Can you believe this? Me, posing with a cat? I think I'm dreaming... Is this a nightmare? Doesn't look like it, does it?

Anyway, I guess it's one of Su's artistic experiments. She's fiddling around with Photoshop, and apparently I am the appropriate practice device. So, why not. I love the painting though. We don't know by whom it is, but it shows that painting a black animal is possible after all!

So I spent Friday and Saturday (and will Sunday) setting up and working at (and then tearing down) the Mark Chen Photography booth at the biannual Houston Bridal Extravaganza at the George R. Brown.  I can't say which is more tiring: lifting sandbags around all day during setup or interacting with hoards of these half-brained too-rich young brides.  But how can I complain?  If they want to throw money around, and lots of it ends up coming our way, then the more the better.  In the long run, I don't really have to deal with them anyway.

I was up at seven and didn't get back until five-something... crashed when I got home and then got up very recently.  Here are some setup shots...

Basically only our spotlights were on at the time because the convention center only turns on the overheads full blast during the show.  We attach glossy foam prints onto these telescoping photography poles and extend them I-don't-know-how-high up into the air.  The bridal show managers don't bother us about the height because we're one of the largest (taking up four booth zones) and most successful returning customers.  Hah, suckaaahs.  The print closest to the viewer is a 25-image, 300 megapixel composite shot of St. Paul's Cathedral in downtown Houston.  (We went there during an art history field trip :D)  Hands-down our most popular booth items, though, are these stupid-easy collages where we take an engagement shot of a couple on a lawn, then Photoshop their faces onto the grass.  I guess it would be cool to people who don't know anything about how it's done... eh.  They also like the Mosaic Memory (but haven't they ever seen those photomosaic puzzles before?...)

Here's a messy shot from the back of the booth... it reminds me of those Cingular commercials... more bars in more places!

One more day but ooooooooh my gosh, I'm gonna die.

Je suis très polyvalent, ingénieux, créatif, imaginatif, j'adore tout ce qui touche à la technologie, programmation, arts, design.

Je travaille principalement avec Adobe Photoshop et Illustrator via ma tablette graphique.

add realistic rainbow to a photo

adding reflections to sunglasses

changing hair color

dark art picture style

displacement effects

expressive lighting effects

fantasy art

how to make digital photos look like lomo photography

make photos more suggestive

mental wave explosion effect

realistic water reflection

retro comic book effect

via:
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/
41-nicest-photoshop-photo-effects-photoshop-tutorials/

The spot that Clara picked to look for some new friends was under a maple tree in our backyard. The branches of the tree filtered the sun so that the only place that had direct light was on Clara. It looked very cool and I don't think I could have planned the light any better as it really created some interesting highlights and shadows. Check out these few photos that I was able to capture of her while she was digging through the rocks. Although the last picture is a relatively straightforward sepia tone, the others are an experimental recipe that I came up with while having some fun in Photoshop. How do you like it? I guess if I get favorable feedback on the treatment, I'll record it as an action so that it's ready to go at a moment's notice and easy to duplicate on other images.

A Glimpse Of Perfection

Grace is always with us. It flows like a river through our lives, artfully reminding us that there is magic and power beyond what our eyes can see. At times we catch its subtle beauty, like during chance meetings, near misses, and insights that seem to come from nowhere. Other times we experience grace in all its powerful surety such as when a job or relationship comes to an end. Though we may forget that this is grace at work too, it is indeed influencing our lives, helping us to move forward and take the next step. Grace exists in all situations, in every moment, yet all too often we may overlook its presence.

Imagine how it would feel to live an entire day in grace, to fully appreciate that your day is unfolding in absolute perfection. Whereas usually you might miss the magic in ordinary events and interactions, on this day you would recognize them all as little miracles. Perhaps you could begin with your first deep breaths in the morning, becoming aware that there is an abundant supply of air for you to breathe. Your lungs know just how to carry oxygen to your blood, and your blood knows where to carry it from there. This is grace at work. You might appreciate the brilliant sunshine, the warm summertime rain, or the possibilities for learning that greet you at every turn. You might notice the ease with which you do your job or laugh with a close friend. These things are also grace. Even laying your head down at the end of this day and resting in the stillness of night is grace.

With each opportunity you give yourself to enjoy this current of benevolence, you may discover a deeper peace. Your faith may strengthen and your heart may open. You might begin to wonder if struggle is really all that necessary after all. By living this one day in grace, you might open the door to many more.

Daily OM

It's been a fairly quiet week, at least as far as my personal life goes. I spent most of it knocking up artwork in 'Photoshop', nothing too spectacular really, it was really just to keep my mind active.

I also took the time to look at my resume and make some adjustments, taking the time to do research on what makes for a perfect resume, while taking care to avoid the stereotypical mistakes that most of us fall into. You'd be surprised at just how similar the average job application really is and just how monotonous they all end up looking. Anyway after some reading it became very obvious that my resume was as cliche as the rest, and so I began the daunting task of trying to make it more presentable. While it sounds like a fairly straight forward procedure, it turned out to a marketing nightmare. Just imagine that you worked for Pepsi or Coke and you needed to come up with a winning campaign, well that's what it's like trying to market yourself by way of a resume - no pressure right?
Long story short I'm still working on it, and for those of you interested in finding out how to get ahead of the competition or just making yourself more marketable you can find some good info here.

Ran into an old friend of mine this week, who just happens to be a very established artist and photographer as well you should give her blog a look. You can find it here.

Tech News

So in case you missed it there's a new Wolfenstein game being released soon. If you're an older gamer you'd remember the classic Nazi supernatural thriller with Hitler decked out with dual machine guns and all. It was the first 3D corridor shooter which later paved the way for Doom and the other greats. Definitely one to look out for.

Intel got slapped with an ant-trust lawsuit in the UK for strong-arm tactics against 'Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD). I can't  wait  for them to go after M$, but anyway, hopefully they'll learn to play nice with others now.

Fun Stuff

For those of you who don't know where to go or what to do, there's Crop Over in Barbados (which is just a fancy name for carnival) so be sure to check it out. It really is a unique experience which most folks are sure to enjoy.

In my travels through the net I occasionally come across some very interesting things, this one was no exception. EXKARRAVELHO's flickr site has some truly inspiring illustrations of various themes - from cartoon to abstract, some really great work if you're into illustrations or art in general.

On the topic of illustrations, I found a very handy site for various brushes for 'Illustrator' and 'Photoshop' and did I mention that they're free? Well if that doesn't sound like a deal I honestly don't know what is. You can find them here on www.vecteezy.com a silly name, but all in all a great resource.
I have quite a few brushes myself and I'll post them here as time goes by since they still need to be categorized.

Voici les étapes :

1) Commencez par créer un document Photoshop (Faut bien passer par là).

2) Prenez une image de votre choix et insérez-là dans votre fichier Photoshop.

3) Tapez le texte de votre choix (assez gros pour que l'effet soit visible).

4) Mettez votre calque texte en dessous de votre image

5) Placez votre souris entre le calque texte et le calque de votre image.

6) Maintenez enfoncé la touche alt et cliquez.

7) Vous avez maintenant votre effet de texte. Votre image est incrustée sur le texte.

Cette technique possède deux avantages :

- L'image n'est pas détériorée et peut être réutilisable facilement.

- Le texte peut être modifié sans avoir à refaire les manipulations.

Genuine Fractals 5 Print Pro
PhotoTools 1.0 Professional Edition
Mask Pro 4.1
PhotoFrame 3.1 Professional Edition
PhotoTune 2.2
FocalPoint 1.0
Intellihance Pro 4.2.1

Coming in November to Digital Art Academy ! More on Jill coming soon.

Jill Garl Website
Jill Garl Blog

Returning this session is Scott Deardorf with his wonderful class Smudge Painting with Photoshop. This class is an absolute must! The lessons are packed full of information and video.

Here is what previous students are saying about Scott's class:

My compliments to Scott.

Have taken a look at all the others and like to do them all so they must be very good.
I would have to think that DAA are the leaders in the field
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- My fist time to DAA and what an eye opener.

I know where to come when I want to develop the next stage of my post processing.

Truly excellent facility which I will highly recommend

My first internet class & it exceeded my expectations, a great class, a great instructor & a great experience.

- I think DAA is a great site,very easy to navigate and a good selection of tutorials
- It was a great experience. I'll be back!
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- I would and will highly recommend Scott's smudge class. You couldn't ask for a more knowledgeable or personable instructor. The lessons are detailed and easy to follow and the results are amazing.

- Must commend you on the simplicity of access to files and where to upload work for student board or teacher evaluation. Extremely well done and look forward to attending another class in the future.

- The success of Scott's lessons and video reflect the amount of time and effort he put into his class. In my opinion this shows that he has pride in his work and confidence in himself and his abilities. Many people, although brilliant in their own individual talent, would not have the confidence to share their methods for fear of lessening their own talent.

I believe really good teachers are very hard to find due to lack of vision, lack of confidence, lack of ability in their field or simple laziness. I always find it refreshing to find a teacher who actually cares that one learns what is attempting to be taught.

Of the instructors with the newly-formed DAA, I've taken multiple lessons from Karen Bonaker and Sara Froehlich previously. Both are excellent teachers and I highly recommend them. I have also had one class from Madeleine Jacobs who is also an exceptional instructor. Although I have not taken a class from Dr. Eddie, I've seen much of his work and from the praise he has received on a group of which I'm a member, he too is an exceptional teacher. Scott is on the same level with those instructors. And to be perfectly honest, the praise gets no higher. In my opinion, DAA is off to an excellent beginning with the lineup of instructors of which I have knowledge.

- It is a great place to learn. They have experienced teachers and the cost is reasonable.

- This is the first time I've taken an online class. Smudge painting was entirely new to me but with the excellent presentation and video lessons I found it very easy to follow and learn.

- Very well done with extremely useful videos .
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- Highly recommend DAA and will certainly be enrolling in future Photoshop and Illustrator classes, very enjoyable and professional.

- I can't imagine a better way to start DAA than with this excellent Photoshop Smudge Painting class with Scott Deardorff. It was excellent and a real value for the money. If all your classes are this good, you'll be swamped :0)
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- I am thrilled with my first class at DAA, and will be signing up for more. The class more than met my expectations. Well Done Digital Art Academy!

Join us at Digital Art Academy for the best in Online Training!

Total Textures v1. Parte 1

Total Textures v1. Parte 2

Total Textures v2 - Parte 1

Total Textures v2 - Parte 2

Total Textures v2 - Parte 3

Total Textures v2 - Parte 4

Total Textures v3. Parte 1

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Total Textures v4. Parte 1.

Total Textures v4. Parte 2.

Total Textures v4. Parte 3.

Total Textures v4. Parte 4.

Total Textures v4. Parte 5.

Total Textures v5. Parte 1.

Total Textures v5. Parte 2.

Total Textures v5. Parte 3.

Total Textures v5. Parte 4.

Total Textures v5. Parte 5.