Inspiration- Keeping the Faith was inspired in combination by both my own work Cloud Chaser, and just the amazing series of work that I’ve seen and showcased in the online community. Seeing all that amazing work drove me to want to create something more, something visually stunning, as a result Ive been creating more work and trying to take my art to a higher level. I would encourage other artist to gather inspiration from the work of people they admire since its something that has been working very well for me.

The actual choice in model was fairly easy since she had a similar pose to the model I used in Cloud Chaser. I also really liked the coloring of her outfit and the way those colors played off each other, I tried to emulate that in the effects that I used in the image since they blended very well together. As to the title of this image I’m trying to reattach myself to the belief that the impossible can be achieved by sheer will.

Effects- I used a combination of effects many of you have  probably seen me resort to before, although more effectively this time. I used dynamic lighting, disintegration, and smoke effects in this image. I also wanted to use high contrast colors to really make the image pop.

In this image I used streaks of light, light particles and energy spheres to create a surreal, fun and expressive image. As for the disintegration effect, I wanted to make the model a part of the ether in a visually interesting way.

Typography- For the typography in this piece I used a font called “MOD”. I decided to make the font transparent using the multiply blend mode. I felt the type and the color streak helped visually balance the image and the white space in it.

Retouching- The retouch work on this image was very involved and I actually used several techniques from Rob Shields, to make the give the model more depth and a sharp detailed look. I believe it worked out very well. I believe that this is an image that will set the tone for the level of work I’ll be putting out going into the year 2010.

I’ve seen some amazing photo-manipulations and dark artwork in the online community lately and felt inspired to create a new piece for Photoshop Creative’s Web Challenge this month.

Inspiration

I designed “The Formless One”, to communicate a story, I wanted to show that not only do people hide who they are behind mask , but sometimes the lose their own identity to the mask they where; so much so that the mask becomes their only true form, and stripped of that identity they are insubstantial beings.

This image is a bit darker that what I’ve worked on recently but I’m actually getting very much back into “dark artwork” and surreal imagery. The online art community has produced some amazing and inspiring artwork that has reinvigorated me to this end, especially the work featured in my “20 Top Tier Photo-manipulations” post.

Techniques
There was a lot of brush work involved in designing this image, and ironically quite a bit of masking! There was also a bit of retouch work to the model that shouldn’t be overlooked, I really wanted to make the eyes pop as they would become the focal point of the image as a whole. I spent a lot of time transitioning between brushes and various settings to give it the textured look it has.

Roberto Blake Graphic Design | Star Girl III

The Star Girl, is a concept I’ve been revisiting in my Photo Manipulations, that I’ve become quite fond of. By combining and array of lighting effects to create the surreal image conveying energy and emotion. The concept was so well received when I did the first Star Girl image, that I decided to do a series of them.

When ever I create a Star Girl I try to make them as unique as possible, while still representing a unified concept. Sound a little difficult? Well I will admit to having to think of a clever way to pull that off. Most people would settle for the fact that they are different models and utilizing different colors, but I felt each image needed more to distinguish it. I decided that I would utilize a different approach to the textures involved in each image, as well as present not only a variation of the effects from the original image, but also introduce entirely new elements.

One new aspect of Star Girl III that greatly differs from the previous two images, is the introduction of repetition in the main model. I wanted to present the idea of an energy echo, or an astral projection, maybe an “aura”, generated by the character. The previous two images were also  very stationary, this one had to make you feel like the character was moving, the model conveys movement on its own but I felt I wanted to take it further. I used several elements to get across the idea of rapid movement, I think the repetition also helped with this since each image of the model was offset and scaled.

Inspiration
Ultimately the inspiration from this image was the previous two Star Girl images, as well as some of the lighting work I’ve seen various artist use. In part I would have to also say that the Star Girl images are partial inspired by the visual effects in the movie “Jumper”.  I also took some of the advice of Adam from Advanced Photoshop with regard to some of the lighting effects, particularly the blending modes. Thanks again Adam! It worked out rather well.