I have just published another calendar for the year 2015, which is a year of the goat. This calendar contains 13 original Chinese calligraphy works of mine, all written in ancient seal script, following the original forms of characters found on various seals, monuments, bronze artefacts and other historical items from the times of ancient China. All those calligraphy works will be available from my store with calligraphy prints. So anyone interested in the entire collection can buy all 13 works. They are all in identical sizes. The 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac are: 1-Rat 子 2-The Ox 丑 3-The Tiger 寅 4-The Hare 卯 5-The Dragon 辰 6-The Serpent 巳 7-The Horse 午 8-The Ram 未 9-The Monkey 申 10-The Bird 酉 11-The Dog 戌 12-The Boar 亥. The calendar cover represents character 羊, which is the regular Chinese character for a "goat". The zodiac signs are represented by special characters. Below you can see the previe of all 12 months, and the cover. Calendar size is 13.5" wide x 19" high. Also see my phgotography calendars at my store, here.

Photo editing & Chinese and Japanese calligraphy tutorial videos
Buy fine art calligraphy prints at my store in my store on Fina Art Amercia.

For all of you who wish to advance your photoshop and photo retouching skills, I am announcing photoshop workshops in Tokyo. I will create a special menu tab on my website this week, with all the details. For the time being I am offering only private lessons (one to one), either at your place, mine or via internet (online desktop sharing). You can view my photography and photoshop manipulation portfolio here. If interested please feel free to contact me and book your lessons!

Left: original photo, that I took yesterday (model: Asuka), and below is a photo manipulation created in photoshop.

This photo is one of the shots that I took last year during a Japanese calligraphy body art marathon with a Japanese model Asuka. I gave this photo a new look today so I decided to post it. I gave it a nice brown finish with a bit of grain, and I really like how it turned out. If you want to see my other body art work, visit my portfolio on SmugMug.

Text: 幸せは旅。目的にあらず。 / Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Models in Tokyo area interested in a body art or boudoir photo shoot please contact me directly via my email.

My art studio in Tokyo offers professional portraiture photography services, for individual clients, corporate clients, as well as custom services for artists. In addition to portrait photography services I can create an original Japanese calligraphy artwork that you can use for your business logo. You are guaranteed not only top quality photography and calligraphy services, but also high end photo retouching. I approach each of my clients differently, depending on their needs, personality, what they expect from me as an artist, the purpose for which they require my services, etc. What you can expect from me is non-commercial, original, and creative art. For more details on services and service pricing please visit my Ryuurui Foto Studio website, or contact me directly. To read more about me, please visit "about" tab on this website.

Photo: Japanese artist Yuki Mori / calligraphy art: 雪森苑 (lit. Snow Forest Garden)

Perspective distortion is often an overlooked step in photo editing. I often see online great shots with great composition and lighting, but the distorted perspective ruins everything at the end. In this short video tutorial I will show you how I fix perspective distortion in photoshop.

Here is my new tutorial on photoshop techniques and photo retouching. In this episode I will show you another method of making skin smooth without destroying all the texture. If you want to watch a video on more advanced skin retouching technique, then please see my video on frequency separation on my YouTube channel.

I have finished my next android photoshop manipulation. I just love making those. I think I need to start hunting for models just for my new cyborg ideas? Girls in Tokyo area - please contact me if interested.

Talking about cyborgs, I would like to recommend you guys a website created by Mpaolo Almeida, a photoshop artist from Brazil. This guys is really talented and has amazing ideas for his photo manipulations. On top of this he is a really down to earth guy. Have a look at his site, www.tutoriaisphotoshop.info, and his youtube channel. He is also selling tutorials on various types of photo manipulation, including cyborgs, steampunk, fantasy and dark art. Although the tuts are in Portuguese, his photoshop is in English, and it is quite easy to follow his moves, as long as you know photoshop at least to a certain degree. Mpaolo speak English, so you can look him up on FB and ask about the tutorials. I actually have a few of them myself, and they are really very very helpful indeed.

Here is another photoshop tutorial in which I will discuss the issue of composition in photography and its importance. I am talking a bit about the rule of thirds, and general idea of how to compose a photo, based on one of my own captures. I am also explaining how to deal with composition issues in photoshop through blending layers, ands using tools such as "blend if", layer masking, etc. For more video tutorials on photoshop please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

I am currently looking for new models (any nationality / skin tone) in Tokyo area, for boudoir and calligraphy body art photo shoots. Girls interested in working with me, please contact me at [email protected] / FB: Ponte Ryuurui, or via google+. The ony restriction is that for calligraphy body art I need to work with skin that is tattoo free, though it depends on type and quality of the tattos, their placement, size and colour. I do not require a model to have any experience, I can guide you through the photo shoot. 芸術的な写真に興味がある女子はご連絡ください（経験なしでもOK)

Photo below / model: Asuka

I have launched a new menu on my website, titled "photography tutorials", where I will be posting my youtube channel videos on photography techniques, and image post processing. I plan to cover many various subjects in my videos, though my main focus will stay with HDR image capturing and post processing, as well as the photo processing software, such as HDR efex pro 2, photomatix, photoshop, lightroom, topaz and nik software products, and so on. You will find there both short and long video tutorial for beginners, intermediate and advanced levels. In the future I also might venture into photo manipulation, composite photography and digital art. You can find all my videos on youtube channel, this site here, or my google+ account. Suggestions, ideas, and requests are more than welcome!

For cool daily photos from Japan, visit my blog at www.japan-in-photography.com!

I have been cooperating with the Japanese artist, Snow Forest, for a few years now, and this year we decided to take on another project. Some of you know Snow Forest from soap carving art, but she is also a certified aroma therapist. Snow is now preparing new line of aroma oils for her 6 weeks long exibition in an art gallery in Nagoya, Japan. If anyone is interested in the exhibition details please contact Snow Forest directly at [email protected].

My part in the project is probably easy to guess, especially once you had a look at the photo below. I am desinging labels in Japanese calligraphy, and take photographs of ready-made oils. Each of the oils is unique, and all of them are hand-made from start to finish.

Label on the photo: 舞香 - dancing fragrance

I have finally found the time to re-edit and put together my poetry, and I should be able to release the book this year, and to be more precise - this month. It will be a tome gathering all of my best poems written during the years 2007 - 2013., and it will be published under the Ryuurui's Art Studio banner. The book contains over 110 of my poems (c. 125 - 130 pages in A5 format), which are divided into three chapters: love, passion and frustration. You will also find there three of my new calligraphy works, which I will publish only in this very book. So, you will not find them online. I will make the book available in hard and electronic format, and, in time, it will be purchasable via Amazon and Barnes & Noble online stores. I will also create a book preview so one can have a peek inside before buying. This is the first publication out of four books that I would like to see published this year.

Below is a book cover project. Let me have your thoughts!

From now on you will see more of my digital art. The spectrum will be rather wide, ranging from photoshop manipulation, through composite photos (two or more photographs combined and post processed digitally), pure digital art, to all of those combined with added Japanese calligraphy (or Chinese calligraphy). I will also occasionally write calligraphy digitally (i.e. not with a brush), as I did on the abstract piece below. I will go heavily into body art calligraphy with serious post processing, cyber and fantasy motives, and so on. Why am I doing this? Because it is hell of a fun, that’s why! For those of you who enjoy my traditional calligraphy art, rest assured that I will continue this as well, but I do not think that you will see much of my calligraphy art on white backgrounds.

Photo: Distant Soul (遥魂) - fully digital art