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michellemonique

Michelle
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Watch this video to see the making of "Arachne"



I started this project months in advance of the shoot. I knew creating 200ish skulls would be long and arduous so I allotted myself 6 months from day 1 to the final images. To make the skulls, I simply used a skull cake making mold but baked paper mache instead of cake. I basically had my oven going for 2 months straight, making around 3 skulls per day. I have to give a big thank you to my mom for letting me take her oven hostage and fuming our house with burning paper smell (:


Here are some of the completed skulls. I'm spray painting them cream since some of the skulls caramelized in the oven. When you bake skulls everyday, it starts to become a habit and sometimes I forgot and left them in the oven for half a day :<


I had a blast shooting with Faith Lucille, who drove to my studio so I could photograph her little creatures! I really enjoy photographing both people and animals, so I hope to do more collaborations in the future!


Here I am gluing the skulls to tarp which has been laid over a stool and held down with sandbags. I was struggling to find a way to make a "pyramid" of skulls and thankfully my boyfriend came to the rescue with this idea!


Here is a visual explanation of how I made the chains for "Arachne's Lair". When compositing, it is better to get the lighting and perspective right in camera than to photoshop it. (1) To mimic the chains resting on the spider's fangs I stacked two towels under a sheet that was similar in color to the spider. This way, the sheet won't reflect any intrusive colors onto the chain. (2) To make the chain look wrapped around the spider's leg I put a 5 gallon water bottle under a sheet and wrapped the chain around it. (3) To make the chain hang between the spider's legs I just held it at the same angle.


Thank you for taking the time to read my journal :heart: These are some of my upcoming projects for 2014 that I'm super excited about!: Princess Peach, Ariel, Daenerys Targaryen, and Troll cosplay from World of Warcraft.

FREE PSD GIVEAWAY:

To enter, all you have to do is comment and favorite Arachne's Curse, and add me to your watchers. The PSD consists of all the layers, edits, and color adjustments done to this image. No one has been able to see my process- until now! The winner will be selected randomly, and announced on December 1st.

Arachne's Lair by michellemonique Black Widow by michellemonique Arachne's Wrath by michellemonique Arachne's Curse by michellemonique


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Hi all!
Here are the winners who received a signed Babydoll poster from me. I thought the idea might be lame and that my watchers might not want a print so I was relieved that they both seemed excited to get them :glomp:

:iconserenaburroughs:


:thumb306896781: :thumb341666537: :thumb348310483: :thumb343482611: :thumb318754522: :thumb258646260:





:iconstudio-of-vim:

Pisces - the 12 star signs by Studio-Of-Vim Aries from the 12 star signs by Studio-Of-Vim Sagittarius - 12 star signs by Studio-Of-Vim Capricorn - 12 star signs by Studio-Of-Vim Compelling by Studio-Of-Vim The Element of Earth. by Studio-Of-Vim


Like my facebook for exclusive photos!

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I'm 21!

3 min read
Not that it means much. I can't stand alcohol! yuck.

Anyways, I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind birthday wishes!

I got some really cool gifts this year and I'm excited to share one in particular because it will open up a new venue of art for me. I want to start making short trailers for my characters similar to the live action Skyrim trailer, or the Mortal Kombat one. My whole life I wanted a video camera that could record in movie quality... and now I finally have it! For every photoshoot from now on I will be doing a trailer, photoshoot video, and a series of pictures like I have done in the past. Here is the Canon 600D!



As some of you already know, I have been using the same flip phone since I was 15. Well, that has finally changed! My boyfriend got me a Sidekick (which is still outdated for you kids, I know) but to me a flippy screen is cooler than a touch screen. Plus it has all these colored lights and a rolly ball that light up when I get a text. I'm starting to sound like a 5 year old. ITS SO COOL ITS FLIPPY AND COLORSsSSsss



Lastly, I bought myself some Brown Sugar and Fig from Bath and Body works. Gahh I'm so addicted to this scent. I've had it for a few days and it's like 1/6th gone. The people around me must hate me ;p



One last update: I will be announcing the winners of the Babydoll contest soon so stay tuned for that!

Like my FB page for exclusive content!

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Although I would love it if you watched the video, it shows no where near as much work as was put into this shoot. Some of this is embarrassing but I love reading about people's mistakes and how they overcame them. So here are mine.

I bought the costume last November, thinking I would be able to shoot the next week, edit easy peasy and be done in a month. Right.

I booked the first model several times over the course of 3 months but she flaked every time. I'm actually quite happy, as Laura turned out to be PERFECT, easy going, and an overall better model. Laura was kind enough to shoot with me twice, as I was hesitant about the poses I picked out. We kept some, threw out others and added new ones for the second time around.

For the WWI shot, I first tried to make the Notre Dame ruins by hand or find realistic models used for game tables. Turns out no one buys them anymore and thus I had no luck finding one. I attempted to make it out of sticks and foam… The results should make you happy that I am a photographer and not an engineer.



The best day of shooting was probably going to the Aviation museum to photograph WWI planes for stock. I'd never seen such old planes and I even got to sit in a 747!

Onto the train shot. Oh lawd.
This picture took SO much more work than it looks. Originally, I thought I would be able to finish this in a week. Turns out it took three weeks, plus tears and a loss of 6 pounds due to stress. Everything in this picture was hand made. No stock images were used.

The structure of the train was built by my boyfriend. I made a first version of it but it looked so bad I asked him if he could do it (thank god he's an engineer). I can't build anything without it looking floppy, bent, or like it's going to collapse any second (usually does). I couldn't even give his justice with my fail painting skills.




The robots were just wooden anatomy dolls painted silver and manipulated a little in photoshop to make them look more "roboty".

The flying bits of metal were made out of egg shell painted with silver. I first tried it with broken mirror bits, but the pieces were too flat and ended up looking like glass. I like the results of the egg shell as they are curved similar to a robot's head, arm, etc.



I edited the train image 18 times over the course of 50 hours until I was happy with the results.



Thank you all for being so patient. I would never be able to endure an 8 month ordeal without all of your support. Even more importantly, thank you to my family and friends who continue to help me regardless of how stressed or neurotic I become. I love you all.

Sucker Punch: Babydoll by michellemonique :thumb305927488: :thumb303112859: Sucker Punch: Babydoll by michellemonique

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