The Bokeh Effect

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Josefina_with_Bokeh.jpg

Have you ever heard of the term Bokeh effect? Well, it does sound like its a scientific jargon or a certain theory from a Chemistry class but it's not, it's a term that is well known in advanced photography. If you would take a look at the picture above, you would see that the background lacks the details making it hard to depict what objects are there in the background, though of course we have some clue, because of the some color information we know that there's foliage, grass and some trees out there. But, take a closer look and focus your eyes on what makes up the background image.

Yes, it's made up of circles of light in different sizes. And that's Bokeh effect. ("Bokeh" is a Japanese term that means blurred. If you would notice each circle also varies in transparency, color and value which really makes it interesting to look at. This kind of effect adds depth to a certain image. It can be used as a background or it can also be used as the subject itself. Here are a few more examples:

The shapes are not limited to circles

Take a look at some of these words in Bokeh effect...

art in me header 041511

The good news is you can actually make some of these.
Go ahead try making one! [ You might want to try to give your name a Bokeh effect! ]
Just check out the link below.

Bokeh Text [ click me ] 

Enjoy
You can also check out these wonderful examples of Bokeh Photography.
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/beautiful-examples-of-bokeh-photography/

Digital Painting

Digital painting is a kind of art form in which traditional painting techniques such as watercolor, oils, impasto, charcoal, and many others, are applied using digital tools by means of a computer, a digitizing tablet and stylus, widely known as WACOM for most artists, and softwares. The only difference a traditional painting has from a digital painting is the use of actual canvas, brushes and paints. But many softwares such as Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, ArtRage, GIMP, and openCanvas give the same feeling to the painter: a canvas, different brushes, paints, pencils, charcoals, pastels, and even airbrushing. What's great about digital painting is that you can revise your artworks by just clicking the mouse!

Here are some examples of artworks done digitally..

They are pretty cool, huh?

You can see the rest of the artworks here:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/13/35-incredible-digital-painting-tutorials/

Anyone can do digital painting. Just take your time to practice and familiarized yourself with whichever software you want to use. Having a talent or a know-how in traditional arts is a plus but even ordinary people, who haven't discovered their artistic talents yet, can also create beautiful artworks!

We can really say to ourselves, "There is an artist in me."

Thought of You

This short animated film is entitled "Thought of You" by Ryan Woodward...
I was very impressed  with the expressive sketchy strokes that was used to create this animation... I could not help but watch it again and again. It's an emotionally beautiful piece. It's really amazing.

You can also watch it through the link below, together with the comments of the Ryan Woodward himself about making this brilliant short animation.

click here

Hope you enjoy watching too!

Weaved Art!

this looks like a phoenix [ click image for a larger view ]

a profile of a man [ click image for a larger view ]

this one looks like a sword [ click image for a larger view ]

Do you wonder how these artworks were made? It would seem like these artworks are really hard to create. However, making these wonderful creations is just a piece of cake! Believe it or not, it is just as easy as hovering your mouse over this link that we are going to give you...

Check this out! http://weavesilk.com/.
Go to this page and start creating your own weave silk art.

TIPS:

• Click and drag your mouse over the black background and then make a final click. (Remember that you can repeat this step many times), 
• Hold the Shift button, to control the wind movement.
• You can press S to stop instantly the the weaving of your digital silk. 
• Have fun!