Here's a visual breakdown of what all the different phases look like:

Green Screen Video: this is what it looks like to ppl on the outside when I'm painting in VR.
Virtual Environment: I can set the VR camera to show my painting and where I am in that space (the glowy Vive controllers), but still doesn't effectively depict what is going on.
Traditional Mixed Reality Output: this shows my VR painting and me in the shot. But the VR headset is isolating and blocks the human connection aspects of this.
Mixed Reality + Headset Removal: the Google Research team overlayed my eyes on top of the headset! You can SEE me again! :D

Here's a moving image example:

You can read all about this on Google's blog here:

Google Research and Daydream Labs: Seeing eye to eye in mixed reality

For more specifics of how Avneesh Sud and Christian Frueh pulled off this magic, read all about it on the Google Research Blog here: Headset “Removal” for Virtual and Mixed Reality (The above images and video originated from these Google blog posts.)

Thanks so much again, Google, for asking me to help out! I had a blast with the YouTube and Research teams! A few friends have joked that Teeps and I have literally become the face of the face of VR. hahaha

Behind the Scenes!

Sharing with my 96-year-old Grandma ^-^

Even more crazy is that my dad found me in the Chinese newspaper! I didn't believe him at first, thinking he was talking about the general 'you', perhaps speaking about any VR related stuff.

Nope. That's me! This was the moment my immigrant parents finally realized that what I'm doing is actual legitimate (because the Chinese newspaper is, like, the bible, amirite?). We showed my 96 year old grandma the newspaper article. This is also the moment when she realized that I'm doing something big, too.

Grandma is the sweetest. She smiles, cackles her signature laugh, and gives me a thumbs up. And what was the first thing she has to say after seeing all this in the newspaper?

"Oh, you didn't wear sleeves!"

Virtual Reality

Honoring Three Forgotten Women of the Dutch Golden Age