My Top 5 Wallpapers

There are plenty of others that I wanted to include here, but these are the 5 that most frequently adorn my desktop. I've provided links in each title to the original artist's site where applicable. Please be sure to download directly from the artist if you can. They deserve the credit and the stats. And feel free to share links to your favorite wallpapers in the comments. I'm always on the lookout.

My top 5 after the jump...


Colored Windows

Artist description: A shot of my backyard from my bathroom window in Jersey City, New Jersey.

My bathroom doesn't even have a window. Anyway, this one's been floating around the interwebs for a while now, yet it seems never to get old. The colors and the geometry are stunning, and it goes well with pretty much any color scheme that isn't monochromatic. Perfect for widescreen resolution monitors.

Note: Colored Windows is no longer available in certain resolutions at InterfaceLift, where the artist originally posted it. You can download a 1280 x 800 copy of it here, or do a Google Image search for "colored windows."

Black HD Wallpaper 11

Artist Description: n/a

Despite its unimaginative name (I've renamed it "Blue Eyes" in my backgrounds folder so I can recognize it by the file name), this is one of the most beautifully done black wallpapers I've ever encountered. Perfect for dark themes or themes that incorporate a lot of grays and blues. If you're a Ubuntu user, I suggest pairing it with the Elementary GTK theme.

Zip Up

Artist Description: n/a

If you're looking for a snappy but minimalistic wallpaper that will impress but won't distract, well...you've found it. I fell in love with this wallpaper the first time I saw it. The downloadable image is quite large, so for smaller resolution screens you may need to resize the image or choose the "stretch" option when applying it to your desktop. Otherwise you won't be able to see the zipper, which is what totally makes this wallpaper work, IMO. Again, ideal for widescreen resolution monitors.

Wave Off Kanagawa

Artist Description: Actually, this is a famous Japanese Woodblock Print by the artist Hokusai in the mid 19th century. Unfortunately, he's not around to post pithy descriptions of his unbelievable art on the internet. Bummer.

This is my current desktop wallpaper, and is likely to stay that way for quite some time. Among all Japanese Woodblock paintings, this is my absolute favorite. If you like the look and feel of this image, there's plenty more where that came from. Incidentally, most Japanese woodblock paintings make fantastic wallpaper. Google Image search "Japanese woodblock wallpaper" for a stunning array of beautiful prints.

Tiny World

Artist Description: n/a

I was happy to discover that this image was included as one of the default wallpapers in Pinguy. It's beautiful and interesting without being distracting. Easy on the eyes and easy to match up with almost any theme or color scheme. It's a perfect wallpaper that I can either get lost in or completely ignore.