Finished piece

Here is my finished piece. It turned out pretty good I think. Chris tells me I should leave it alone, because I am always trying to make it better, so this is the finished product. I have since added more shading to the lips to make them not disappear so much into the picture, but I did that after this photo. Drawing is fun, and I would like to do more pieces soon.

Bringing Out Our Artistic Sides.....

Chris's painting to me

Dude I decided to draw. A work in progress

Not exact, but close. The shading did not pick up on the camera well either

So, Chris and I decided recently that we want to start expanding our talents, since we have been given them, and don't really do anything with them. The story of the "Parable Of The Talents" always comes to mind, and I feel like I am wasting them by not doing them, and I want to learn many more. There is something enjoyable about Chris and I taking some time to work on our projects side by side. Date nights don't always have to cost money. He even agreed to craft with me sometimes. Chris surprised me by painting me a picture. The Tuscan landscape with poppies. Some of my favorite things put together. He didn't even use a reference picture. I think that is the nicest thing a guy has ever done for me. As for me, in 7th grade, I had an art class, and we had to draw a person using a grid system. I drew a baby. That art is since long gone. I decided to print out a head shot of a model and draw it to see if I could do it. It doesn't look exact, and it is still a work in progress, but granted, it is the 2nd time I have ever attempted a person. Probably one of the hardest things I have ever attempted to draw.

Chris's Mom Gag Photo

Original photo

Gag photo made with photoshop

So, today on photoshop, I worked with layers. I saw this picture of Chris's mom, Tammy, and it looked like I could easily make it look like she was smoking. She obviously does not, and is against it, but it is a gag picture. Chris did a lot of getting the cigarette into the picture, and I finished it off, and created the smoke. It's amazing what you can do with photoshop. If you didn't see my last photoshop projects, go to my post before this one.

Photoshop Is So Much Fun!

Original eye

Really dramatic eye

Original photo of Chris

After photoshopped Chris

Okay. So, yesterday was the first day I have even attempted Photoshop. I read a few tutorials online, and tried them out today. Here is what I have. Keep in mind that it is only my second day learning this stuff, so if it is rough, that is why. I used an old photo of Chris to shade in some really defined abs, make his muscles bigger, and bring in his waist a bit. I changed the color of his eyes too. If you didn't know I did, hopefully it looks like all of it was real.

Hobby Change

Original Photo of us at the temple

I completely changed the way Chris looks in Picasa by thinning out his eyebrows, changing his eye shape, smoothing out the wrinkles and cutting down some of his hair, and moving it to look more polished. I did it just for fun to show Chris.

This is an original photo of an eye

In photoshop cs4, I exaggerated the colors a bit, and I could have made it more of a natural color, but some of the coolest eye photos, are the cool color ones.

First, I want to start off by updating our lives thus far.
Chris will be graduating with his Bachelor's in Urban Planning by next Fall. Then onto the Mechanical Engineering portion.
We went to a friend of his sealing. He was the best man. We enjoyed the sealing, and it is still exciting knowing we can go to the temple together for events like that.
I have a job. I have not started yet, but I will be working with Chris's Dad here in the next little while. I will be doing all of his invoicing, paperwork, etc..... It will be good.
I have decided that I would like to start learning photoshop fluently, so to speak. I would like to do that, and start doing some photography. I mess around in Picasa alot with changing photos, and fixing things, or completely changing the way someone looks. I would eventually like to take pictures at weddings, engagements, bridals, etc..... I love doing stuff like that. It's really difficult to learn. I am buying a book on it, and there are some tutorials on the internet. I have already started learning some things. I taught myself how to do an eye color change today. I just love manipulating photos to make them look better, and I feel that I could be good at it.