Photography Fun

Hi again ... it's me!

This post is mostly about photography. Did you know that even if you might not be able to afford Photoshop, you can use Microsoft Paint to "photoshop" your photos, create art, and do other cool things?

I recently took a photo of myself for a friend. She needed it for a school project since I'm the historical subject of the project. I used one of my computer programs to soften the look of the photo (Windows 8 comes with a good photo program for such things), but it looked like something was in my nose! Ugh.

So ... I opened the photo in Windows Paint and did a "photoshop" on the inside of the nostril. I know I need a lot more practice, but here's how it turned out:

You'll see in the left nostril that there's some grayish shading. That was from using Paint. Believe me ... it looks a lot better than it did originally. By the way, I'm not very photogenic, but this was the best photo I could take after about 30 tries! Also, I have trouble smiling for the camera!

 

 

On another note ... here's a nice photo that I took of a sunflower at a local garden show. There's really nothing that I would want to change, though.

 

 

On a final note ... I have a neighbor/friend who is a professional photographer. He took this photo of my ring for the project I mentioned above (a gift from my grandmother a very long time ago):

 

 

Ray can take any type of photo, and he does events like weddings. Here's his information if you want a great photographer:

 

8one8studios

Raymond Clarke, Photographer

Creative Personal Art

Custom Portraiture

Ultra Premium Finishes

Consultation/Shoots/Sales

Strictly by Appointment

Email: rcsnaps@yahoo.com

Phone: 215-514-8498

 

It's been very nice chatting with you. I'll be back before too long!

 

Deb





MORE MELTED WAX ART

Hi, my blogging friends ...

I'm back again. I try to post at least once a month or more often. I hope I haven't been away longer than that!

My girlfriend from California told me about an art demonstration she saw where the artist rubbed a candle over his art. It planted a seed in me, so much so that I had to try it.

You just rub a white candle over your art on your substrate (as much as you choose) and then blow the surface with a hairdryer or a heat gun. The wax melts, covering the surface, and it looks cool. You can even shine the wax surface with a soft cloth. It really looks good.

Then ... I decided to buy a used Ranger melting pot through http://www.ebay.com so I could do my own wax melting. It has a nonstick surface that makes it easy to clean up. Here's what it looks like:

I show three crayons inside of the pot because I used mostly melted crayons to create the following piece, which I refer to as an experiment:

I used aluminum foil to create the sections and then I poured different color melted crayon wax into the sections. For the white part surrounding the circle in the middle, I melted plain white candles. I also added glitter to the melted wax. You just have to be careful how you pour your melted wax so it ends up where you want it to go. If not, you can clean up the mess without too much trouble!

This is all I have for today, except for the fact that I'm attending my first Meetup for artists tonight. It's called the Creative Collective for Artists and Artisans and it's located in Central New Jersey.

All the best to you!

Deb