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Picture 1: Heat Can Not Stop Me
I always wondered what it’s like to be able to control fire. When I was younger, I used to love times where there was a black out at home. It would be the only time I was allowed near fire. My sister and I would always come up with illusions and tricks to play on a lighted candle without burning ourselves...
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Picture 2: Fishes Are Friends
Has anyone ever asked you that if you could be an animal, what animal would you want to be and why? It’s a broad question with no right or wrong answer. I used to want to be a puppy when I was a kid because it was so adorable but...
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Picture 3: Even In Death
Have you ever had a déjà vu? Where you do or experience something that you felt like you have already done or experienced before? Sometimes it makes you think to yourself “hey, I’ve dreamt of this before”. And in certain cases it makes you think “hey, I dreamt I thought to myself that I dreamt this happened before”. I just like to think that those are...
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Picture 4: Back to Nature
When I was a little girl, I loved nature. I used to play with insects and dig up earthworms and snails. I would spend my evenings laying on the grass and watching the clouds go by. My mom and I would watch the clouds and point out shapes of the clouds that make up...
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Picture 5: My Ultimate Childhood Fantasy
Being a typical girly-girl when I was a kid, I used to loved cartoons like My Little Pony and Care Bears. I always wanted a unicorn as a pet and I absolutely love rainbows and stars and in fact, I still do. I always wondered what it would be like to be in Care Bear’s town or...
Jump shots at Redang Island and Hannoi Cruise (that recently sank LOL) Deck
Thomas Fuller once said
"Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart."
Pictures on the other hand are like what's stored in these cupboards and refrigerator.... i suppose... Pictures are what help spark our memories and moments. Little as it is, its capable of bringing us back in time to get a glimpse of the moment, be it bitter, sweet or just plain boring.
Sometimes real world can be so dull...
We go day in and day out doing the same old mundane things. Sometimes all our daily activities even become a routine.. We function almost "robotically" (if that's even a word).. going mindlessly through our days... Wouldn't it be pretty if life was like a fairy tale instead? Where anything can be possible and to defy physics and science? I don't know about you but i love being lost in a world of fantasy... be it reading a book, playing fantasy games, watching a movie or just plain day dreaming. Entering a breathtakingly beautiful (or not) world where nothing is impossible.
With that in mind, i figured it would be nice to actually edit pictures of humans into fantasy.Thus i'm picking Fantasy for my theme.
It'll consists of 5 elements (or something) and so far i'm thinking: death, nature, ice, fire and water. i roughly have the idea for each pictures but have yet to sketch it down.. i should soon before i forget (as usual).
In the world of fantasy, nothing is impossible... Its where gravity, physics and science are defied..
But as for now, the furthest i can take you is on a visual and imaginary journey where real world collides with dreams.
I'll be taking you through the land of fire, then take a dive into underwater world to cool off. We will walk the path of nature and take a U-turn for the land of death. Finish off our journey to the world of colours.
This is a preview of what i will be doing for my 5 images
ok here's a sneak peek of what i've done for the land of fire... it's almost complete but still trying to edit some parts out
Enjoy :)
Land of Fire
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| Visions are the best dreams to come true! This is my vision, to be have a career in ballet and it's the best dream to come true so far. |
It is said that we dream almost our entire life, even when we’re wide-awake. Dreams are images, sensation, ideas and emotions cooked up by our subconscious mind. Meaning, it sort of just happens. Like how you don’t have to remind yourself to breathe or your heart to beat. Many people tried to study dreams. Some think it’s a sign, some think it’s a voice telling you things, some think it is the soul communicating with the body. Dreams and the reason for it still baffle many researchers.
To me, dreams are where imagination, creativity and vision takes a ride in the washer. It’s like a jumble of every bit. When we talk about dreams, it can be seen as a musing or a thought like how we imagine stuff. Sometimes we see dreams as a form of ideas where the creative juices just flow without anyone to tell you no. And at other times, dreams are like visions in life. The best part to that is that some dreams do come true.
Sometimes dreams can be whimsical and supernatural. I think that’s where dreams become a fantasy. It’s where nothing is impossible and everything is so magical. With this, I would like to take you on a visual journey through fantasy with this phlog.
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| Into the land of fire! |
A Little Blogging...
I always wondered what it’s like to be able to control fire. When I was younger, I used to love times where there was a black out at home. It would be the only time I was allowed near fire. My sister and I would always come up with illusions and tricks to play on a lighted candle without burning ourselves.
I always wondered what it’s like to be able to control fire. When I was younger, I used to love times where there was a black out at home. It would be the only time I was allowed near fire. My sister and I would always come up with illusions and tricks to play on a lighted candle without burning ourselves.
During Chinese New Year, my cousins and I would play with fireworks and noise-makers on the first night of Chinese New Year. We would battle with our grandparents’ neighbours by lighting up those little fireworks called “Lotus”. It’s a small disked shaped firework that spins on the ground. We used to put it standing up and faced it to the neighbours and lighting it makes it roll like wheels of lights. After a friendly war of fireworks, my cousins and I would light up the left over wrappers (Yes, I contributed to global warming. Not proud of it but it was fun.) making a huge bon fire.
Fire always amused me and I always wanted to be in a world where I don’t get burn playing with fire. Hence this picture I’ve generated digitally. Having able to spawn fireballs and having hair of fire rocks!
Description
In this picture, I tried to create a hot, dry and fiery feel to the image. I used a dry and cracked land as the ground and burnt trees in the background to enhance the dryness. I used crows flying across the sky to symbolize the migration due to the unbearable heat. I placed a girl in the image to show the ability to withstand heat and fire. The use of a fireball in her hand and her hair of fire shows her control over fire which explains the choice of title Heat Can Not Stop Me.
Description
In this picture, I tried to create a hot, dry and fiery feel to the image. I used a dry and cracked land as the ground and burnt trees in the background to enhance the dryness. I used crows flying across the sky to symbolize the migration due to the unbearable heat. I placed a girl in the image to show the ability to withstand heat and fire. The use of a fireball in her hand and her hair of fire shows her control over fire which explains the choice of title Heat Can Not Stop Me.
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| Swimming with the fishes! |
A Little Blogging...
Has anyone ever asked you that if you could be an animal, what animal would you want to be and why? It’s a broad question with no right or wrong answer. I used to want to be a puppy when I was a kid because it was so adorable.
Has anyone ever asked you that if you could be an animal, what animal would you want to be and why? It’s a broad question with no right or wrong answer. I used to want to be a puppy when I was a kid because it was so adorable.
As I grew older, I often think back to this question and if I were to answer it again now, I would say I want to be a blue whale. I always think life underwater is peaceful and calm and it would be nice if I could live underwater and swim with the fishes. Blue whales are the largest mammals on earth and they are so calm and gentle. If you have ever gone snorkeling or scuba diving, being under water kind of clears your mind away from everything. All the sounds and voices are all so distant that it puts you in a calm mode. I’ve created this picture of a girl being able to swim with the fishes under the sea as it gives a feel of serenity and coolness like what it would be like being a whale.
Description
This picture aims to create a cool, underwater effect. This is created by giving a bluish tint to the image. I place the image of the girl being able to swim under the sea without any aid of an oxygen tank. I also included bubbles to make it look natural underwater. Fishes are seen swimming along with the girl hence the title Fishes Are Friends
Description
This picture aims to create a cool, underwater effect. This is created by giving a bluish tint to the image. I place the image of the girl being able to swim under the sea without any aid of an oxygen tank. I also included bubbles to make it look natural underwater. Fishes are seen swimming along with the girl hence the title Fishes Are Friends
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| Creatures of the night! |
A Little Blogging...
Have you ever had a déjà vu? Where you do or experience something that you felt like you have already done or experienced before? Sometimes it makes you think to yourself “hey, I’ve dreamt of this before”. And in certain cases it makes you think “hey, I dreamt I thought to myself that I dreamt this happened before”. I just like to think that those are just dreams that came true.
Have you ever had a déjà vu? Where you do or experience something that you felt like you have already done or experienced before? Sometimes it makes you think to yourself “hey, I’ve dreamt of this before”. And in certain cases it makes you think “hey, I dreamt I thought to myself that I dreamt this happened before”. I just like to think that those are just dreams that came true.
Sometimes, like in this case, some dreams are better left a dream. Maybe that’s why nightmares don’t really come true. Imagine having nightmares of zombies and ghouls and having a déjà vu about it. YIKES!
Although, there was a time in my life when I thought ghouls and spirits and all these “dark” stuff was cool. I had collected Living Dead Dolls, tarot cards, ouiji boards and I thought goth was cool. Haha! Well this kinda depicts what I thought was cool then. Thank goodness I grew up!
Description
This image is created to achieve a gothic, dark, scary and deathly look. I chose to use a full moon as it is believed that during the full moon, many unexplainable incident takes place like werewolf and people going crazy. I also used a worn out and deserted monument as the background to create a deserted and haunted effect together with the fog. The bats are used to create a scary and deathly symbol and thorns in the foreground is used to create a gothic and dark feel. The girl i chose in this image creates a threatening and haunting feel like she is about to attack. I also gave her dark wings to represent demons and evilness. I also made her face half a skull to represent death. Although this image seems to be grueling and deathly, it is somehow a Twilight-like fantasy with vampires and such thus the title Even In Death
Description
This image is created to achieve a gothic, dark, scary and deathly look. I chose to use a full moon as it is believed that during the full moon, many unexplainable incident takes place like werewolf and people going crazy. I also used a worn out and deserted monument as the background to create a deserted and haunted effect together with the fog. The bats are used to create a scary and deathly symbol and thorns in the foreground is used to create a gothic and dark feel. The girl i chose in this image creates a threatening and haunting feel like she is about to attack. I also gave her dark wings to represent demons and evilness. I also made her face half a skull to represent death. Although this image seems to be grueling and deathly, it is somehow a Twilight-like fantasy with vampires and such thus the title Even In Death
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| Smell of crisp fresh grass! |
A Little Blogging...
When I was a little girl, I loved nature. I used to play with insects and dig up earthworms and snails. I would spend my evenings laying on the grass and watching the clouds go by. My mom and I would watch the clouds and point out shapes of the clouds that make up pictures.
When I was a little girl, I loved nature. I used to play with insects and dig up earthworms and snails. I would spend my evenings laying on the grass and watching the clouds go by. My mom and I would watch the clouds and point out shapes of the clouds that make up pictures.
Until today, I still love nature. I love the crisp fresh smell of greens in the early mornings. This picture shows how close to nature the girl is. I love the effect of the sunrays shining through the trees with glistening particles that makes it so unreal. Having a close connection with a wild bird gives the feel of peace with nature. And the lush green forest bring back the hint of fresh grass in the mornings.
Description
This picture depicts life, nature, green and bliss. I chose to use the jungle as a background to show the closeness of nature to the girl. I also used the owl as it is often seen as mystical and to represent the closeness of the girl with animals. I also gave the image a colourful tint to create a blissful and fantasy-like feel while adding some glistening lights and light rays. It shows how human should sometimes take a step back from technology and get a whiff of nature, therefore the tilte Back To Nature.
Description
This picture depicts life, nature, green and bliss. I chose to use the jungle as a background to show the closeness of nature to the girl. I also used the owl as it is often seen as mystical and to represent the closeness of the girl with animals. I also gave the image a colourful tint to create a blissful and fantasy-like feel while adding some glistening lights and light rays. It shows how human should sometimes take a step back from technology and get a whiff of nature, therefore the tilte Back To Nature.
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| Of fairy dust and rainbows! |
A Little Blogging...
Being a typical girly-girl when I was a kid, I used to loved cartoons like My Little Pony and Care Bears. I always wanted a unicorn as a pet and I absolutely love rainbows and stars and in fact, I still do. I always wondered what it would be like to be in Care Bear’s town or living with the Little Ponies. I created this picture to bring myself to my childhood dreamland where everything is not just fantasy but true. If only fantasy could come true. I would really love a pet unicorn!
Description
This image depicts my ultimate fantasy since i was a child. Therefore i chose to use a little girl in this picture rather than an adult. Unicorns are the prettiest mystical animal and I chose to use it in this image with extra tint of rainbow in its hair. A castle is placed in the clouds to represent that the sky is not a limit. I also used a rainbow that leads to the castle as a bridge from earth to the land in the sky. This image was and is my ultimate fantasy and that explains the title MY Ultimate Childhood Fantasy.
Being a typical girly-girl when I was a kid, I used to loved cartoons like My Little Pony and Care Bears. I always wanted a unicorn as a pet and I absolutely love rainbows and stars and in fact, I still do. I always wondered what it would be like to be in Care Bear’s town or living with the Little Ponies. I created this picture to bring myself to my childhood dreamland where everything is not just fantasy but true. If only fantasy could come true. I would really love a pet unicorn!
Description
This image depicts my ultimate fantasy since i was a child. Therefore i chose to use a little girl in this picture rather than an adult. Unicorns are the prettiest mystical animal and I chose to use it in this image with extra tint of rainbow in its hair. A castle is placed in the clouds to represent that the sky is not a limit. I also used a rainbow that leads to the castle as a bridge from earth to the land in the sky. This image was and is my ultimate fantasy and that explains the title MY Ultimate Childhood Fantasy.
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| Fireball |
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| Steps to make a fireball |
How in the world did I make that fireball?
Okay, here’s how I did it.
- Create a new Photoshop document that is square with black background.
- Create new layer name it fire
- User eclipse marquee tool to create a selection in the middle, filling out almost the whole canvas. (tips: hold on to shift key + click and drag for a perfect circle)
- Render clouds. (keep pressing command + F until you get the pattern of clouds you want)
- Render difference clouds
- Press command + I to invert the colours
- Press command + L to change the levels. Drag the gray indicator towards the white indicator
- Distort by spherizing the now thunder like image. Press command + F to spherize again
- Stylize it by Find Edges.
- Press command + U to change hue and saturation. Make sure the colourize box is checked. Give the hue 0 and saturation 100
- In the layers panel, drag the fire layer to create a new copy layer
- In the new layer, press command + U again. This time give the hue 40 and saturation 100.
- In the layers panel, change the new layer’s blending mode to linear dogge.
- Press command + E to merge new layer to fire layer.
- Repeat step 2 to 14.
- Now you have two layers that looks somewhat like fire/thunder. On the top layer, change the blending mode to linear dodge and press command + E to merge the two top layers.
- Now you have a layer that looks more like a fireball. Keep repeating step 1-14 and 16 until you are satisfied with the fireball.
Comprende?
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| Hair of fire! |
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| How its done! |
Wondering how her hair caught fire?
Here’s how it’s done.
- Open the image you want to edit
- Press Q to enter quick mask mode and choose a round hard paintbrush and paint over the hair are. You do not have to be neat. Painted hair will appear red
- When you have covered the entire hair area, press Q again to exit the quick mask mode. Press command + shift + I to invert the selection
- Press command + U to change the hue and saturation. Make sure the colourize box is checked and give hue 0 and saturation 100.
- Drag the layer to make a new copied layer of it. Press command + shift + I to invert selection and go ahead and press delete. Press command + U and give hue 40 and saturation 100.
- Change the layer property to linear dodge. Press command + E to merge layers
- Choose the smudge tool and choose a brush like shown and change the strength at 40%
- From the inside of the hair, give short strokes outwards to give hair a fire effect
And VOILA you’re done
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| Water Reflections |
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| How is it done? |
- Create a new canvas and fill it with the gradient tool from dark blue to darker blue. You can choose the tone of your choice.
- Create a new layer and go to Filter > Render > Clouds.
- Then go to Filter > Artistic > Plastic Wrap and apply these settings
- Before clicking OK, scroll down and click on Chrome and apply the settings and click OK.
- With the new layer selected, go to Edit > Transform > Skew and adjust the image as shown to give it some perspective.
- Choose the eraser tool and choose a round brush and set the hardness to 0%
- Erase the edge of the clouds to create depth
- Change the layers preference to Colour dodge
This will create the reflection of water. You can repeat the same steps for the bottom of the sea floor.
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| Photo Manipulated Foot |
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| How is it done? |
- Open the original photo and create a new copied layer of it
- hit Q to enter quick mask mode. Choose a hard brush with 100% hardness and paint the foot up to the ankle.
- When you're done, hit Q again to exit the quick mask mode. Now, a selection is created around the painted area earlier. press command + Shift + I to inverse the selection.
- Press Command + T to move the foot to the position you want.
- Hit enter to confirm the transform. The original foot will be at the bottom. Press Command + E to merge the layers
- Select the original layer and with the Patch tool, select the original leg
- Drag the selection to any area of the dried leaves.
- If you have noticed, there are two ankles. Using the Patch tool, select the original ankle
- Drag the selection to any area of the foot.
- Press Command + D to deselect.
Now you have the foot manipulated from flexed to pointed
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| Wings |
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| How is it done? |
- The four colours used are as shown. You can use different tones of colour as well. Use a thin brush with colour #1 and create a shape of the wind you want to have.
- Using colour #3 with a soft edged brush, stroke the angle of the wing's feathers. Name this layer Wing Base
- with the opacity at 65%, using the same brush with colour #1, create strokes for the line you created for the shape of the wing
- with a smaller brush with colour #2 at 85% opacity, draw the angle of the feathers
- With same brush and opacity, use colour #4 and paint in the darker area of the wing
- using the Smudge tool set at 45% strength, choose the brush as shown and smudge the wing in small short strokes to soften the wing.
- Create a new layer called Wing Edge. Choose a small round brush with colour #1 and create strokes where you want the feathers to be.
- Create new layer called Inner Feathers. choose a tiny brush with colour #1 and draw the "stalk" of the feathers.
- On each feather "stalk", choose a micro brush and draw each strand of fur for the feather. you can use a wavy line or curved line for the fur. Relax while doing this. It's a major PAIN
- Using the Blur tool, soften the edges
- Go to Wing Edge layer and use a small brush with colour #1 and add in more strands of fur.
- Using the same smudge setting, pull the feather outwards
- Use a thinner brush and fill in the wing with more fur to make it look full. Merge all layers
- With the burn tool, set midtones at 30% and brush it over darker area of the wing
Now you have a wing. Go ahead and experiment with different colour and shape.
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| Light Ray |
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| How is it done? |
- With the original image open, choose a light yellow or white colour to create a rectangle.
- Go to Edit > Transform > Skew
- Move the points to make the rectangle small at the top and larger at the bottom. With the shift key held down, drag the middle top point to the opening in the leaves and the bottom middle point to the ground.
- Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apple the setting shown.
With this four simple step, you can get a light ray. Repeat the steps as many time as you want to create more light rays.
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| Unicorn Horn |
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| How is it done? |
A Unicorn is just a regular horse with a horn. And since there's no real unicorn, the horn has to be created. I made the horn this way
- Using the Shape tool, create a beige triangle as shown
- Using a dark brown, create curved lines on the triangle. The more angle of the line the more curvy the horn will be
- Use a lighter brown and paint it to the sides of the curved lines.
- Use the same dark brown as before and create some dark areas at the edge of the curves as shown.
- Choose a tan colour and paint it in leaving some spots for highlight
- You can also use the beige to make spots of highlights.
- Using the smudge tool, choose a soft round brush with the strength of 25%, blend the colours together to make it look softer.
- Using the eraser tool, choose a hard round brush and erase the edge of the curve to make it have ridges.
- With the smudge tool set up to 60% strength, pull out from the center of the horn to make the ridges more of a spiral.
- Choose the dodge tool and use a brush as shown and set the size to 10-15px. Brush it on the highlighted area to create some texture.
- Use the Burn tool with the same brush, with midtones at 20%, brush on the shadowed area.
- Use the Sharpen tool to crisp the look of the horn
Creating this horn is simple but takes some experimenting to get the best effect needed.
