(Click on image for larger view)

By the by, clicking on the image will take you to my page there :)

So there is one option at Fine Art America (or FAA) where potential buyers are offered an opportunity to view an image at full-resolution (i.e. close-up of the original file I uploaded at 100%).

• How does this work?

Customers or visitors won’t be able to fully view the original high-res file, but they can click a section of the painting and that can be viewed in close-up. Also, all areas of the painting is available for a close-up view, just not the entire painting all at once, mind.

• So, what’s my problem?

Well, I’ve had some problems in the past with people who have stolen my artwork, either claiming that they were the ones who have painted it, or offering them as ‘stock’ and even a person who claimed to be me. And those are the smaller artworks that were posted in the Disanthus gallery! At my FAA gallery, they can view the artwork (albeit in sections) at full-resolution.

Though FAA does add their watermark/logo on each section, sometimes the logo is barely visible in certain areas, which just adds to my paranoia.

BUT! Say if you wanted to buy an art print, any art print – would you like to be able to view the art in high-res, full-resolution to make up your mind? Would it deter you from buying the art print if the close-up option was not available?

Please let me know what you think.

Hello editing!

I didn’t realize that I never embedded an ICC profile to any of my artworks, except the standard web profile -_- Which sort of sucks gas because that meant more colour corrections. To make a long story short: I managed to edit a bulk of the artworks I wanted to offer as prints. You’ll probably notice the difference in colours when compared to the Disanthus gallery. The prints look much better!

Here’s my profile page at Fine Art America. There are currently two galleries: one for my digital paintings, the other for my collages. So check it out :)

I, on the other hand, have not suffered computer woes (though mine’s terribly old and on its way to great suffering), but I am working on my first freelance gig – designing a coffee table book, which has pretty much taken most of my time. I’m not able to work too long on the computer because I end up with too many physical complaints (my arms, mostly). The doctor recommended a physical therapist, but I haven’t been yet. I’ll post some images of the book once I’m relatively sure it’s near completion. Right now, we’ve finished revising the text and adding a batch of new images from different photographers. Cover is done, though :)

I’m hoping to keep the blog regularly updated, since I don’t foresee many art updates in the near future because of the photo book. I’m also trying to enjoy as much of the gorgeous weather as I can, as it never lasts long here.

And this is a book post, yay!

I have bought too many books for my Kindle app, so Annette’s Amazon gift card is pretty much gone right now -_- I bought Deadly Vows on the day of release. I was hesitant about buying the Kindle version because it actually cost slightly more than its paperback counterpart, which certainly raised my hackles. I still bought it, though (yeah, I know) because it’s taken years for the publisher to finally let the author write the next book in the series. Deadly Vows was certainly worth the wait!

P.B. Ryan – The Nell Sweeney Mysteries

I also bough the Nell Sweeney series by P.B. Ryan because I’ve been hearing so many good things about it, and I wasn’t disappointed. If you love historical mysteries (this one takes place in Boston), you will adore these books. My one gripe is actually the last book in the series: I was reading the books back-to-back and suddenly it just ended, abruptly. I think there was one Amazon reviewer who felt that the writer had a checklist and had to go through them one by one, and though it’s nice to have all the relevant issues dealt with for the final book,  I felt the book was rushed and ultimately unsatisfying for a series finale. A bit of a dry read, which is disappointing, because these are elegantly written books with such great characters that deserved better.

Overall, the Nell Sweeney series is superb, though, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries by such writers as Deanna Raybourn, Rhys Bowen and Victoria Thompson.

C.S. Harris – Where Shadows Dance

Finally, my last purchase was Where Shadows Dance by C.S. Harris. I’ve been waiting for this latest installment of the St. Cyr series! I should say that I was relieved at the end of this book. Up until the very moment Sebastian and Hero tie the knot, I was completely unsure on how it would end with these two. Truly!

So I woke up yesterday to a snow-packed scenery, which was strange because the day before there was absolutely nothing. We’ve had some snow this week, but the weather wasn’t cold enough so it melted quickly. So yesterday afternoon I packed myself in my winter gear, packed my nephew in his winter gear, took along his little sled and out we went.

It wasn’t as cold as you’d think since I didn’t even wear my gloves, and it would be impractical with the camera since I wanted to take some pictures:

• Click on image for larger view

Bicycles -  Our main mode of transportation! But with the enormous amount of snow they were abandoned en masse. By the by, the last picture of the lone bicycle with the saddle bag is one of my favourites.

More pictures:

Lovely Street I – A nice view of a quaint little street with a lovely facade. This area used to be a factory community long ago, so the houses were originally labourers’ homes. When the houses were rebuild, they kept the typical architectural style of an old-fashioned Amsterdam house.

Lovely Street II: More images of this lovely little street. As you can see from the first image with the two ladies – these homes are tiny! More ‘cottage’ and less ‘house’.

Street Secrets: Same little street, this time with a peek into a little passage leading to another lovely area.

Back on the street: Can’t linger, so we’re moving on.

At Streets’ End: So we’ve come to the end of the street, but there’s more loveliness ahead!

Having Fun In The Snow: A boy running around in circles, mesmerized by the snow and sometimes just a blur in the distance. You might be wondering why I’m stalking this kid: he’s my nephew. As you can see, he didn’t mind the constant stops for some picture-taking :)

Snow-Covered Trees: A picturesque scene of trees covered in snow. The scene was a lot lovelier than I was able to capture with the camera, though!

Time To Go Inside: My nephew started complaining about being tired, so we were heading back. Good thing, too, because the weather was starting to turn for the worse. One boy was brave enough to attempt making a snowman in the worsening weather. Haven’t seen him since, though … I wonder …

So, what does it look like in your neck of the woods?

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• See the full-sized image at Disanthus
• Do not direct-link this image: link to the whole post

I started this about three or four years ago, but it was on the shelf for a long, long time. I wasn’t really confident about my painting techniques in Photoshop, which was my biggest obstacle. Of course, I knew how I wanted it to look yet I hadn’t a clue about how to achieve it.

As I learned new things about painting in PS, I started experimenting with some ideas about achieving a certain look and feel of a painting: Tomorrow Today was the first step in the right direction. Later I started painting Olivia, which had the same overall theme, and I feel that Olivia is a more finished version of Tomorrow Today.

Below are the three paintings together (at last).

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(Click to view larger image)

• See the full-sized image at Disanthus

It’s more of a doodle than anything else, due to the fact that I wanted to finish it quickly rather than linger over every little detail, which I tend to do a lot … unfortunately.

Something that’s interesting to note is that the main theme of the Metal Gear series sound a lot like Sviridov’s Winter Road; coincidentally, MGS 3 is one of my favourite games ever :) The original “Snow Storm”, or “The Blizzard”, is one of five short stories from The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin by Aleksandr Pushkin. Snow Storm is the story of an elopement that ends tragic during a winter storm in Russia … with a bit of a lemon twist in the end, of course!

Three in particular are a set, the Paper Angels, and they were inspired by a regency mystery I’ve been rereading.

(Click to view larger image)

• See the new Collage page in the Disanthus gallery
• Do not direct-link this image: link to the whole post
  

As for new paintings, I’m currently finishing something I’ve been working on for quite some time now. The painting is huge! It’s the final part of a theme of paintings which include Olivia and Tomorrow Today. Hopefully I can show it to you soon :)