~DevilKittyDesigns

I am finally getting some new art posted on this account. Took forever, but I am making time to try to get some new things done at least every few days. A lot of the new pieces are relatively simple manips...less then 10 layers, not a lot of tiny details etc., but then not everything has to be so complicated and time consuming.

Sometimes it's just nice to sit down for an hour or so and put something together just for the fun of it, without worrying if it is perfect or not, or whether you have done too much, not enough, or some weird in-between phase that makes it seem like something is missing, even though you can't figure out what it might be.

So anyway, there are some new pieces in the gallery and more on the way.

I think I have actually submitted more in the last 2 weeks then I did in the entire previous year. At least it sure seems that way.

I have a bunch of different things that I want to do features on in this journal, but that is going to have to wait until I can afford to renew my subscription. Bills have to come before DA sadly, and I don't want to do any major features when I can't put up thumbnails in the journal. Sure I could always just post links to the various pieces, but it's just not the same at all. So for now the features will just have to wait a bit longer. Expect to see some major updates, friends features, random artists features, selections of art made using our stock etc., just as soon as I get re-subscribed.

I have a problem I am hoping someone here can help me solve. Years ago I wrote a series of short stories, and awhile back I was tossing around the idea of trying to do photo manipulations depicting the various characters featured in those stories.

The problem I am having is that the characters I want to depict came from a wide variety of racial backgrounds...white, black, asian, middle-eastern, native american, hispanic etc., and I realized that while there are literally millions of stock images on DA (and believe me I have seen more then I can even count), I have seen very few, if any, model stock images featuring people who fit into most of those groups.

I did find a few Japanese or Chinese female models, but that was about it. I really was rather surprised given the number of members DA has, and the huge number of stock providers, that I could not seem to find a more diverse ethnic representation among the models.

Maybe I am just not looking in the right places, but I have done hundreds of searches and only come up with a handful of images. And to me it just seems pointless to create a manip depicting a character who was a middle aged african man, or an young Indian woman and so on, while having to use caucasian models. Depicting a woman of Indian birth and ancestry using a blond haired, blue eyed woman in a sari just doesn't have the same effect at all.

I was hoping that someone would be able to help me in finding some good quality ethnically diverse stock images that do not require me having to purchase the rights to the images, as at the moment I am beyond broke.

So please, if you know of any great stock models who fit the bill, let me know. As much as I love all the wonderful stock providers I have seen so far, and many of whose work I have used in my manips, I would really love to have a wider ethnic diversity represented, not only in my own work, but in the work of others.

I really don't see that much in DA outside of some of the photographers galleries and the occational art pieces, and given the fact that DA members come from every corner of the world, and from every ethnic background imaginable, I find that fact to be rather surprising and very disappointing.

After not really spending much time here on DA lately, I am finally making the time to sit down, sort, edit, delete, add, arrange and otherwise de-clutter and clean up my accounts.

I have to confess...I have a bad habit of downloading stock and resources on the fly. Rush into DA, check my inbox, grab a few of the stock pieces that really jump out at me and scream "USE ME!," and then log out again and get back to the real world.

Because of this, I have a lot of images, brushes and textures that I have made use of in my manips or have downloaded and plan to make use of in the future that have not been added to my favorites/collections. I do drop notes to the providers whenever I put something up that includes use of their resources, and I credit them in the description of the work as well. But that's not the same as a on their stock now is it???

I finally got around to setting up a stock/resource folder in my favorites section, and I will be going through and adding to it all the various stock, brushes, textures and other resources that I have used in my manips in the past.

So if you suddenly see me collect a ton of your resources, don't worry about thanking me for it. It's me that should be thanking all of you for the wonderful stock, and finally I am making an attempt to do just that.

Now off I go back to work!

Well I am back online and have been trying to get caught up on all the things that piled up while I was away. Tons of emails, blog and journal messages, requests from friends for pictures, manips, and assistance with various odds and ends. In other words....lots of stuff to sort and to do. Things really pile up quick when you are offline for more then a few days.

I still have a ton of photos that have been waiting forever to get uploaded to our stock account, a number of pictures that need to be placed in our photography gallery, and about a dozen manip projects in the works that still need to have the finishing touches put on them.

I also have a lot of genealogy related things that need to be sorted and printed out, and some additional information and documents to locate, before we leave in a few weeks for the family reunion. And then there are all the things that need to be done before we leave for the trip, and the fact that there are still things waiting to be unpacked and put away following the recent move. So I am going to be pretty busy for awhile. But I am going to try to make some time over the remainder of the weekend to finish the new manips and get them up, and get at least some of the stock uploaded.

We will be on the road for two weeks, and there will be tons and tons of pictures being taken. Which reminds me, I need to buy additional batteries and another memory card for the camera. Something I said I wanted to do about 3 months ago. Still not entirely sure where the trip will take us. We are sort of playing it by ear. We know we have to be in Pennsylvania the day of the family reunion, and there is talk of going to Hersey Park the next day. So a few days in PA, as well as plans for Washington D.C., Savannah and a few other stops that are still subject to change.

I often take more then 1,000 pictures a day, so you can only imagine just how many pictures there will be to sort through at the end of a 2 week vacation! Oh well. Hopefully there will be some great ones and I will get them sorted and posted somewhere before the next family vacation lol.

Well I have not really been doing much "serious" manip work lately. Most of the pieces I have done the last few months have been simple experiments with layers, textures, effects, testing out some new filters and brushes and trying some different techniques. I have debated whether or not I should even put them up there on DA. They certainly are not unique, exceptional works of art, but they are also certainly not any worse then some of the other things I have seen on DA either. So I decided last night that even though they are not all that outstanding and probably won't even be seen, let alone commented on or 'd by anyone, I am going to put them up anyway. Just keep in mind when you see them that these were not done out of any intent to create a "masterpiece" of photo manipulation, but just to relieve my boredom and try out a few new things.

Hey, at least I am finally adding something to the gallery lol.