lunebleu On Commercialism And A Look At Her Art`LuneBleu was recommended to me for this series of interviews, and I'm glad that she was able to share some of her time with us. If you're interested in commercial work, this is a good place to start. I feel the information is very valuable, and I hope you feel that way too. Q. What would a beginner deviant who is interested in commercial work in photomanipulation need to know to get started? As far as what a dA beginner must know about the commercial ways of photomanipulation is not that complicated.Yes, in my opinion it is important that you're able to deliver a good product. The happier clients are with the result of your work, bigger are the chances that you'll get more clients in the future.Try to keep your page professional and clean. If you really want to be a working artist, you must show yourself as a professional.Create several folders showing different aspects of your art; the more versatile you are, the client range will also be bigger. If in the fu
A Way With Light And A Meet With phantasticoA Way With Lights And A Meet With phantastico Q. You are an equine artist. What makes that special for you on a personal level?Equine art is special to me because unlike a lot of young girls, horses were never just a phase for me. I always wanted a horse of my own when I was little, and my parents were constantly telling me that I'd grow out of it, especially once I got to see how much work and time a horse required. They leased me a horse to ride, and I loved him to death. I rode him for two years, and even after his owner had him moved away and I had to quit riding, I still loved horses. My love for them lives on today, and it's still my goal to own a couple of my own someday.After I lost my horse, I later joined deviantArt and pretty quickly found my niche - the Equine Art Community. I began like anyone else, just making images very sloppily and with no thought to details and lighting, shadows and realism. It was simply a way for me to be around horses
Art Theft And Hot Linking With WDWParksGalMy dear friend `WDWParksGal, formerly a Community Volunteer, recently discovered that one of her deviations was being "high jacked", or the proper used termed, "hot linked". This is a very serious issue that not only affects the deviant, but also deviantArt. We have been overwhelmed with this issue the last few weeks causing many stock providers and too many manipulators to change the way they handle their deviations and sites. A few have emptied their gallery and left dA completely. Since I had the opportunity, I asked her if she would like to write an article concerning this matter, and she jumped at the chance! So following is `WDWParksGal thoughts on this situation.I have been creating Photomanipulations for about six-years now. I have learned a lot, not just by experimenting with my PhotoShop Elements Programs that I have purchased over the years, but by watching YouTube tutorial videos, talking to other Manipulators, reading
Mix Media With designbykattWhen I first saw a deviation by *DesignbyKatt, I was mesmerized. It was truly a piece of art that made me ask out loud, "Wow, how did she do that?" and really mean it. I wanted to take a little peek into her art world and share it with you in this article. Q. The look of your photomanipulations look different. Are you a self taught photomanipulator, or have you had any courses?I am a self taught artist. The only training I have received is learning here on DA by trying lots of tutorials. Q. Would you explain your philosophy on combining photo stock with painting?When combing both photos and painting I find the work to be much more successful and appealing if there is a balance. You can not simply photomanip a girl then paint some big thick hair on her, it just looks fake. I try to blend my elements so you are not real sure is it a manip or a painting. For me that is the key to my most successful works.:bulletp
Stock And Manipulations From this-darkest-hour~this-darkest-hour is both a photomanipulator, as well as a by stock provider under the username, =Thy-Darkest-Hour. I had always wondered how a photomanipulator feels about being a photomanipulator who also has stock account. Are they a photomanipulator who happens to provide stock? Or are they a stock provider who happens to do some photomanipulations?:devthis-darkenst-hour: is the first stock provider/photomanipulator in this series of interviews who will write on that subject. She will also write about one of her deviations and how she created it, with advise for other photomanipulators.Enjoy! Briefly tell us about yourself.Off in the real world, my name is Katie, I’m 24 and from the United States. On dA, I provide stock and do photomanipulation. As =Thy-Darkest-Hour I provide pretty much any kind of stock and resources that one can imagine, while as ~this-darkest-hour I display only my photomanipulation images.
Illuminating Animal ManipulationsI'm sure we all know about the fantastic human-based manipulations that #projecteducate has been featuring throughout the month so far, so I wanted to bring to light my corner of the manipulation genre - animal manipulations.I personally specialize in equine manipulations (where a horse is the main subject). Equine photo manipulation makes up a large chunk of the non-human manipulation community. It's pretty much the only thing I have photo manipulated, and I've been doing it for about 6 years. Most equine manipulation artists come from two main sources - role playing games (RPGs) and online horse sim games - but many have now moved past those and manipulate for the love of horses and the love of our art form. The photo manipulation genre, especially in animal-based manipulation, has a little stigma surrounding it - some people believe that our art form is "easy", or that it's frivolous and lacks substance. I'll share some of my fellow manipulators' thoughts on this and on o
Illumination: The Art of BlendingHello everyone!At #TheArtOfManipulation, we have a monthly learning challenge in which we focus on a technique, share information regarding that technique, and then challenge our members to use what they've learned to create a new work. We also interview various artist to get tips and tricks on the chosen technique.Although the challenge has ended, I'm hoping you'll find that the information and interviews we put together to be useful!~IvyThe Art of BlendingWhat exactly do we mean by "blending"? Well, the most basic answer to this question is that blending is when you combine two or more photos into a new work and tinker with various settings/techniques to create one cohesive, flowing image. As always, this is easier said than done.Take one stock photoused by two artists Beginner =Ashe-Art
Blending: Tips and TricksHello again In conjunction with our blending article we interviewed several fellow photomanipulators to get you the scoop on some tips and tricks when it comes to blending. Thanks again to the amazing artists who agreed to the interview, we appreciate you sharing your knowledge! This was a 3 part interview series, if you're interested in the other two links are included at the bottom of this article ~JennLaa :iconJennLaa:Q: What is your overall process for blending and integrating different elements/stocks into your works?A: I usually start by looking for stock with similar light sources. Then I add a color balance adjustment and possibly a curve adjustment to to get the colors to blend in well. My final step would be using the the dodge tool to add extra lighting or use a clipping mask and paint it in. Q:<
PM Month Challenge: Critique Yourself!I have a short (24 hour) challenge for you! Sometimes critiquing others can be super difficult, especially when they don't want critique. You don't want to overstep or to hurt anyone's feelings, but you want to help them grow as artists. Likewise, YOU would like to grow, and that's difficult to do when critique and feedback are hard to come by.I want to talk about something we can all do for ourselves today, and I absolutely believe it can make a difference in your art. What is it? Self-critique, of course!Stop and think for a moment about what a great critique looks like. Close your eyes if you have to. What do you see? A good critique does (at least) three things: It describes what was GOOD about the deviation and WHY it was good. It describes one or more things that can be improved AND tells you HOW to improve them. [What good is it for me to tell you that your light needs improvement if I don't point out that the C
Pure Photomanipulation GoodnessHi all,The photomanipulation community has been busy pumping out some amazing works lately, and I wanted to share some of them with you. I will have news shortly, but if you are not doing so already, you can tune in to #projecteducate to see what we're up to this month!Blessings,JadeDark Crystal by ~D3vilusionOutside the Box by *ReyeD33
Photomanipulation-Related Submission FAQsHello everyone,Sometimes with the flood of information these days, it becomes really easy to lose track of the basics of what you can and cannot do and what is and is not required for submission. I thought I would put together some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the Photomanipulation Community. Many of these answers are also relevant to the rest of dA. I hope this is useful as we move forward with PE: Photomanip Month!JadeDoes my artwork need a mature tag?deviantART defines mature content as "Mature content is considered to be anything which contains nudity, excessive violence, blood, gore, or any other potentially upsetting or offensive material" and suggests that images that are controversial, such as religion and politics, may also be considered "mature." But, the definition of "mature" is more broad than that. See :faq220:So what does this mean for YOUR specific artwork? The FAQs also explain that: :faq554:
Photomanipulation: Exploring textureTexture: We love it!If there's one thing a lot of photomanipulators love, it's texture, glorious texture! Texture can change your entire image and make it or break it. In our community, it is frequently used for creating a "dark" effect, but it can be used to create or enhance absolutely any theme you can dream up. I wanted to share some brilliant examples of art that use textures well. I also want to provide some tips of things I've learned and direct you to some tutorials. Let's get started!Brilliant and inspiringTips for success Use textures to highlight positive assets of the manipulation; don't use them to try to cover flaws of poor blending or cropping.:bullet
Conzpiracy: Elegance in DarknessHi all,Many of you know `conzpiracy as a former Volunteer in our community. Others know his amazing art (if you are not one of them, drop everything you are doing and head to his gallery. NOW!). He is an icon in our community who is dedicated not only to doing great art, but also to helping others exceed their wildest expectations with respect to their own art. If you haven't already, check out his tutorials on surrealpsd.com! Without further ado, I give you the man behind the icon.JADE: So, you served our photomanipulation community as a Gallery Moderator (GM, now Community Volunteer or CV) a couple of years back! Tell me what that experience was like for you, getting to work with this community every day and help support and promote the great work they did.CONZZ: The experience was great; hard work, but I really got a feel for what the wider photo manip community is about. If I didn't have universi
Winners from the Photomanip Kick-Off Celebration!Hi, everyone! We are here to present the WINNERS of the various tasks and challenges from the Photomanipulation Month Kick-Off Event that we held on Monday! If you missed out on the festivities, never fear! There will be more in the near future. So what did you miss?Activity: Member scrambleWho can find the most members to send in our direction? =Ashe-Art can, that's who! She wins this scramble with a total of 5 members (we stopped counting after that) having been sent to the chat! =Ashe-Art wins a 3-month premium membership! Congratulations! 20th Member Door Prize=MaliciaRoseNoire was our 20th photomanipulator to enter the chat (and stay long enough to say something), so she wins $20 toward a print of her choice! Congratulations, and thanks for being such a rock star!Activity: Stock hustle Who can find the best stock for our flash photomanipula
10 Tips for Tutorial Writing Success!10 things to consider when writing a tutorialHey, everyone!Are you interested in trying our Official Photomanipulation Tutorial Challenge but unsure of where to begin? Look no further! Here are some tips about creating a tutorial that is easy for you to write and easy for us to understand. We hope these pointers will be useful to you; as always, feel free to leave questions or comments. 1. Sit down and really think about what you are good at doingWhat do people compliment you about most frequently? What are you most proud of in your manipulations so far? It could be anything, from the way you select and cut out stock to the way you make your colors pop. Start from your strength, something you can talk about with ease.2. Take the pressure off!No matter how "good" someone is at photomanipulation already, they still have something interesting to le
Welcome to Photomanipulation Month!Greetings!Yes, you read that right: Photomanip MONTH! When I first came on board as the Community Volunteer for Photomanipulation, I wanted to have a photomanipulation workshop month, or a "boot camp," to help our community members hone their skills and to help people from outside the community learn more about what we do. ^Kaz-D had the brilliant idea of turning it into a Photomanipulation Month with Project Educate! So, here we are!This month will be filled with contests and challenges, games and activities, and lots of chances to win fabulous prizes! We hope everyone will learn something along the way as well. About this monthWe see this month as an opportunity for all of us to share what we know and build a stronger community. We had originally conceived of this month as "Advanced Photomanipulation Month," but we figured that might be exclusive to a great portion of our community.
Kick-Off Event Flash Photomanip ChallengeThe stockDuring today's chat party kick-off for Photomanipulation Month, we had a challenge in which people were able to find stock related to Halloween with the intention of manipulating it later. We had three required stock pieces, chosen by our group:Choice of or The rules This challenge is for people who attended the kick-off party only. Even if you did not participate in the stock challenge itself, you can participate in this challenge as long as you were in the chat at some point. You must use the above stock images to create a Halloween-themed deviation. It must be a photomanipulation. You ARE allowed to use other stock, but it must be legitimate (no premade backgrounds without stock resources). Credit the stock providers with direct links. Send a LINK to ^Aeirmid when you have submitted your dev
REMINDER: Photomanip Tutorial Challenge!Welcome to our official tutorial challenge!Another tutorial challenge? YES! Keep reading!Part of "illumination" is learning, expanding our horizons, and helping others learn as well. So, this time we are not going to USE tutorials. Rather, we are going to MAKE them. What you have to doYour job is as follows: Take a critical look at your gallery. What are your strengths as an artist? What are you really good at doing? Are you known for your light and shadow? Color use? "Glow" effects? Do you do skin well? Can you paint really well? Are you a master of masks? What do people compliment you on? Create a detailed tutorial, with examples, of how you achieve this effect or do this technique. It does not have to involve the creation of a new deviation. You can explain how you did this effect in an old deviation or just with stock without making it a full deviation.
10 Things a Photomanip Newbie Should KnowHi all, I wanted to talk for a moment to our newbie photomanipulators or even older photomanipulators who are out of the fray. How are you? Welcome to the inner circle.Here are some things that you (and all photomanipulators) need to know about dA and the photomanipulation community.1. Stay in touch with the Photomanipulation CV (currently me, ^Aeirmid).Watch me. No, that's not an ill-formed plea for pageviews, favorites, or watchers. Actually, I rarely even post art anymore. I am the Community Volunteer (CV) for photomanipulation, which means I regularly run contests, feature art, share news, post Daily Deviations (DDs), and do other things to support the community. It is in your best interest to watch my journal because I post every photomanipulation-related update there. This information is important to you so you can learn about upcoming events, changes in rules, new groups, and other news.2. Watch :devcommunity
Photomanipulation RecapThe following articles are missing from our gallery; we are therefore providing the links to them below. Enjoy! Interview with New Photomanipulators.
PE Photomanip: Using Masks InterviewsUsing Masks InterviewsGood afternoon / morning, everyone! I've got some interviews about using masks in your photomanipulations today!Basically, masks are a way of non-destructively erasing parts of your work. Non-destructively means that it doesn't "destroy" your base image - everything you don't erase is kept and it's simple to fix it if you make a mistake. Whereas if you just deleted the parts of an image you don't want, that would be lost and it would be complicated to get those parts back in many instances. Read on for more info! Interview with `kuschelirmel`miontre: When is it appropriate (or how do you know you need) to use a mask in your work?`kuschelirmel: A mask is used to get rid of unwanted parts (backgrounds on objects you want to use etc) as well as to help you blend things better, because the mask gives you control over how transparent any
PE Photomanip: That's a Wrap!Thank You!Photomanipulation Week here at #projecteducate has been phenomenal, and that is entirely thanks to you, our viewers, and to the community members who made it happen. Our community wrote most of the articles; I just posted them. Our community interviewed many, many people and answered what had to have seemed like endless questions about how they do their stuff. And do you know, of the many people I asked, only one or two were unable? People contributed in spite of busy schedules, poor health conditions, other projects, and other competing demands because they knew this was important. I cannot thank you enough.I wanted to show you the sheer number of people (well over 40) who participated in this event. Every one of these people made a significant contribution. Please, everyone show some love to the deviants who made this week possible (and then keep reading; more good stuff coming below this list):*3mmI=AFineWar:
PE Photomanip: Let there be LIGHT!Light in PhotomanipulationGetting your light right when creating a photomanipulation sounds easy . . . until you sit down to try to do it! There are seemingly endless things to keep in mind: where the light source is, the intensity of the light, how pieces of your manipulation need to be composed so that they line up with the direction of the light in the piece, whether there could be multiple light sources, what color the light will be. . . .And the goal for light in your manipulation is for the light to be consistent throughout so that it is telling a story. No pressure! It is not an overstatement to say that light will make or break your manipulation; I have declined many DD suggestions because of bad lighting. Light can help you tell a story and is critical to your deviation. It adds emphasis, adds depth, contributes to realism, and draws the viewer's attention to where you want it to be
REMINDER: Photomanip Critique/Chat Event!Photomanip Chat Afternoon/Night is TODAY!Who?YOU!Any deviant is welcome to come, although we are specifically gearing our discussion toward photomanipulators.What?An afternoon of photomanipulation fun! There will be a "getting to know you/meet your fellow photomanipulators and CVs" session followed by a Critique Event at 2 PM. We will spend the remainder of the time sharing and discussing works in progress, problems and solutions we see in the community, strong points of the community, and anything else people want to discuss.So, come get some constructive feedback on your work, share your thoughts with others, and have a laugh or two! Where?:#communityrelations:When?TODAY!!!!!Sunday, June 10th, 20121-5 PM EDT (New York time)Critique Event: 2 PMYou can come and go as you ple
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Q. What would a beginner deviant who is interested in commercial work in photomanipulation need to know to get started?
What do you see? 
It describes what was GOOD about the deviation and WHY it was good.
or 
This challenge is for people who attended the kick-off party only. Even if you did not participate in the stock challenge itself, you can participate in this challenge as long as you were in the chat at some point.
Who?