Picsart Monthly May Issue # 08 by Arusiak Kanetsyan

Monthly Issue #08 | May 2014

Get Rid of Dark

Photos Once and For All Light Masks Bring Magic to Your

Photography A Photographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guide to Thailand

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Welcome! The month of May is like a wide open door to summer--we can see the warmer weather just through the frame, waiting for us. With excitement building for summer, this month’s issue of PicsArt Magazine is full of items to get you in the mood for sun and fun. As beach weather approaches, people start focusing a bit more on their appearance and working out. Everyone wants to look their best, so we thought an article on digital makeup might be interesting for our users. Digital makeup is used in so many different ways. Now it’s a tool available to anyone interested in editing and manipulating photos. From portraits to selfies, photography has come a long way in how we capture people. Lou Jones provides an insightful, unique take on the history and recent changes in how both amateurs and professional photographers think about capturing faces! Speaking of portraits, Aaron Ruell is a highly regarded portrait photographers working today. From royalty to CEOs and various celebrities, he has worked with some fascinating people. We sat down with Jason for an interview about his unique background and work. If you look hard enough in any major city, you will find fantastic, interesting street art, usually created by anonymous artists. In this month’s issue, we bring you a collection of amazing street art from around the world. These unknown rebels create some astounding work that you will love! Ever been to the circus? If you have, you know how colorful, whimsical, and dreamlike it can be. This month’s drawing tutorial aims to help our users unleash their creativity and playfulness to draw a fantastic, eye-catching circus! There’s much more packed into the May issue of PicsArt Magazine, so check it out! And feel free to give us your feedback at info@picsart.com!

Copyright of Socialln Inc. ( PicsArt Photo Studio ) 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be re-used without the written permission of the publisher. The content of this magazine is for informational purposes only and is, to the best of our knowledge, correct at the time of publication. PicsArt Photo Studio does not claim any ownership right for the photos in the Magazine. All photos,if not mentioned otherwise, are the property of respective PicsArt users. The PicsArt username or photo owner is cited on each photo. PicsArt Photo Studio has a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, limited licence to use, modify, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, and reproduce PicsArt users’ photos, including without limitation distributing part or all of the Magazine in any media formats through any media channels.

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@ekphotography

Publisher: PicsArt

Meet our team... Editor-in-Chief | Arusiak Kanetsyan Art Editor | Cristina Gevorg Designer | Ina Sarko Copy Editor | Arto Vaun, Cameron Sheldony Editorial Contributors | Arto Vaun, Satenig Mirzoyan Mark Gargarian, Heather Parry Special Contributors | Lou Jones, Chris Corradino In-House Photographer | ma_lina Address: PicsArt Inc., 800 West El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA 94040

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PRO INSIGHT

Portraits Selfies and Beyond By Lou Jones Since inventors learned how to make the sun turn silver-black, photography has been used for many things: sacred and profane. Practiced all over the world, shutterbugs take pictures of everything from landscapes to still lifes, the latest fashions to real estate, propaganda to memories. However most of us, at one time or another, have resorted to taking portraits--immortalizing our friends, family, acquaintances, even perfect strangers. Portraits are the convergence of familiar subject matter--readily available--with what is varied and exciting. Both weekend-rank amateurs and hardened professionals can consider cherubic, young faces, craggy, visages of wizened old-timers and foreign, multinational physiognomies equally interesting. Energetic juveniles to seniors confined to wheelchairs may all find tremendous enjoyment in portraying people around them. One-hour $1.99 prints that fill overstuffed photo albums as well as silver gelatin enlargements for hanging above the mantle of suburban fireplaces, make up the vast majority of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daily billion-plus photographic output. Portraits are an excellent excuse to take pictures. One of the best. However, much can be said of the different types of portraits--why and how we take them. Oxford Dictionaries selected â&#x20AC;&#x153;selfieâ&#x20AC;? the new Word of the Year 2013. Because cell phones have made photography so ubiquitous along with the instant gratification they provide, self portraits top the photo list. The need and ego to create selfies has escalated in the supercharged technology of urban society. 9| PicsArt Monthly

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Documenting our friends and family on casual and special events continues to be the most important use of portraiture. Although snap shooters armed with both point and shoot cameras and expensive DSLRs have generated the lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s share, family portraits, commercial headshots, school graduation pictures, sports pics and editorial illustrations make up the largest market share for professional photographers. Quality, value, creativity and effort are determined, in varying degrees, by intent plus who is paying the bill. Take head shots. They are the currency of models, actors, performers and book jackets. They tend to be rather formulaic--not very creative-because their main purpose is to allow you to see what someone looks like. Retail portraiture is for the purchaser. You have to make them happy. Competency is more important than imagination.

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Assignments for similar shots of the CEOs or managers of corporations can command a bigger price tag. Likewise they, too, have to satisfy the subject. If he/she does not like them you do not get paid. Whereas the same effort and craft may go into a portrait for a magazine, editorial work has to satisfy the quixotic opinions of the art director who may demand a more creative, stylistic approach. It matters little that the subject may not even like the eventual published picture. The magazine is paying for it. Only when the portrait is intended to be personal or art are you obligated to no one besides yourself. Traditionally, a major criterion is to capture the face(s). But there are no hard and fast rules. Some very famous, iconic images of significant personalities have withstood the test of time without the face in evidence: Pablo Casals from behind by Yousuf Karsh and Georgia O’Keeffe’s hands by John Loengard. The celebrity of famous people often overshadows the artistry involved. Dedicated portrait photographers add gravity to the accomplishments of the rich, famous and notorious and similarly give “voice” to those never heard before. Good portraiture has a special longevity that is in direct opposition to the ephemeral nature of today’s “party pics”. Both have a place in our society. Photography nails down our narrative. It is our subconscious made concrete. Portraits are our placeholders in antiquity. They can be our dreams that end up in frames.

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@petinton

INSPIRATION : Photo

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In the Footsteps of Anonymous Street Artists Urban art marches to a different beat than its more classical counterparts, but in the museum of the streets, photographers are always welcome. Street art makes any stroll through a city more colorful and full of surprises. Like all photographers, PicsArtists relish the opportunity to snap their shutters on a masterpiece sprayed over what would otherwise have been a blank garage door or stark brick wall. The other particular pleasure of urban art is that it is always the expression of local outlaws or true adventurers from abroad who have scouted a particular location upon which to unleash their artistic whims. The location is the canvas, and each one is selected by the artist him or herself. When you stumble across a piece of street art, you are walking in the tracks of the faceless outlaw whose trail has since gone cold and disappeared back into the anonymity of the crowds. The photos here chronicle some of the most stunning shots that artists in the PicsArt community have captured of street art. This gallery celebrates these photographers who have documented street art before it, like its creators, disappeared back into the obscurity from which it came. 17|PicsArt Monthly

@the-xammax

@petinton

@esmane03

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@stu76

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@petinton

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@unaizaa

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@player_24245285

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Light Masks Bring Magic to Your Photos Among the most popular masks available in PicsArt are Light Masks, and for good reason. These masks add slashes and dashes of light like ribbons to your photos. They add sparks of heat, and infuse your photos with electrical energy.

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PICSART IN ACTION Here we present the same photo with four different light masks applied. Each mask has its own character and style, and all of them are customizable - you can flip them or adjust the opacity level. Half the fun is in experimenting with each one until you find the mask that hits the mark. There are those unique moments when life is overwhelmingly beautiful, and Light Masks have that special magic best reserved for when the air is inexplicably electric and you need a way of capturing it. When you find the right Light Mask that matches the moment, the result can be amazing.

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TUTORIAL : Shooting

Get Rid of Dark Photos Once and For All by Chris Corradino What if I told you there was a way to prevent underexposed images with just one button? You are in luck, as this feature already exists. It's called the ISO, and it's one of the most powerful yet least understood settings for many photography students. Whether you're using a point & shoot or a DSLR, you can utilize this functionality right now. This article will detail exactly when and how to adjust the ISO for the best results.

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Think of your camera as a light gathering sponge. The higher the ISO number, the more light it soaks in. At ISO 200 for example, the camera gathers twice as much light as ISO 100. Notice how the images get progressively brighter in the sample below. The shutter speed and aperture did not change, only the ISO.

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The amount of light in our homes may appear sufficient to our eyes as they automatically adjust. To a camera however, it's not nearly enough to make a proper exposure. Birthday parties are a great example as the lights are turned off for the cake and candles. In these low light situations, you'll often benefit from an ISO of 1600 or 3200. With the camera able to collect the existing light faster, a quick shutter speed of 1/250 can be used to freeze the child's movement.

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Some of the world's most exquisite architecture and artwork are found in the darkest spaces of churches and museums. To further complicate matters, many restrict flash photography. By adjusting the ISO, you can leave the flash off, and still capture well-exposed pictures. At a recent visit to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, it was not uncommon to shoot at extraordinarily high ISOs such as 6400 or 12,800. As technology continues to improve, some high-end cameras now offer ISO 102,400 and 204,800. Essentially this allows a photographer to shoot in near darkness.

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You may be surprised to learn that a high ISO can even be helpful on a bright sunny day. For example, if you are photographing a landscape without a tripod, the shutter speed can be no slower than 1/125 to prevent camera shake. To achieve great depth of field the desired aperture would be f11 or f16. This will keep everything sharp from near to far. With these two decisions made, you may take your photo only to find that it's too dark. This is where the ISO comes to the rescue. Simply double the ISO number and watch as the photo gets brighter. Still need more light? Double the ISO again.

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There is a slight trade off for using such high ISOs. The greater the number, the more digital noise will appear. This is typically not very noticeable until you reach the extreme ISOs like 3200 and above. This is not a reason to shy away from raising the ISO however. The artifacts are incredibly easy to eliminate using the noise reduction tool available on most image editing programs today.

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By incorporating ISO control into your imagemaking process, exposure is no longer limited to just aperture and shutter speed. With this new technical knowledge, it also increases your photographic opportunities. With the ability to shoot anywhere, the possibilities are nearly endless. Use the ISO to your advantage and you'll see a definitive improvement in your craft. Problematic scenes that were once too dark are now well within your reach.

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TUTORIAL : Drawing

Be the Ring Leader of your Art with PicsArt Many wonderous and extraordinary things happen under a circus tent, so what better subject upon which to unleash your imagination using PicsArt Drawing Tools? Follow this step by step tutorial to see how you can raise your own circus tent in just 6 simple steps!

Step 1: Open the PicsArt Drawing Tool Select “Draw” from the main screen and then select “Draw blank” to start a new drawing from scratch. You have the option of choosing the precise width, height, and orientation of your drawing before entering your work space.

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Step 2: Roughly Outline Tent Draw a rough outline of your circus tent. This is the stage for your circus, so figure out what angle you want your drawing to be from, outline the main ring, the crowd, and the tent itself.

Step 3: Roughly Outline Performance In a higher layer outline the scene of your performance. Figure out what kind of performance you want, whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a trapeze act or animal show, and use this opportunity to map it out.

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Step 4: Draw Final Outline Reduce the opacity of your outlines, and add a new layer. Draw a more precise outline. Draw clean lines, formulate the shapes of the objects and people, and add details. Repeat the process when done for an even more precise final outline, and delete all previous outlines.

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Step 5: Color Your Drawing Add new layers in which to color your drawing. Give yourself some freedom by coloring different sets of objects in different layers, for example saving one layer for just your background, one for only people, and another for props. Merge layers when done.

Step 6: Add Lighting & Shading Add new layers to add lighting and shading. You can either designate different layers for different objects, or use some for lighting and others for shading. Use translucent or spray brushes to add darker and lighter tones based on the direction of your light source.

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TUTORIAL : Editing

Using PicsArt to Reveal your Artistic Self Every artist has an inner and outer world, so traditional portraits are only telling half the story. Behind every face is an active imagination where artists spend most of their time, and this is where many of us find our true selves. In this spirit, we have created a step by step tutorial to show you how you can use PicsArt to try and create a portrait of an artistic self. Start with a traditional portrait and use your talents along with PicsArtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deep toolkit to sculpt it into a portrait of the artist within.

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Open Photo Select Draw from the main screen and choose Draw on Photo. Crop your photo and confirm to get started. It is better to choose a photo where your face is on one side of the photo to leave yourself room for editing.

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Add Photo In an empty layer, choose the Add Photo icon (with the small plus sign), import a photo that compliments a side of your personality, and reduce its opacity.

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Erase Select the Eraser icon, choose a brush, and scrub away all the parts that you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need from your imported photo. You can do cool things like create eyeholes.

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Effects Confirm to get to the main editor screen. Select the Effects icon and choose an effect that suits your project.

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Stretch Tool Confirm to get back to the main editor again, and select the Stretch Tool from the Tool icon. Use the Swirl option to create curling, wave-like distortions, or experiment with other stretch features.

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Mirror Confirm to get back to the editor, and get back to the Effects section by clicking the Effects icon. Use the Mirror effect in the Distortion section to create an awesome psychedelic look. Adjust the offset level. Save your new artistic selfie.

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TUTORIAL : Design

Design a Father’s Day Card PicsArt is of one of the best custom card creation tools available, so for this Father’s Day, we are posting a step-by-step tutorial to show you how to make the perfect father’s day card. One thing your dad is probably not expecting this year is a custom father’s day card, professionally made, with a personal photo and message. He is going to love it and keep it for years. Sometimes, a small gesture can make a big impact. Check out this tutorial for guidance, when you see how easy it is, you’ll be finishing your own card within minutes.

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Step 1: Upload a Photo From the Draw section of the main menu, select Draw on Blank. Upload an image of your choice by clicking the Add Photo icon.

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Step 2: Box off Your Card Shrink your photo and move it to the right side, leaving space on the left and on top of the shot. Select the Shapes icon to add a colored box on the left side.

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Step 3: Crop Confirm your drawing and from the main editor, select Crop from the Tool icon. Crop your card to the height of your photo.

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Step 4: Text Click the Text icon from the menu bar in the editor, and write out your core fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day message one bit at a time. Change fonts and styles for fun diversity.

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Step 5: Box-in Your Text Select the Draw icon from the menu bar below, and select the Shapes icon. Choose a box to frame your text and make sure you select the Stroke setting. Frame your text.

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Step 6: Card Title and Final Touch Select the Text icon again, and this time write out a simple title. Position the title on its own, outside of your boxed-in message. When you are done writing the text, apply Cinerama from the Fx effects. VoilĂ , your card is ready to melt your father's heart!

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all images by @rachid-zniber-144

INSPIRATION : Drawing

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Rachid Zniber Creates Folk Art with PicsArt The drawings of Rachid Zniber (@rachidzniber-144) seem to defy the logic of what mobile art should be. The drawing tools and effects of PicsArt are advanced and capable of achieving some vivid and highly realistic results, yet Rachid’s work seems to get its charm from its crude simplicity, as if they were made by creative hands laboring from raw and limited materials. Essentially, Rachid makes folk art with PicsArt, using some pretty sophisticated methods to achieve stripped down results. His drawings seem as though they were done from a paltry amount of colors painstakingly painted onto surfaces where even layers of application don’t manage to stick completely, like wet wood or sheetrock. In fact, it is all an illusion created by a careful cocktail of minimalist painting strategies and smart effects applications, which when combined together achieve the look and feel of hand crafted folk art. The added charm comes from the exotic images which evoke Middle Eastern culture. The images depict sandstone cities inhabited by people draped in long robes, amplifying the effect of seeming like the art of a common people rather than a specific artist. The images could easily be the work of farmers’ and merchants’ wives, telling the stories of rudimentary lives comprised of hard work and simple pleasures. It is as though Rachid has reverse engineered painting. Whatever Rachid’s intentions and techniques, however, one thing is certain - he has used PicsArt to create something original, unique, and beautiful.

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@2na2na

WHAT'S NEW

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Beauty and the Image Applying and Adjusting Digital Makeup in Photos It is very rare these days to take a photo and leave it as is without adjusting, manipulating, or touching it up with various apps. And when it comes to digital makeup, which is so important for certain types of photos, each year sees new advances in apps and techniques that one can use. First, what is digital makeup? Its origins, like many things digital, were in the film industry, often used to change the appearance of actors, objects, scenes--a way to see how things might look before committing to them in the final production. More recently, it is useful in cosmetics as a way to show how different hairstyles, clothing, and makeup might look. So digital makeup is now used in everything from Avatar and Star Wars, to Vogue and Elle, and now it is used more and more in photos by everyday artists and photographers like the ones in the PicsArt community. Perhaps most significantly, digital makeup is used consistently in one of the most common types of photos taken today: the selfie. It makes sense that digital makeup plays a very important role in adjusting and improving selfies, which are usually taken quickly on the fly, thus often needing some editing. Photoshop is still the premiere desktop option when adjusting digital makeup, but there are many new tools, like the options offered by PicsArt, that are easier, faster, and specifically made for mobile devices. From minor skin blemishes and red eye, to much more complicated details like eyelashes, wrinkles, skin contour, and hairstyle, digital makeup continues to develop and is easier and easier to do in your photos. 67|PicsArt Monthly

@arko4

@bries

@isa_dead_

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Interview Aaron Ruell’s Perfect Suburban Vignettes Though to the broader world Aaron Ruell is famous for his role as Kip in Napoleon Dynamite, in the world of Photography he has been established for quite some time. You are probably aware of his work and don’t even know it, as he is the man behind those outrageous Old Spice ads with retired NFL star Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, as well as ads for T-Mobile, Nintendo, Coke, and Burger King. Beyond his commercial work, his personal photography is his best, and has been exhibited around the world. Aaron has gained acclaim for the neat candy colored vignettes that have become the staples of his work. His photos have a sense of hyperorganization and proprietary, often framing the unassuming shrug of small town America. He works off of sets that he constructs, and his staged scenes has a sense of detail and perfection that is something to see. His work is awesome and original, and so we had to ask him to do an interview with us.

How did you grow to love the medium of photography and start doing it professionally? I started taking photos when I was a teenager. There was a photography class at my high school and I had a really good photo teacher who helped me boost my confidence with shooting. I didn’t have any particular style at that time it was a lot of simple compositions but more rural settings (I grew up outside of town in the countryside).I started to get paid for my photography after I had put together a book of my work. I travelled to Europe for a few weeks and shot some things there that helped round out my body of images, and got a rep around that time. 73|PicsArt Monthly

Your award-winning advertising work is some of the most recognizable stuff out there, and also some of the funniest. Where does this come from and is finding the humor in something part of the process for you? I usually find the “funny” by watching the model or performer and I let their body language inform how I manipulate it into something comedic or interesting. Sometimes I don’t do anything, it’s just about finding the right face or person. I usually know that something is funny when I’m the only one laughing on set. That doesn’t happen a lot but when it does, I’m happy.

There is a traceable theme of small town America/”suburbia” that seems to pop up in your work. Where does this come from? It must come from growing up in the country. I worked on a horse ranch as a kid and my relatives are all blue collar people. That must inform what I do but I’m not sure I can articulate how it informs what I do.

A lot of your photography happens on sets that you build. How did you start working with sets, and what is it about this that you enjoy so much? Building sets allows me to create a little world that fits (as I see it) the face of the person who is present in the image. It just allows me to create something that doesn’t exist somewhere else.

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As beautiful as your sets are, the people in your photos are also very interesting, there is an earnestness there. Do you have any pointers for how to direct people on set? I’m a big fan of reminding talent to relax. It’s very easy to be self aware. Especially on a set with lights and crew. So I gently guide them to a place that looks calm and unforced to my eye.

One of your claims to fame is that you actually played the character Kip in the movie Napoleon Dynamite, but what many fans of the movie don’t know is that you also did all of the promotional photography and even designed the title sequence. Can you speak a little on how this project came about? I went to film school with the director and he asked me to play that role. I’m not an actor but he felt I could pull it off and so I did. But yeah, I knew we would eventually need images in order to promote the film and so I would shoot during or after days that we were filming. The director later asked me to put together a title sequence for the film. That was a lot of fun to do but also a lot of pressure because I only had two days to plan it out before presenting it to the head guys at Fox.

You published a photography book back in 2008 titled “Some Photos”, is there another book on the way? Eventually. I haven’t been shooting much new work lately. I’m just not very inspired to shoot stills at the moment. And I’m not one who can force creativity to happen. So if I don’t feel it, I don’t feel it. Unfortunately that’s where I’m at right now. But it will pass. It always does.

What is it like seeing your work exhibited in galleries around the world? Having a gallery opening (and having your work published in books) is the most special moment for me as a photographer. To see a body of your work hanging on walls of a gallery is a very rewarding feeling.

If you could have one of your projects saved in the national archives to be remembered by, what project would you choose? It would probably be my “empty spaces/still life” work. It’s less contrived than my portrait work but is still connected to it. There is a through line there. Both bodies of work are “quiet” but I sometimes like spaces that are void of the human element. 77|PicsArt Monthly

What is your favorite part about being a photographer? I enjoy how fulfilling photographs can make me feel. That moment when you shoot a great image is such a unique feeling that canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be replicated in any other way. Well, at least I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been able to find it.

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FEATURE : Photo

Petinton’s City Street Diorama

@petinton

A meticulously blurred background paired with a sepia color filter distinguishes this Photo of the Month, captured by Petinton (@petinton). Petinton’s photo of retro architecture in Edinburgh consists of buildings lining the foreground in vivid clarity and another row of taller buildings blurred in the background. This blurred background creates an artificially stark contrast between the two rows of buildings and draws attention to the foreground. Petintion’s use of the blur effect evokes dioramas and stage sets, as if the buildings in the foreground are merely an imitation of reality or painted pieces of cardboard. With a few strokes of the blur effect, what was once real becomes almost theatrical as brown brick buildings in the foreground pop out against what lies behind. In this manner, Petinton’s work becomes part of the surreal, tempting his audience to peel back the layers of his two-dimensional city one by one like the pages of a children’s book.

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A Photographer’s Guide to Thailand The most unique shots in Thailand and where to get them Thailand may be a country that’s often visited by tourists, but there are many special places that most visitors miss – uncrowded places that are ideal for photographers. With an infrastructure that makes travelling in the country easy and an economy that allows for a lot of fun, Thailand is the perfect place to spend a few weeks without spending too much money and experience things that you’ve never experienced before. Here are our top 3 photography destinations in Thailand.

Koh Tao There are many islands to visit in Thailand, most more popular than Turtle Island, or Koh Tao, but none are more gorgeous than this small island paradise on the Chumphon archipelago. While hundreds of thousands of tourists visit its neighbour, Koh Pha Ngan, every year, Koh Tao remains mostly populated by native Thai people and divers that come to take advantage of the area’s crystal clear waters and cheap rates. They also come with the knowledge that they might see a whale shark, or even some of the turtles that give the island its name. With such a population, it’s no surprise that Koh Tao is relaxed and near-pristine. Without the tourist culture of Koh Samui and the rowdy backpackers of Koh Pha Ngan, Koh Tao is one of those places where time just slips by. Photographers with GoPro cameras or underwater housing will find so much to shoot in the clear waters of this island that they’ll never want to leave. 82| PicsArt Monthly

@rebeccawasabi

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@fedinatrilli

@pleased

Khao Sok National Park, in the Surat Thani province, is often overlooked by travellers to Thailand as it isn’t on the main path of most island hoppers. However the park, which is covered by the oldest rainforest in the world, is the perfect place to chill out. With some sections of forest more ancient than the Amazon and still untouched by man, Khao Sok is a nature photographer’s dream: lush, green and wild.

hp1986

Khao Sok National Park

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@hp1986

If you’re lucky, you might find tapir, elephants, tigers, gibbons, deer and many more species in Khao Sok, which is said to contain 5% of the world’s species. If you’re only there for a short period, however, there’s truly nothing more beautiful than hiking in the morning, then sitting in your cabin during a monsoon, tasting the fresh, sweet air and hearing the sounds of so many species around you.

Chiang Mai Some places, however, are popular for good reason, and remain essential destinations for getting great shots regardless of the many tourists. Chiang Mai, which means â&#x20AC;&#x153;new cityâ&#x20AC;? despite having been around for more than 700 years, is the centre of Buddhism in northern Thailand. Tourists flock to Chiang Mai to visit the Elephant Nature Park and to volunteer at the elephant sanctuaries nearby, and also to be there for Yi Peng, the Buddhist festival during which thousands of paper lanterns are released into the sky.

@jack2519

Chiang Mai is also a culturally diverse city, where you can visit religious shrines and temples, learn to cook incredible Thai food and wander the night markets nibbling on local delights. The intrepid photographer will never run out of subjects in Chiang Mai.

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@seancrisis

@jack2519

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Create a Unique Lampshade with Paper Frames and Photos A great artist is a resourceful artist, and there are few things more satisfying than starting with a pile of boring household items and turning them into something special. Here, we want to show you how to create a beautiful custom lampshade with some photo frames, glue, and printed photos. Follow this tutorial to create a lampshade that highlights your photography and matches your personality, all in just 3 easy steps.

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Prep: Gather Materials For this project youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need a lamp that can be plugged in, printed photos, and paper frames. Your frames should include 4 equal-sized rectangles and 2 equal-sized squares, with the sides of the squares being the same as the shortest sides of the rectangles.

Step 1: Glue Frames Glue the four rectangles horizontally along their longest sides and fold them into a box so that the farthest ends meet. Glue the square frames on the ends, then glue a piece of cardboard to close one rectangular side of the box, leaving a hole in the middle just big enough to fit your bulb.

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Step 2: Cover Sides Use glue to cover the open sides of your lampshade with your printed photos. These photos will provide the texture and shade for the lampshade.

Step 3: Write Grab a sharpie and write a personal message onto one of the large sides of your lamp shade. Switch on the light bulb to see your photos glow from within, and admire your work!

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FEATURE : Artist

Portrait Perfection

all images by @ninavgilera

Niña Gilera (@ninavgilera) is a portrait photographer from the PicsArt community who has a startling ability to reach a sky high standard of beauty, sincerity, and stylishness in her photographs. Her portraits are so seamlessly cool, they would hold up against the work of any world-class fashion photographer. These photos are a perfect blend of models with amazing camera presence, edgy hair, stylish clothing, and Niña’s spot on camera work and direction. Niña’s talent for creating the cool, impenetrable varnish of high-fashion photography is undeniable, but she has an equal ability to simultaneously break down the wall between her camera and her subjects to create a sense of naturalism in her work. Though each portrait achieves a level of perfection rarely found in the world around us, they all remain relatable and avoid feeling contrived. None of her photos feel posed or acted out. The clothes are impeccable, the people are beautiful, the resolution is stunning, yet when we look into the eyes staring back at us from Niña’s portraits, we see the fixed gazes of real human beings, unapologetic for being cooler than everybody else.

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