Gallery

Just moving my gallery from one blog to another (I have a sneaky set-up of two blogs which is currently backfiring!).

xxx kate

Rivalry (2009)


Koi (2009)

Glow (2009)

Slumber (2009)


Escargot (2009)

Nutkin (2009)

Nest (2009)

Bluebird (2009)

Early Bird (2009)


Maggie (2009)


Cherry Bomb (2009)


Rosie (2008)


Urchin (2008)

Swoon - I nearly did...

...when Ally Takeuchi, the curator of 'Swoon' at LA's Black Maria Gallery, sent me this pic of Audrey Kawasaki there on opening night.



Wow.

Audrey Kawasaki.

At a show I'm in.

*faints with delight*

xxx kate

My new gallery

A virtual one. I just updated it with Picnik (only took about 15 minutes too).

Here's a sample:

The rest is here.

And if you'd like simple instructions on making a gallery with Picnik, I put together a quick forum post on Etsy this evening.

xxx kate

Life's a Picnik

I'm usually well behind the eight-ball with these things so apologies if I'm posting about something everyone else in the world already understands!

So, have you discovered Picnik yet? It's free online photo manipulation software.

It's a great way of sharpening up photos for your Etsy store - and they do say that clear photos lead to more sales. Here's the before (left) and after (right) shot of one of my pieces.



To be honest that's probably the most practical application. But they have some fabulously fun impractical applications too. Such as:


Turning an image into a pencil sketch (though I'm sure I had one for this piece at some point!)


Something called HSL - I have utterly no idea what this is, but I love her dark-blue eyeshadow colour now, so it's given me a new idea. Thanks Picnik.


Focal zoom.


Invert - again, not sure why you'd use this, but it's giving me ideas about new colour schemes, so it could come in handy. Actually, it's a great way of working out inverted light if you don't work from reference photos.


Duo tone. This one could be useful if you're doing one of those 'two colour only' jobs for a publication like Edtn Magazine


Add a frame - could be a nice way of displaying art work in a gallery style.


Curvy corners - personally I love these. They remind me of the photos you used to get in the 70s!


Polaroid.

There are heaps more features - some only for those who subscribe - but most for free. And it's great for photo touch ups as they have a 'blemish fix', 'shine be gone', 'tooth whitening' and 'red eye' functions - I'll be using those ones regularly!

Have fun.

xxx kate

Blanket Magazine

I've always been a fan of Blanket Magazine. Even more so, now that I've managed to get my mug (at least an illustrated version of my mug) in it!





This month, they've devoted the publication to portraiture and have some fantastic articles.

My favourite piece is a games of 'Chinese whispers' where a photographer takes a photo and sends it to a writer. The writer writes a story based on the photo and sends the piece (but not the pic) to an artist. The artist creates an illustration based on the prose. It's so much fun and my friend, Bec Winnel, is one of the artists involved.

The magazine is 74 pages of art, photography and inspiration – and I reckon it's great value for just $2.

Grab your copy here.

xxx kate

PS. It's well worth submitting art to this gorgeous online publication - they're always on the lookout for new artists. :)