love and other fairy tales

© Sybille Sterk

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

Another a digital collage of images from various (vintage) resources, including some I bought, some which are in the public domain and some from The Graphics Fairy, Vintage Printable and Karen's Whimsy. I added my own flair and and imagination and a little magic to make this. 

Love is so often dependent on the ideas of love we have and mostly it's those preconceptions that kill love because it's so hard to be something you're not... 

On Society6:

Kiss Me

© Sybille Sterk

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

Photograph of a (not quite so) common frog. Isn't he cute? He stayed completely still and let me take pictures of him from all sides, maybe because or despite the bright light I shone on him (her?). I love the golden ringed eyes and the lips ready for a kiss. I can see why they came up with they idea of kissing frogs. Who wouldn't want to kiss this one?

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

On Society6:

On Redbubble you can get the design also on kids clothes and stickers.

Blood Wood

© Sybille Sterk 

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

This was an ordinary picture of a spring wood with wild primroses and bluebells and trees... however, then I got my hands on it and turned it into a blood wood inspired by the TV series of Game of Thrones. I wanted something a little ominous and magical.

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6 and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go toBluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

Now for something different - The Tail

© Sybille Sterk

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

This was an experiment. I recently bought a CD full of vintage images and found some more on the net (all public domain) and then I played with them all.

There is a photo of the beach in the background and I mixed up the vintage images to create the mermaid and coloured it in and added textures.

The image is inspired by one of my recent poems which I am not ready to show yet because I am considering entering it in a contest. :-)

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6 and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go to Bluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

 

All available on Society6

Trees in the Mist

© Sybille Sterk

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

Taken in the park a couple of weeks ago. I changed the colour and added the mist and the slight tilt-shift-blur.

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6 and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go to Bluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

It goes with the Faerie Wood I posted a short while ago:

Available on Society6 and all my other portfolio sites

All availble on Society6

Faerie Wood

© Sybille Sterk
Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

Row of trees in the park. Colour adjustments and magic added.

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6 and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go to Bluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

All available on Society6

Don't forget, to win this:

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Snow White

© Sybille Sterk

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

We finally have a bit of snow even if Christmas (and therefore a chance of a White Christmas) is long gone.

This reminded me of Snow White. One of my favourite fairy tales.

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6 and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go to Bluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

All is not as it seems

© Sybille Sterk

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

This was a little toy, no bigger than an inch, that I photographed with my new macro lenses. It reminded me of Tim Burton's Nightmare at Christmas and the mood in the film which never quite managed scary but always seemed gentle and loving to me. So this is my hommage to Tim Burton, one of my favourite film makers. :-)

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

iPhone case on Society6

iPad case on Redbubble

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6 and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go to Bluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

Poison Apple

MCN: CU9YD-TMDYA-XNES8

A poison apple must be a special treasure to keep safe and secret until you use it. I wondered how you would store it. Another image in my 1/52 series (week 14).

Part of my new series of images for licensing on Arcangel-Images - use this code: SYST-0197

Created with my own photographs in Photoshop, no stock used.

Ida's Flowers

MCN: CMREE-KKPJ8-9KDMV

Another illustration in my new fairy tale series. This one is about Little Ida's Flowers, another of Andersen's fairy tales. The flowers are freesias and anemones.

Part of my new series of images for licensing on Arcangel-Images - use this code: SYST-0189

Created with my own photographs in Photoshop, no stock used.

The Little Match Stick Girl

MCN: C2SF4-JQTMC-YF4TD

I've always loved Andersen fairy tales, and this one is no exception, although it's one of the saddest ones (amongst a whole lot of tragedies). The Little Match Stick Girl is about the preventable death of a little girl and still as valid today as it probably was then, what with all the runaways and homeless people on the streets everywhere. I tried to tell the story with the minimal amount of symbols, using nothing but a box of matches in front of a grubby wall and a picture of snow I took a while ago. It's one of my favourite images I took this year so far. I love the simplicity and singular message in it.

Part of my new series of images for licensing on Arcangel-Images - use this code: SYST-0191

Created with my own photographs in Photoshop, no stock used.

Cinderella

MCN: CXYQ3-QH4AV-EQK92

From my very first photo shoot. The model is the beautiful Francesca.

I always felt ambiguous about Cinderella; on the one hand I love the romance of it and the hope, on the other I detest the fact that her happiness relies on others - the Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming... I've always preferred the Czech film version, Three Wishes for Cinderella, I watched as a child. In this Cinderella takes and active role and is the driving force in getting her life sorted and getting what she wants, and the prince isn't it, at least not in the beginning. LOL :-)

This shot depicts that one perfect moment we all hope for....

Part of my new series of images for licensing on Arcangel-Images - use this code: SYST-0182

Created with my own photographs in Photoshop, no stock used.

Mermaid

MCN: CCCN9-4NE7G-B2DEU

Model: the beautiful Francesca again. :-)

From my very first photoshoot.

I've always loved Andersen fairy tales, although, most of them are very sad much more so than most of the other ones you find from this time. The Mermaid is one of the most tragic ones. The mermaid is so brave to leave her world behind for love and it makes it so much more tragic when she's then betrayed by her love and returns to the sea. I am not sure what the message is... I think it depends on your experiences what you take away from it. I tried to show the dual nature of the mermaid as a woman and her nature as a fantastical being, her sadness and her 'other'-ness.

Created with my own photographs in Photoshop, no stock used.

Rapunzel

MCN: CJHT2-F3QA5-MWL7U

This is another shot from my first photo shoot. It's my favourite because of the amount of emotion that comes through. I always liked Rapunzel; children always seem to pay for their parents' mistakes and in that way the tale is quite realistic. Depending on the version of the tale you read Rapunzel does quite a lot to free herself, other than most of the other princesses, which only seem to hang around, often asleep or otherwise incapacitated, waiting to be rescued. ;-) I am still waiting for a gung-ho princess, although, saying that Fhiona from Shrek was a good start....

Part of my new series of images for licensing on Arcangel-Images - use this code: SYST-0186

Created with my own photographs in Photoshop, no stock used.