"Immerse yourself"

Breathe in, breathe out.

a beautiful fracture

the cracks in this body mean the birth of a free soul

I can't seem to snap out of my "four elements" series mode. All I can think about is how nature transforms us...what in beautiful mother nature can be used to portray a human's feelings. This body is cracking, but the twigs have infected with passion, desire, drive, and emotion. 

Here's a close up of the "cracking" with mother nature I was trying to convey!

 

My second final image for my Snow White project. This is the Evil Queen..her jealousy pouring out of her fingertips and her ego's embracing her passion for beauty and control.

creating as much as I can in the next two weeks. Just got back from a partly successful shoot..going for another one tomorrow involving loads of paint and cloning! :D

 I'm SO happy with this! I've been trying to frame a portrait like this for the longest time. I shot from behind the twigs. I made it so one twig was outlining her head and the other one was framing the image from the bottom. I'm really proud :)

This was kind of spontaneous...what I originally planned didn't work. I think it turned out well, although I do want to take it up a notch...I don't want to get to a 'comfortable' level..I really want to push myself. So hopefully I'll come back with something tomorrow that'll make me proud :)
This one got onto PhotoVogue! http://www.vogue.it/photovogue/Portfolio/58492265-30c6-4a8c-9215-f72254052f9d/Image

sometimes less is more.

I initially envisioned this image having a lot more in the frame, for no meaningful reason whatsoever as it turns out. My art has always let emotion lead in a photograph. Sometimes that means stripping down to the basics and not using photoshop at all, and sometimes that just means complete solitude in an image, like in the image above. This emotion called for being portrayed just as I have. No birds, no cracks, no flying hair. Now all the pieces fit :)

I've been learning a lot about who I am as an artist more than learning more about photoshop or the camera recently and I think that's a really good thing. I guess I'm at a comfortable level with understanding my camera and even more so with photoshop, so I'm taking the time for myself before *hopefully* starting my journey in art school.

Creating stories, intensity, characters. I'm just in love.

before-after. model Katherine Stapleton
the original image encapsulated all the emotions I was aiming for. The only thing lacking was the roughness, and texture. I wanted it to seem like she's returned from some sort of battle, still standing. The details in her skin come to surface, and there is a very dark, ethereal quality in her eyes. 

 what lies beneath the surface of a dark art photograph...

I remember sitting in Brooke Shaden's workshop, thinking of an answer to a certain question she asked us, which was "What would you like to be different about your photography?" or something along the lines of that. I couldn't really think of something I wanted to change. Sure, there were loads of things that I wanted to learn, but nothing that I didn't like about what I was creating at present. I answered with "The only thing I want different, is for people to stop perceiving the darkness in my images as negative. Or perceiving my art as negative, because it is dark. "
There's more to darkness than discomfort. Easily every dark artist you come across will tell you that. In fact, if you *really* look into most of my pictures, you won't feel uncomfortable at all. You'll see that there's meaning within my images that aren't particularly negative. Or, instead, you can look at the surface of my images, see something that's not natural, and assume it is negative. That's quite honestly a loss. You don't have to be art lover to think about what is in front of you. If you turn something away because of a stereotype and dare not look back, that's a damaging quality to have. Take this image I created today for example;

 

The tones are dark. Her eyes have an almost ethereal and eerie contrast in them. There are roots protruding through her neck. She seems to be frightened.

As an artist I have chosen a style for myself. I have discovered qualities that I love and portray concepts and stories I have in mind. The story behind this character is very relatable. She's a young girl, becoming a woman. Stories from her past, every influence in her life, has risen to surface. The roots are protruding and finally releasing themselves, and beyond the roots, there is earth. there is growth. This character is in the process of growing. This is not a "sad" concept. It's a deep concept. All the attributes that make life so precious are deep, there is no question about it. My art visits these emotions and brings them to life. There is a huge difference between sad, and deep.