French, Bums, German Fetish....

INTERVIEW WITH EROTIC DIGITAL ARTIST TSUBASA.....

Your work is extremely erotic and seems to suggest a fetish towards heels (really!) and bondage.....do you seek inspiration from your own experiences or frm other sources?

It's really a combination of things, but it's hard to pinpoint where the work comes from. Some from experiences and some from outside influences. The work that seems to be the most liked has usually just flowed through the design process though. I do have a thing for very high heels and bondage.

The photography in your images, is this something you do too? Do you often collaborate with other artists?

I do the photography in the portraits I make. I have collaborated with photographers in the past, but I prefer to shoot my own work. It's not an ego thing. It's more about taking ownership of the whole process.

How did you get into this kind of digital art and how long have you been pushing the boundaries of editing software?

I used to paint and draw and got really frustrated with it. Digital is something that just came naturally. I don't know that I'm really pushing the boundaries of any technology. There is a wealth of really incredible digital work out there that I can't get near.

Where didu learn such amazing digital skills?

I took a job 20 years ago for computer design. That's when I started learning. The tsubasa stuff started around 5 years after using all of the same tools. It's one long, never-ending learning process after that.

Where would you say has been your best show / exhibition and why?

I did a show in Sweden that was pretty cool. The surroundings were beautiful. Did a hanging at the German Fetish Ball that was 100 tiny prints. Looked like a bunch of oversized pixels. Having my video at CineKink in NY was a treat too.

Whats the naughtiest thing you've done?

That's for me to know and you to find out.

Do you ever use people you know really well as models and does that make it easier / harder?

Most of the models I've worked with I met through doing portraits and then they either became friends (or enemies

French or English....im talking about mustard?

If it's mustard it has to be French.

Boobs or Bums?

Do I have to choose? If so, then Bums hands down.

Advise for budding artists?

Just be honest with yourself in your work. Do it for you and not your critics.

What's the first thing you did this morning?

Check my email (I'm a geek)

Plans for the future?

Good question. Really.

Anything else you would like to add or even ask me / the audience?

What inspires you? What makes you tick? That's what interests me the most about people.

Thank you to Tsubasa for the interview. You can view more of his work at his site, here.

Who would you like to see interviewed? Got some art you want to talk about? Get in touch.....

"Do not press........."

Entering the mouth of a clown I was presented with a space drowned in red curtains and swimming in beach balls and balloons. Leading through to smaller, closer and darker spaces again all divided with red curtains the next room held giant candy sticks hanging from the ceiling, swinging gently from where the previous group have just passed through. I was nervous, in fact I instructed the boyf firmly that for at least the first 10 minutes he was not to let go off my hand. Well, 2 minutes in and he was away trying to separate the curtained partitions and throwing balloons at the rest of our group as we moved precariously through the dark, stumbling around arms outstretched and trying to blink through the blindness.

Having visited the last Punchdrunk I was expecting something scary or unexpected to happen any minute but it didn't. It was quite nice. We just wandered at our leisure through dream like scenes of the 50's, elaborate sets of homes, mental institutions, examination rooms, living areas, crime scenes and offices. It was great fun even though we were fully aware we were being lulled into a false sense of security!

If you don't know what I am talking about yet it is the current Punchdrunk performance at Spinning fields in Manchester called 'it felt like a kiss.' An amazing alternative theatre group that manage to stimulate all your senses in an unexpected, anticipation filled 'walk through' show; although not all show, you are required to take part.

I do not want to spoil it if you still have plans to go but read the reviews, check out the group (links provided below) and be ready to be plunged into darkness, find yourself lost in a maze of wire cages and physiological tests and generally be scared.....but also enjoy yourself!

'It felt like a kiss' has been produced specially for the Manchester International Festival 09.

Oh....its coming yay!! The interview with erotic digital artist.....TOMORROW!

it felt like a kiss......

Seriously need to pick up on this blogging thing but all good cos have been busy. So it was the awesome Fat Talent Sunday and even though I had to leave early there were some great acts. Performers just keep improving and my arms and legs saw more goose pimples than ever before. A few that got my interest in particular were the following people.....check them out if you have some time, it'll be worth it.

Jeremy St John

Sarah L Palmer

________

Photographed Summer Swing last night at Kew Gardens....what an amazing setting! The Botanical Gardens looked totally stunning and the light show and fireworks were second to none. Really hope that I get to photograph there again sometime and having not even downloaded the pics from the camera yet, I am excited about seeing how they came out. Previews to come after the weekend of course! Keep your eyes peeled.

________

This weekend See's me in Cheshire visiting the man and as great as that is I have something even more amazing to get excited about - the Punchdrunk performance. If you have not heard of these YOU ARE MISSING OUT!! Their performances are truly awesome and are not bog standard theatre productions with sweaty toffs sitting in velour seats. This is on your feet for 120 Min's, walking and exploring 5 stories of dark building where the acting takes place around you by small groups of actors, all doing different parts of the play. You are given a mask when you go in so you don't recognize the other guests (so you cant stick to your mate all night!) and you are thrown into a mind f*** of wonder! The smells, the atmosphere, the noises, the actors....it is all astonishing. 2007 saw Masque of the Red Death and my friend being dragged into a small room by a lady, something odd being whispered in his ear then a bucket of water being thrown over him! I experienced climbing through a small fireplace to find a small girl on the other side crying (an actor fear not!) and myself on a mission to find as many small bugs as possible from the clues given. Check it out here if you want to learn more and keep in touch about when their next performance may be.

So other plans at the moment apart from bringing you more pics is to launch the new look website in the next 2 weeks, collaborate with Chocolate Blonde on a seriously fun filled fashion shoot watched by rather a few people - nothing like pressure! Ha ha, she laughs uncomfortably. Following that another catwalk opportunity and also some pics for a charity. I like to stay busy so remember, you want corporate, PR or portrait images get in touch. All you Fat Talent performers or models - you even get a discount!!

Shola Ama, Giggs, Ghetts, Choc Blonde & more household animals....

So much to catch up on and I know you guys are still waiting for the 'regular' photo tip and also the interview with digital erotic artist - well they will be coming this week! Specific photo tips or photoshop tricks are going to have a bit more structure to them and are now going to be featured fortnightly on a Friday.

Right.....so Friday saw the Stand Up Honors and Award show held in East London. It was a really good event and very well produced. All images are now live on my web gallery if you wish to see them all....check them out here.

Sneak Preview above for your ref as well!

Oh and going on the animal theme and finding a one eared goat in my bedroom last week, today I found a little robin in my kitchen which had got in through a window. Very cute....

PS: OH VERY excited!! Guess who is doing a shoot with Chocolate Blonde!? We are getting together with Ady from the amazing Fat Talent and producing some awesome pics which will be featuring in the soon to come FT magazine, on Choc Blonde's promo material, facebook and so forth and possibly even feature in the documentary she is currently being filmed for. Oooo watch this space for further details cos its an open shoot and we already have an audience of Harley bikers, BBQ and all! If you have not heard Chocolate Blonde before you are seriously missing out, click here to see some of her stuff.

Laters x

Stand up and be counted.....

Tonight see's the London Urban Honors and Awards......gracing the stage will be many of the acts that have previously performed at Fat Talent Live (Also this Sunday!) and I will be there taking pics!

Take a look here and get yourself down there if you can. Sneak preview pics to follow of course!

Quickie....Goat style....

I walked into my bedroom after making myself a cuppa and a poached egg on marmite toast (yum!) to find a one eared goat standing there looking at me like it was completely normal! The poor thing had escaped the farm next door, got into the garden and wondered right through my french doors and into the cosy confides of my bedroom / office arrangement. An interesting way to meet the new neighbors anyway!!

High Heels & Digital Bondage......

Interview with Erotic Digital Artist Tsubasa coming next week.........

Here is a Sneak Preview of his work - one viewer commented "I've been mind fu**ed." I believe that just about sums it up!

(Note - Interview also to feature on The Fat Blog)

All Glossy......

Feel like I should be writing some RIP piece about Jacko but there is so much around at the moment I decided it had probably all been said. Therefore in a bid to look for something else to write about I thought I would entertain myself with ambitions of fashion magazines that one day, I would like to feature in. Better start working on that and seriously - I am on a mission to get my shite sorted and actually start getting out there with my portfolio. Couple more fashion shoots to complete before August then POW - I am there baby!!

Picture it now.....

Here are the pictures - Becky, myself and Jess all abseiling 120ft for charity! That smile.....its fear really!!

In other news:

- New look website and logo coming soon!!

- Carli-Art facebook group further updated....become a fan if you haven't yet!

- Blog actually featuring something useful and photoshop tips coming at least once every 2 weeks

- Interview soon to be coming with an amazing digital artist, get a sneak preview of his stuff at http://www.artbytsubasa.com/

- Fat Blog being updated 2 or 3 times a day - get there for the hottest gossip, interviews and fashion know hows!

"F*** I can't do it....oooo, ok. Wohooo"

I did it! I abseiled 120ft down the side of an office block in Reading in aid of The British Red Cross.

A massive thank you to everyone who sponsored me.

I managed to make just over £240 so was really pleased and will shortly be posting the free pic! Not that it will be at all glamourous, once you start getting somewhere on the abseil you tend to become a bit of a pendulum and I completely lost all footing, my feet would not stay to the wall, I was totally in the wrong position and ended up flailing my legs around and just dropping to the bottom!!

It was so good though, very exhilarating and the Red Cross team did an amazing job at organizing it all and getting everyone motivated with free sweets and lovely name badges!

Keep your eyes peeled for the pic!

Tips and Tricks....adjustment layers

Right, thought I better be of some use or of use to some of you, whichever I have decided to do a post about photoshop!  So for those of you that don't know, this is a mini tutorial on using adjustment layers.  I have used CS3 on a mac so things may differ if using a older /  newer version or a PC.

Right, thought I better be of some use or of use to some of you, whichever I have decided to do a post about photoshop!  So for those of you that don't know, this is a mini tutorial on using adjustment layers.  I have used CS3 on a mac so things may differ if using a older /  newer version or a PC.

Adjustment layers basically allow you to adjust curves, colour balance, saturation, levels and various other common editing tools by layer, so you can target different areas of the image rather than the

 whole thing.  This is particularly useful when colour managing an image as you can concentrate on the skin, then the hair, then the background and so forth building up as many layers as you like.  Plus you use the brush so can choose opacity and the use of layers allows you to alter opacity as well.

So open your image.  Choose the area to focus on.  In this case I am reducing the red in the face and the yellow in the background.  First your go to the layers palette and select the 'adjustment layer' tool.  A new layer will appear with whatever adjustment you have chosen.  In my example you can see that I have used the selective colour tool, therefore my new layer is concentrating on adjusting various colour channels within the image.

Adjust as you would but concentrate only on the part of the image you want to change.  So in this c

ase I am adjusting the magenta / red in the face.  Don't worry about anything else in the image, just the part you want this colour adjustment to apply to.  

Once done select the mask on the layer, take the brush tool, make sure black is selected and choose your opacity.  I would recommend 50% at first, subtle but it works.  Then brush back in those areas you do not want the changes to take place.  So, in this case I brushed back in the clothes, background and hair so that the adjustment only affected the face.  You can then adjust the opacity of the layer if you wish.  

You can also do as many layers as you like.  So the next example shows a few more colour adjustment layers and you can see from the mask where the picture has been affected and where it has not.  Each new layer will concentrate on a different part of the image.

 

Once you have what you want and you are happy with the adjustments you can carry on editing as normal!

PS: For skin, selective colour is often used.  However I find that using the hue/saturation tool is just as effective when using layers and just change the hue ever so slightly and the saturation of the magenta.

More random ramblings and tips and tricks to follow next week!  If there is something in particular you want to know.....get in touch!

Carli x

Droooool.......

Something is missing in my life.....I know this how?  I went shopping today.  OK I know, I am a woman and it is therefore my prerogative to want to shop & buy lovely new things, plus I have gone over 2 months without making a wardrobe purchase so of course, that had to be rewarded!  Anyway, something is either missing or I am looking for something.....so the psychiatrist would say!

It could of course be the fear of abseiling 120ft down the side of an office block this Friday.  In aid of The British Red Cross and in order to get my home town of Berkshire a new ambulance a load of us are abseiling 120ft.  I am yet to decide if i should go in fancy dress or plain leggings, I am sure either will be a fright to 9-5er's as they mull over excel spreadsheets, a cuppa and a hob nob.

Anyway what I bought and wish I had the money to buy is something completely different....therefore feel free to drool as I will be doing!

  

  

 

Little Rocks, Big Mountains and £700.....

The last few days have been rocky.  Business has ups and downs, we all know this but when you are on your knees in desperation worrying about money, when your next job is going to make an appearance and sifting through marketing tips but really not knowing how to deal with them....things do not seem good.  Then, wisely, you decide to learn more about other people's business's.  Normally this would fill you with ideas and encouragement, look where you can be!  Ok well bugger that, today I hit ROCK bottom and these successful companies and friends achieving goals and putting their marketing ideas into feasible well executed plans are nothing but a slap in the face.  I felt truly defeated.  I am a creative, not a business person and what i thought i knew, I realized is just not enough to get me through.  

What do you do when you feel like this, who do you turn to?!  There is a great need at the moment for a group of marketing people who offer advise.  Not big PR firms or marketing companies but small freelance business savvy folk who can offer decent, affordable, structured and achievable marketing for the small business - I can see a place for that.

Anyway, after threatening to set a crow loose on someone and hoping their eyes were pecked out; shouting a little & having a good moan to a friend, oh and that huge chocolate bar I felt a little better.  Then my business link advisor sent through some marketing stuff we had discussed last week which means I can make a true start on that marketing plan i should have done last year.   Then a very good client of mine decided to spend another £700 on digital files and another phone call to offer me some assisting.  My afternoon was looking brighter and brighter and it was even topped off with the possibility that I may be able to see my man this weekend as he is willing to drive from Manc to give me what is now, a celebratory hug!

Ramblings I know but the motto of this little ditty - Have faith!  Business doesn't land on your lap and good luck doesn't exist, you make your own luck.  But with some plans in place, some promises to yourself that you really will keep, a goal in mind and some encouragement from friends and you will get there!  I believe again, almost!

If you are still struggling and need some inspiration, I have listed below some websites that I often find useful for an up the bottom kick; if not that then some darn good time wasting!

Wonderland Magazine

BIPP

Creative Match

IQONS

Small Business Directory

London Arts 

Photo Assist

DripBook

Twitter

FILE magazine

What are you talking about woman.....

Random collection of updates really but a number of things of interest, or maybe I have been listening to too much Radio 2/4 on the long drives home.  Honestly, it is GREAT for keeping you awake, music is far too soothing so the chatter keeps you going and, you would be surprised at how much you learn!

So first, the Radio fact.  Some ambulance driver was driving a guy to hospital who had suffered a heart attack or something similar.  Realizing half way there that he was 15 minutes over his shift, he diverted the journey to the Ambulance depot in hope of being there in time to catch the last bus to the pub.  Dropping of the ambulance and letting another driver take the dying geezer in the back to where he should have been going, A&E he toddled off on his merry way.  While the guy in the back, well unfortunately he died.  This is a story of disbelieve and also sadness.  That someone could do that.  Would the guy have died anyway?  Did that diversion or 10 minutes or whatever it was difference cost this old man his life, his wife her husband and his grandchildren their grandfather?  

Lesson is basically - you got to put yourself out.....customer service - everything!

On a totally different note I am starting to think people are either lying or my teeth are becoming hypnotic.  Today the eight person in as many days has commented on how white my teeth are.  Now this is not the first time ever but I haven't been using some new toothpaste and in fact the only thing I am doing differently, is not flossing!?!  Anyway, there is no secret....my teeth just must be white i suppose, not that I ever notice any difference between anyone else's!?

Ok so something useful and art related might be useful rather than words falling out of my mouth!  Last night saw a truly AWESOME Fat Talent Live.  I am not just saying this, every act was beyond perfect.  There were so many talented individuals there and my fave of the bunch who I have discussed before - Chocolate Blonde.  Her energy is electric and we have decided we are def doing a shoot together.  Finding the time will be the next thing but she is excellent.  

Choc Blonde and all the other acts can be found here and have their own sites on myspace.  Pics from the evening will be coming over the next 48 hours - so check it out!!!

Signing out due to sleep depravation, lack of constructive conversation & a glimpse of a chocolate bar. x