17 November, 2007

Flickr: Photos from Paul Grand

When it comes to art – what ever you reckon art to be – I'm one of those people who knows what he likes when he sees it. Sometimes, I even have a flash of inspiration for some imagery I'd like to create, but I don't have the PhotoShop skills to pull it off.

Paul Grand has the eye and the skills. Combining photography with typographical elements and a helping of age (or grunge), his is a style that really appeals to me. I don't know what a trained artist would call it, but I'll go with "mixed media" or maybe "scrapbook-ish".

Flickr: Photos from Paul Grand

One of these days, when I have a bunch of free time, I've got to enroll in a PhotoShop-oriented design class. Or buy some decent filters.

If you like Grand's work, there are quite a few talented, like-minded surrealists hanging out on Flickr's Man Ray group. Check it out!

6 comments:

Gwynne said...

Those are gorgeous! I love the technique, whatever it is...it's like a light layer of sepia over intense color, but the compositions and the subject matter are also fabulous.

Foo said...

@Gwynne: I suspect that you can go a long way just by having the right sorts of PhotoShop filters, brushes, and masks. For instance, he uses an effect that looks as if you're viewing the picture through the scratched viewfinder of a camera. The question there is not how he did it but where he got the mask. Likewise, I suspect the brownish stains added to give a sense of age were accomplished with brushes, but the precise technique required to make the effect look right has always escaped me.

But after all that, you still have the imagination to put it all together.

That Janie Girl said...

Absolutely beautiful. I want to take one of those classes, too.

Avery Gray said...

Those are amazing! He is very talented. Thanks for sharing!

Anne said...

Just stopped by to say "Happy Turkey"!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Guys, I only just saw this thread.
I'd like to answer your questions about how I do this kind of art- work/photography. I'm completely self taught,in photoshop, just picked it up.
I never use brushes, its all camera work, I don't play around with masks either -takes too long.
As for filters, I make my own. And I use a couple of groups for the distorted lens edges or TTV's as they are called.
Go to 'Noise and Dust through the viewfinder' group for free downloads,
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ttvdust/
I'm a moderator there and will help with any questions.

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