Recently, I discovered this club in deviant art for HDR photographers and digital artists. I was amused when I saw their gallery. The photos were stunning and it looks kinda surreal. It's kinda hard to explain so here's a few quote's from wiki "high dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR) is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between light and dark areas of a scene than normal digital imaging techniques or photographic prints. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to represent more accurately the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight." Here are some photos that I tweaked to have this HDR look that I was talking about.




I also made an action for photoshop in case you want to see how your photos would look like with the HDR effect. Click here to download the file. After downloading, open your image in photoshop. Then, go to the actions window (Windows > Action or alt+f9). In the upper right hand corner of the palette is a small arrow ( or ). Click Load Action. Locate the action in the dialog box and click OK. Now, you can see the HDR folder in the actions palette. Click the arrow to show the actions of the folder. There are three actions. First, choose the HDR Effect. Click the play button at the bottom of the pallette. Wait for a few seconds and see the results. Here is a sample of what it will look like before and after the action is applied.



Results may vary depending on your photo. It also works best in dark landscapes like the one that I used above. When I used portraits, the results are very vivid so I created the Desaturate action. If you think the colors are too saturated, use this action as many times as you want. If you want to have a retro look, you can use the Retro color action. Here's the result when I applied the action to the last photo above.

Isn't it cool? I wonder how your photos will look like if you use the actions. Contact me or a post a link of your work. For more photos, check out my multiply site here.

More on HDR:
Magic of HDRI
HDR Photoshop Effect
Wiki: HDR

Last August 24-29, 2009, the College of Science and Information Technology of ADZU celebrated its college week. One of the contest during the CSIT Week is the Digital Art Competition. With the theme "Responding to Global Challenges through Science and Information Technology," participants should create a digital art, may it be a photo-montage, vector art, 3d art or digital photography, that will depict the theme. Out of 21 entries, here are the top 5 that was chosen by the judges:

Its fun creating 3d models but it requires much patience and knowledge in using the software. Currently in our 3d animation class, we are using Autodesk Maya. Though its sort of user-friendly, i can still feel that the software is dominating me. I must practice and learn more. Anyways, are are some of my outputs including a model of a clownfish, tire and yummy fruits.


Here are the details:

Plate with paintings, two peaches and grapes

Toothpaste and box

Tire and rim

Clownfish!

Click here to see more...

Last summer, the director of scholarships, Mr Shing Balatbat, gave me a rare opportunity to design the logo of the upcoming centennial anniversary of Ateneo de Zamboanga. A couple of young artists were also invited to create their own designs. I created three logo proposals and i am very happy that one of my designs was chosen by the committee including Fr. Tony Moreno himself. The logo is basically a vinta, a bangka with colorful sails, which is also found in the ADZU seal as a symbol of the culture of the Western Mindanao. At the center of the logo, two white intersecting stripes form a crucifix, sybolizing Christ and Christianity. At the center of the cross is the seal of the Society of Jesus, the religious order of the Jesuits who built Ateneo. (Download high res here)

The Seal of the Society of Jesus. The "IHS" trigram represents the first three Greek letters of "IHΣOYΣ" (Jesus), later interpreted as "Iesus Hominum Salvator", Jesus, Saviour of Mankind, "Iesum Habemus Socium", We have Jesus as Companion or as "Iesu Humilis Societas", Humble Society of Jesus. (reference: wikipedia)

The vinta also sybolize the journey of the Ateneo. At the bottom of the vinta inscribed "100", typifying the waters, symbolizing the 100 years of Ateneo de Zamboanga. And lastly, located at the below the logo is the theme of the centennial anniversary "Living 100 Years of Excellence, Spirituality and Citizenship."

Aside from the start of centennial celebration of ADZU, the university is also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the return of the Jesuits. Here are some important links that you want to visit to know more about the celebration:

• Article about the double celebration
• Photo gallery of the celebration

*Reflection mode*
I am very happy for this amazing happening in my life. It makes me realize that designing is not just an art nor a job, it is also my life. Through it, I am able to impart to everybody what God has given me. This is not just a simple job for me, it is a part of history, a legacy that will live forever. I wish the best from the Ateneo community and hoping for more centennial celebrations to come! :D Animo Ateneo!

When I was little I dreamed of being a dancer. I used to watch Michael Jackson's His-story Sweden Concert VCD at my uncle's house during birthday parties. Whenever I saw him moonwalk, its like magical. Amazement never goes away whenever i see him move in the limelight. His music are masterpieces that will live on forever. Now, I am mourning. It was my dream to see him dance live in a concert, not just in a VCD or in youtube. But I guess it will remain a dream forever. But still i feel lucky to know one amazing singer, composer and dancer. He may be gone but my memories of him will live forever.

Two years ago, I went to Manila, for the first time to join the 2nd Graphika Manila, a national graphics design conference with speakers ranging from photographers to illustrators. It was held at the Centerstage of the Mall of Asia last August 11, 2007, a day before my 17th birthday. It was really memorable because it was also my first time to ride a plane.hehe. Anyways, the speakers were awesome. On the right is Electrolychee, a duo who inspired us about the Filipino's talent and how we should make others inspire. There were also international speakers like Steve Tirona (photographer), Hue Visual Lab and The Asylum. They were really fun speakers and their works are very awesome. Here are some snapshots during the event.

































Last year, I ran out of tickets so wasn't able to attend the conference. I hope i can go this year. Recently, I visited the site of Graphika Manila and there are no announcements yet about the venue and invited speakers of this year's graphika manila but the date is already set on August 15, unfortunately, 2 days before my midterm exams. However, they are planning to have a book which will be a 64-page color book that will be given away to the participants during the conference. The good news is that we can submit any artworks and they might include it in the book. If you want to contribute, email your works to drew@graphikamanila.com. For details, read the announcement below.

Look, i made a vexel out of the doodle of my previous post [link].

How i did it:
1. Trace the basic shapes.
2. Create bold outlines.
3. Find a good color scheme [link] and color it.
4. Add shadows and texture in photoshop.

Click for full view :D

How do we say that an artwork is a vector? What is the difference between a vector and vexel? A couple of minutes ago I browsed my acquaintance's facebook account where he posted his "vector art". He traced the photos of his friends using photoshop and it looked like comic versions of the photos. In the image he traced a thick black lines for the outlines and blurred or smudged out the skin. I kinda looked like this self-portait that I made years ago.

He also used brushes to create smokey eyes and shadows for the lighting. I just want to clarify to all digital art the misuse of the term vector. Even I myself have misconceptions on vectors. Here is another so-called vector art. Most of the elements are created using photoshop brushes.


Quoted from a forum in dA,

Vector is made using mathematical equations instead of pixels so no matter how far you zoom in it recalculates and and looks perfect instead of a pixel based system. That's the technical definition however it has a specific style attached to it. It is usually either super simplistic or hyper realistic. As for vexel it is technically pixel based art that looks like vector but this too is know for hyper realism.

Therefore, what we see above are not vector art. If it is created using brushes and several tools such as blur or smudge, it is not vector. Vectors are created using the pen tool and shape tools alone. It means when we interpolate (increase the resolution of) a vector image, the line will still look smooth. Usually the file format of vectors are .ai and .eps. On the other hand, we have vexels. Vexels are rasterized versions of vectors. They are usually the jpegs or gifs that looks like vectors but the quality will be lost when we interpolate it. This is one of my favorite and the only vexel art that i made using adobe illustrator and then edited it in photoshop.

Have you seen Chowder? Oh that cute stupid thing in Cartoon Network? Well, Chowder it the next cutest thing in TV. He is a squeezy toy inspired character who is an apprentice of a chef named Mung Daal. What I like about the show is the style of animation that they used. They used patterns on the characters' clothing or skin, when a character moves, their patterns do not follow, but display as a "static" background.

I also love how they used stop motion and puppets at the end of the show. Anyways, I made this character while practicing drawing in Flash. I used one type of brush and created variations of thickness by zooming in and out while drawing. I created the bold outlines first and then zoomed it to created dots and dashes for the details. The design is inspired by paisley patterns. I colored and textured it in photoshop using this amazing victorian textures [link], of course inspired by the show "Chowder". I named it "Ambao" coined by my sister's goddaughter, Mica, which means daga or mouse. (she is afraid of tiny fury creatures.) Click on the image for larger view.