http://www.gfxartist.com/general/member_blogs Copyright 2000-2009 GFXartist network / Brothersinart http://www.gfxartist.com http://images.gfxartist.com/gfx/GFXartist_64.png support@gfxartist.com en-us GFXartist Engine 1.0 60 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:48:01 EST Colin GFXartist Development First of all, this is a REALLY informal blog posting, and may be rambling in nature, so you'll have to excuse me in advance of attempting to read this. Many of you have no idea who I am. Honestly, you shouldn't. My history with the founders of GFXartist goes back quite a number of years. Basically, I assisted with operation of the servers, before Brothers in art "took off" with their involvement with several high profile clients. Over the the years, my own personal life has taken many interesting turns and twists, and the time I once had to devote to various online pursuits dwindled to a very small amount. All during that time though, I continued to keep tabs on GFXartist. I too was saddened to see the decline of the site, and its community, due to the founders essentially leaving the site to its own devices. For the record, I have tried NUMEROUS times to get further access to the site, to try and fix the various issues and concerns that were voiced here over the years. Unfortunately, contact with the founders was non-existent for years on end. Email went unanswered, instant messenger contact disappeared, and even phone contact was unproductive. It's really a shame that things went the way they did, and I DO understand why. Unfortunately, I still have yet to get the full story on things, as do many of the members who still continue to support this site. Even though my own personal time is limited still, I would LOVE to try and help fix GFXartist, and maybe even "rebuild" it in a sense, possibly getting it back to what it used to be; a community. However, I'm of the opinion that this just isn't going to ever happen. Maybe the people of this site will let me know what THEY think. This posting is an attempt to allow you to do just that. Do YOU all think something should be done here, or are you content to let GFXartist die on the vine? I'm willing to take on the challenge of possibly doing something here, but I can't do it alone, and I'm going to need you, the community, to let me know if the effort is wanted. This is part of the reason that my posting about this is going in my blog, rather than plopped onto the main page of news. I'm looking for those people that still spend the time here, looking over everything. Anyway, I thank those of you in advance who happen to stumble across this, and choose to let your thoughts be known. Maybe there's a chance to do something here. Time will tell... http://colin.gfxartist.com/blog/178085 Dave Announcement Proud to announce the launch of the Seamaster 300m Center, a site dedicated to what is arguably one of the world's most esteemed and cherished luxury watches; the Omega Seamaster. As James Bond's watch of choice, it is built to accommodate an active & sporty lifestyle. The site design was meant to evoke the style and sophistication of the watch. http://dave.gfxartist.com/blog/177403 Bandco Tip or trick Can Anyone help me to upload my artwork...? I got the small thumbnail and large thumbnail uploaded but i can't get original artwork for largest view???? http://bandco.gfxartist.com/blog/175856 surealworld Announcement NOW SHOWING AT THE SUREALWORLD GALLERY ACRYLIC PAINTING, PEN AND INK RENDING,BY ARTIST,POET,TEACHER, STEPHEN J. VATTIMO. THIS ARTIST WORK IS SURREALISTIC, REALISM, IN STYLE. THEME OF WORK IS SPIRITUAL IN NATURE. IF YOU WANT TO VIEW WORK THAT IS ORIGINAL , AND CHALLENGE YOU TO THINK SPIRITUALLY, THEN THIS BODY OF WORK SHOULD NOT BE OVER LOOKED. http://surealworld.gfxartist.com/blog/174136 surealworld Announcement Come to the surealworld gallery to see the Pen and Ink renderings, that were used in publications. Illustration by Stephen J. vattimo http://surealworld.gfxartist.com/blog/172194 surealworld Work in progress This article is about a conceptual art project, I would like to do as a three dimensional exhibit at a museum. My concept for this project was inspired by Yoko Ono, the wife of the late John Lennon. I saw an interview where she was discussing her exhibit of conceptual art, where she arranged a room to look like a apartment, with all the furniture, and appliances are cut in half, and painted white. She had a working telephone as part of the exhibit, she would randomly call the phone, and talk to who ever would answer the phone.. My inspiration for writing this article,and project, is to voice my discontent, and dumb found understanding toward promoters in the art world who make famous artists who's work is so poor, that the only place it should be put on display, is the door of their own refrigerator. Where these same promoters turn a blind eye to some really talented artists, who's work is of high skill, and standard. If these artists don't find away to promote their own work, out side the main stream art scene , the world will miss out on the great art , these artist have to offer. Description of exhibit : The room will be opened toward the viewer, it will have three wall= 2 side walls, 1 back wall. The wall will be painted the color smoky gray. The floor will be tiled with a black and white checker pattern. There will be six chairs,and tables, The chair will be positioned behind the table, facing the viewer. the six chair,table sets, will be line up across the room, each set will be spaced 2 ' from the next set. The furniture will be white plastic patio furniture. Each table will have a floral pattern plate, placed at the center of the table. on the side of the plate there will be placed a fork and a knife. On each plate there will be a large cow pie (cow shit ) use replica . Each will be painted with a different design , that will be representative of the different style of art. There will be a large clear glass cup, placed at the upper right hand corner of each table. Each cup will be holding art utensils : Cup 1=pencils, Cup 2 = crayons , Cup 3 =color markers, Cup 4 = pastels , Cup 5 = paint brushes, cup 6 = air brush On the back wall there will be three dimensional letters, made of transparent white plastic, they will light up. The letters will spell, " Shit Happens ! " Written by Stephen J. Vattimo http://surealworld.gfxartist.com/blog/172165 dlindsey Announcement If you see this book! Don't buy it! Instead please go the this link and follow the instructions there. Plagiarism abounds, this we all are pretty well aware of. But once in a while you come across an example that literally takes your breath away. Darren Di Lieto, founder of The Little Chimp Society , a well known art blog has been a recent victim. He has spent the last 3 years building up the site to it's current status as a great artist/illustrators advocate and resource. In a fraction of that time a publisher in Hong Kong called Great Creativity organization has plagiarized practically all of that hard work (not to mention the actual work of the artists and writers contributing to the blog), and published a book which is available online and in bookstores at the price of 42 euros! He goes into more detail on his personal blog at the link mentioned above, please do visit and be amazed at the audacity of this company. I know I was. And please, let's do what we can to help by spreading the word. http://dlindsey.gfxartist.com/blog/165789 Phos Exposition sandpaper effect? blue-green watercolor wash followed by a layer of mauve chalk and another layer of black liquid ink I sanded only on the layer of ink, but as you can see, you can sand as little or as much as you desire and all layers are effected http://phos.gfxartist.com/blog/165458 emarts Work in progress Photography vs Photo-manipulation I want to get the differentiation out of the way first because when it comes to the quality issues, they will overlap, if not be identical. What makes an image a photo or a manip? Well, I've done some asking around of professional retouchers (and of course I have my own ideas) and the general concensus -- and I'm surprised that there was a consensus -- comes down to the intent of the photographer/manipulator (I prefer the term Photo Editor as manipulation sounds negative and with evil intent). The process to a great photograph starts with the click of the shutter. But even before then, the Photographer has made a few critical decisions that will affect the outcome of the image. In the strictest sense of the term, manipulation starts here: What aperture should I use? Should I add a filter? How long should I expose the image? Should I try zooming or panning effects? The term "straight out of the camera" gets tossed about as if any image just comes straight out of the camera. In fact, the closest to straight out of the camera is probably slide film, and only if you don't cross-process it. So manipulation really begins at the start. So should we consider every image to be a manipulation? Hardly. We need to talk about the intent of the artist. When I take a photo, I think it would be nice if I could just click the image, and bang! the most brilliant photograph is created. But I have a retouching background, and to me, every photo can be helped by some kind of post work. Whether it's to correct bad exposure, to remove a wrinkle, to add other pleasing elements. But the majority of the time when I click that shutter, I want to say something about what it is I am capturing onto the tiny little CCD thingy-whatsit inside the camera. I want to tell a story, describe a mood, put something (or someone) in a positive light. I want the viewer to get caught up in the image, not so much in the creation of the image. So even if I take a hat from one picture and put it on the head of a person in another picture ( Sweet Melissa ), or soften an image to stress a mood ( Perchance to Dream ), or add detail to correct a flaw ( Prehistory -- in this image the eye was brought it from another photo because the original eye was too much out of focus), the intent is to for the viewer to see and relate to the image. On the other hand, if I the manipulation itself is part of the theme to the image ( Ghost Porsche ), or I am showing my skill as a retoucher through use of before and after images ( Enlighten ), then the intent is to showcase the manipulation. To bring attention to the manipulation. Outside of GFXArtist.com, many manipulated photos exist (and I suppose inside too) to fool the viewer into thinking it represents the real world. Here though, since we are all artists and come here for the teaching/learning environment, I think showing off the manipulation is a celebration of the art form. So keep in mind you audience here. They are not the general public. Many of them are you peers with the same experiences and education as you. Speak to them like a king would speak to a king -- with mutual respect. Place your image with this audience in mind. Do you want them to be engaged in the image or do you want them to be in awe with the technique? Neither is wrong. But putting the image in the right category is the first step to getting the comments you seek. http://emarts.gfxartist.com/blog/103725 Kaburan Work in progress I've been continuously working on new artwork for the past couple weeks since I released my first complete painting, Aphotisan. To capture a more visual angle of Aphotisan, I started another painting in which the perspective situates on top of the mountains behind the fortress. My ultimate goal has been just improving my painting techniques, workflow, time management, and composition. Details have been my secondary goal. With this I think i'll have a quicker composition that forms before the looks come in. It has been frustrating as i've been continuously scratching out, and painting in my forms in and out. I never feel as if my artwork is where it can be. But with that comes motivation and determination, I believe I can reach that point eventually. The second painting I've been working on is called "Shipwreck Cove". With motivation from Pirates of the Caribbean and just interest in islands, I chose this as my theme submission at my background design & layout class at school. I did get some crits personally from my art instructor, particularly the composition. She said that the mountain in the middle was breaking the oceans horizon line, and looked like a middle finger flying in the air. She also suggested I change the level of my focal point (the rock ledge on the bottom right) up farther so its more natural and noticeable. With that I created a waterfall. I also been working on the lighting. Hopefully I can find success in this piece as well. original after crits If you have any advice for this piece, feel free to shoot em over. I can use every bit of creative help at this point. Im going through technical tunnel vision. http://kaburan.gfxartist.com/blog/162154 ParrotandDuck Announcement I've returned. It's been over a year since I've posted, but I finally got myself back into art school part time and I'm doing what I love again. You'll be seeing a lot more from me from now on, now that I have a regular avenue to produce art. I'm stoked. http://parrotandduck.gfxartist.com/blog/160376 leSicilien Announcement Too rigid a site for me, & too many modern "web2" features missing. See you somewhere else http://lesicilien.gfxartist.com/blog/159998 dlindsey Announcement My online profile is featured in the Nov/Dec issue of Create Magazine! The magazine has been around for quite a while, but their online network is fairly new and really growing. Definitely worth a look! Their http://www.createmagazine.com and my link there http://www.createmagazine.com/user/dlindsey Woo Hoo!! http://dlindsey.gfxartist.com/blog/159410 Phos Exposition Hi guys... well, dove has completed her recovery for her knee surgery. her recovery was a complete success! during the recovery process she was above average in healing; the vets attribute this to dogs who have surgery done very soon after the injury. we were very fortunate that they intentionally got her in asap due to the fact she's a service dog. I have been so happy that I went forward with this-- the relief that she's not in pain from the injury and that her recovery was so amazing has made it all worth while. her surgery occurred on the summer solstice so the end of the 3 months was on the first day of fall...this made our summer not much of a summer, tho, and I find myself feeling loss as the seasons change. that's the only downer of this whole affair. on the art front-- with not giving it much thot but driven by pure excitement --I managed to purchase all within the same time frame the apps of PhotoshopCS3, Painter X, and a wacom Intuos 3 tablet (thankyou mother dear =). this is my first experience with each so I have found myself learning, learning, and learning. watching videos has been a way of life lately --I really enjoy this!! but it will still be a little time b4 I submit work to the gallery here that it a product of these exciting new tools. I am about to publish my latest work to the members gallery...something that was a nice FUN break to take from all the learning. look for it soon. hope you enjoy this thumbnail of my lovely dove. this was taken in color and I used photoshopCS3, thnx to the videos by Deke McClelland on Masks & Channels, to convert it to grayscale not by the ordinary means but by choosing the green channel, and then eliminating the other channels. no color loss occurs with this method. this image is straight from the camera (other than re-sizing); no crop http://phos.gfxartist.com/blog/156509 dlindsey Announcement I know it may not seem like a big deal to everyone, but I am so excited my site is finally up!!! I am so proud!! Come visit! The link is http://dellalindseyart.com/ *happy dancing!!* http://dlindsey.gfxartist.com/blog/156014