# Off-Topic Discussion > Artists' Corner >  >  A Gnome's Eye View

## thegnome54

Hey everyone, I'm pretty new here, so I hope I'm not being pretentious to make a thread devoted to my art.  I really like the community, and since I do a lot of photography and drawing I thought I might share some of it with you guys.

I really love macro photography.  It's a lot of fun to go out to a particular tree or bush, and just sit and watch it carefully until all of the life buzzing around it reveals itself.  Then you can try to get some good shots, but I think the most fun is just realizing the scope and complexity of the world on even that small scale.  Here are a few of my favorite macro shots.









I hope that's not too many, I don't know how much this server can take (or if pictures add any load?)

Anyways, I also like to draw a lot, but not as much because drawing seems more of an imperfect way of portraying the beauty of nature.

Beauty from Taiwan - an art homework assignment that turned out rather well.


I can't get a sharp picture of this for some reason, the darks are a lot darker than they seem.


A Halloween still life.


A character from an MMORPG I used to play, Knight Online.  NERD POWAH!  His hands are too big, but whatever.  He's fantastic! (bad joke)


Again, hopefully that's not too many pictures  ::?: 

While I'm at it, I've only written one serious poem my whole life (it was on another forum, some moderator accused me of always ending up with silly nonsense, so I wrote something entirely unfunny to prove him wrong), so I might as well include that here, too.

*The Cost

Tears of pain creep down her face,
As she walks through this evil place.
She speeds up imperceptibly,
Just a face in a boiling sea.

People go past her left and right,
Oblivious to her crippling fright.
It's just another street to them,
Like Oak, Whitmann, or Bethlehem.

This is the place of countless dreams,
Dreams full of her own blood and screams.
Long ago, that dark winter night,
She almost died; she saw the light.

All she saw was a silhouette,
All he saw was a weak brunette.
He was six foot two, not much brains,
A drug cocktail flowing in his veins.

He swung at her, one right one left,
She crumpled sadly, senses bereft.
He ravaged her in cold delight,
Left her for dead in dark of night.

An officer found her, half dead,
Blood smeared across her face and head,
On his patrol deep in the night,
They saved everything but her sight.

She is alive but does not live,
Her unseen scars cannot forgive.
Her cane searches across the ground,
But answers, reasons, can't be found.

The man died a few weeks after,
Hung himself from a gnarled rafter.
Despite his death, she lives in fear,
No matter if the coast is clear.

She makes it to her apartment,
More depressed at every moment.
She finally gives up on life,
Exhausted from her constant strife.

She follows in the man's last tracks,
And ends her own life with an axe.
When lives go wrong, what is the cost?
For every one, must two be lost?*

Last but not least, I'm not sure if anyone really considers this an 'art', per se, but I do love to juggle.  So I'll give you a link to my two latest juggling videos, if you care to look.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...66760549995660
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...43260845055630

I think that's enough to start me off :p
Feel free to comment, and I have plenty more photography I'd love to put up, if anyone could tell me if there's any amount I should limit myself to per post or something.

Thanks for looking!

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## Man of Steel

Wow. That's some darn good work, on all fronts. (Well, I didn't check out the juggling, but everything else.)


Do you have any larger versions of those macros? If you don't mind, I'd like to try a couple as wallpapers. I've been trying to find something like that next-to-last one for weeks. 

Those first two drawings especially are great. Keep up the good work!

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## thegnome54

Sure thing, all of these are smallenized for internet use.  I actually used the first shot for a background for a pretty long time, flies have very strange faces.  Anyways, here's the second-to-last one full sized.  If you want any other ones, just holler!

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/8594/img6523fi3.jpg

It's pretty big so I won't link it directly onto here.

*Edit*
Speaking of desktops, I have this one picture of a garden spider attacking an ant that got caught in its web, which makes an awesome background.  I'll link it for anyone who wants a cool background.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6130/img6352md6.jpg

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## meggyfayephotography

> I have a Canon Powershot A610.  I LOVE my camera, it was very cheap ($260), and it has awesome manual settings, video support, and an amazing macro function.  I don't really know what type of lens it has, I just use the one that came with it.  It has a 4x optic zoom, and 4x digital, so I can technically go up to 16x, even though I never go past the optic zoom for clarity. I don't use zoom at all for macro shots, as it seems to mess up the focus.  It is, in my opinion, the perfect amateur camera.  
> 
> If you like my pictures, I just made a thread in the art section with a few more.  I'd love to have input from a (professional?) photographer!



Ok... so I was a bit skeptical when you said you had a Canon. I'm a Nikon user. Not a Canon fan at the least. Then when I googled what your camera looked like, I was even more skeptical of the quality of your pictures you'd have on here. But then... I looked. Wow. Very impressive: your eye, your camera, the lens... Makes me wonder why I spent $999 on my Nikon D70S... at a discounted price! Lol. 

I'd give you some input but... it looks to me like you don't need any! The only advice I can give you is buy a professional camera. It looks like you've found a career! 

Can't wait to see more photography from you!

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## thegnome54

> Ok... so I was a bit skeptical when you said you had a Canon. I'm a Nikon user. Not a Canon fan at the least. Then when I googled what your camera looked like, I was even more skeptical of the quality of your pictures you'd have on here. But then... I looked. Wow. Very impressive: your eye, your camera, the lens... Makes me wonder why I spent $999 on my Nikon D70S... at a discounted price! Lol. 
> 
> I'd give you some input but... it looks to me like you don't need any! The only advice I can give you is buy a professional camera. It looks like you've found a career! 
> 
> Can't wait to see more photography from you!



Seriously?  :smiley:   Thank you!!  I'm actually a science person, I'm considering a 
career in research neuroscience.  I think I'd hate to risk photography becoming a chore, so even if I got good enough to make a living at some point, I wouldn't like to.  But I think I've found a lifelong hobby in amateur photography!

Seeing as no one seems to mind me uploading a bunch of pictures, I'll stick in a few more while I'm posting.







My sister and her fiance  :smiley:

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## meggyfayephotography

:Eek: 

no spiders...

i love the water drop pics

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## Like A Bird Without Arms

Your macros are phenomenal!!!

Never before have flies been so beautiful.

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## Mes Tarrant

Wow very cool!!  ::D:  You are going to inspire all of DV to take close ups of small things now. The very first picture on this thread is my favorite, I think.

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## Oneironaught

Damn, Man. Each of the three talents you've demonstrated here are in top form. Bravo. 


If you've never seen Michael Moschen, look him up:

Example 1 (clip from "In Motion")
Example 2 (clip from "In Motion") Too bad these aren't the entire routines. They are really quite impressive in their entirety.

If you have not seen his video "In Motion", you owe it to yourself. You'd be able to pull off a lot of what he does. He does some really amazing "standard" juggling as well.

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## CoLd BlooDed

You know, I actually had those running shoes you drew.  Or something that looked like 'em.  Are they K-Swiss?  :p

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## thegnome54

Wow, thanks everyone!  :smiley: 

"Never before have flies been so beautiful."

Haha, boy was I surprised the first time I took a sharp picture of a fly.  They make very good subjects, because they like to sit still a lot.  Macro photography changes the way you look at the world - I'll think twice next time before swatting a fly.





> Damn, Man. Each of the three talents you've demonstrated here are in top form. Bravo. 
> 
> 
> If you've never seen Michael Moschen, look him up:
> 
> Example 1 (clip from "In Motion")
> Example 2 (clip from "In Motion") Too bad these aren't the entire routines. They are really quite impressive in their entirety.
> 
> If you have not seen his video "In Motion", you owe it to yourself. You'd be able to pull off a lot of what he does. He does some really amazing "standard" juggling as well.



Thanks  :smiley: 
I think once I can do most 3- and 4-ball juggling tricks I'll try my hands at contact juggling.  That guy is AWESOME!  I love that four-ball pyramid spin thing, I've tried before but it's very hard to get them all going smoothly.

Here are a few more pictures...



Barbecue cover after a rain :p


...And some "normal" pictures (not of uber tiny things I would normally step on)

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## Man of Steel

> Sure thing, all of these are smallenized for internet use.  I actually used the first shot for a background for a pretty long time, flies have very strange faces.  Anyways, here's the second-to-last one full sized.  If you want any other ones, just holler!
> 
> http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/8594/img6523fi3.jpg
> 
> It's pretty big so I won't link it directly onto here.
> 
> *Edit*
> Speaking of desktops, I have this one picture of a garden spider attacking an ant that got caught in its web, which makes an awesome background.  I'll link it for anyone who wants a cool background.
> 
> http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6130/img6352md6.jpg



Wow, thanks! That second one is awesome. 


Actually, think you could put up a link to the 'barbecue cover after rain' one? For some reason I love the look of it.

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## thegnome54

> Wow, thanks! That second one is awesome. 
> 
> 
> Actually, think you could put up a link to the 'barbecue cover after rain' one? For some reason I love the look of it.



Sure thing!

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/2410/img6439xn8.jpg

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## Lord Toaster

Wow nice, I particularly liked the pine cones, and the one looking up through the foliage of the two trees on either side of the photographer.  ::banana::

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## Indecent Exposure

Your photography is brilliant 
Keep posting  :wink2: 

Imran

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## meggyfayephotography

I love the seagull on the post on the dock. I have a shot just like it! But I can honestly say I love your much better! I love the ocean, do you have any more shots from there?

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## thegnome54

> I love the seagull on the post on the dock. I have a shot just like it! But I can honestly say I love your much better! I love the ocean, do you have any more shots from there?



I don't think I have any more from that specific dock, but I have a few other good ocean shots if you want.













That's a bit much, but I live in Rhode Island, so I get lots of face time with the ocean =P

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## thegnome54

> I love the seagull on the post on the dock. I have a shot just like it! But I can honestly say I love your much better! I love the ocean, do you have any more shots from there?



I don't think I have any more from that specific dock, but I have a few other good ocean shots if you want.

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## thegnome54

Hmm, I don't know why that got posted twice  ::shock:: 

I have some internet issues sometimes.  Does anyone know how I can delete that?

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## badassbob

I love all the stuff you've posted. But I'm most interested in the freehand drawings. I _really really really_ want to be good at drawing, I love to draw but I'm not good at it. So, could you tell me how you learned to draw so well? Did you just doodle and draw anything you could lay your hands on and you started to get better and better through experience, or did you have some professional tutoring?

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## thegnome54

> I love all the stuff you've posted. But I'm most interested in the freehand drawings. I _really really really_ want to be good at drawing, I love to draw but I'm not good at it. So, could you tell me how you learned to draw so well? Did you just doodle and draw anything you could lay your hands on and you started to get better and better through experience, or did you have some professional tutoring?



I've never had any tutoring or anything, but I can only (at this point) draw things I can see - for example, that character I drew from the MMORPG I drew from a CGI picture of him I thought was cool.  Maybe the ability to draw stuff from your head comes with lots of experience with things you've seen, or something... I don't know.  I consider my drawing a skill more than art, in some respects, because all I really do is copy what I see - if one part of an object is darker than another, I make it darker, etc. - I don't feel that I'm really adding anything to what's already there in real life, just trying to make a copy.

For still lifes and doodles of things that really exist, all I can really recommend is to ignore what your mind tells you.  It's very hard, but for example if you see someone's face, you think 'nose' and you'll be tempted to draw an outline of the nose.  This outline is what your retina sends to your brain after processing the face - if you input that outline into someone else's eye, they will not recognize it as a nose.  You need more 'raw' data - the nose isn't outlined on the face, one side is just darker and your mind fills in the outline for you - you have to allow the viewer to do the same, and draw what's actually there while ignoring your perception of the object.

It could be that I'm still young and I haven't really developed a style of art, but I definitely have friends my age who can do caricatures and things very well.  I suspect that some people are born with the ability to draw freehand.  If I were you, though, I would just start with some basic still-life type drawings and see what you can do.  I recommend a clear plastic water bottle, they are great for detaching yourself from what you perceive and drawing what you really see at the most basic level.

Hope that helps a bit!

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## badassbob

> I
> Hope that helps a bit!



Yeah it helps a _lot_, thanks for the advice.  ::goodjob2::

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## thegnome54

I figured I would take a little break from the photography and post some more of my writing.

First, just a tiny, amusing rhyme I came up with today while on a walk.  I saw a butterfly and the word 'butterflew' popped into my head.  After a while of trial and error I came up with a way to incorporate it into a stanza.

*It caught my eye;
The butterfly
Which butter-flew
‘Round lovely you*

Second is a poem I wrote for english class last year.  The assignment was to try to emulate the style of a particular poem.  I chose "Ode to the West Wind", by Percy Bysshe Shelley.  I really hated the romantic era, because of all the pompous 'we aren't part of nature' nonsense disguised as reverence for nature.  I got into the mood anyways, and cranked out what I consider a fairly decent poem.

*The Dance

The Gingko trees dance jubilantly, splashes
Of yellow gallivanting across the autumn pond,
Unaware of their certain doom, their fate as ashes.

Behind, earth’s jagged peaks are hidden in a haze
These ancient mountains rage in silence
While men with metal teeth begin the trees to raze

The mirrored surface of the pond is shattered
By the trees, the lifeless beauties, as they lay
In disarray, bodies unceremoniously scattered

The land lies in silence, the earth in shock and pain,
As the fallen trees are dragged away, to be burned
In the insatiable fires of industry and material gain.

The Gingko trees dance jubilantly, splashes
Of yellow awaiting the men’s return with axes
Forged in flames fed by their companions’ ashes.
*

This next one is from the same type of assignment, but this time I chose "An Essay on Man" by Alexander Pope.  I meant my attempt to be an epigram, and I even slipped in some religious overtone for good measure (I'm an agnostic/atheist).
*
The Hate Triangle

The general disposition of any man may be
Comfortably classified as one of these three –
First, there are those who simply hate,
Then, there are those who hate those who hate,
And finally there are those who orate
That they hate the very concept of hate.
Each man believes himself to be on higher
Moral ground, yet each has some form of ire
Seething inside, each more ridiculous than the last
In the all-seeing eyes of our Lord, which see past
Their petty masks of righteousness and feigned love.
The only true love is that which comes from above.*

Last but not least, a piece I wrote yesterday in the "Type whatever comes into your mind" thread, and found amusing.  It makes very little sense, but I think I pulled off some good imagery without getting too heavy.

*The Radish

I watched the radish as it rolled slowly towards the edge of the counter, unsure if its inertia would take it all the way. It hesitated, made one final revolution, and wobbled to a stop maddeningly close to the brink. I stood immobile, hoping it would somehow reanimate. The trail of water the radish had left behind began to bead with agonizing finality on the formica expanse.

I sighed.

I had no choice, after all. I reached out and gently prodded the thing with the tip of my knife. It tipped towards the ledge, paused for one final moment, balancing perfectly on its side, and dropped from view.

It hit the floor with a satisfying thud, and Lucky trotted over to assess the situation. After a few brief sniffs, I heard the radish crunch sickeningly in his jaws. I turned back to my salad with resignation. I had had no choice. That radish was far too spherical for culinary use.*

That's all for now, comments and constructive criticism are welcome!

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## Oneironaught

> Hmm, I don't know why that got posted twice 
> 
> I have some internet issues sometimes. Does anyone know how I can delete that?



You could have just edited it into being a new post.

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## thegnome54

> You could have just edited it into being a new post.



The edit ran out somehow, I could only quote or double quote it  ::|:

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## BiVixen

I adore all of your photographs!
What talent, keep it up!!

I am very fond of the barbeque cover one, may I use it as a desktop?

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## thegnome54

> I adore all of your photographs!
> What talent, keep it up!!
> 
> I am very fond of the barbeque cover one, may I use it as a desktop?



Thanks! :smiley: 

Of course, I think I linked a bigger picture at some point, you can feel free to use that.  I love the idea of people miles away appreciating the hidden beauty of my unassuming barbecue cover :p

*edit - by the way, I love your signature! The second part gave me a fresh perspective.

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## BiVixen

> Thanks!
> 
> Of course, I think I linked a bigger picture at some point, you can feel free to use that.  I love the idea of people miles away appreciating the hidden beauty of my unassuming barbecue cover :p
> 
> *edit - by the way, I love your signature! The second part gave me a fresh perspective.




I saw the link, I just wanted to make sure I passed it by you first. 
All credit be to you if anyone asks about it.  ::D: 


Also, thank you. The second quote is actually by C.S. Lewis...I want it tattooed in arabic

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## thegnome54

I went on a walk yesterday to an awesome beach, and I got some pretty cool pictures.  These aren't the best of the best, but I like some of them anyways.

This one was well-timed - I was walking behind my dad, and just as he stepped back into the middle of the trail after side-stepping the puddle, I snapped this ghostly shot.


Gateway to the water!


The approach


The surf!


The wet-dry, green-blue interfaces.


Fight... or flight?  How about a worried stare?


Blue sheep.


Never did make it to the promise land...


Broken beauty


I love that place, last time I went I ran into a _snake!_ It was a little tiny one, and I snapped a few shots -


Good times.

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## Burns

Seriously, gnome - you got game, man!  ::goodjob::  I mean, those pics are awesome, especially the macro ones. They look professional - you could definitely make some decent side-money from this hobby of yours!

Keep the pics coming! but no more spider pics please =P

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## thegnome54

> Seriously, gnome - you got game, man!  I mean, those pics are awesome, especially the macro ones. They look professional - you could definitely make some decent side-money from this hobby of yours!
> 
> Keep the pics coming! but no more spider pics please =P



Thank you!  My parents have actually been telling me I should try to publish some of my best ones, but I figured it was just the overzealous proud parent syndrome.  I notice a marked increase in the quality of my pictures over time, though (I've only had my camera for a year and a half) so maybe with a little more practice I'll see what I can do.  It would be pretty funny to get something published somewhere, because I'm supposed to be the math and science guy... all this praise is making me feel like Dick Feynman :p

Here are a few more for the road...

My little buddy.


Backyard liberals  :wink2: 


Tiny lone flowers in a field of mediocrity (2-3 mm diameter!)


*Ahem*  :Drama: 


Ahh, the coveted bumbling bee.  These guys are a pain in the neck to photograph, they act like drunken sods and only stay at a flower for two seconds.  To get this picture, I literally had to pick a flower he hadn't gone to yet and sit motionless until he decided to check that particular one out... then SNAP!  Hey presto, not bad!


You can't hide from the IRS.


A dignitary in action.  I had no idea grasshoppers were so... mosaicked!


Bright Shadows... I _love_ this shot, but sadly I took it with low resolution, so it doesn't print very well.

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## RooJ

I really love your photography gnome  ::thumbup:: , and i agree about the work vs hobby thing... although theres nothing wrong with selling a few prints on the side :p

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## thegnome54

A lot of people have said that my juggling videos are a bit choppy, because I tend to do one or two tricks per song.  I decided that I would instead try to do a whole bunch of tricks to one song, with no pauses in my juggling.  I lasted around a minute, which isn't bad for a start.  Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMK2Rv31bt4

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## thegnome54

No one's interested in juggling?  :Sad: 

Well here's a bit more photography.

One from the ocean I just found again - too bad about that blurry spot, I really liked the flow in this shot.


And now for some old shots I took in Providence.

From a bridge in Providence:


I don't really know why I like this shot, but I do.


An odd reflection of a crane in a window.


Another interesting reflection.  Not a very good composition, but still cool.


An old pigeon with a club leg  :Sad:   He seemed mad at the world, so I gave him a free portrait.


And here are my latest macros, from two or three days ago.

A strange bug.


A new flower budding.


A wee worm.


Okay, normally I would consider this shot a throwaway because it's so blurry, but WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?!  It's like a horned praying mantis, but tiny.


Finally, here are a few pictures I took while in Providence and Boston today.

My mom's sunglasses :p


Wild grapes in a parking lot in Boston?!


This is really cool, I don't know what those lights in the background are, though.


That's a lot  ::shock:: 
Practice makes perfect?  ::D:

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## Howie

This is ironic I stumbled upon your post just as we were both arguing why art IS important.
Very very nice work Gnome. (Even if it is all a waste. lol  :wink2: ) 

You certainly tell an armature photographer from a skilled one.

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## Oneironaught

> No one's interested in juggling?



I am! I used to do some basic ball and ring juggling way back in my magician days. I like your videos. The way you filter out all the colors except for the yellow is cool; I like that.

Man, I love the reflected shots especially. Funny thing, I took some 3D pictures of a fire hydrant today on my walk around a lake. As always, your macro shots are awesome.

I still need to practice on a dime as you said. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe my zoom isn't where it should be when doing macro attempts? Should zoom be as low as possible?

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## thegnome54

> I am! I used to do some basic ball and ring juggling way back in my magician days. I like your videos. The way you filter out all the colors except for the yellow is cool; I like that.
> 
> Man, I love the reflected shots especially. Funny thing, I took some 3D pictures of a fire hydrant today on my walk around a lake. As always, your macro shots are awesome.
> 
> I still need to practice on a dime as you said. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe my zoom isn't where it should be when doing macro attempts? Should zoom be as low as possible?



Thanks!  I love juggling, it feels as if it satisfies some primal urge, I'm just not sure which urge that might be :p

I'm not sure if macro functions are the same throughout all camera types, but mine usually works with little messing around.  I never zoom at all when I take a macro shot - it's counter intuitive, but if I zoom it always comes out a bit blurry.  I would try some shots with no zoom whatsoever and see what you get. 

I would say that the one tricky thing with macro shots is the shallow focus depth.  I often have to pick which plane will have the most interesting details in it and try to position my lens parallel to that plane - you can see that in the picture I have of that squarish bug on the flower, where only his face is in focus.  That's a pretty tiny bug, so that goes to show how small the focus really is.

If you want to get really close on a sunny day, it's sometimes important to have the sun in front of you, too - that way the camera's shadow doesn't get in the way.  Good luck!

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## thegnome54

Mooooooore.... JUGGLING!

I (re)discovered the fast frame rate mode on my camera (60fps - not bad!) and did a little routine in slow motion.  I also experimented with stacked multiplex juggling (Where you have two balls in one hand and act as if they're only one ball) but that was like my first attempt so it's not great.  I put it in slow motion too, so it would fit in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otG0NKve_d8

Enjoy?  :smiley:

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## Burns

> I'm not sure if macro functions are the same throughout all camera types, but mine usually works with little messing around. I never zoom at all when I take a macro shot - it's counter intuitive, but if I zoom it always comes out a bit blurry. I would try some shots with no zoom whatsoever and see what you get. 
> 
> I would say that the one tricky thing with macro shots is the shallow focus depth. I often have to pick which plane will have the most interesting details in it and try to position my lens parallel to that plane - you can see that in the picture I have of that squarish bug on the flower, where only his face is in focus. That's a pretty tiny bug, so that goes to show how small the focus really is.
> 
> If you want to get really close on a sunny day, it's sometimes important to have the sun in front of you, too - that way the camera's shadow doesn't get in the way. Good luck!



Great advice, thanks gnome!  ::D:  And thanks for posting more pictures - awesome stuff!  ::goodjob::

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## Oneironaught

> Mooooooore.... JUGGLING!
> 
> I (re)discovered the fast frame rate mode on my camera (60fps - not bad!) and did a little routine in slow motion. I also experimented with stacked multiplex juggling (Where you have two balls in one hand and act as if they're only one ball) but that was like my first attempt so it's not great. I put it in slow motion too, so it would fit in.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otG0NKve_d8
> 
> Enjoy?



That's awesome. I love the slo-mo. Good job.

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## thegnome54

Alright guys, I've been rushing to finish my Summer work, which includes two works of art for AP Art (duh).

The first must be a found still life, so I drew the setup of my kitchen counter, with some grapes, a mug, spoon, three juggling balls, and a scented pillow.

I just finished the spoon and grapes tonight, but I'm not entirely sure that I'm all done.  Here it is:



Does anyone have any comments/constructive criticism for me?  This is due on Wednesday.  I think it came out alright, for the effort I put into it  :tongue2:

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## Oneironaught

I love it, especially the grapes and spoon. I've found that convincingly portraying chrome coloring - complete with reflections - can be quite a challenge.

I don't know what else to say except that I think you did a really nice job on the entire piece.

EDIT: Some of the gray on the spoon might be a bit too bold on the dome area but, that's a minor criticism.

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## thegnome54

Thanks!  

I think I see what you mean, I'll try to add a touch of shading to make more of a gradient.

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## CoLd BlooDed

I really want your camera.  The little world truly is a fascinating place.

Incredible eye, good sir.

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## thegnome54

> I really want your camera.  The little world truly is a fascinating place.
> 
> Incredible eye, good sir.



Thanks!  It's a Canon Powershot A610, if I didn't mention that earlier.  I got it for $260 about a year and a half ago, so it should be quite cheap it you seriously want to get it.

Here's the beginning of my second AP Art assignment, which is a landscape featuring a building.  I chose to draw a picture that I took in Providence a while back.  I only have the top left corner mostly done so far (started work on it this morning).

(edit, by the way, I've already noticed and fixed the horizontal bar in the bottom window on the left side)

Here's the original picture.


Hopefully I can get close to finishing this tomorrow  ::?: 
Again, any comments and criticisms are welcome  :smiley:

----------


## blue water

Beautiful artwork you have here, do you have a deviantart account?
I dont have much advice to your techniques, but I know a few trics to help you share your images. drawings and such looks better with a clean frame.(mostly) To make clean frames I simply just tape over the area you want it and when youre done messing with drawing  remove the tape, instead of so much hassle trying to keep within a border. 
When you photograph your images they loose a lot of quality, adjust them in a photomanipulating program with brightness/contrast to regain a lot of colour and and such, straighten them out a bit so they lay flat on the viewer. Also, if the picture has bad frames, just clean it up and cut off any unstraight parts. An image that looks square on the internet is much easier to view, even if you have to cut off a little of the image to make it straight.
For your photographs, try straighten up the horizon. A tilted horizon is very distracting and a bit dizzy. Other than that I have nothing to say but your artworks are amazing and I find it incredible that you have developed all these skills without much help and so fast.

----------


## thegnome54

> Beautiful artwork you have here, do you have a deviantart account?
> I dont have much advice to your techniques, but I know a few trics to help you share your images. drawings and such looks better with a clean frame.(mostly) To make clean frames I simply just tape over the area you want it and when youre done messing with drawing  remove the tape, instead of so much hassle trying to keep within a border. 
> When you photograph your images they loose a lot of quality, adjust them in a photomanipulating program with brightness/contrast to regain a lot of colour and and such, straighten them out a bit so they lay flat on the viewer. Also, if the picture has bad frames, just clean it up and cut off any unstraight parts. An image that looks square on the internet is much easier to view, even if you have to cut off a little of the image to make it straight.
> For your photographs, try straighten up the horizon. A tilted horizon is very distracting and a bit dizzy. Other than that I have nothing to say but your artworks are amazing and I find it incredible that you have developed all these skills without much help and so fast.



Thanks, that's some great advice!  I never thought about taping up the edges, I think that will make my work much easier  :smiley: 

I don't have a deviantart account, I don't really know how that site works.  I started a flickr account a while back, but I never really followed up.  Most of my photographs are linked from my facebook account.  I'll look into deviantart, though, maybe I can get some exposure there.

----------


## thegnome54

I went on a two-week trip with my friend and his family to Maine, and got some pretty good shots.  I know they aren't really my usual fare of macro shots, but hopefully you'll still enjoy them  :smiley: 

Cattails behind a McDonalds.


A dragonfly which landed on my hand.


A fat caterpillar!


A big hole.


Giant rocks.  The cloud is pointing at my friend's mom.


Staring down into the sky.


Watching people watching the sunset.


Reflected sunset.


Golf.


I love this shot.  Somehow my friend didn't notice I was trying to take a picture, or maybe he was trying to annoy me or something, but he walked right into my shot.  I just took it anyways, and it came out awesome!


Yes, he did get pretty wet from this... it was worth the shot, though. He looks infinitely indifferent.


Adult landing next to a baby seagull.


Typical Maine forest trail.


Starfish!  Also some long-dead crabs.  Taken from a dock.


A nice little inlet.


Seagull in mid-flight.


Baby porcupine!


Barrels.


Crazy Maine islands.


Bald eagle!! It's a shitty picture, but it was really far away.


Artificial light takes over.


Bumble bee!


Monarch butterfly!


Silhouetted reflection.


Whoosh, that's a lot.  I took something like 500 pictures and 50 videos when I was there  ::shock::

----------


## thegnome54

Sorry for all the double posts, but it is my thread after all.  Sue me  :wink2: 

I made a very quick compilation of some of my newest moves before my camera's batteries died, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz6br0UIb-Y

It includes, in order:
*@*Four ball tricks: half shower, synchronized fountains, alternating fountains
*@*Three ball cascade with a blind catch behind my back (nope, I couldn't see it)
*@*Three ball multiplex throw with all balls caught in one hand before they land (four times, this trick makes you feel like you're in the matrix - GRAVITY IS TOO SLOW TO STEAL MAH BALLS!)
*@*A blind three ball cascade, with eight throws and a clean finish (I didn't have a blindfold, so I used an old long-sleeve shirt.  I couldn't see at all, I assure you)
*@*A lined-up three ball multiplex throw, coming out of and going back into a cascade
*@*A pattern where I throw the same ball over my shoulder three times in succession
*@*Ceiling juggling: Clawed cascade, normal cascade, and reverse cascade
*@*FIVE BALLS! I did a cascade pattern with two stacked multiplexes replacing two of the balls.

If that means anything to you.  It sounds impressive to me, especially since I've only been juggling for maybe three months or so.

----------


## Oneironaught

Very cool!





> ...especially since I've only been juggling for maybe three months or so.



What?  ::shock::  Damn, I knew you were awesome but, I now realise you're even more awesome than I thought. Excellent work (on all fronts).

----------


## Twoshadows

I have been meaning to tell you how much I love your pictures. You are a wonderful photographer. I love your style. You take pictures of all the kinds of things I like.

I was going to make a list of favorites, but then I realized that it would include about 90% of your pictures.

You _really_ are good.

Keep 'em coming!

----------


## thegnome54

Thanks, Oneironaught and Twoshadows!  I've never really shown so many of my pictures to anyone outside of my family, so this community's support means a lot to me  :smiley: 

Since school has started again for me (and I'm in like five APs  ::roll:: ), I don't know how soon I will get a new bunch of pictures.  There's always time to juggle, of course (I'm working on three in one hand and some new four ball tricks) so I might have some new videos soon enough.  It's very nice to know that I'm not the only one who enjoys my photography, though, so I'll see what I can do on the weekends.

Thanks for the kind words, all of you!  ::D:

----------


## The Question

WoW! Impressive work man!!! Macro photography is my favorite type, although im not very good lol! I was wondering what lense your using for your macro shots?

----------


## Oneironaught

> (and I'm in like five APs )



Why does that not surprise me in the least? You will go far, my friend.

----------


## thegnome54

> WoW! Impressive work man!!! Macro photography is my favorite type, although im not very good lol! I was wondering what lense your using for your macro shots?



I just use the lens that came with my camera (it's a Canon Powershot A610), and I don't zoom at all most of the time.

I just realized that the lens itself has numbers and doodads on it - it says:

Canon Zoom Lens 4x
7.3-29.2mm 1:2.8-4.1

Gibberish to me, but if it means something to you, great!  :tongue2:

----------


## The Question

Cool thanks, well you shure weild that camera and lense quite well my friend!

----------


## peppy

Those are excellent photos, keep it up gnome!  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

Here are a few shots I took today, in the garden and on a kayak trip.


Bzzzz.


A frighteningly large beehive that is in my backyard.  It had just rained, so they were all calm and had their heads stuck in it (for the most part).  This picture was taken roughly a foot away from the thing, after which I turned and ran like a little girl.  ::shock:: 


I'm really happy with this one, it's a little feather that was on the lawn while it was raining. Definitely up there with some of my favorites  :smiley: 


Holy vertebrae, batman!


A bird trying to swim away from my looming kayak.

And these aren't from today, but whatever

Dandelion and sun unite!


Shiny.


I kinda like this one.  The sun is shining through the center off of a window from the house.

----------


## thegnome54

Woohoo!  I'm FINALLY done with this landscape picture for my art class!  I think the tree is a bit lacking in volume, but I can't see a way to create black negative space between such fine branches using colored pencils, so sue me.


And here's the original picture (I took it myself, so no worries about plagiarism, haha)


(Same size for easier isolation of my horrendous inaccuracies)

I'm pretty happy with the way the reflections came out, they look very watery in person.  This is the best picture I could get of it, but it still hurts my eyes to look at it for some reason.  Whatever.  

The picture is around 14" by 20", so it's much more detailed than it looks in these smaller copies.  To give you an idea, I got a picture of some of the little details in front of the center building:

(edit again: This picture is 1.5 by 2 inches.  Those window panes were barely larger than the tip of my pencils, which is why they're not very plumb =P)

Any comments/criticisms?  I still haven't signed it  :wink2:

----------


## Oneironaught

That's really cool! I swear, at very first glace I thought it was a photo. Maybe try some thin, short black lines of some sort mingled in with the leaves to make your negative space? Better test in scrap paper first.

I like the way the reflections look. It's pretty convincing. You just didn't keep a straight vertical line from the "actual" buildings to the reflection images. But I don't think it takes much away from the picture. I like it, it looks good  ::thumbup::

----------


## bro

You really do have a knack for this. Keep it up, it could become your career as Meggy said. 

I enjoyed them all, I really did, moreso your macros as opposed to just landscapes.

The sunset one with the sky appearing on fire was stunning. 

Keep snapping away.

----------


## Xox

I really like your pics, you really have the ability to capture the one moment of amazing-ness lol. You should post more!  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

Hey everyone, I haven't been around much lately (I'm applying to college early decision  ::shock:: ), but I have found time to juggle, of course.

I'm pretty proud of my pringles can routine, it looks fluid and easy (it wasn't, at least for me haha).  Also in the video is a quick clip of me doing under-the-leg, behind-the-back with the same ball over and over again, and an assortment of tricks which highlight one ball (I used a tennis ball and two juggling beanbags to emphasize this, though it's a bit hard to see).  I threw in a few seconds of my bird bathing at the end because the music would end awkwardly otherwise.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=q6z0N_-iqiE
Advice or comments welcome!

----------


## Oneironaught

The chips can makes for a really cool trick. Me likey  ::D: 

You know, it's time for you to experiment with rings and juggling pins as well. You have more than enough talent to make up one hell of an awesome routine .

Gnome, I know I've told you about Michael Moschen's contact juggling but I just found a link that shows the entire routine I was referring to (I think the last link I gave you omitted the final section). Check this out. Practice with billiards balls (since they are smaller) and I bet you could do that very routine. Boy is it awesome.

I still can't find a video of the opening routine from "In Motion". It has an amazing variety of "standard" juggling.

----------


## thegnome54

Here are a few origami models I've made recently.


Kawasaki Rose variant with calyx and stem.


The rose in its vase (a Verdi's Vase)


A pig with wings!!


The piggy from above.


Dollar bill sign dollar fold.


Caterpillar on leaf.  Aptly named.


Another Kawasaki Rose variant, but this one is tiny and more fleshed out.

All of these pieces were made from one sheet (except for the first rose - one sheet for the rose, one for the calyx, and one for the stem).

----------


## thegnome54

Here are my two latest pieces for AP art.


The assignment for this one was to draw "hands in a social setting" - only draw the hands of the subjects.  I did golf, as you can see, and used only graphite pencils.


And this one is drawn from a picture I took a while ago (should be on here somewhere) with colored pencils.

Both pieces are about 18 by 24, I think, counting the borders.

----------


## thegnome54

I have a portfolio review tomorrow - does anyone have any constructive criticism/comments for me?  I'm not entirely sure that I'm done with either of those pieces.

----------


## Xox

The two peices you have above are *great.* You definetely have a lot of talent man! I cant even decide which one I like better. haha

----------


## bro

I concur..everytihng you've got up here has struck me as sensational..honest, you should look into developing these varied skills even more...

----------


## thegnome54

Thanks guys!  ::D:

----------


## thegnome54

I thought it would be interesting to see the source material and the final product next to each other, and about the same size




If anyone's curious, my portfolio review thing went extremely well, and my teacher mentioned trying to submit some of my work to some sort of scholastic art competition or something.  Awesome!

Thanks for your support, everyone  :smiley:

----------


## Oneironaught

> 



Those water drops look so cool.





> If anyone's curious, my portfolio review thing went extremely well, and my teacher mentioned trying to submit some of my work to some sort of scholastic art competition or something. Awesome!



That's not surprising at all, to be honest. You're one talented dude.

----------


## Siиdяed

Agreed. I love the way you've captured the light on the water droplet in your drawing (and in the picture), and I love flies from now on.

Macro photography suddenly rules all.  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

Here's the piece I'm working on now, so far.



I'm working from a picture I took of my friend in Maine.  It's in pastel (this is my first time using non-oil pastels, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants a bit).

I'm pretty happy with both legs so far, but the shape of the shoe on the right bothers me a bit.  It seems a little puggish.  Does anyone else see this, or am I being anal?  Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated.

----------


## Grod

Wow... all of the pictures I have seen here are very cool.

My favorites are the close up of the grasshopper and the butterfly... I never knew they looked so... cool from close up. Your drawings are great as well.

I'm eagerly awaiting more of your art.

----------


## thegnome54

> Wow... all of the pictures I have seen here are very cool.
> 
> My favorites are the close up of the grasshopper and the butterfly... I never knew they looked so... cool from close up. Your drawings are great as well.
> 
> I'm eagerly awaiting more of your art.



Thanks!  Macro photography definitely changes the way you look at the world - there is much more to it than you might imagine.  :smiley: 

I know this isn't much progress for about three weeks since the last update, but:
I work slowly, because I'm trying to make it realistic
I'm in three other AP classes and have some senior project nonsense going on
And I'm not even going to submit my portfolio to any colleges (not majoring in art, haha) so time is not of the essence.

Guilt aside, here is my work so far:


I have yet to do any of the blue-white portions of the water, though I've drawn in the reflection patterns on the leg shadows (most obviously in the upper right corner of the right leg's shadow).  I'm also still working on the submerged portion of rock in the shadow of the right leg - it needs to be a bit darker and less defined.

I'm pretty happy with it, but I have a few specific aspects which I'm not too sure about.  It would be great if you guys could tell me what you think so I can see if my concern is warranted or not.

Thanks everyone!  ::D:

----------


## Oneironaught

> It would be great if you guys could tell me what you think so I can see if my concern is warranted or not.
> 
> Thanks everyone!



I don't see any problem at all with it so far. As far as I can tell, it's looking quite amazing.

----------


## thegnome54

> I don't see any problem at all with it so far. As far as I can tell, it's looking quite amazing.



Thanks!  :smiley: 

The thing I'm not certain about is the lack of true darks and the relatively narrow swath of colors used in the rocks towards the back - I made them a bit dim and less stark on purpose to accentuate the depth, but I don't want them to look faded either.  It's a tough balance, I suppose.

----------


## grasshoppa

Wow, you are amazing at reflections/lighting. I really like the water droplet on the leaf, all of your stuff is great though. And about that right boot, I didn't notice its pudginess until you mentioned it. It still looks good by all means, but it looks like more of a skate shoe than a boot. Can't say I've drawn anything better though. Looking forward to the finished project.

----------


## thegnome54

Here's another update on my ongoing pastel piece:


The lighting isn't great, so the left half of the picture looks a bit whited out/blurryish.

But I've managed to finish the bottom portion of the water and the rocks to the left of the feet.  The only part I've got left to do is the intense little ripply area that I've been saving for the last arduous leg of my journey.

Hopefully future pieces won't take so ridiculously long to do, but I think the effort I'm putting into this one is coming to fruition at last.

Any comments appreciated, it's always nice to have some third-party critiques  :smiley: 

Oh by the way, if anyone's curious, the piece is around 18x20, I think.

----------


## Xox

Wow, this is coming along quite well. 

You are _absolutely_ amazing with the reflections.

Can't wait to see the finished piece.  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

> Wow, this is coming along quite well. 
> 
> You are _absolutely_ amazing with the reflections.
> 
> Can't wait to see the finished piece.



Thanks!  ::content:: 

And... today's your lucky day!  I'M FINALLY FINISHED! (hopefully)


I darkened the water towards the bottom for more of a proper gradient, so hopefully the depth is better there than before.  I also had to invent a new technique for those crazy little ripples on the right side, but I'm pretty happy with how it all came together.  Especially for my first dry pastel piece, I think I did quite well  :smiley:

----------


## Xox

WOW. Absolutely mind-blowing! And I mean it.  ::D: 

This look so real it's not even funny...

I think you did a _terrific_ job!

----------


## thegnome54

> WOW. Absolutely mind-blowing! And I mean it. 
> 
> This look so real it's not even funny...
> 
> I think you did a _terrific_ job!



Thank you!  ::D:

----------


## Grod

I'm curious gnome.... how long does it take in total to do your artwork? Like the above one for example.

Once again your artwork is amazing. :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

> I'm curious gnome.... how long does it take in total to do your artwork? Like the above one for example.
> 
> Once again your artwork is amazing.



That one took a period of maybe a month, I think...

But I'm not a very efficient worker.  I have art class either 3 or 4.5 hours a week, and then I worked on it for like 1-2 hours extra over the course of the week and weekend.  That makes a total of around 20 hours or so, I guess.

And even within those twenty hours... a lot of breaks to admire my little bird, juggle random things and daydream.  It's really hard to say how many hours of real work went in, I guess it's been more of a background project I've been nibbling at than anything serious.

I plan on going more abstract next, if I can, and testing the waters.

----------


## Grod

> That one took a period of maybe a month, I think...
> 
> But I'm not a very efficient worker.  I have art class either 3 or 4.5 hours a week, and then I worked on it for like 1-2 hours extra over the course of the week and weekend.  That makes a total of around 20 hours or so, I guess.
> 
> And even within those twenty hours... a lot of breaks to admire my little bird, juggle random things and daydream.  It's really hard to say how many hours of real work went in, I guess it's been more of a background project I've been nibbling at than anything serious.
> 
> I plan on going more abstract next, if I can, and testing the waters.



Either way that's amazing.

I look forward to more of your work. ::goodjob2::

----------


## grasshoppa

Very nice, came together well. The water looks fantastic!

----------


## Oneironaught

Man, the water is amazing! I love it.

----------


## thegnome54

I just thought I'd update you guys a bit...

I entered a photography portfolio and my pastel piece (I called it "The Maine Reflection") into the scholastic art and writing awards.  Both were selected to go on to the national level, and "The Maine Reflection" won a golden key award as well as the American Visions Award, which means it was judged best in show for my region.  ::banana::   I'm very honored by all of this attention, it's too bad I have no use for an art scholarship  :tongue2: 

I haven't gotten any new photography done due to the winter weather and my midterms and all of that jazz.  I'm currently working on another pastel piece which is of my bird sitting on my mother's shoulder, except he has a wrench for a beak (for an assignment called 'nature vs. technology').

As for my juggling, I got clubs, rings, and glowing juggling balls for christmas!  My glowing balls are absolutely gorgeous, I'm planning on doing a routine with them at my school's talent show.  I should have a video of glow juggling uploaded at some point in the next few weeks, now that my midterms are over.

So yeah, I'm not quite dead yet  :smiley:

----------


## Marvo

> My glowing balls are absolutely gorgeous




Sounds hot!


Anyway, I love your artwork. When I entered this thread, I just took a look at the paintings and thought "That's some good photographing", then scrolled up, and saw the picture again, but different. Then I kinda thought "Ok, that some good photoshop. Nice effects and reflections!" and then I went a page back, and the the drawing from the beginning  :Eek:  this made me take a closer look at the final picture, and I realized it was a drawing, and not a picture.
You're amazing! I'm good at drawing and Photoshopping, but I'm not really on an artistic level, but rather a cartoony level  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

Thanks, Marvo!  :smiley: 

Here's a video of me practicing my glow juggling.  I was just trying to see which moves looked cool and which didn't, so it's not particularly choreographed or anything - but whatever, look how awesome those balls are!  ::D:

----------


## Carôusoul

loving 1:10.


heh. It's all really good.

----------


## Marvo

Haha, that's amazing! It almost looks like you have 3 hands  ::D: !

And yeah, 1:10 is funny  :wink2:

----------


## Taosaur

I just made a quick run of the whole thread--great arts! I'm envious of both your talent and your natural surrounds  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

Haha, thanks guys!  And yeah, Tao, rural New England is quite beautiful.  There's way more wildlife around here than one might think at first glance.  :smiley: 

Here's my latest juggling video (I stayed home "sick" today, had to do something with my time  :tongue2: )

----------


## Abra

You're one of those college art-major crazy people, aren't you? As one who cannot draw straight lined stick people, and has a crappy camera (Digital. A decade old. The resolution is _nearly_ one megapixel), I severly envy you.

Anyway, you make bugs look cooler than ever. You could get those photos published in a variety of biology/entomology textbooks, I bet. Or make a calendar. Or something. I <3 insects. Even more now.

----------


## thegnome54

> You're one of those college art-major crazy people, aren't you? As one who cannot draw straight lined stick people, and has a crappy camera (Digital. A decade old. The resolution is _nearly_ one megapixel), I severly envy you.
> 
> Anyway, you make bugs look cooler than ever. You could get those photos published in a variety of biology/entomology textbooks, I bet. Or make a calendar. Or something. I <3 insects. Even more now.



Thanks!  :smiley: 

I'm very honored to be admired for my art, but I'm actually hoping to major in neuroscience (I'm not in college yet).  My fascination with biology and nature in general probably shows through in my macro shots... sometimes I wish my camera were more of a microscope!

----------


## Abra

You're not even in college, yet?! *jaw drops* O______O

----------


## thegnome54

Yeah, I'm sixteen  :tongue2: 

I got accepted to Brown, though, so I'm on my way  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

I think I've more or less finished my "nature vs. technology" assignment.


I might go back and add in some more variations in the bird's face later on, but for now I'm happy enough with it.  I had a really hard time making the wrench look like metal, since I've never really looked closely at metal surfaces before.  I brought a huge (13 inch) wrench to school today to draw from, and I think that helped.  It was also fun to walk around brandishing it at people, only to mumble something about an 'art project' if confronted.  I even managed to invent a juggling routine using the head of the wrench instead of my right hand!  Good times, haha.

I've also decided to try to practice my freehand drawing skills, by doing caricatures of people.  Here's my latest attempt:

Hopefully you can tell who it is, or else I've failed miserably  :tongue2: 

Oh, one really cool thing - I got an invitation to the Bannister Gallery to receive my golden key and American Visions awards for my pastel piece, and guess what they put on the front of their card!  My drawing!  How cool is that?  (It's in the bottom left corner)

 ::banana::  ::banana::

----------


## thegnome54

...And some more juggling!

This is a compilation of some of the hardest tricks I can currently do, going through 1,2,3,4, and 5 balls. 


What do you think?  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

So, I was kind of bored earlier and happened across 500 pennies.  What to do?

Build a tiny medieval gateway, obviously!


Behold my gayly colored flags!


Reinforced battlements!


I used a toilet paper roll for scaffolding, and with some careful engineering I managed to create a gate with an unsupported four-penny-long top bar!


It's even big enough to fit a luxury vehicle!


That was fun  ::lol::

----------


## Taosaur

Pretty impressive span. I'll give you $5 for it.

----------


## Marvo

Awww you're such a geek Gnome  ::D:

----------


## thegnome54

> Pretty impressive span. I'll give you $5 for it.



Hahaha that really made me laugh  ::lol::   Good one

I've added in a tower of nickels!


Through one side, looking at the support tower across the way:


The domed top from above


Oh, and here's a spidey-dollar that I "found", and did not, by any means, draw myself - that would be illegal!

----------


## LifeStandsStill

I seem to be the only one seriously amazed by the coins  ::roll:: 
I just think that was super awesome, and keep up the good work  :smiley:

----------


## thegnome54

I haven't updated you guys on my drawings in a while, so here goes.  Also expect some new photography in the coming weeks, as the grass grows green again.  :smiley: 

Since it's getting close to the AP test time, and I'll need 24 drawings by then, I've decided to explore different (faster?) styles and techniques.  First, I resolved to do a piece entirely off the top of my head, with no reference materials at all, and see if I could apply what I've learned from studying objects and photographs.  I think it came out decent, so I'm happy.



This piece I basically did to fill up a hole in my first semester assignments, and because it sounded like a fun idea.  I did it in one day (three hours of art class).  Inspired by my memory of spray-paint space artists.



An art teacher recommended that I look into trompe l'eoils, because they would satisfy my fascination with realism and detail.  I will definitely explore this concept more in the future, it's something I enjoy doing.  There's definitely a satisfaction involved in making something so realistic that people confuse it for a real object.  Anyways, my first foray into this area is more of a humorous piece, I decided to simply draw a life-sized fly in the corner of a blank sheet and leave it at that.  I'm sure it's some sort of an artistic statement, I just have to put it into words sometime  ::lol:: 

From far off, the entire piece.


A bit closer up (this is about how big the fly is in real life)


And a super up-close shot (the fly is about a centimeter from antennae to ass)


I'm not sure if I should add more shadow to this or not, I'm afraid to overdo it.  I've already had two or three people try to swat it away as they walked by me  ::lol:: 

A series of black and white portraits I made on index cards. This was really just to entertain myself and study how shadows fall on people's faces. I would turn the contrast on a picture way up, sketch out the face through an index card, and then marker it in on my own. The middle two are my sister and I. Can you tell who far left and far right are?

----------


## Abra

The fly drawing is shweet. It looked real. Sometmes we overlook the truth of things!

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## thegnome54

> The fly drawing is shweet. It looked real. Sometmes we overlook the truth of things!



Thanks, Abra!  :smiley:

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## wasup

Wow you are very talented and I'll admit... I'm pretty jealous.  I'll post up some of my art in another thread (don't wanna steal your thunder  :tongue2: ).  I love graphite pencil the most, but I've done painting and pastel, but I suck at both.  Gratz on your pastel skills, it's very good.  Also, I can never manage to use colored pencil without it looking like a 6 year old did it, so good job on that.  Perhaps you could give me some pastel tips (I can help with graphite pencil sometime too because that's my favorite medium.  I have a couple pieces going into competitions/magazines/art shows too so maybe we can share.  or maybe not help you, because obviously you are very skilled, but constructive criticism).  But yeah, I'm jealous and good job.

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## thegnome54

Thanks, wasup!  I would love any advice you could give me, because I've never really had a teacher give me pointers.  They tend to falsely assume that I know what I'm doing  ::?:   Graphite used to be my favorite medium, and I still do love it, so any little tricks or general concepts that might help me out would be cool  :smiley: 

I have really come to love dry pastel, my first use of it was with that picture of my friend's legs and I've been using them frequently since.  The way I handled it was using layers of color - first, the most basic (and usually lightest, so it would show through and be easy to erase) color goes all over the area I want to fill in.  I'm told this is known as 'blocking' out the area, or something.  After that, darker and more detailed colors just go on top.  I've noticed that since it's a powder, you have to put on much more than you actually want, then rub it around and blow off the excess to get a smooth coat.  The paper is also pretty important, they sell 'pastel' paper that makes a drastic improvement in ease of use.  I also developed a method to 'smudge' the pastel in without mixing the colors together - I take a "smudgie stick" (no clue what they're called... little pencil-shaped rolls of paper) and wrap the tip in a thin tissue or coarse paper towel.  I then have an interchangeable tip, so I can get a new one if I switch colors.  This makes it really easy to add in highlights.

The reason I started using colored pencils is actually that I had never used color in my art before, and it sounded like a good transition from pencil.  Part of the formula is good paper, so that those little white spots don't kill all of the details - you need something smooth, I think.  After that, the most important thing is layering, I think.  I put down very light layers of each color as a 'base' before going in for the kill.  This let me experiment a bit with combinations before it got too dark to erase.  Many of the shading techniques I used are somewhat similar to graphite techniques.  I'm not really sure if that helps, feel free to ask anything else I didn't mention.  I'm no expert, though, I kind of made up my techniques on my own over the summer.

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## tkdyo

I am pretty amazed by the coins, they are cool, are these art things what you do for fun?  Cause I would if I was talented at it  ::D:

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## Man of Steel

Gnome, sorry I haven't commented recently, great work, man! You never cease to amaze me. 

That fly is... Wow. Even in the 'super-close-up shot' if I back away from my computrer screen it looks just like a macro photograph of a fly! Makes me want to go get out my art supplies again. 


Keep up the great awesome work!

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## thegnome54

> I am pretty amazed by the coins, they are cool, are these art things what you do for fun?  Cause I would if I was talented at it



Thanks!  :smiley: 
The photography and coin stuff is just for my own personal enjoyment (though I decided to show my photography to my art teacher and ended up winning a gold key award for my portfolio at scholastic  ::-P: ).  The drawings are mostly for my AP Art class, which is surprisingly demanding - I need 24 drawings by May or something  ::shock:: 





> Gnome, sorry I haven't commented recently, great work, man! You never cease to amaze me. 
> 
> That fly is... Wow. Even in the 'super-close-up shot' if I back away from my computrer screen it looks just like a macro photograph of a fly! Makes me want to go get out my art supplies again. 
> 
> 
> Keep up the great awesome work!



Thank you!  I'm really glad you guys like my fly, because I was worried that if it wasn't impressive enough it would seem like a cop-out instead of a cool concept.

I appreciate all of the support  :smiley:

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## thegnome54

I keep this rectangle of particle board on my desk for putting cups and plates on, and earlier today I realized that I could draw on it with markers!

I figured I would draw something on it to make it more aesthetically pleasing, and this is what I came up with.



Fun! *Rummages around for more particle board*  :tongue2:

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## Abra

Stop being awesome at everything. >=(

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## thegnome54

So, today we had a substitute teacher in AP Biology, and I had a roll of masking tape someone had left on my desk.  I decided to fulfill a long-time urge - to make a modular icosahedron!  It came out pretty cool, and even though it's hollow, it's reasonably sturdy so I'm not too worried about it breaking on me.



I also made my first all-by-hand marker portrait (no tracing).  The minimalism and clean lines involved fascinate me for some reason, and I hope to get better at it.  Can you tell who this one is?

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## CoLd BlooDed

All incredible stuff, man.  

That fly one is really interesting too.  It makes me think.  I'm not sure what about but I'll be back with an artistic statement.   :tongue2:

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## thegnome54

> All incredible stuff, man.  
> 
> That fly one is really interesting too.  It makes me think.  I'm not sure what about but I'll be back with an artistic statement.



 ::lol::  I feel the same way.  I'm sure it means something, I'm just not quite sure what.

I just made my second by-hand marker portrait!

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## LifeStandsStill

Really liking the marker portraits, very interesting in detail.

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## thegnome54

> Really liking the marker portraits, very interesting in detail.



Thanks!  I'm totally addicted, haha.  Here are two more I just made, hopefully you guys can guess who they are.

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## Oneironaught

Gnome! I wish I could shake your hand. Every time I look at any of your work - art, photography, juggling, whatever - I get a huge grin on my face. I absolutely love all of it. It hits me all over again each time just how talented you are. You've obviously hones a few skills but it's apparent that you've 'got what it takes'. Stick to your strong talents (all of these) and you'll do wonders for your future.

Sorry I haven't checked in here for such a long time.





> Oh, one really cool thing - I got an invitation to the Bannister Gallery to receive my golden key and American Visions awards for my pastel piece, and guess what they put on the front of their card! My drawing! How cool is that? (It's in the bottom left corner)



Congratulations!





> Oh, and here's a spidey-dollar that I "found", and did not, by any means, draw myself - that would be illegal!



That is so cool. I can't help but smile  ::D:  I want one. Maybe I'll find one some day  :paranoid: 

Oh, the fly is rather well done. It's weird how such a small image can be so complete and so detailed. There's something strangely organic about it. It's hard to describe. Very well done.

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## thegnome54

I've been experimenting with pen lately, so here are a bunch of random doodles and drawings I've made to practice my cross-hatching and stuff.

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## thegnome54

Another index card portrait in pen, of a friend.

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