The Troll King

Couple of shots yesterday from a shoot I did. Log into Flickr to see the NSFW ones and let me know if you figure out what the inspiration for the shoot was from the rock shots. Group Shoot 4 by DWShoots, on Flickr Group Shoot 5 by DWShoots, on Flickr

Really super. Link for the Nomad brushes?

For once I got to read every post!

Actually, saying "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit" is the lowest form of wit. Typically people that heavily resort to it have deeper issues than what they openly share. You must see this. There are plenty on these boards, in person or otherwise, that have this trait that tend to only speak when they are being sarcastic. I would expect this type of post to come from Fantastic_Four. (not said with any sarcasm whatsoever) I've been hacked?

Actually, saying "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit" is the lowest form of wit. Typically people that heavily resort to it have deeper issues than what they openly share. You must see this. There are plenty on these boards, in person or otherwise, that have this trait that tend to only speak when they are being sarcastic.

Despite all the memes, sarcasm, snark, etc. going on here in this thread everyone here is an adult. Most of you must see that there are definite problems here on the boards between members. Of course everyone always seems to say too, "Oh, they aren't like that in person". The saying is, "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit." That's definitely true here. There are 3 primary reasons for sarcasm. 1. Insecurity 2. Latent Anger 3. Social Awkwardness This seems to sum up these boards perfectly.

If you have a retina display iPad I know they can come off as being pretty bright and saturated over basic monitor calibration. It's also important to use the "save for web" feature in something like photoshop because the internet (meaning whatever you upload it to) can not display colors properly and saving specifically for web applications will prevent the colors from being wonky. For the longest I could have sworn my monitor wasn't calibrated properly because every time I would compare an image on my screen to an uploaded version the colors would be different. It's especially noticeable in brighter colors like purples and reds. Since I've started saving them properly I haven't had any real issues.

Not bad for doing it on an iPad. You may want to consider calibrating your monitors as I have to do for my photography stuff.

Thanks, Last one... Smoke 4 by DWShoots, on Flickr

Last one for tonight Smoke 3 by DWShoots, on Flickr

Here's another one: Smoke 2 by DWShoots, on Flickr

I took the weekend off pretty much with no models to shoot today and got bored. I just whipped this up in the last hour. Smoke 1 by DWShoots, on Flickr

These are all really nice! I loved working with clay but man, I just don't have the time or space any more.

Really nice and well done. Be proud of that one!

Just down the street from the townhouse there use to be a root beer stand at the park. My first root beer float came from there.

I was in Canton at the time. (thumbs u Crazy small world. I'm from the Canton area. Just a twinkle in my mother's eye in the '70's though. Went to Kent State University. We lived in a townhouse on Fulton and could see the HOF across the valley from our porch. My Great Uncle (who raised my mom) owned a grocery store about half a block from Republic Steel. Wow. I live in Minerva, but work in Canton making saw blades. My grandfather retired from Republic Storage. I have a great uncle who lives by Republic Steel. I get shots at Aultman Pain Management on Fulton a block away from the HOF. Very small World! 6 Degrees of Separation with this group!

I was in Canton at the time. (thumbs u Crazy small world. I'm from the Canton area. Just a twinkle in my mother's eye in the '70's though. Went to Kent State University. We lived in a townhouse on Fulton and could see the HOF across the valley from our porch. My Great Uncle (who raised my mom) owned a grocery store about half a block from Republic Steel.

I was in Canton at the time. (thumbs u

I went to college for art. So I've taken a lot of fine art classes. My degree was in drawing before picking up the education degree. I also took various photography, design, craft, digital, etc. classes. Currently I teach art in a public school setting. I also offer private lessons for all ages out of my house and at a nearby museum. Perhaps checking those outlets might prove beneficial? Drawing is something that can be learned. I say grab a sketchbook and start drawing. Draw everything and anything. Observation and imagination. Like other's suggested, YouTube has some good resources... The book Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain as a lot of activities that I've found to be good for practice. (There is also a full copy of her video on YouTube floating around). +1. I also took drawing in univeristy. I started drawing when I was 3 years old and put a lot of time into developing my skill. My advice is as above. 1. Draw often 2. Draw all sorts of things from anatomy to animals to objects 3. Learn how to draw different shapes freehand. From bsic shapes is the building block to drawing anything 4. learn perspective ( many great youtubes on this ) A drawing class may help but it will depend greatly on the instructor and the fellow students if you actually learn anything. Ditto. I started at 3 also. I had a partial scholarship to the Columbus College of Art & Design back in 1984, but it was still too expensive for me to go. So, I chose Marketing... (No regrets) My specialty was drawing and I challenged myself in my late 20's to tackle oil and then acryllic painting. I actually took an evening class at the local high school. I still find it a great way to relax. And I credit the Boards with getting me to do the superhero work again. It gave me an outlet to share and have others appreciate in addition to my family. And I also get to see the amazing talent here on the Boards and learn some tips. As a kid, I did these superhero drawings all the time and still have some I did at age 12 - 15. (Just found some Micronauts drawings... ) I got back into photography after many years of not doing anything with it. I had been shooting photo essays for newspapers while I was still in high school and after. I upset the school yearbook staff photographers because the rest of the yearbook staff would come to me for all their shoot assignments. Of course they didn't credit me though, the bastards. I think I spent more time in the high school darkroom than 10 years worth of student photographers combined. It wasn't all just meeting up with the yearbook staff girls either, which sometimes that was nice too. I did several photojournalistic weddings and such before I was even old enough to drink. The Dallas Art Institute offered me a half free ride which at the time was still a lot of money. What ended it all was when a "friend" stole all my equipment and sold it for drug money. Life got in the way and it just took a lot for me to get back into it. Plus, my starter wife didn't like any of it because she was as jealous as they come and destroyed most of my photos and negatives. God bless understanding second wives! Prior to photography I had been on art burnout because my mother started me off in art schools at an extremely young age because she figured out it was cheaper than day care.

shrinkage Tell me about it! Why didn't you use a heated pool ? Because it was an unplanned shoot. When a gorgeous Eastern European girl who I've worked with a couple times before learns that you have the equipment in your vehicle to be able to shoot underwater and your trapped in her hotel room, there's only one answer when she looks at you dead in the eye and says with that accent, "We're doing that, and there's a pool right there" you say "Yes" whether you want to or not. I tried to plead with her to not make me do it because it was 50 degrees outside and the water had to be no higher than 40 and she said, (in that accent) "Bah! This is like summer to me. We're getting in the pool." Never mind that she had another shoot scheduled after me and that her hair would be a mess. This was in the hot tub after she finally let me not freeze to death. (Yes that's her real eye color) Anastasia was one of my Three Graces in a previous shoot. (I know Mio knows of my Three Graces) They can also be seen on my Flickr page and on my web site.

shrinkage Tell me about it!

Speaking of photos, I've updated my Flickr site with a bunch of new images and sets. Click on either of these and it will take you to my Flickr page. If you click the "sign in" at the top right corner you can sign in with either Facebook, Google, or Yahoo and you'll be able to see the NSFW images. (You might have to change your "safe" level to view them) shooting underwater in 40 degree water is something I'll never do again!

I have not taken any art classes myself. I have had some tips from artists, and watched a lot of youtube artists do demos and explain techniques... Have you given this a try yet? I prefer this to classes - I really only care about tips for my problem areas; I do not want a history lesson, nor waste time on things that will not help me. If either of you can find some life drawing classes in your area you should try and go to them. Drawing from life is a must and will really help you with anatomy when you can see how things move in person. Also, I'm not sure if http://www.meetup.com has UK meet ups but it's a great web site for finding like-minded people and for workshops for various activities. I've met some good people through there (and am also a co-organizer of a fine art nude photography group).

I wish I still had stuff that I did as a kid. I think my starter wife has possession of it though.

Thanks. I've been busy that's for sure. No shortage of models contacting me now which is allowing me to be more picky.