model: Eva Strangelove
hair & makeup: Tami Milicia
I’m a fan of the film noir aesthetic and I wanted to try to create something like that here. As a burlesque performer Miss Eva Strangelove captures some of that old Hollywood spirit. You can imagine the starlet retreating to her room at the end of the day as she tries to escape the world.
While going through files a few days ago I stumbled upon an in-progress version of my digital photo manipulation “Affliction”. Since I bounced back and forth between Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter to create it, apparently one of the programs saved a backup. I thought it would interesting to share the progress from the original photo to the finished version.
I displayed “Affliction” at a show recently. I enjoyed looking at people as they viewed it and wondered what they were seeing. The idea behind its creation was to make a seamless integration between the mask and the body. I think the effect ended up being so subtle that people have to look closely to really notice what’s been done to the image. As you can tell, it looked pretty rough in the middle of the process. I spent several hours doing digital painting. I had to pick colors that went well with the original image. Then I blended them, taking the light source into account so the shading wouldn’t look unnatural. Finally I added a texture to avoid that smooth, clean digital look. It may seem like a very straightforward and simple idea but there was quite a bit of work that went into it.
You can see the complete piece in my photo manipulations page.
In my mind, I’ve been slacking. Although you’ve seen many new photos from me, I’ve only done three paintings and a drawing or two so far this year. I’ve had notes for several paintings in my little notebook that have been waiting to be made. I haven’t worked in my art studio (not the small one in my home) since late last year. So the urge to get in there and create has been growing and nagging at me recently.
The first step (aside from the scribbles of a few words in my notebook) is to sketch the idea. I plan on transferring this sketch onto the canvas that’s been sitting in my studio for months and get started on the painting very soon.
model: Vaunt
hair & makeup: Tami Milicia
Sometimes there are things you notice as you’re framing an image for a photograph. In this case, it was the lamps on the wall that created a crown on Vaunt’s head. They added an interesting dynamic to the image.
Saturday, March 26
8:30 pm – 12:30 pm
Seaholm Power Plant
Austin, TX
Tickets: $50
http://www.octopusclub.org/ArtErotica
Every year I donate work to ArtErotica. The event is sponsored by the Octopus Club and benefits the AIDS Services of Austin. It continues to push the envelope for erotic art and is considered Austin’s sexiest art show and fundraiser. I like to contribute photography I can’t show at 99.8% of other art shows. This year is no exception. In fact, while I was in Detroit for The Dirty Show in February, I captured one of my favorite naughty photos with Luna Devise. I haven’t posted it here on my site yet because I think even the most liberal people would think “Holy shit!”. I know that’s what I thought when I saw how it turned out. I’m only going to let the photo only be seen at the event since it extremely not safe for work (NSFW) and I keep things from going past the “rated R” level here.
model: Eva Strangelove
hair & makeup: Tami Milicia
My favorite New Zealander visited recently (nevermind the fact she’s the only one I know). So Miss Eva Strangelove and I made an appointment for one of the few nights she was here… just in time for a night cap.
model: Vaunt
hair & makeup: Tami Milicia
I had a chance to play around at the new(ish) Austin W Hotel a couple of weeks ago for photo shoots. During my shoot with Vaunt, there was some beautiful sunshine pouring in. Although I tend to be more of a creature of the night, I can appreciate some nice, warm sunlight.
RAW: Austin presents ARTcade
Thursday, March 24, 2011 8:00 pm
Venue 222, 222 E 6th St, Austin, TX
Presale Tickets: $10 (purchase here by Monday, March 21st)
This Thursday, March 24th I’ll be a part of ARTcade. RAW Artists is an organization that showcases artists in monthly events all across the country. They not only showcase the visual arts but also fashion, music, photography, and film. The line up and tickets for the event can be found here. Today is the last day to purchase presale tickets online. When checking out, make sure “David de Lara” is selected to show your support for me.
