Skull of Persistence

skull-of-persistence-charr-crail

This is dedicated to the person on my street who– for days–  has been trying to start a car.  For hours on end the ignition is turned and held on but the car never starts.

Today I was inspired to create a new piece that is part of a series of skull images I’ve been working on for a couple of years now.  I happened to be searching my mind for a title when the ignition again caught my attention.  No need to get all heavy or philosophical here.  Persistence is key sometimes to getting what you want.  Whether it’s a car to start, answers to the questions of a developing artwork, bringing your invention to the market or something you simply want in life just because you want it.  Persistence. Where would we be without it?

Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, my own homemade photoshop brushes and my own homemade fractals were all used to complete this part piece.

Fido and Fluffy are Family Too!

C-is-for-cat-CrailYes, C is For Cat!  Meet my beautiful feline friend Toby.  He’s been with me for 16 years now and has been feeling a bit poorly recently.  One thing I’m so glad of is that over the years I have taken the time to make art pieces out of my cat friends.  Our pets are such important part of our family.  I do animal art portraits professionally too and my tag line is “Fido and Fluffy are Family Too”.  They are such wonderful companions with these great distinctive personalities and big love in abundance for us.  Not a day goes by that I don’t sit back and marvel at the joy they bring into my world with their sweet and loving companionship.  I’m feeling so much love and compassion for my ailing Toby today so decided to share this artistic representation I did of him a couple of years ago.  His bountiful purr is unparalleled!

On the technical side I found some wonderful old lettering and clip art to use for the drawn graphic elements and also wrote the prose, which I used both in english and in french.   It’s created in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter.

 

Geisha

Geisha

“There is currently no western equivalent for a geisha—they are truly the most impeccable form of Japanese art.”—Kenneth Champeon, The Floating World

And the quote actually sums up the picture for me. Today I took the original a few steps further– it’s a bit subtle perhaps, which make me think a bit philosophically too about the (my own) creation process.  

This may sound strange to people who really know me but I find myself rather restrained and long to break out artistically. Truth is no matter what level you are at, the creative must always strive for more– bigger, greater, more profound, always trying to up our skills a notch, figure out how to do that new cool thing. It never stops.

I’ve learned a lot about courage from looking at others work and desire greatly to put more courage in my approach and execution of what I do too.

No matter what I’m photographing, I’m always looking to please both the client and myself so I often capture juicy imagery that I might eventually make art out of even if it does take me years to get back to them.

The original image that I created this art piece from was photographed during a job, an event assignment, where many people were in costume.  This woman just caught my eye, possibly because the she so embodied her character it was entrancing. Today I happened upon the original in my archives and decided to put a spin on it artistically and now you see the result!

From Wikipedia: Geisha (芸者?), geiko (芸子) or geigi (芸妓) are traditional Japanese female entertainers who act as hostesses and whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music, dance and games.

Nudist at Heart

Nudist at Heart

Doodling, I don’t now where a specific doodle comes from. Do you? I sit down and with an implement in my hand I touch the drawing surface and the line appears, my hand moves. It’s instinctual, intuitive, a mind of it’s own. A line that chooses to be this way or that way, to take form and soon completed. I usually don’t remember the middle and what happens along the way. Do you? Do you doodle? Are you like me on the phone, or sitting thinking at a table and find yourself drawing something? I’ve noticed that we all have a very distinctive line. Even a straight line, drawn by two separate people can have a distinctive difference.
This particular drawing, the woman figure, was one of those instinctive travels my hand took. The rest of the image was completed in Adobe Photoshop using line art, photoshop brushes I’ve created, layers, layer blending modes and selective color. Admittedly it’s a bit of an oddball and a bit on the racy side, even for me. But the best part is it’s 2013 and the art is flowing!

It’s Simple Math, u + i= love

It's Simple Math, u + i= love

inspiration is everywhere!  Take 15 minutes today and doodle.  Pull out a sheet of paper, a pen you like and go to it.  See what happens.  I did this one awhile ago but then scanned it into my computer, used Adobe Photoshop to embellish, color, added some imagery and voila!  happy Valentines Day!  Your turn.  If you share it I will delightedly publish it here on this blog to celebrate your creativity!  It’s It’s Simple Math, u + i= love
Valentine greeting card from original line drawing by Charr Crail. Post Production in Adobe Photoshop.

Welcome to the wonderful colorful world of Charr Crail, artist, photographer, teacher, author, mentor, fabric designer and all around creatively insatiable woman!  In this blog I will be posting pictures, ideas, inspirations, life lessons and anything that inspires my lively quirky brain that I consider worth sharing.  Comments are not only appreciated but encouraged!  Please share!

This site is a bit in the creation stage so your patience while I get all the tentacles planned for this site together is appreciated.  I teach a wide variety of workshops including Photography and the Arts and will be posting details and dates soon.

In the meantime here’s a fun photo from a series I’m working on… This one is Skull of Frivolity.

Skull of Frivolity, © Charr Crail, 2012

Skull of Frivolity, © Charr Crail, 2012