Tristan Eaton, founder and director of Thunderdog Studios, is widely known for his eclectic murals, his popular lines of vinyl toys, his ad campaigns for Puma, President Obama, Dell and Nike, his recent modeling experience with The Gap and Annie Leibovitz, and nothing less than for being the founding creative director of Kid Robot.

The credibility he's been able to build in the past 10 years, based on his diverse and extensive experience in the arts, is now all coming together into his first book as an editor: The 3D Art Book, published this year by Prestel Publishing, a division of Random House, with a Foreword by cultural critic Carlo McCormick.

Art by James Jean (left) and Gary Taxali (right) for The 3D Art Book by Tristan Eaton.

The 3D Art Book compiles artwork by some of the most popular contemporary artists around the world. But what makes the theme behind this concept truly interesting is that, inspired by one of Tristan's own obsessions, the aesthetic it focuses on is exclusively retro 3D art. The selection of works includes paintings, graffiti, objects, character design and illustration, which are all carefully rendered as 3D images when viewed with the red and blue glasses included in the book.

Among the 100 artists in the book are Eric White, Ron English, James Jean, Dr. Revolt, Claw Money, HAZE, tokidoki, 10Deep, Mishka NYC, Jon Burgerman, Miss Van, Gary Baseman, D*Face, Todd Schorr, Shepard Fairey, Mint Serf, Tom Thewes, Kenzo Minami, Andrew Bell, Stephen Bliss, Kevin Bourgeois, Mat Eaton, Filth, Travis Louie, Tara McPherson, Craola, Dalek, Glenn Barr, eBoy, Chris Mars, Mark Ryden, Jeff Soto, Rostarr, Stash, Gary Taxali, Trustocorp and Junko Mizuno

I briefly caught up with Tristan this week to get the inside scoop on the project:

Fernanda Cohen: Why were you originally interested in compiling this book?

Tristan Eaton: It came after 10 years of playing with the 3D process in my own work. After collaborating with other artists on turning their work into 3D as well, the excitement was too big to ignore. Something had to be done!

FC: How did you set the editorial direction for this book?

TE: I selected the work based on the following criteria, in this order:  A) Will the art work well in 3D? B) Is this someone who's work I respect and love? C) Are they reliable? For a project of this magnitude, you can only work with people that actually respond to emails. As an artist myself, I understand the challenges of working with such a large group of creatives, so a level of mutual respect and professionalism is a must. I've worked with many of the artists in the book before, so it was easy to continue a collaborative relationship.

FC: What was the process behind putting the book together?

TE: It was a long process. I first developed a sampling of work in 3D to pitch to publishers. Prestel had the highest level of enthusiasm and wanted to partner with us to push it in all the right directions. They were perfect for us. After we signed the deal with Prestel, we set out to gather all of the final works and convert them into 3D. This process alone took an entire year. After that, there was minimal writing involved, but Carlo McCormick, art critic for Paper magazine, graciously wrote a Foreword for us, which set the tone and discussed 3D art's place in pop culture. I wrote a brief Introduction as well, which focused on my personal history with the 3D process. The design of the book was a great process with my old pal and collaborator Lucas 'FILTH' Irwin. Lucas brought a bold but clean structure to the book that helped keep the art in the foreground while framing it with minimal style.

FC:  What do we find in this book that we can't find elsewhere?

TE: Simply put, this is the first book of contemporary and underground art in 3D - ever! None of these artists have ever worked with stereoscopic 3D before, so it's an honor for me to see this project come to light. It allows readers to see their favorite artists in a whole new way and in a whole new dimension.

FC: Any additional thoughts that enlighten our readers and inspire them to buy the book?

TE: Just put on the glasses and buckle up for a psychedelic journey. It's a trip down the rabbit hole of urban and contemporary art in three dimensions. Bong hits are optional (but recommended!).

You can shake hands with Tristan and 15 of the artists at a book signing for The 3D Art Book (Prestel 2011) in New York today, Friday, April 29th, from 6-9 pm at Opera Gallery New York, 115 Spring Street, NY, NY. (212) 966-6675

The artists joining Tristan to sign books and prints are: Andrew Bell, Stephen Bliss, Kevin Bourgeois, Ron English, Mat Eaton, Tristan Eaton, Filth, Haze, Travis Louie, Tara McPherson, Kenzo Minami, Mint, Serf, Dr. Revolt & Tom Thewes.

New York-based artist and illustrator Fernanda Cohen is a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts, and a lecture coordinator at the Society of Illustrators of New York. She recently designed a line of T-shirts for The Gap's Product (RED) campaign and is one of Carolina Herrera's 10 New York faces for the 212 VIP perfume campaign. She is currently working on opening her own boutique hotel in Buenos Aires. Fernanda is also an occasional contributor to DART.