Category Archives: Arts/Graphics
11×14 Spain and France Photos
After 5 years of having the Greece photos on the wall (from our wedding and honeymoon in 2006 – my first time of using a DSLR), Deb and I both feel that it’s time to have a change. We decided to replace them with a new Europe theme – Spain and France. With over 4000 photos from the 2 trips, I picked 6 of them which wasn’t an easy task. In Photoshop, I then tried to arrange them properly. To have ultimate balance, here is what I have chosen:
- 3 with very dark color (all indoor with strong shadow and highlight)
- 3 with bright color (all ourdoor, all HDR – 2 grass and 1 stone floor)
- 2 buildings – one facing left and one facing right
Next, I went to Costco Photo Center to develop 11″x14″ ($3.99 for 1 hour service), totally around $27 CAD with tax. The quality is pretty good!! It’s printed on Fuji photo paper with glossy finish, not bad.
Since the limitation is to select vertical photos, there were a lot of good photos cannot be used. Sigh! Compared to Greece photos back in 2006, I think my photography skills have improved a bit, right? Here are the best photos from both of the trips:
Meowy Christmas – Behind the Scene on making the card
Meowy Christmas everyone! Many friends and family members have received our e-card, here is the behind the scene on making the card.
Taking the photos of Mythos and Rini was NOT an easy job, they hated the cat apparel so badly. HAHA… But putting everything together in Photoshop took me around 2 hours, it was not too bad. To make fur texture background that matches our Cat Theme, I used Alien Skin Eye Candy texture. Then adjusted the Hue/Saturation for green color – just for Christmas. To make the photos stand out, Eraser Tool with different brushes were used to create the edges effect. No 3rd party plug-in was used to create the text, all are standard features of Photoshop. I just applied drop shadow and inner bevel on the text to make it more 3D, that’s it! Finally I stole an ornament photo from Internet, of course I removed the watermark by using clone stamp, changed the color and made several variation of it. Anyone can do it, make your own card!
My First Acrylic Painting – “Respect” (DIY abstract art)
Finally I have a chance to work on this Acrylic Painting project for our living room, it’s an abstract painting in acrylic. The goal of this project is to have a unique and colorful painting in our living room without spending a lot.
Stage 1: Materials
- Liquitex heavy body acrylic paints, brushes, retarder and flow improver (Currys’ Art Store)
- 40×30 Canvas (Michael’s, The Arts & Crafts Store)
Tips:
- Never buy paints or accessories from Michael’s because it’s a rip off, the exact same thing selling at Currys is way cheaper
- Micahel’s has better quality Canvas, but remember to use 40% off coupons, it’s in your flyer every other week
Stage 2: Start Painting
I have NEVER learned Acrylic or Oil Painting in my life, but it doesn’t seem hard to manage. It’s just like painting the drywall, anyone can do it. Finally, coat it with a gloss varnish.
Facts:
Acrylic painting is so popular because it can be soft as watercolor (if you add water/flow improver) or it can be as hard as oil painting with strong texture. The drying time of Acrylic paint is so fast that you can paint another coat within 10 min. Yet, you can control the drying time by using retarder/water. Acrylic is an amazing chemical product - a combination of watercolor and oil paint. The only drawback is: good acrylic paint is expensive.
Stage 3: Hang it
It took me about a month to finish this painting, hanging is the easiest part. The Canvas is not that heavy at all, so any picture hanging hardware will do.
Stage 4: Name It – “Respect”
What do I name this painting? I call it “Respect”. What do you see from it? Well, it’s an abstract Art, so you can imagine anything you like. Sorry, I don’t really have a lot of respect for Abstract Art. So, I named this “Respect”. Allusion of the original natural subject into non-objective art is bunch of bullshit, I am a strong believer that anyone can create one without formal training. If I can do it, so can you. The total material I spent was under $200 CAD. Worth it or not? I don’t know.
Photography and Digial Art vs Acrylic Painting
Having this acrylic painting experience, I find that acrylic is an amazing product and it is not difficult to use if you understand the characteristics of the material and tools. Well, the production time is long, still I prefer DSLR photography and digital arts because technology helps. Acrylic painting? Too low tech.
It is so sad to see some college students from faculty of Fine Art, knocked on my door and try to sell their paintings. How many of them can be successful in the Art industry and become a full time acrylic/oil artist? Do you know many skilled artists end up drawing portraits for $5 because they have to make a living?
Will I paint again?
I told my wife this is my first acrylic painting project and it could be my last one. I can’t say I won’t paint again, but certainly acrylic painting is not on my hobby list. Check out my other creations on Simon’s Art Gallery.
Photoshopped Photo of Joie Revealed
Some people read my articles on my site and asked me if the photos of the girls were real. The answer is: No! It was all photoshop work.
In year 2002, I needed some pictures for one of my articles, so I decided create some fake photos. After 5 years, I dug out some old photoshop files from my archive and show everyone how I did one of them. The creation of Joie’s photo consists of a famous pool player called Jeanette Lee from the States, and a cover girl from Hong Kong computer magazine. Both photos were found on the internet of course. Then, I combined them using Photoshop:
(Click on photo for a bigger version)
The tricky part was to choose the right pictures and to adjust the lighting properly.
To prove that the final image was real and hot enough, I created a fake profile on a dating site in 2002 and got so many emails from some guys that I had to pull it down. Photoshop is fun!