Long Exposure Experimentation

Recently, my father and I went to a social night held by the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago. On the way back home, having brought the camera along, we decided to stop at the lookout on the Lady Young Road to capture some shots of the Port of Spain skyline.

Starting off with a regular long exposure, I tried to capture all of the light pollution from the city creating the soft glow against the night sky.



Then getting a tad bit more creative thanks to my dad, we decided to try out some light painting with the city lights. Zooming and panning on the tripod head created some interesting effects. Regular long exposures are overrated.

Entering hyperspace sir!

Warp speed Scotty!

I like this one the most. No editing whatsoever. This shot has an artsy feel about it, and it makes me feel good.

Now, a few days later, we were at it again. This time we had gone into Port of Spain a little earlier, so with the sun having just set, I tried to get some mist effects off the water.

Needs more waves.

Unfortunately, the waves in the Gulf of Paria were far too tame to get the required effect, so I'll have to pay a visit to the East coast to capture a "misty" sunrise sometime soon.

Later that night, we headed to Chaguaramas to try out some more shots of the sunset afterglow, but the scene provided something a bit more spectacular. Off the coast were a few ships and an oil rig, all with their lights ablaze in the evening twilight. Having tried a two minute exposure at f4, the lighting effects were reason enough to continue shooting. After this little excursion, I wished that I had produced these photos before the exhibition of the photography club at my school. These would have made interesting submissions under the category of light.

There's always next time.

This bears the fruit of my labour that second night.

Photography Revival

Recently, my school formed a photography club. This is currently the youngest active club in the entire school; it is also one of the few artistically inclined clubs. After a few meetings, I realized that this club has immense potential to become the future of the media within Hillview College.

I am a very active member of this group as a photographer at most times, and a teacher at others.

Recently, the photography club was tasked with the creation of a logo. I lunged at the opportunity since our Facebook page was in need of an official profile photo, and our members are eager to wear the club badge with pride. To wear the badge, we must first have one.

To make a long story short, I submitted my logo.

An aperture containing the symbolic stamp of our school seemed to be the most appropriate choice.

This was a relatively simple task in Photoshop, but the creative juices took a while to flow.

I blame academics for hindering my creativity :P

To put the icing on the cake, I ensured that I used the school's colours of Maroon and Gold in it's implementation. If all goes well, the final logo will be drafted in the coming weeks (since I had forgotten to include the "film" segment of our club) and we'll have a badge!


In conclusion, I simply have wonderful news:

It's good to be back.

Digital Art

Using Photoshop has inspired me to explore the realm of digital art, wallpapers and digitally rendered graphic design projects.

Photoshop is no easy software to master, however, the vast quantities of tutorials available out there on the internet, and the learning videos released by organizations such as Lynda and Total Training, make the job quite a bit easier for a rookie like me.


Traditional art is still my main area of expertise.


However, digital takes about one-hundredth of the time to complete.

In my time between the last post and the graphical revamp of the blog (done completely by me in Photoshop), I have created some...interesting pieces of digital art.

Some were created by following tutorials to the digit.

In others, I simply let my imagination and experimentation run free.




Here they are:

Wallpaper attempt 1
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Digital Painting 1920 x 1080

A more likable wallpaper attempt (at least to me)
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Digital painting 1920 x1080

A radical photo-manipulation of my friend Marc.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Photo-manipulation 1440 x 900

A distant planet being visited by a strange starship.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Photo-manipulation and Digital painting, 1920 x 1080

 

Digital art is possibly...more efficient than traditional media, but I personally think that it is not as valuable as traditional art because of the ease of it.

Going digital is absolutely perfect for the graphic designer.

With digital (especially with a tablet) you can achieve the most impeccably smooth gradient effects and lighting simulations.

Most importantly, with digital, you can step backwards and tweak your designs.

Unfortunately in traditional media, you must either start over or cut out and redo your wrongs.

There is a fine line between what you can achieve in traditional and digital media.
The difference is the ease of accomplishing these tasks.

I suppose that's why traditional sells for so much more than digital.

Photography

In spite of the horrendous overload of work from all subject areas from as far back as the last two weeks and continuing in the present with increasing intensity, I have managed to get a little time to post something.

I do not like to be rushed.

I despise the behaviours of people who give unreasonable deadlines because they think that you only have their subject to do for CXC, when in reality, you have at least seven more.

Anyway, this is not an avenue for venting my growing discontent.

Why did I have to pick 9 subjects for C.S.E.C?
Especially Technical Drawing? Why?

A while back, I posted some tips about photography.

I've now become intrigued by textural photography.
There's so much potential in this kind of photography.

The possibilities for abstraction are endless...

Green

Some nice wood grain

Can you guess what this is?

The infinite possibilities

EDIT (04/02/2014): These photos were all taken with a Nikon Coolpix P3. I had not yet had the pleasure of owning my D5100.


Very soon I'll be posting the pictures of the still lifes we have recently started.

One is in chalk pastel and the other is in acrylic paint.

HOUSE

I am a passionate photorealist. I cannot fully appreciate pieces that lack detail unless they vividly depict a deeper, alternate meaning than what is presented at face value. I strive with all of my being to include as much detail as possible into all of my pieces. The full effect of photorealism is achieved through the application of high contrast, painstaking shadowing and the inclusion of as many details as possible.

In portrait work, it is even more important to pay attention to these principles in order to create an impressive replica of the subject in portrait.

However, one must also pay rapt attention to the details of the layout of the face and the person's features. Accuracy in this department will aid in ensuring that the portrait looks just like the person.

A fellow blogger, Portia Subran (a.k.a. DeadEyes), has experience in developing portraits.

You can find her at The Art of Wisdom and War

Anyway, its my turn to show 'off' my portraits too.

It's been a while since I've done a proper portrait. 

Not counting the one I've just completed, the last portrait I created was completed on the first of September last year.

Wow....it's been a while.

Personally, I think that I have definitely improved upon my techniques and my rendering capabilities but I definitely have to continue working hard at improving my accuracy and proportion mapping.

The following picture shows the first portrait I EVER completed:

A 'failed' portrait of Dr. House  

 

House M.D. (Portrait 1), Graphite on paper: 14" X 17".
I definitely have improved since then.

If you take a close look at the portrait, I signed this piece over a year ago.

Since then, things have changed.

My ability to achieve shadowing has improved and I am proud of what I am able to achieve nowadays in my artistic studies and exploration of expression.

I was heavily advised to stop doing portraits of these famous people, so I thought I would let them go out with a bang.

One year later, I decided to take Dr. House for a spin again...

 

I definitely am proud of my improvements, but I leave the verdict up to my readers to tell me where I have to continue the physical practice and research necessary to become a better portrait artist.

Simply more than a year has helped me improve my techniques to a level beyond my own expectations.

On the 22nd April, 2011 This is how the NEW House M.D stands:

House M.D. (Portrait 2), Graphite on paper: 17" X 22".
Improvements galore.

So concludes another vacation in the life of a dedicated student and a very tired human being. The trials of academics and art help make me stronger at least, so there is some good that comes out of hard work.....

This is my last portrait of an internationally famed person who is not locally based.

In the future, I may post some pictures of my previous portraits which include the likes of Queen Latifah, The Joker, Taylor Swift, and last (but not least) Ellen DeGeneres.

Due to my return to the hectic life on Tuesday, my posts may start to dwindle in frequency, but I will try to update as best as I can.

Canvas Caribbean "With an Open Mind"

I was recently invited to attend the private viewing of Canvas Caribbean's latest exhibit, “With an Open Mind”. This prestigous exhibit was being held at the Gallery at Fine Art, Woodbrook. 

 

To be brutally honest, I was quite disappointed with the gallery itself. Every exhibition I have attended in the past boasted a beautiful, visually enticing gallery which pulls you inside to view the pieces with even more interest.

This was not the case with the Gallery at Fine Art. The building seemed like an ordinary, outdated Port-of-Spain commercial building constructed in the bygone era of boxy shapes and semi-curved walls.

However, despite my dissatisfaction with the architectural design of the building, I must say that I was impressed by the quality of most of the pieces exhibited.

Upon entering through the glass entrance of the gallery, an immediate feeling of excitement, competition, chaos and sheer madness could be felt emanating from the already energized patrons.

Due to my late arrival, I unfortunately missed out on an inspiring speech by the passionate Pat Bishop. However, her strong presence was still felt even without hearing her words personally.

This exhibition boasted a total of 82 pieces from 13 different artists.

I am proud to say that one of these artists is my very own art teacher,

Mrs. Michelle Tappin-Davis.

The walls of this 'institution' were also enlivened with works by talented artists such as Reita Antoine, Raymond Alexander, Camille Harding, Kathy Farabi, Carol Lewis, Vibert Medford, Darron Small, Shalini Singh, Antonio Weekes, Adele Bynoe, Anderson Dyett and Leona Fabien.

I didn't like Cheryl Davis' work at this exhibition. She depicted the bare upper female body in minutely different positions for each of her four paintings. The only difference to my eyes among these 'paintings' was the colour used on each. The 'paintings' were simply line drawings of the breast region lying on a separately coloured background. Highly repetitive and to my diagnosis, uncreative.

That's me carefully examining someone's work.

As compared to the Art Society's November Exhibition last year, the prices seemed more reasonable at this exhibit and more friendly to the buyer. 

Also, I saw a repeat display of a few paintings offered at the Art Society's exhibition last year.

I am very confident that any buyer attending this show will find himself impaled on the sharp horns of a dilemma due to the vast quantity of high quality artworks being presented.

Some of the intriguing pieces by Darron Small.

The print entitled 'Father and Son' done by none other than Michelle Tappin.

Raymond Alexander's simple 'Honey Bees and Portugals'.

There was a diverse showing of talent at this exhibition. The common ground of painting was present, but there were also displays of three-dimensional work and many different techniques used to create two-dimensional art.

My eyes caught sight of scarves done in batik, decorated bangles created by methods I cannot fathom, a solitary desk called 'Table of Life' and the vast quantity of appealing 2-D media.

My favourite artist of the night was Darron Small. His realistic pieces echoed volumes of historical tragedy through the beautiful manipulation of light and shadows to achieve a sense of danger, drama and suspense.

Here are some of the other impacting pieces of the exhibit:

More pieces by Michelle Tappin.

My father and myself enjoying the show.

Vibert Medford's creative photography.

The remarkable style of Reita Antoine.

The Gallery at Fine Art is located at the corner of Rosalino and Warren Streets, Woodbrook.

The Canvas Caribbean 'With an Open Mind' exhibition is well worth a little time out of your hectic lifestyle and is a beautiful way to relax and relieve yourself from the burdens of modern life.

I think you should pay a visit to this event.

I recommend this exhibition to anyone who appreciates art.

The Testing Period

As the school term has basically come to a close, assessments for all subjects were in order.

There were exams, there were assignments and there were...presentations.

For our Visual Arts assessment this term, we were given the opportunity to present four of our pieces for critique and subsequent marking.

The first piece of the puzzle was the graphic design effort towards creating album art for a musician's debut album release.

As such, it is supposed to clearly reflect on the type of person/group presenting the music; while also showing the distinct genre being offered.

The next critical piece was a self portrait to be done in the student specific media assigned.

I was able to select the option of completing my portrait in ink.

I have developed a fondness for the high contrast possible with penned pieces after completing the Alfred Codallo copy last term.

This is my completed self portrait.

I personally love the maze effect...

Being a 'dedicated' student, I clearly followed my teacher's instructions on the specific time period in which to pursue the construction of the T- shirt designs and the application of it to the textile.

As such, I missed out on the opportunity to paint various Hillview landscapes from observation.

While the other students could have submitted this landscape study as their fourth piece, I was pressed to find one out of my portfolio that was of the same standard as my other pieces while it could be allowed for presententation (for example, not one of my casual portraits or any work from last term).

As such, I decided that a suitable still-life would be the most efficient method of gaining a suitable fourth piece in the space of two days.

I assembled the composition myself using art materials from the studio and I worked tirelessly at completing my work.

At the end of a smooth presentation on Monday, I was pleased to learn that my hard work earned me an acceptable 93 in Visual Arts.

I suppose I will have to work harder next term to get even closer to my goal of a perfect score.

Digital editing is such a breeze

I recently attached my fingers around a beautiful copy of Adobe CS4 Master Collection which I recieved from my uncle for my birthday...

Even though I can hardly use it, I know the power of the mouse beneath my hands as its smooth motions transform the image before my eyes.

All the tools can just slice up the image before you or beautifully stylize it with a vast array of manual or automatic special effects.

We were asked to edit the pictures we took in the art studio a while aback....

With Photoshop, I gleefully went about in achieving this task.

Here are some of my edits:

Enjoy the views. These were actually realtively simple to make. I personally LOVE the last one as it seems as though the picture is constructed entirely of light...like something out of a science fiction movie.

Divali's coming....

Sorry for the late post...

I've been a bit delinquent when it comes to updating the blog.

Well...Divali will be soon upon us and I can't wait to get my hands on some barfi, kurma and jalebi. Mmmmm....

The lights and sounds of this time of the year will be out in full force by next week Thursday. Unfortunately, that also means my dogs will be having a hard time with all the noise from fireworks and scratch bombs...Poor things...

Now back to business....



We've been recently exploring compositional aspects of everything around us.
One way of easily spotting this is by creating a viewfinder out of literally anything.
To do this, just get something with which you can see isolated parts of your surroundings.

Another way to see this is by simple photography....

By arranging the elements of your photo correctly, beautiful compositional effects can be created.

Some samples of what can be achieved are as follows:

Note: All photos are taken with just a simple 4.0 megapixel digital camera in the Hillview College Art Studio.

After seeing what a couple of changes in materials and lighting arrangement can do...
I'm sure that the mysteries of photography and composition on the whole now seem less like big words and more like the 'ten commandments' of creating your photos, drawings, paintings etc.
The application of these skills is what separates a regular artist from a great one.