AfterEffects CS3 Commonality Vignette

Bond

This is my latest work, I finished it today 3 o'clock in the morning. This picture is a wedding gift for a young newlywed chinese couple, they got married today at 10 in the morning. It was a very nice ceremony, though if it were my wedding I would learn my oaths by heart and make the priest learn his part by heart too (^^)

I had two weeks to accomplish this project. The first week I was intensely searching for ideas not only in my own head, but also in the other's: I asked my friends, and friends of mine, and even random people on the street whenever I had the chance "If you were to receive a picture as a wedding gift, what would you like it to be?" The most popular answer was "landscape is a good idea". I started with that, and gave it up. That was too neutral, to unemotional. A wedding is a holy moment, very important and very intimate. I wanted to make a picture that would remind them of that moment, and of the oaths they have sworn, of their choice to be together, and of the destiny within. 

The red ribbon tied around lovers wrists is a symbol of destiny in orient culture. The spiral stands for harmony, cycle of life and fate.  

"Bleeding Heart" mask

This is my favorite mask : ) It took me almost a year to finish, because for a long time I could not decide on the final design. I finished the form in Moscow, and brought it to US. Here, I watched the mask for five months: its smooth white surface with soft grey shades and wicked smile, that could only be seen at certain angle, magnified me. I would look at it for half an hour, thinking "What can be added to the from, without ruining the feeling?" After, half a year I finally decided. The result you can see. But the "smile" you can see only if put on human face ; ) ... on this photo it is almost ... smirking?

Anyway, the reason I like "Bleeding Heart" so much is its design. It is just like the original mask sketches I made. It is the authentic original style : )

Dimensions: 7,5x6x3 / 20x15x7,5 cm

Price: NFS (Sample)

Emotions

I like doing faces. I have hundreds of them in my head. Sometimes I can see a face in a couple of scratches on the table, sometimes they seem to be looking at me from a blank wall. I pay great attention to peoples faces, that's why I think. I think that every nation has a definite number of specific face types, like set, some dozens per each. US also has such a "set": I saw two men in two different airports, thousands of miles away from each other, but both americans. They looked so alike, they could easily be brothers. Twins, even : )  That's why making faces is easy: I just take some common face type and twist it a little to add personality and emotion. 

These 3 faces may seem as if they belong to different people, but actually they are all expressions of just one person's emotions. The idea is to show how strong emotions can alter human face. Of course I allowed myself some exaggerations: big mouth for Anger, long nose for Annoyance (don't turn your nose away from things!), large eyes for Curiosity : ) 

"Emotions" are made of plaster covered with gold leaf and tinted patina. 

Dimensions (of all 3 together): 8x12x2,5'' / 20x30,5x6 cm

Price: $40

Rabbit on the Moon

This picture was an 8th of March (russian version of Mother's Day)  present for my mother.  She really likes how japanese picture rabbits, in a special, very recognizable way, so cute that every woman falls in love with them : ) I was trying to imitate that way, and the moon was also a part of request. I first tried to do a rice paper picture out of it, but that didn't work out, because of the size of the canvas. Only the rabbit silhouette remained from that stage. I painted the surroundings with acrylic... yet mother insisted on the rice paper, saying it would add more taste to the picture. In the end, rice paper was put around the edges as a frame, which was a perfect solution, I think. 

Size: 24x30'' / 61x76 cm

Price: NFS

Calligraphy

I really like this small picture. In orient it is said that calligraphy and swordsmanship are alike. Both of them rely on steadiness of hand and experience gained through practice, but more importantly none of them forgive mistakes. It is also said that true beauty comes from calm and empty mind, when we don't put our ego into what we are doing, but let the intuition guide our hand. My idea was to blend calligraphy with portrait painting. Ink is an exiting medium. It takes time to master it, and yet it always seems to have a will of its own. And it is that light unpredictability, smth of fate that makes the final work a masterpiece or trash. 

Size: 4x6'' / 10x15 cm

Price: NFS (not for sale)

First Eye

Everyone thinks differently about which part of the human body is the most expressive one. I always though it were the hands until I read somewhere that children with subconscious fear of smth often draw eyes to reflect it. Since that I always paid close attention to the eyes on every picture I saw, and also I started drawing them myself. I don't know, maybe with a time it became a mania, that got even worse after I became a manga fan, but I really do think that the eye can express a lot of emotion. In manga graphics, in the most thrilling moments only the eye is captured. Besides, in my honest opinion, a person no matter how divine can't be truly beautiful without beautiful eyes. And it is not just the color, or shape, it is smth much more essential and fundamental, that is hiding behind the way we look into this world with our eyes.

This picture was the first one where I used rice paper for texture and framing. It is colored with black india ink and sealed with acrylic medium. The folds are the actual folds of the rice paper, and to separate it from the painting beneath, I used tracing paper for the first layer.

   

Size: 12x9'' / 30,5x20 cm

Price: NFS