Ghost of a Melting City

An oldy but a goody this morning. I earlier posted a piece entitled "Melting City", this was the next evolution of that piece. It's got a freaky, kind of haunting quality to it that really resonates for me.

Riverdale Girl

Morning my few faithful followers! I am back from a great weekend in the east coast, renewed and rejuvenated. I will hopefully be a little more frequent in my blog posts in the coming week and have some new stuff to share with you.

This morning we have a piece called Riverdale Girl. It's a highly altered piece which I can't quite honestly tell you how I accomplished. lol

In the Morning Light

Happy Friday everyone!

Peachey

This is an alternate look for the series I did with Magda. Unlike most alternate looks I give things, this is the only photo that received this makeover. I think it's an interesting variation, cartoony almost in it's feel.

More from Ally Spongr

So those of you who are members of my fanpage over on Facebook got to see this when it went up on Sunday. This is probably the last set of photos that I will pull from my shoot with the lovely Ally Spongr a few weeks ago.

Working on this set has affirmed my love of the "Halftone Pattern" filter in Photoshop. I love the comic book-y feel it lends things when applied properly. I'm thinking about taking this to the next logical step and creating a web comic using a similar method. I'm currently brainstorming ideas, we'll see if anything comes of it.

Head on over here to see the complete set.

Melting City

At one point I was really hooked on this idea of altering skylines and thought about doing a whole series similar to this picture. At the end it didn't amount to much but I still really like this one, it speaks to something in me that I can't quite describe, something about my relationship with the city of Toronto.

Blue Lady

Another piece of artwork today, featuring the lovely Jen Britton. "Blue Lady" kind of marks the beginning of my latest evolution as an artist and is the beginning of a recent spurt in activity.

White Spaces

So hopefully this week will be a little more productive than last week. I hope to have a new installment of my "Inspiration" series. I'll also preview another exhibition that I'm part of that will be opening this Saturday. I'll have information on how you can follow me on Facebook, and I'll also have a new local artist feature. So be sure to check back throughout the week to see what's going on.

This mornings work is taken from a series entitled "White Spaces". The photos that were used for this series were originally taken at a party a few years ago. This was my first series to drift towards the clean white look that I use quite frequently these days. The individual pictures themselves all feature different filters and composites, but they all feature a similar clean look.

You can see the complete series here.

Cut Out

This morning brings another piece with model Jen Britton. This one, entitled "Cut Out", was created using primarily, you guessed it, the cut out filter in Photoshop. Using that and a bunch of colour tweaks I was able to create the unique look of this picture.

This week has been a little light on content and will probably continue to be so. I've been caught up with a few other things and unable to properly dedicate to the shameless self promotion I normally do. I will strive to get back on track for the few of you who loyally follow my work.

Whispering Red

So I've been a little negligent the past few days. A busy weekend, including my show on Saturday has kept me away. However, I'm back in the saddle this morning and I bring you "Whispering Red". This is the first piece of digital art from my shoot with Ally a couple weeks ago. This plays on a recent trend of mine of applying filters on top filters to get some unique looks.

Also just a reminder that my work will be hanging at Studio 561 until the 30th I believe. I will be sitting at the gallery this afternoon so anyone who wants to come by and say hi, today would be a great day to do it! The address, 561 Bloor Street West, second floor.

Beastial

This is the fifth and final piece I will be showcasing this weekend, entitled "Beastial". This is actually a self portrait. This is obviously a very heavily altered piece, utilizing a shadow plug-in I acquired somewhere along the way.

Tomorrow I'll have a recap of all five pieces on display and a reminder of the details of the show. Hopefully some of you will be able to make it out, if so say hi. There will be five other artists, and Saturday night will feature drinks and music and of course fun. Cheers.

Jen and Michelle

This is the fourth of my five previews for my show this weekend. The details for said show can be found here.

This piece is simply entitle "Jen and Michelle" as it is a combination of two photos from two different shoots with two different girls named, you guessed it, Jen and Michelle. The two photos have had some colour tweaking and a basic filter thrown on them. Placing them side by side and off center on a white plain creates a very clean look.

Tomorrow I will have the final preview and a recap on Friday!

Waiting for a Train

This is the third preview leading up to the exhibition I'm participating in at Studio 561 this Saturday. This picture, entitled "Waiting for a Train", is a highly altered photo from a photoshoot that I was less than pleased with. As opposed to other photos from the set, the original for this piece isn't terrible but it isn't particularly enthralling either.

The finished look is more consistent with recent work of mine, very bright and very clean looking. It was achieved by using the sketch and cutout filters in Photoshop and using the gradient feature in "blending modes" to provide a splash of colour.

Inspiration Vol. 1: Hunter S. Thompson

As a creative person I have a lot of influences. As an artist who works in a visual medium, shockingly few of these influences are visual artists. In mulling over how I would go about putting together the first of what should be a series of posts about the people who inspire me, I figured I needed a way to tie in what I do to my appreciation of what these people have done. As such I've decided that rather than gushing on and on about the works of these people, I would do a couple photo composites of these people using photos I found through a simple Google search.

The first of these segments is dedicated to my favorite author, Hunter S. Thompson, the creator of gonzo journalism.

His Wikipedia entry has this description of his work:
"Thompson is often credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of writing that blurs distinctions between fiction and nonfiction. His work and style are considered to be a major part of the New Journalism literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which attempted to break free from the purely objective style of mainstream reportage of the time. Thompson almost always wrote in the first person, while extensively using his own experiences and emotions to color "the story" he was trying to follow. His writing aimed to be humorous, colorful and bizarre, and he often exaggerated events to be more entertaining."

For me, Thompson's work has helped shape a less rigid world view and a creative ethic based on challenging my own concepts of reality and what I see with my own two eyes.

"So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?"
- Hunter S. Thompson

Acid City

This is a fairly old piece. The original picture was taken right when I first got my current camera. As for the rest of it? Well let's just say it's mostly the product of boredom. Essentially this piece shows what can happen from just playing around in Photoshop.

Magda

My apologies that I wasn't in the most sharing of moods yesterday. Bit of a rough day, but anyway back to the show today!

This lovely young lady is Magda Stoltman. I was definitely going for a grungier, more punk rock-ish look for this set. Black and white with only the pink left in helps create a very striking palate. The torn edges filter gives it that grungy, rough around the edges kind of feel.

This set was actually shot quite a few years ago. It was one of three sets I shot down at "Graffiti Alley" near Queen West that day. This set was by far my favorite but I'm sure I'll share the other work one of these days.

As always, still looking for subjects to shoot. I offer a small honorarium and of course a set of high quality photos. I'll provide both a clean set (no Photoshop work other than brightness/contrast and light colour correct) and whatever composite sets I do afterward. I usually do 3 or 4 variations. If you're interested drop me a line at Christopher.b.bell@gmail.com.

Golden Skyline

Happy Tuesday.

Beach Kiss

Today I'm featuring my second preview of a piece for the show I will be participating in on August 21st (full details this week). This piece is called "Beach Kiss". It's originally a photo from a wedding I attended in Jamaica a couple years ago.

My original inclination had been to go with the piece below as a show piece. I think it's a very nice shot and the black and white with the yellow flower effect is nice, unfortunately I also think it's a cliche that has been done to death.

Taste of the Danforth

This weekend kicks off one of my favorite street festivals in Toronto, Taste of the Danforth. Lots of good food, good drink, live entertainment and plenty of fun. If you have the time I suggest you check it out. This picture is from the Taste three years ago. I've used a treatment that gives it somewhat of an illustrated feel.

Hand of Power

Haven't been feeling well the past couple days so I apologize for the lack of content. I will endeavor to get it together tomorrow.

In the meantime today I'm previewing the first of five pieces I will be showing at the show on the 21st of August. This piece is entitled "Hand of Power". This is a personal favorite of mine. It's a picture of one of my closest friends, one Mr. Terrence Hand. The strong orange and grey theme is created using the sketch filter in Photoshop. The "explosion" around his hand is created by compositing a picture of fireworks exploding onto his hand. The result is quite a bold image.