New work

These are pending for Shutterstock acceptance.

Update: They got accepted!-Wait though, actually Shutterstock has declined the top 2 images("rough edges, lack of commercial valu"), these 2 are in pending for submittion in Photospin.

Update: I got over 3oo downloads on Photospin this month, if I get a dollar for every download.....

Will be out of town for a few days so likely no uploads of artwork. My butts and arms need a break from all the sitting and drawing in front of the computer.

Jewelry photo retouching updates

I have some jewelry styling and retouching work published in this issue of JQ "Bridal Gallery", page 15-16, and on JQ updated site my retouching and styling work for Donohos catalog(pgs 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 27-29, 32, 33, 37), Photographer Ronnie Tsai.
http://asp6.digitalflip.com/jq/Donohos/
http://digitalmagazinetechnology.com/magazineV2.0/?KEY=JQInternational-09-07july#page=15

Surreal Dada-ish Borders

Hope Shutterstock would accept this, the design is much more hand drawn feel, but I like it.

Another Day, Another Face

I was going to take a break this weekend and not draw, to give my body a rest, but then, I saw a photo and something came to mind, oh-well. So here is another one...
Also it is in the process for consideration for Shutterstock perhaps you could buy it in a couple of days.

Kabuki Faces

Figure drawings

Digital art. The red one I submitted the edited version to Shutterstock, let's see if they would accept it.

Two cats

Bird watching.

Sexy Lips

If you want to own this pair of sexy lips, it's now on sale on Shutterstock and Photospin.
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-34085251/stock-vector-vector-red
-lips-with-with-sharp-teeth-and-mole.html

Cover Girl

Jewelry retouching, before and after

This is the before and after retouching work of mine, photographer Ronnie Tsai.
http://www.rtadvertising.com/aboutus.html

Helmut Newton Autobiography

This book is a must-read for fashion photography enthusiasts. He was in the pages as in the documentaries and interviews, full of humor and frankness. One thing he kept stressing over and over again was that it's not the camera that takes the picture, it's about what's inside one's head. To him, a six thousand dollars camera and a two hundred dollars camera don't make too much of a difference, he could have produced the same results.

He was a very efficient photographer, never took more shots than necessary. Many photographers would take thirty, forty shots in order to reach that one required image. Helmut was confident that he would stop at the sixth frame if he knew he'd captured the image. All his essential equipments for a photo shoot could fit inside a backpack, and he used available light as much as possible(Arthur Elgort also favors using available light). Instead of having his own photo studio, he preferred to rent whenever and wherever possible.

Copies of this book are quite hard to find now in bookstores, so if you are a fan of his work and you see a copy on sale, don't hesitate to buy it.

Color Trends

"Diamonds on the Beach-A Do or a Don't"-Starbright

Girlfriends if you want to make a statement about your jewelry inventory, do pile them on. Otherwise extreme fashion statement works only in fashion illustration or in Vogue Magazine. Take note on the following blog entry from "Starbright".
http://writestarbright.blogspot.com/2009/07/diamonds-
on-beach-do-or-dont.html

Carla Bruni and The affects She Has on Men

I was watching on Youtube David Letterman talking to Carla Bruni on the Late Show. She was in town to promote her CD "Comme Si di Rien N'Etait". Carla is eloquent, witty, attractive, and flirtatious, and she makes men act funny, men loose their poise when they are in her presence. David Letterman became more giddy and silly than usual in the duration of the segment, and for the witnessing audience it must have been quite fun to watch. Another Youtube clip I found of a grown man becoming speechless in her presence took place before she became Madame Sarkozy, and the man was a reporter. He asked her a question, he was sort of overwhelmed by her presense or something, because whatever the question was it was inaudible. I couldn't make out what he was asking and so could she, and she kept asking him, "What? What?", and the more she asked, the more he looked intimidated and his body gesture kept shrinking. She was also 5 inches taller.

A scene from "Lust, Caution"

Some shots in movies are very telling. I think this shot in "Lust, Caution" is perhaps the most powerful in the movie. In it Tang Wei's character has just been trained on what to do in bed, in preparation to seduce and kill Tony Leung's character. The scene sets up as such that in the movie, she gets up abruptly from the bed in a dark room, naked, and forcefully pulls the curtain to look through the shut window, and we could see the vibrant flowers and colors outside contrasting the dark and muted interior. The shot sets up her state of mind, her restlessness and sexual desire. Even though the job she is about to take on is a serious operation, but the scene has reviewed her weakness, and by doing so suggested that this operation would be doomed, her vulnerability is so stark that we could almost predict what's going to happen.

Getting the mojo back

I have been using the pen tool for digital drawing for about 7 months now, but it has been a process to get used to. To use computer as a tool to draw, in my case, my choice of software is photoshop, is to utilize the advantage of the technology, and the capability photoshop offers, but still retain a sense of hand drawn organic sketchy feel. It's been an evolving process.

ps: I use Wacom's "Bamboo".

Coroflot

Coroflot is a very good service for people who are too lazy to create their own professional web pages. I am one of those people. I really enjoy drawing female figures and create digital illustrations, but I don't have a strong desire to learn about web design. I figure it's better to stick with what I do best and let other experts handle the web designing part. Coroflot allows me to showcase different portfolios on the same page. Right now this blog has links which take you to see my work but they are sort of all over the Internet, and I could post my artwork but that takes more than one page. My objective is to have a site which allows people to see samples of my work all on one page. Coroflot is a very user friendly tool with attractive layout, I joined it last night and now I have uploaded about 50 images and created 4 portfolios already.

Digital art

Cats, birds, and Siesta

Birds do it, cats do it, and many people in Southern Europe do it. Siesta is a lost art of living among modern city folks, but it's really a civilized way to live in the hot climate. Local people and swallows in Sardinia are mostly out of sight during siesta in the hot summer afternoons, and they re-emerge at around the same time in the early evenings, to play, to socialize, to see and be seen.

Cat napping in Bisbee, Arizona.

Portrait of my loved one

This was done years ago, charcoal on newsprint.