Here are a few: Go for a walk, draw or list the things you find on the sidewalk. Make pencil rubbings of six different surfaces. Make a map of everywhere you went in one day.
This morning I've altered a photograph of the Eiffel tower in photoshop. I used so many layers and different effects I can't actually remember what I did with it. But it will make a nice print, and maybe the background for some jewelry or valentines cards.
There was something about the work of aboriginal artist Jeannie Mills Pewrl that reminded me of a Monet when I first saw it. So carrying on from my experiments last month I've combined the two and put a painting of Monet in the background.
We took some photos last weekend for out friends of their children. Despite falling in the pond before we'd even started - a quick wardrobe change - and we got some nice shots.
I've also been busy this week hunting the net for interesting things.... could these be jellyfish? shells? I like the idea for a painting. Love it when a blog post is colour co-ordinated. :)
Love these printed skirts from clothkits. You can buy them ready made or buy a kit to make them yourself.
Im busy getting photos ready to sell on the creative monsoon website, going through the last 4years worth of photos. I came across a nice shot taken in Italy last year but I thought the bike was a little too modern, so I swapped it for an old moped from another image.
I forgot to mention we were featured in the Autumn issue of the Uks Digital Camera magazine with this cross processed photo taken in Italy earlier this year.
Prints will be for sale one I get the gallery up and running! Soon I hope.
Rehabilitated Dishware uses unwanted ceramics collected from second hand stores and redesigns and resurfaces them. The dishes are reglazed and refired. Very cool. Prices range from US$34 to $59. WEBSITE
You've got to love a place that has purple trees! We're starting to settle into our new home in Sydney and I've started to get back into some artwork. These are a few tests for a series of work I'd like to do on Jacaranda trees. They are flowering at the moment and Sydney is covered in purple patches.
These pendants are reclaimed scrabble tiles. A print out is stuck on and then glazed over. A great idea.
I was inspired by Jeannie Mills Pwerls work, so Ive had a little go creating the effect myself.
I'm still waiting for my paints to arrive so I've done this in Photoshop but it was helpful to see how it works.
Finally found the photoshop effect we've been looking for to create dramatic, gritty-looking images. The effect is great for close ups but the first few steps of it also work well for wedding images:
Duplicate layer. On background copy layer select high pass about 5 the change layer blending to overlay. Duplicate original layer again and move to the top. Desaturate and select hard light.
(Stop here for most images)
Flatten image, duplicate layer and apply high pass again, change layer blending to overlay.
Flatten again. Create new adjustment layer, curves and lighten the whole image.
Click on the layer mask thumbnail and invert. Set foreground colour to white and using a soft brush paint over the eyes to brighten them.
Create a new layer and select a good eye colour, select the blend mode of this layer to colour and paint over the eyes.
Shot our first Sydney wedding last weekend. Some shots worked quite well with the cross processed effect but the saturation toned down.
Found some nice gift cards by lovebird. Think something similar would work well with native Australian and New Zealand birds and plants. They are sold by beaumonde-cards.com
Day 4 we left San Francisco and drove to Mariposa just south of Yosemite National Park. We did a few walks in the park, saw some deer and some California Ground Squirrel, but no bears. Day 5 we drove through the park on our way to Vegas.
Some paintings by San Francisco Artists, the top photo is 'Homage to Tuscany' exhibition. The other pictures are by Varya, oil on canvas.
We've had a bit of internet trouble so this is a late update. But here is a roundup of our first few days in San Francisco.
My first view of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge wasn't so great so we went for a closer look.
The sea lions at Pier 39. (And apparently the difference between sea lions and seals is that sea lions have ear flaps.)
The famous 'painted ladies' of Alamo Square with a view of San Fran behind them
Day three we went for a drive to the famous wine growing region, Napa Valley, and came across a classic car fair with hundreds of American muscle cars.