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raintaster16 In reply to raintaster16 [2009-03-12 18:58:59 +0000 UTC]

sorry not the garden the cemetary.

lol garden of bones i suppose

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Smudgeproof In reply to 2dazed [2007-05-06 08:01:24 +0000 UTC]

Again, Thank u so much!

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Smudgeproof In reply to NathLore [2007-04-19 10:57:53 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for the great comment. The piece almost created itself since I had no real concept until I began working on it. The theme of heartache and romance really seemed to click with me on this piece.

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NathLore In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-04-20 00:32:54 +0000 UTC]

I understand, sometimes I feel that my works are being created by themselves, especially when I'm working on my novels. I feel the characters are telling my their story instead of being I who's writing it.

You're welcome. You have a high quality gallery.

Nath

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Smudgeproof In reply to NathLore [2007-04-20 22:52:33 +0000 UTC]

That's how Jackie Collins (my fave author) writes her characters too...they write themselves. And even though I haven't written anything in of my novels in a while (many works in progress! none complete!) that's sort of how my stories go too.

Since I was having a major writer's block the past several years, I was starting to work on structuring the story a bit more. Well, I was really working on coming up with more of the character's backgrounds and history in order to understand what path they wanted to go down within the context of the "idea" of the story. My stories always start off with a vision, like a 5 minute video with a great scene. And I usually have an idea of the characters but I think I needed to understand their motivations a bit more to help move the story along otherwise it would get blocked. It was also helping link relationships between each character so everybody's got a purpose in the book, not just some filler characters that show up once or twice but have no real importance to it all.

Thanks for the nice compliment about my gallery. You've got a beautiful gallery and a great talent. I like the Louis & Claudia piece as well as your recent image in the silvery grey dress. Very lovely. I admire your skills as I am still working on mine and never have much time to do so.

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NathLore In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-05-04 23:42:44 +0000 UTC]

I think it must be something common to writers. For example once I read that Anne Rice used to feel so possessed by her Lestat that she could be in a party wondering what would Lestat be thinking or doing if he was in her place.
What kind of novel does Jackie Collins write? I didn’t know her

I have many works in progress too, none complete, hehe. I know what you mean.

It’s good to structure the stories. When I start a new one I need to have two things clear: the beginning and the end. The things that happen in the middle depend on those two basic points.

It’s also true, as you said, that if you create and then understand the background of each character, then it will be easier to know what would they do in every situation.
All the characters have a role to play in the story, even the most insignificant one can change everything. Once a teacher of literature told us that novelists usually write detailed panoramas even about the smallest character.

I have a special technique to create certain scenes that can’t take form in my mind. I select a particular musical piece for each novel, so when I need to ‘hear the voices of my characters telling me what I must write’ I put this chosen song and let the images come by themselves. I don’t know if I have explained it properly (I’m blocked with the foreign languages today)

You’re welcome! I honestly think your work is very professional.
I’m glad you like mine too. Thank you for the encouraging words about my skills. And don’t worry about time, I don’t have it either, so I can’t work on my art as much as I’d like to. But we do what we can. I think you shouldn’t complain about your artistic level. It's high

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Smudgeproof In reply to NathLore [2007-05-06 07:25:59 +0000 UTC]

I can imagine Anne Rice definitely felt possessed by Lestat at times...as she's a rather unusual person. lol I've heard she's maybe a bit strange but people love her books. I tried to read the Vampire Lestat years and years ago but I don't think I finished it. If I recall she writes very vivid details and long passages of descriptions for the historical info ...which is just too wordy for me. However, I totally appreciate her effort to bring the reader right into the scene. And I love the idea of vampires. I just need it in a movie version to keep me interested.

Jackie Collins is hugely successful mainstream fiction writer that has been writing for over 20 yrs. Most people would classify her books as Hollywood trash. I know and that's my idol! lol She writes about Hollywood types (actors, models, rock stars, etc) and their raunchy, scandalous ways. You know, sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll...that sort of thing. She always talks about how her characters write themselves and take her on the journey. She never knows where she'll end up with her books. Her books are fast-paced and more often than not they involve a murder or two.

When I write I always have a great general concept but sometimes the beginning is foggy and the ending is usually just a brief idea. Any story idea always comes to me as a single scene with a fantastic dialogue between characters...the pivotal moment. So, that is probably the middle of the story. Hence, the reason I have difficulties building the characters paths to that amazing moment. This is why I was thinking it would be a good idea to put more effort into the character's development before actually writing anything (other than a few great lines or a brief dialogue etc). I was figuring that would help me figure out where they were coming from and thus, where they would begin their story. I just haven't had any time at all for several months now to even attempt to think about writing and the last time I did think seriously was almost a year ago now. My life has been hectic!

Music is definitely a great inspiration. I never thought to use a song in the exact way you mentioned to help hear the voices of the characters sort of speaking to you in a way...but I do often get a great idea from a verse in a song, which leads to a scene, which starts a whole new world of characters and a story. Then again, I am always listening to tunes when I write ... and it is usually that band/musician(s) who influences a lot of the main characters. Since I write glamour Hollywood-type stuff my lead characters are based on real life people. I don't use the actual real person's personality (since I rarely know details about them) but I use their image and songs to help build a character. There may be a few words in a song that hook me with the personality of who I think that person should translate into as my own character. And so I build from that.

You felt you were blocked by foreign languages in your comment? Really? I have seen native English people write nearly illegible passages compared to what you wrote. I didn't find it difficult to understand anything you said.

Thank you for saying you think my artistic level is high. I really appreciate that coming from somebody with your talent. I know that what I can do nowadays sure kicks the heck out of the terrible stuff I used to draw when I first got back into drawing a few years ago. Isn't progression from practice a beautiful thing! Imagine if we were born with only an on/off switch to having artistic ability. I know talent is born but art can be practiced and improved upon. That's a good thing. The writing part is simple to me (when I can actually get a fictional word written, that is!) It's drawing that is more difficult for me to achieve. But it's fun trying to improve.

Hope you have a nice weekend.

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NathLore In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-05-08 00:44:30 +0000 UTC]

I'm not a big fan of Anne Rice, I read Interview with the Vampire because I've always loved the movie, but I didn't like it as much as the cinematographic version. Then I read The Vampire Lestat because I wanted to read a story in which vampires were not the evil ones, but the sensitive main characters and she's the only one who has done this so far [or I should keep looking for]. This is what I admire of her and what has inspired me to create my own vampire-cosmogony.

Hmm, that's not particularly my favourite genre [I love stories set in ancient times] but I never reject a book, each book is a world to discover. The experience of reading is always positive. I try to read all kinds of books, even though I have my preferences.

Yeah, sometimes I start a story from a dialogue that comes suddenly to my mind, hehe. Once I build a whole story from a word I liked and I wanted to include in the title . The complete story came out from the word and it's been the most complex novel I've ever written.

Your process to build the personality of a character is very interesting, it's incredible how our mind can turn into an idea a particular sensation produced by a song.
I must confess I'm getting interested in the subject you like to read and write about.

Well, I'm glad you understood me

Progression from practice is a really great thing! We only have to be constant and observe deeply the world around us.

I had a nice weekend, thanks! I hope you too.

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Smudgeproof In reply to Dying-Soul [2007-04-04 18:06:11 +0000 UTC]

Sorry it took me a week or so to thank you for your lovely comment. I really appreciate you taking the time to look at this piece.

Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see you had requested this image to be available as a print. I'll have to check into the rules of each stocker to see if that's allowed. It might take me a bit to check into that but I will indeed check it out. I'm so flattered that you liked it that much!

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Dying-Soul In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-04-04 18:08:34 +0000 UTC]

I think it's fantastic sweetie!

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Smudgeproof In reply to sylverwolffe [2007-02-20 09:04:46 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for your nice comment.

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Smudgeproof In reply to sammy1980 [2007-02-14 08:42:48 +0000 UTC]

Thank u so much for your nice comment! And for the fave!

Hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day

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sammy1980 In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-02-15 11:05:56 +0000 UTC]

your very welcome!!.. thankyou and also wishing you a happy valentine's for yesterday!!....

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Smudgeproof In reply to Mgpsp [2007-02-09 11:22:23 +0000 UTC]

Thank u so much!!

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Smudgeproof In reply to FantasyStock [2007-02-03 15:42:32 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! Doing this entry really took my mind off of a lot of other unpleasant things going on in my life so I was surprised at how decent it turned out. I didn't have all that much of a plan when it lead me to where it wanted to be.

I actually wanted to use a gazebo from your stock (with a green roof and white posts) but I was having difficulty extracting it (took too much concentration I think for me at the time) so I switched to your lovely staircase. I think it ended up turning out better than it would have with the gazebo.

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FantasyStock In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-03-14 03:44:29 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!
I really do like the stairs in this. I think you made a good choice!

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Smudgeproof In reply to Cat-in-the-Stock [2007-01-31 15:59:35 +0000 UTC]

Thank u, thank u, thank u! Really appreciate the great prize!

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Smudgeproof In reply to kayceeus [2007-01-29 10:48:05 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. I'm a stupid perfectionist so if this didn't turn out fairly decent I'd have never posted it (like half of my digital paintings are junk so I only post what I'm not so embarassed about! )

I just totally remembered that I have had a bit of practice with the extractions this past year on 2 fake book covers I put together for some stories I'm writing (hoping they would inspire me to actually WRITE!). I use celebrities for the basis of my characters so I did 2 book covers like "blends" of all the characters. I forgot about that! Man, I have had a horrible past year or two and haven't spent any time really on writing in months and months so I forgot about those because they're not with my regular art files on the computer. Duh! Oh well at least I remembered and admit.

Actually the sky was it's own stock image that I just changed the colors. I added some cloud brushes near the bottom but I don't know if it's really visible because it was more towards the horizon where I applied them. So I didn't have to cut anything out of the sky in that sense -- they were just clouds and moon on a black background. I added lightning brushes though.

I struggled with the staircase extraction and almost turfed it out but I had to use some stock from that artist for the contest. I had started with this gazebo: [link] but it didn't seem to be going so well so I gave up and found stairs that were easier. The girl stock was really easy to cut out although I noticed when I did the edges of the skirt seemed to end up lighter and so I had to smudge them to get rid of that. I wanted to keep the position of the arms and hands in the hair but after I did the hair I tried and found it way too complicated to pull off and I never kept the arm position in mind so it didn't seem to look right. So, I think the girl looks like she has no arms but it seems to work in spite of it.

Have you ever used more than 1 stock of a person and combined the images together to make a new body? That stuns and impresses me beyond belief. I've seen a few and the person doesn't look mangled in the end, which kills me.

I have seen a few manip contests that the ideas sound interesting and makes me want to do more. I work 6 days/wk so I don't know if I will get much time to do a bunch but I have also been a total insomniac lately due to some family issues so I have spent all night at the computer basically trying to keep my mind busy from thinking about unpleasant things. This manip totally kept my mind at ease from that. Course I'm near exhaustion.

Man I have a tendency to blab a lot (yeah that's why I dream of being a writer...it's only natural! ) Thank u so much for taking a look - I'm sure you're busy. You're work is so beautiful you must get a lot of messages and comments to reply to. I really value what you have to say because I admire your stuff so much.

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kayceeus In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-01-29 15:41:41 +0000 UTC]

I think the extraction part of manipulating is the part I hate the most so I totally understand where you're coming from on that! What technique do you use to extract?
I have tried using more than one stock to make a person but I didn't like the way it came out at all and used something else. I have seen it done quite well though and will probably give it a try again. You definitely should enter some contests if you can find the time that is. It forces you to do your best work plus usually has some kind of theme for ideas. has a weekly contest that not only gives you some stock to use but also has categories for beginner, intermediate and advanced manipulators which I think is a great idea. The page is run by a super good friend of mine and a fantastic person who I know would love to have you join!
I want to thank you SO very much for all your wonderful comments and all the favs, you are such a sweet, wonderful person and I'm very glad that I got the chance to meet you. I'm so sorry that you seem to be having personal problems right now, believe me I've been there, and I hope it all gets worked out soon.
In the meantime please give joining the club some thought and keep up the great work on your manips!! I'll talk to you again soon!

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Smudgeproof In reply to kayceeus [2007-01-30 14:46:52 +0000 UTC]

Yeah the extraction part isn't exactly fun. I just got a tip from Azurylipfe who told me the freakin' obvious! She said she zooms in to 300-500% and uses the lasso tool. And here I had been doing it at pretty much whatever zoom would still fit the entire figure or object on the page so I could see the entire outline to cutout. So definitely working at too small of a view. I started cutting out 2 pieces yesterday using her tip and man does it make a difference.

Right now I use Paintshop although I do have Photoshop CS2 and would like to use it more often. It's just such a memory pig especially when you get a few layers going on a large 2000x3000 piece. And I have 1GB of ram. I know that Photoshop has much better tools though. If something has a clean background I will try to use the magic wand to help extract (b/c I'm lazy) but that tool often seems useless and bleeds in to part of the object you don't want selected if not careful. Like last night I used it and it worked on most of the image but as I was then going around with the eraser to clean up the lines I realized part of the hand had been munched away by the magic wand so then what a pain to have to duplicate the original image and erase every part of it except that section of hand and then merge the two layers together.

That lesson taught me to open the stock, change it to a raster layer, duplicate it, make the original shot non-viewable, and work on extracting the duplicated layer. Then I learned from making pixel dolls to insert a bright green image behind the stock I intend to cut out so I can see any stray pixels. Green seems to make the edges and stray pixels stand out quite well although sometimes I will create an additional layer with white fill to see it really pop and switch between the 2 colours.

I hate having to hand erase all those edges but it really does make a difference and changing the opacity and hardness of the brush really helps soften the edges. When all else fails I might use the soften tool or smudge tool. The other thing I have done is rather than extract or erase I'll use the clone brush. I'll open a new image to work on a blank page and clone over the figure or object trying to keep the edges that I'll have to erase at a minimum. I'm sure this is just a trick to my mind that I'm saving myself any additional work b/c I do have to go and erase whatever edges I messed up on. Of course, this also poses a problem if you don't clone exactly to or past the edge b/c you can accidentally leave a part of the image behind and then you can't fix it if you'd changed from clone to another tool. You have to reclone the whole thing again.

That's that only ways I know how to do it. Of course, lasso tool I use too but I was using it as I said above at a zoomed out level so it made precision difficult.

Using more than 1 stock to create an image: Franken-stock.

I think that the contest idea having a theme helped me b/c it took away the unlimited possiblity and forced me to choose a concept and forced the use of specific stock. So it worked well. I have seen that manipulate this icon around DA and I think I checked it out and saw they offer weekly contests. I know I couldn't keep up with that pace but the odd one might be good. I'll check further into it now and see about joining.

I'm glad to have met you too. I'm sure you're busy and get a lot of comments on your work so I appreciate you taking the time out to chat with me. Yeah my personal life has been hell the past 2 yrs since my Dad died. The family is all messed up and we keep getting dealt other side issues. I've just about had enough of dealing with so much strife without a break. I'm nearing my wits end!! Ahhh I need a vacation. Haven't had one of those in 7 yrs though. Not 2 weeks straight anyway.

Hope you have a good week. My Monday already started off crapola. I expect there will be more crap on Tuesday due to the crap from Monday. Oh it's a wonderful life.

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kayceeus In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-01-30 15:29:39 +0000 UTC]

I use the pen tool to extract. I zoom in to 300%, go around it with the pen tool, put it on another layer and before I delete the outside I put a 1 pixel feather around the edge to soften it a bit. Very good advice to always duplicate the original layer! It works pretty good for me, I know a lot of people are scared of the pen tool, so was I, but when I started using it I really got to like it. One thing I would recommend to you, instead of erasing use your layer mask that way what you've done isn't gone forever and you can always go back and fix any mistakes you might have made.
Ha ha Franken-stock, I like that! And I hope you week gets better for you!

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Smudgeproof In reply to kayceeus [2007-01-30 17:42:16 +0000 UTC]

Pen tool ===> Frightening. I have tried it and I just don't get it. Mind you I really haven't forced myself to get a tutorial and really follow thru with it. But it's like trying to create 3D art -- I just don't get how to do it.

Layer Mask - I've heard people talk about this (this is with Photoshop right?) But I don't really understand what it's about. I know Paintshop has masking and I've used it to create frames a long time ago but how would it serve it's purpose here? Can you explain b/c I don't really understand how that one works. Or tell me if you know of a tut that I can refer to. Sounds great if it doesn't make things permanent!

Some stocker ought to have a franken-stock contest. That'd be funny. Ooh at Halloween! That'd be a good idea.

Thanks I hope my week improves too.

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kayceeus In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-01-30 20:40:20 +0000 UTC]

OK let me see if i can remember everything about layer masks....... First of all you make sure the layer you want to change is highlighted then go to the bottom of the layers palette and click on Layer Mask. A white square will show up next to your layer photo, make sure the white square is highlighted then using a black brush, you can use any size or shape brush you want for this, just paint into the layer. The black will remove parts of the photo and if you make a mistake white will bring it back, it's really very easy and a great way to remove parts of the photo. At first I always got mixed up about what color took away and what color put back but pretty soon you'll be masking with no problem at all! Oh and if you just want to take out a little bit you can use any gray color also.
The best thing to do I think is just take a photo and practice using black, white and the grays so you can get a handle on it. If you want to get rid of the mask just pull it down to your trash can.

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Smudgeproof In reply to kayceeus [2007-01-30 23:37:35 +0000 UTC]

That sounds pretty easy. I'll try checking that out asap. Sounds like it'll be handy and probably easier than what I'm doing.

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kayceeus In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-01-30 23:49:41 +0000 UTC]

Let me know if you have any problems.

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Smudgeproof In reply to kayceeus [2007-02-04 00:55:59 +0000 UTC]

Ok. So. Let me tell you something. You gave me tips on using masking layers...and well...OMG! THANK YOU!!! I quickly gave it a try out this morning before I went to work and I was shocked at how pleased I was with it. I thought it was going to be sort of pointless but I get how useful it really is! Like you said, if you accidentally go too far over an edge you can remove what you've done using the white colored brush and you haven't lost everything...nor do you need to frig around with trying to duplicate the un-ruined layer and erase everything except the part you messed up on and then merge them together. It's soo much better. And I wasn't even using the pen tool or anything, not even the lasso. I was just strictly using the black coloured round brush with a soft edge and was shocked.

So again, Thank you so much Kaycee. This is going to make so much difference. I'm actually really excited about it. I have so many tutorials saved and seldom actually follow thru with them b/c I'm lazy and a total self-learner. This tip though is great!

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kayceeus In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-02-04 16:58:29 +0000 UTC]

Wonderful, I'm so glad!! I was the same way, I didn't think it was going to be that useful either but my teacher forced us to use it and like you I found out how great masks can be!!

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Smudgeproof In reply to damasilente [2007-01-28 08:51:10 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for your compliment. I'm glad you like it. It turned out better than I had envisioned.

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damasilente In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-01-29 00:44:14 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, it looks fantastic!

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Smudgeproof In reply to Gracies-Stock [2007-01-28 08:55:49 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for thinking it's beautiful. It took so long to find all the images I thought I was going to get frustrated and never complete it. Oh, and thanks for extending the contest date because I never would have made the earlier deadline with the family chaos I've had around here.

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Gracies-Stock In reply to Smudgeproof [2007-01-30 01:55:29 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome hun I'm glad you were able to make it in

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