This photo was not shot in high key, but I made it look like it was. The morning light was backlighting the whole body frame of the model, and the sides of the photo (curtains) were drawing too much attention, so I decided to brighten up the skin and bring the entire photo to similar brightness level, and them create the contrast between the background, skin and the writing, framed by the undies and the head. Now the eyes are trapped in Chinese calligraphy written on a slender curvy body. Enjoy!
If you are into photo editing, please view my photoshop video tutorial with tons of photo editing tips and tricks. Here is yet another shot from my recent Chinese calligraphy body art photo shoot with a Japanese model Asuka. When I was editing this photo I aimed at creating a contrast between the skin and the Chinese characters, and then the skin and the background, yet I still wanted to maintain a subtle tone transitions across the entire image. Majority of work was done manually, though I used a few filters from Topaz and Nik software. Enjoy!
Here is another capture from my recent boudoir photo shoot with a Japanese model Asuka in Tokyo. A subtle game of curves, light and brush strokes. I love seeing Chinese or Japanese calligraphy on woman's skin, I think it looks very alluring and elevates the feminine nature of such photos to another level. Toned down and non-invasive post processing method is crucial here, and it is important not to overdo it.
Girls currently residing / visiting Tokyo, who interested in a photoshoot, please feel free to contact me directly. I had lots of fun with this photo. It was a tricky shot to take, as the background was very bright (morning sun at a steep angle), but the main subject was back of the model covered in Chinese characters. I also wanted to utilise those beautiful delicate shadows that sculpted the body form. I added some flares and bokeh`ed lights to make it more dreamy, and lazy-early-morning-like. Model: Asuka.
Girls in Tokyo area interested in boudoir or Chinese calligraphy body art photo shoot, please contact me for details. Here is another photo from a Chinese calligraphy photo shoot with a Japanese model Asuka. They say that picture says a thousand words, so it would seem appropriate to let the photo speak for itself. In addition, here is a translation of the first chapter of this classic, transcribed Nathan Sturman, MA. The sky was black and earth yellow; space and time vast, limitless. I started to edit photos from my last Chinese calligraphy body art photo shoot with a Japanese model Asuka. This time I was writing a Chinese classic, known as Thousand Character Classic. This particular version is my copy of a masterpiece by Zhi Yong. The place for a photo shoot was great, a luxury room with lots of space, which allowed me to use my telephoto lens. The writing itself was quite time consuming, I think it took about 3 hours. I wanted to cover the entire body of the model, but I think it would take us at least 5h or more (possibly 6), so perhaps next time. More photos are coming, so stay tuned! To view my other calligraphy body art photos, see my portfolio. To book a body art or boudoir photo shoot in Tokyo, please contact me directly.
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 ponte@ryuurui.com / 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 created a birthday greeting card, though this artwork can be purchased in various formats. The photo of sakura was taken near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The calligraphy I wrote last year, I think. It reads: お誕生日おめでとうございます。 which roughly translates into "happy birthday". Calligraphy is in Japanese kana majiri bun (仮名混じり文), which is a mixture of Chinese characters and Japanese kana.
The alluring beauty of woman's body is subject that hants artists. Not sure if you knew this, but there are no straight lines in nature, everything is curved. Straight lines are an illusion. Our eyes are drawn to the harmony of arches and supple shapes. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the Chinese calligraphy in cursive script, or even more so the Japanese kana script, are so greatly admired and appreciated. Those both worlds are a perfect match, and apmplify one another. Another thing is that photography and calligraphy are closely related arts, and I feel that I can express much more when using both medium to create art. Model: Lin Announcement: Girls interested in a boudoir or calligraphy body art photo shoot - please contact me via FB or at ponte@ryuurui.com / 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)
Early morning, I went to the beach today to shoot some aroma oils photos for a new project that I am working on with a Japanese artist, Snow Forest. Beach has one of the most simple landscapes, yet there is always so much to photograph. Shells, driftwood, sand patterns, waves, stones, and so on. So, I gathered a few pebles, and made a simple Zen sculpture. Then I added my calligraphy work to it in photoshop. 空心 - the void mind, or void heart, a heart which is filled with nothing but peace, harmony and nothingness of thoughts. Calligraphy in semi-cursive script.
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 yuki@snowforest-art.com.
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 My teacher was asked once by a student:
- Sensei, I cannot write with the hanging arm technique because my hand is shaking too much to which he replied: - It is not your hand that is shaking. Calm your mind, and the hand will follow. That is right. Practice, practice, practice! I found out that writing with the hanging arm technique is improving my skills twice or even three times as fast. Natually, pillow hand and bucket palm, etc. should be taken into consideration during your studies, but hanging arm technique is the bread and butter of calligraphy studies. Do this with a small brush and it will be even more challenging. 間時要有喫緊的心思、忙処要有悠間的趣味 / hanging arm technique, small brush. photo - Mt.Fuji post processed in photoshop 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 Modern technology can be daunting, depressing, terrifying and even repulsive. However, I think that it is not what is modern that is heartless, soulless and lacking the natural touch. The issue lays in ourselves, in how we use it, what is our goal, and what is our intention in using it. Chinese and Japanese calligraphy are based on nature. The names of techniques, the philosophy, the brilliance of brush strokes, the elegance, the raw beauty of the composition, and so on, those are all derived from what the wonderful gifts of Mother Nature. After all Chinese calligraphy has several thousand years of history. So, the question is, can such profound world of sophisticated art, be combined with digital reality? It is very much down to a personal feeling, but when I work on a computer software, creating photo or calligraphy composites, I think the same way as when I sit at my desk, writing with the brush. Chinese calligraphy is written with the soul, not the brush. Consequently, if you put your soul into any creative process, and let your imagination lead you through it, then it matters not what medium you are using, the final artwork will carry your emotions over to the viewer. Below artwork: 龍夢, i.e. dragon drams in semi-cursive script, combined with a digitally processed photo of incense smoke. Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.
First of all, I would like to thank all who visit my site, and say that I greatly appreciate all the positive feedback and support that I am receiving, whether it is in in regards to my art and learning materials on the Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, or the artistic projects that I am developing. As you can see, I have completely overhauled the Ryuurui's Art Studio website, and gave it a new look and feel. I did that for a few reasons. One was that I have created so many calligraphy and photography art for past few years, that it was simply too much to post it all, and too confusing for you to navigate through. So, I removed all the galleries and created a portfolio tab instead, which shows the scope of the art that I create. All the artwork that was in my art gallery is not gone from the internet forever. I will be republishing my art in the blog section, with educational articles and interesting information for all of you who wish to learn more not only about Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, but also the art photography. In regards to the learning tab of this website, I will keep all the information as it is, but I will reorganise it in a way to accommodate some room for photography tutorials and tips. It is highly possible I will also start sharing some information regarding photography post processing, software and so on, especiall;y that I am venturing now into the HDR photography, photoshop art, composite photography, and so on. In addition, my art will also focus on merging the ancient world of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy with the digital photography and digital art. Naturally, I am still involved in studying classical calligraphy and research, calligraphy exhibitions in Japan, etc., so there is no change in this area, it simply gets expanded. I had some questions regarding my publications. My book on etymology of Chinese characters and Japanese kanji is complete (volume 1), and my Japanese literary agent is in the process of suggesting the book for publishing houses in Japan. My poetry book should be published this year, I have the entire text ready, I am now deciding on which calligraphy art I should add to it. In regards to my calligraphy book - this will have to wait, for two reasons. One is that I have two calligraphy books written. The first one is more philosophical and the other one is more factual and history related. I am considering combining them both into one volume, and at the moment I simply do not have the time to do this. I plan on finishing it after I am done with publishing the poetry tome. In regards to other projects of mine. The Japan in photography now has a new blog. It will be a daily photo blog with pictures of my travels around Japan, and short articles with interesting facts regarding Japanese culture, traditions, interesting places, events, and so on. Majority of those photos can be purchased in a form of fine art prints at my store on Fine Art America. I have large plans for Japan in photography in motion, but it is still in early stages, so I will share more when it is all ready to go. The digital art store area will also be expanded. Ryuurui Foto Studio is a site exclusively for my work as a commercial photographer in Japan, which purpose will probably remain unchanged. Last but not least, the Ink Treasures project, which we have started last year with the ink painter Mariusz Szmerdt. The project was on hold for a while, but we are already discussing its future, including rebuilding the site to give it a new look and more focus on the artwork. This will be a very busy year for me, but since it is The Year of the Horse, I think it should be. If anyone has any suggestions, ideas or wishes to share his or her thoughts in regards to any of my projects, please feel free to leave you comment below, or contact me at ponte@ryuurui.com. In modern times tattoos have become a fashion. The trouble is that they cannot be easily removed, unless they are temporarry herbal tattoos. Chinese writing and Japanese kanji fascinate millions of Westerners, and they are often chosen for a tattoo design. Alas, not many people understand Chinese writing, and even fewer can write Chinese or Japanese calligraphy. I often see tattos based on computer fonts, or pseudo-calligraphy tattos, which scar the skin forever. Worse than that, many Japanese or Chinese tattos have fundamental mistakes. Many Chinese characters can look nearly identical, yet they bear completely different meaning. Phrases and idioms can have symbolic or hidden meanings, of which understanding requires knowledge of the language of Chinese characters. Words can have multiple meanings, which often leads to confusion. There are many things that can go wrong in a process of getting a Chinese tattoo. Ryuurui's Art Studio offers professional Chinese and Japanese calligraphy tattoo desings, ranging from 1 characters to a full body design, including a consultation, translations, and suggestions. For more details please read here. Photo: Heart Sutra in standard script, a copy of a Chinese classic by Ouyang Xun, Tang dynasty . Model: Asuka. Model: Asuka. This photo is avaialable as prints in my store. I would like to invite you all to my new store front at fine Art America. You can purchase there prints of my art works in various format (canvas, metal, acrylic prints, photo prints, smart phone and iphone cases, etc.). I plan on introducing several galleries there. there will be a few galleries devoted to my photography art, including calligraphy body art, and Japan in photography projects. I will also upload my calligraphy art in various formats and on various backgrounds. Possibly, There is also a gallery for my calligraphy and photography art project. Japan in photography will be split into several categories, which will follow the order of the galleries on my new website www.japan-in-photography.com. I will also add links from each of the gallery on the website to a respective gallery in my store on Fina Art America. I am already working on expanding the offer (which will possibly involve other similar online stores and galleries), and types of items in the store. You can comment on my artworks in the store, by logging in with your facebook account, which makes things easier. There are also share buttons. Like, share, and enjoy! When I started to study photography in greater depth, I realised how much it has in common with the art of Chinese or Japanese calligraphy. Photography is all about light, composition, negative and positive space ratio, a message it carries, impact of the image on a viewer, and story telling via the personal style of a photographer. But what about calligraphy? Well, the balance between the ink and white paper space counts for the negative and positive space, then we have the Chinese characters carrying a message. While the energy and power of the brush strokes catches the viewer's attention, the calligrapher's skill and personality defines the originality of given calligraphy. However, photography, similarly to the majority of Western painting styles, is speaking through an image that is far more easily recognisable by the audience. We see a photography or a painting, and we immediately link what we see to real life objects or situations we encountered. On the other hand, Chinese calligraphy can be quite intimidating for many reasons. It is not only extremely abstract, but also unreadable for most of the people, even including the native speakers (especially the younger generation). I am often asked, if I can understand all the ancient masterpieces that I study. No I do not. Only those who study Chinese calligraphy in depth know, that the secret to understanding calligraphy art is not being able to read or translate the text, but to read it without reading. In other words, being able to read the energy of the brush strokes, or to be entranced by the white space. Those are the elements that speak to me from a calligraphy masterpiece, not the words. The combination of calligraphy and photography arts is a perfect duo. It conveys a message in both abstract and more literal form. I also believe that it serves perfectly as a bridge, between what the eyes can recognise, and what only soul can read. It is not only a fantastic aestethical journey, but also a mutual educational experience (between the artsit and the audience). Calligraphy text: 涼風白雲 (cool breeze and white clouds) |
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