So it’s time we take a look at how I made the “Meditation” picture. In this tutorial I’ll go on about adding a lot of light effects, some textures to those light effects, and some nifty colorizing makeup!
As with former tutorials, small details are left out. Beginners beware!
First off, happy new year! Or well, it will be in a couple of hours, depending on where in the world you are! Here in tokyo the big countdown will finish in aout 10 hours.
I wish everyone the best of luck with 2009!
Second, I would like to give a big THANK YOU to everyone!
this month, MentalMirage got over 14000 visits! When I started this month, I was hhoping for maybe reaching 5000, last month being a meager 700, so this is a huge thing, and I just have to thank everyone for your support!
The MentalMirage Flickr Group is also really taking off! Now with over 200 members and almost 500 pieces of great art! Be on the lookout for an inspiration post, featuring the best from the group!
SO THANK YOU! AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Support a starving (no, not really) artist and buy some prints!
A big MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone reading MentalMirage! Thank you for your continued support of this site!
Well, from tomorrow morning, until the 13th January, I’ll be off to Tokyo, and maniacly chasing girls and drinking Asahi. But dont worry, I’ll continue to update, and I plan to share any funny and inspirational pictures I might find along my way.
Updates might become slightly crazy though, but I’ve done my best to prepare some wonderful stuff for you in advance, so hopefully you wont even notice!
I’ll do my best to link my Youtube V-Log here as things develop!
As a taste, here is a silly picture from my last trip, along with some friends.
Yes, I’m the redhaired dude with “Hentai” pointed at him… perverted foreigner… yep, thats me.
Ja ne! =^_^=
Well ok, perhaps a little harsh of a headline, but still, I feel like holding no punches when dealing with people who steal the work of others.
Usually bloggers are quite happy if they get mentioned on other blogs and sites, and certainly I welcome this! But NOT if its just a direct copy of what I post here, without any mention of me or this site.
This is what happened today.
I got the following email (at the end of this post) telling me how my tutorial was found on another site, without any mention of me or this blog. A dear reader found this, after he found several of his own tutorials on said site.
The site in question is: http://www.photoshopx.org/
If you feature any tutorials yourself, you might want to check if any of them have been copied to there.
I am currently in the process of contacting the owner (as well as a few tutorial holders whos tutorials I found there), asking him to either link back here, or take the tutorial down.
The email:
“Hi Philip,
I just wanted to let you know that I found one of your articles on a new photography website. The owner of the website has copied your article and the photos in it’s entirety. I came across his website when I found that he had also copied two of my articles word for word.
I emailed the owner warning him that if he didn’t remove the articles I would issue an invoice with a retrospective licence that would be enforcable through the courts. He’s since removed one and I’ve given him 24 hours to remove the other.
I’m emailing a few of the other people who’s articles he’s stolen to make them aware and ask them to email this person in protest. If enough people act hopefully he’ll take the site down.
The owner’s name is Omer and the link to your article is http://www.photoshopx.org/photoshop-tutorials/photo-retouch/create-a-stunning-portrait.html
Kind regards,
Andrew Gibson
www.magicalplacesfineart.com”
Thanks Andrew for letting me know!
I have a good bunch of “Inspiration” blog entries ready, and will continue to publish those here to bring both inspiration to the people reading this blog, as well as some attention to some of the wonderful artists everywhere.
If you have an interesting piece that you think might fit on here, be that your own or someone elses, please send me an email at philip@mentalmirage.com. The headline should read “Inspiration” and contain a link to the picture, as well as a link to the maker of the picture.
Do note though, that just because its submitted, dosn’t mean it will be featured. Who decides what will be featured? That would be me, myself and I. But if its good, different and inspiring, the chances are high!
So the second “Inspiration” article is ready and good to go! This time we’ll take a look at 20 wonderful pictures from flickr! So if your looking to get inspired, keep reading!
In this tutorial, we’ll go over how to turn an average (read: boring) plain portrait, into a distinct one with heavy contrast and focus on details. To achieve this, we’ll be working with the Lucis Art plugin, Levels, and custom shadows.
I just wanted to comment that the MentalMirage Flickr group is starting to take off, which is really nice. We have almost 40 members so far, as well as well over 100 amazing pictures in the group pool. I know thats not a lot comparing to the groups with tens of thousands of members, but I’m ok with starting small.
Head over there and take a look, and if you have a flickr account, join in!
