Patrick Tang

My latest craving for photography seems to keep me on a path towards Digital Art (simply photography mixed with creativity, other words known as "pictures that go FAR beyond just simply snapping a camera").

Digital artist Patrick Tang hails from Amsterdam (need I say more?) and has managed to fuse his enhanced creative abilities with taking photography to a whole new realm of existence. What I love most about his art is how well it meshes fantasy with what could very well be the next big sci-fi thriller movie concept.

Patrick uses a handle when dealing with his artistic business. He operates under the name Ultradialectics (basically means - an intense form of reasoning based on exchange of arguments and counter arguments). I feel as though we are connect in some strange way since my handle, Cillico (meaning - one's transformation into a new dimensional world), leads me to want to transform into his imagination just to view the world in a completely different way. Maybe one day Patrick and I will meet face to face and feel like we are looking into a mirror of like minds, but who knows where the future leads any of us.

As for Ultradialectics' art, Patrick deals a lot in a macabre which stemmed from a fascination during childhood from books by Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazzeta. This dark form of art is an intense hobby of which he has yet to show at exhibitions. As far as my thoughts are concerned on this matter, the internet is a MUCH stronger place to show this kind of work and get the right kind of exposure. I mean, can you really see some nicely dressed person sipping free wine and snacking on cheese while looking at this kind of art? I could see this work easily displayed in a club, cafe and even my bedroom!

Michael Dykstra

Michael Dykstra is an emerging photo artist, based out of Madison, Wisconsin, with a passion for excellence, creativity and desire. His recent masterpieces involve light and water in a surreal photo art vision.

Now I don't know if words can describe how much I love these photographs, but let me give it a shot. These water droplet photographs remind me of a never ending circle with episodes of daily chaos spewing from them. The colors represent emotions in a poetic aura sort of way. Blues are calm and peaceful. Purples are spiritual. Orange is excitement. The metallic looking oranges, purples and like colors feel ridged and chaotic. I just love them all and could imagine these photos hanging in a science lab or little boy's room. For some odd reason these photos also remind me of the secret message in water (a Japanese scientist looked at water exposed to different words under a microscope, the water made it's own art to go with the word/feeling).

I look forward to seeing what else Michael Dykstra invents with his photo art.

Cathy Immordino

Not long ago, I experimented with photographing people and their pets. Believe it or not, that is my cousin Jeremy wearing a horse mask (his Halloween costume). The little girl is my neice, Julie. And let's not forget to mention TigTig the cat.

By the time I set out to photograph this project, I was already getting sick of taking standard photos of people with their pets. I was on the verge of trying something new but couldn't figure out which direction I wanted to head in. Then out of the blue, myself along with my cousin and others went in to a Halloween store in West Hollywood and fell madly in love with a horse mask. There were other masks available but I can't remember ever seeing a horse who would actually have anything to do with a cat. We purchased the mask and set off on our mission.

This entire series has little if not any Photoshop magic added to them.  I call this series Horseman & TigTig.

Enjoy!

Aaron Nace

Aaron Nace is a photographer and digital artist based out of Chapel Hill, NC. His main focus is portraiture with hopes to create an emotional impact on the viewer.

"I am very much into creating images using all the tools available, including lighting, costuming, set design, and post production. I aim to have my images stand out from the crowd and bring about original concepts, and am always evolving my style to do so." -Aaron Nace

Aaron's current project, "365 days", involves him taking a photo of himself every day of the year. The twist is that each photo is  not only a picture of him but also a piece of art. If you would like to view those, check out his website (click here).


In this post, I chose to show off his Artist Tribute series.


"I started the Artist Tribute series for a couple of reasons. The first being that others' art plays a large influence on my own, and I decided I would take a group of artists who are the most influential towards my art, and see what I could learn from them. I wanted to emulate their styles for both technical reasons as well as artistic reasons. Technically I could learn from different generations of thought as far as lighting and image quality is concerned. Artistically, I truly learned to value many images I previously had little regard for. The project really helped me to understand why some images are more successful than others, and the fact that most of the artists I studied were not photographers made me realize that different mediums actually have a lot more in common than I once thought." - Aaron Nace

Adam Sebastian West

Adam's relationship with photography began over three decades ago. Based out of Brisbane, he photographs all the things that photographers have to do to make a living (i.e. wedding, portrait, architecture, etc...) and still finds time to invent fine art through light manipulation.

In this post, I'd like to feature his more artistic side of work. Though I could only find three images built around his fine art light concept, I hope he continues to add more in the future.

Shin Ex

This week I would like to introduce you to Shin Ex from Singapore.

Ever since Shin got an R72 filter for his camera he has been hooked on shooting infrared photography. What I love most about these photos is the infrared reminds me of these Japanese paintings my mom used to own. I also love the colors combination and was immediately drawn to Shin Ex's work on Deviantart.

Since I had trouble finding out more information on Mr Shin Ex, I am going to have to let his photographs speak for themselves.

Enjoy!

Martin Blanco

This past week I attended the Downtown Los Angeles artwalk. In the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art a photo of mine hung on a wall next to the person I would like to introduce you to this week. This artist's name is Martin Blanco. I immediately jotted down his name so I could look up his other work once I got home. What I've

found online were several photo/mixed media art that I knew I had to post (if not for your viewing pleasure, so that I won't forget his name).

Martin has established himself as a master of mixed media art by combining illustrations with photos and a vision of darkness. When I look at these images, I am reminded of pictures I used to draw when I was younger. It almost feels like Martin has captured my imagination & thoughts on paper.

"Since 1998, I have been involved in the creation of dark art, developing themes like the pass of time and the unavoidable arrival of old age and death. I have always tried to focus my attention in expressing the desperation, anxiety and oppression that people feel when this time comes by creating dense atmospheres where characters are immersed. I have always liked mixing different media in my drawings and I have been finally able to explore all those possibilities when I started making digital art. Digital has opened Pandora’s box to me, giving me the freedom of combining my photographs with digital painting every time I need it and it has also increased the speed of my production. To create the atmospheres mentioned above, I use light and color contrasts, with highlights and dark shadows, since I am influenced by the work of the ancient masters like Caravaggio and Michelangelo. I also add textures and some visual noise to the backgrounds". -Martin Blanco