The Next Fashion Star, lessons in peek-a-boo

SHOW 'EM WHATCHA GOT! Or in the immortal words of EMINEM-- You get one shot so don't miss your chance to blow cuz opportunity comes once in a lifetime. Last night I watched The Next Fashion Star. And I kept asking myself over and over what are you guys thinking??? It was with some suspicion I watched The Next Fashion Star on NBC last night. I tuned in because I'm a HUGE Project Runway fan and hoped this might be interesting. Talk about life lessons, oh my. Imagine you are an aspiring fashion designer and Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and H&M are all there--in the room holding tens of thousands of dollars to spend-- to look at your stuff. Do you show them your best work or do you tease them and make them work just a little too hard for it? I swear it's the ultimate in arrogance to take the spot light and show anything less than your A game! There were three memorable contestants who really didn't get the fundamental idea of the WOW factor necessary for capturing the attention of someone you want to get into the game with. You gotta WOW 'em! These people don't want a tease, they want the goods. One of the contestants sent ONLY neckwear made from the collars and pieces from men's shirts. The dresses the runway models wore were some other unnamed designer. Really? A neckwear accessory. That's it, that's all she sent the buyers with promises-- Oh yes, I have so much more, she promised with a breathy growl. But what she showed did not make me even slightly interested in the 'so much more'. The second one on the chopping block was a colorful sweetly silly prone to crying cherub of a man who's workroom we saw in B roll. Imaginative, colorful and just deliciously fun work! Did he send deliciously fun onto the runway? NO. He sent pretty things but nothing unconventional and exciting like what we'd seen in his workroom. Luckily the mentors saved him from being eliminated because it looked like he might be the first to be kicked off. But then there was the guy who told the two women mentors and the two women buyers that he doesn't think women know anything about men's wear and what's trending so he wasn't interested in their opinion. UH WHAT? Buh Bye. Even when he tried repeatedly to correct himself he kept making the same ridiculous point. He's the one who got kicked off the show first. The point of all this? Your assignment is to show your BEST work to your potential clients. Don't tease anyone-- not unless it's the Holy Cow of teases. Even the tease should be amazing. Got that? Now, go make art!

Fun with animation, a line drawing I did on this lazy and sweet Sunday. The best way to learn anything is to do it again and again! This is one of those things I've wanted to learn for so long-- simple gif animations. It is simple but definitely a little confusing at first. Nothing like making it work using 58 layers!

Heres the latest version of Toby, my plush kitty portrait, as it stands. I think I could go a bit further but still germinating on that...

Go ahead, fall in love!

“Go ahead, Fall in Love! If only to reach for that perfect moment... You see it, that intangible thing, that fleeting moment. Do it, click the shutter, capture the breathless preciousness of your subject and all that beauty. It’s a wonderful thing, a singular sight, a landscape, an object, or perhaps a human soul trusting you to express their perfection in this place, in this moment, in this time..."

Wow, this quote really made me think... “Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” -Steve Jobs (from Laura Moncur's Motivational Quotations) Right? It's just so important to do something everyday that brings you joy. Don't wait! Appreciate the beauty of your own smile and the feeling of happiness. It may be as simple as putting on a song you like and dancing around your living room. Or taking a bath by candle light instead of a shower. Doodling. Or even as simple as petting your cat and enjoying the sound of pleasure in a lush purr. I get great pleasure while playing artistically so I try to do a little each day if I can. Last night I needed a solid break from a very busy day and had seen some amazing pet photos on a website that inspired me. I began this art piece of my cat Toby. I'm trying out a new technique in Adobe Photoshop CS5. Let's see where it goes... I'll post this image again as it progresses.

Found this interesting quote today... "You don't know how much artists go through to make it look so easy. It's all in the practice." Lauryn Hill . . It IS in the practice! How many times have you tried something one time and it didn't go brilliantly that first time so you said no to it. But trying it again, and again, and yet again can makes all the difference in not only your own skill level but your understanding of something, the depth of it. Nothing is small. There is a complete and enormous universe in everything and everyone. No matter the thing or the topic or the life there are volumes that can be spoken or understood if only we took the time to see and search beyond the surface. . So when it comes to art, when it comes to using Adobe Photoshop, KNOW that there is a brilliant universe yet undiscovered if only you would take the time to explore it. Practice a little relentlessness in your approach to learning something new so little by little you can master something you are passionate about and have at your fingertips a world of deep exploration and expression. . TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT: Take a look at something ordinary and find a way to visually express it anew... Here's mine... Ode to Breakfast March 1st, 2012

Skull of Frivolity!

Just a little bit of fun using countless stuff from my collection of imagery... The following animation is the basic flow of putting this finished piece together. Of course I did many things along the way in Photoshop CS5 but you get to see the various layers this piece is made from. I used my own created fractals, brushes, textures and more. This is an animation showing all the various layers that went into creating the final image. Start to finish...

BACK IN THE DAY... Once upon a time in the days before digital, I used to create artworks I called "embellishments". I'd make photographs, print them in black and white and use the prints as canvases for my artwork by using pen and ink and liquid dyes to draw on and paint them. Sometimes the images were even cut up and glued back together in layers to create new imaginative worlds. Now with digital that can be done so easily. But at the time it was quite a bit of work though the results were still quite wonderful. This particular art piece I've created definitely harkens back to those deliciously tactile, hand-on days. The colors may be a bit more subtle than much of my work but as you artists know your visual instinct speaks it's mind and you follow. I used a pen tool with my Wacom tablet to draw the lines.

That FIRST creative moment... remember?

Creativity. It's been a powerful force in my life nearly as long as I can remember. Perhaps the first major moment I knew I had a different way of seeing things was when I was about five years old. I had a box of crayons and a coloring book. I was coloring in a bunch of grapes and was using a variety of colors-- all in the purple and blue range. I remember thinking that grapes were not just one color when you REALLY look at them, so that's how I colored them in. My mom noticed and exclaimed to me about it in such a way I knew I'd done something right. I think that was the moment I took on being an artist.

What was your moment? EXCERCISE:
Sit down, sit back, and get comfy. Take the next ten minutes to think back as far as you can about some moment in your past that you expressed something unique creatively. It may be as an artist with finger paints, it may be working on a model airplane, it may be a moment planting in a garden. But it happened. So dig deep into that memory bank of yours and find that moment, breathe deeply into it, look into your minds eye and try to fill out the scene, how it felt, what the day may have been like, where you were, who was with you, what were you doing...

How have you taken that creative moment with you into your life and how does it show up in your life now? Please leave a memory of your first creative moment here in the comments area.

Elvis Lives

Before and afters fascinate me, even in my own work. Had a creative bug last night and pulled together these few simple elements and created the strangely wonderful image on the left-- ELVIS. It actually reminds me of the Steam Punk visual aesthetic a bit, which I find unique and beautiful in it's dark and dreary way. This handsome face combined with these Charr Kissed Visual Toys from my personal Photoshop kit bag were very fun to play with. Comments? Questions? Bring it on!

K.I.S.S. Like Charr, the Photography Workshop, scheduled for April 18, 2011!

Monday April 18th is the next date for the next K.I.S.S. Like Charr Workshop in Sacramento! This is an all-day, hands-on digital photographic art event that's fun, educational and inspirational. Details coming!
Take a peek this video for a look-see at the How to K.I.S.S. Like Charr photography workshop and hear some great testimonials about how incredibly fun and easy Keeping it Simple really is when it comes to working in the digital photography realm.In this class you'll learn some great Adobe Photoshop CS5 tools, work with type and you will create an incredible digital art piece from start to finish! Details and information coming soon. Want to be on the email list? Please let me know. Questions or comments? I'd love to hear from you!

Macro Ring Flash

I love this thing! Talk about simple and fun. Like a ring flash but for on the go kinds of situations. I've been having a lot of fun with mine and even though it says macro-- try it for portraits, yeah! :)

Beautiful Digital Artistry

Little Dancer by Lavona Gelardi
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Kaylee by Marie Ortman
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I'm delighted to show these two beautiful new works by Marie Ortman and Lavona Gelardi, both participants in my January K.I.S.S. Like Charr Digital Art Workshop. Each one of these images was created post-workshop using techniques, imagery and brushes I created for the course.
Thank you so much for sending these in. I'm incredibly impressed! They both show how using just a few tools can create something new and magical, adding a new layer of unique beauty or meaning to a photograph.
If anyone has comments or questions please share here in the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

What a Fabulous Carnival Ride!

WATCH THIS VIDEO TO SEE SOME OF THE BEAUTIFUL WORK THE PHOTOGRAPHY ARTISANS IN MY WORKSHOP CREATED!
The How to K.I.S.S. Like Charr January Workshop concluded last night and Woo Hoo, that was fun!
We took a picture of our model Monique at the start of class and then 14 people turned it into a great work of art, each one with a unique point of view. The imagination is a beautiful thing and I'm so in awe of it. As a teacher it was a great delight to see people light up when they learned some unexpected way of using a tool, some new knowledge or insight of the seemingly commonplace that suddenly elevated it to something closer to a carnival ride!
Yes, Photoshop is, as ever, my very favorite playground.
I'm so grateful for every single one of the members of this workshop who taught me as much as I taught them. Thank you and I can't wait for the next one, I'll keep you posted.

For more information or to get on my mailing list please email me at charr@charrcrail.com.

Thanks to Chris Goslow, the composer of the gorgeous music on this video. "The March of Rustling Leaves"

The Workshop Begins, Amazing Night!

How to K.I.S.S. Like Charr is going fantastically well! Night two of three during this inaugural workshop put on through PPSV (Professional Photographers of the Sacramento Valley) was last night. In this hands-on workshop I'm sharing some of my personal secrets about how to create the lively and colorful art works I do-- I'm teaching The Art of Making Art via Photography using the digital tools and knowledge I've developed over many years of doing this work professionally.
Last night as I walked around the room and saw what the students were doing I was so impressed and delighted, just glorious work! The energy in the room was incredibly exciting, everyone so engrossed in their project they literally groaned with displeasure when I told them we were winding it up for the night. Now that's what you want as a teacher-- excited, inspired people!
Our project has been to create a Rock n' Roll Faerie. Last week I had the wonderful model Monique come in for a session on simple lighting and we captured the portrait that would be the foundation for the course. Even a few of the students took a turn with the camera and worked directly with our beautiful model.
Now they have an assignment to create their own piece using what I've taught them and using my brushes and textures off the workshop disk I gave them. I can hardly wait to see what they come up with and will be sharing here...

Charr Kissed

Photoshop Playground, my favorite place to play. And I'm constantly learning too by simple experimentation... What If. Here are two examples of What If in action. Both images are of the same girl from the same photo session-- now Charr K.I.S.S.ed. You can see the original image and then what I did with it.
I'm quite enamored with the use of typography as a graphic element and bits and pieces from other images I've shot. In these images you can find gardens from a wedding, old buildings from downtown, my own line drawings-- and as complicated as they may appear they use very few elements to create the look they have. :)

K.I.S.S.ing

KEEP IT SIMPLE SWEETIE!

I love to learn but I hate reading the manual. Most of what I know is by simple trial error-- What I call the "What If" game. For years I have been teaching myself in Photoshop how to do the fun stuff beyond the basics by playing What If. Yes, sometimes I do look up how to do something, but consider that playing my game What If can be a lot of fun too. In this blog I will be posting art projects, workshop experiences and students work. It's gonna be fun. Stay tuned...

Welcome to my new blog about the Principles of K.I.S.S.ing... and this is NOT what it seems. ;)

As a professional photographer and artist I'm creating and holding workshops where people with artistic sensibilities can learn and explore the wonderful world of digital photography and create otherworldly images with ease and panache. I call it my K.I.S.S. method.

I constantly get asked-- How did you do that? Using five or less elements to make something extraordinary, astonishing, fantastical, gorgeous... big words for something so simple.

KEEP IT SIMPLE SWEETIE. That's what I will teach you about the process of creating art, Charr style.