Monthly Archives: January 2014

No need to bubble wrap or ship one of a kind photos to unknown places. Restore your photos digitally and eliminate all the risk of losing your precious photos, or damaging them even more.

Digital Photo restoration at just about any level can be done with Photoshop and a little talent and training. Simple color balance, bad lighting, or red eye can be fixed quickly by almost anybody with the right software. But what about those wrinkled, ripped or even torn photos? Water damage, mold, or scratches? Restoring those photos are possible as well. With a little time, elbow grease and Photoshop, Beezink can restore those damaged family photos back to their original glory, or even better! Remove the ex-girlfriend, add a missing family member, or even change the background.

 

Beezink also provides photo enhancing and re-touching. Let’s face it. Nothing makes it to print without being touched up. But if you have it done correctly, it will go unnoticed. Women have pores. Some airbrushing is done, blemishes are removed, but nothing over the top. Again, it should look natural.

 

On his photograph, I made minor color corrections, adjusted the levels, softened the skin and wrinkles, removed blemishes, and added subtle highlights to the eyes and hair, and added a little color to the lips.

 

 

The next photo was touched up the same way. Basic color correction, levels, and skin softening. Nothing major, and still very natural looking.

 

 

This image had drastic changes. After the basic color corrections and level adjustments, I added some color to her hair, and softened her wrinkles significantly, and smoothed out the skin.

 

 

 

On the last photo I focused on building muscle tone. I started by giving him a tan, and bulking him up very slightly with the liquefy tool on the neck and shoulders. Then I airbrushed some muscle definition with highlights and shadows and overlaid it onto his body. Each element should look completely natural, and unnoticeable without seeing the before photo.

 

Shane Burke, www.beezink.com

 

 

You love your pet.  I get it.  I love mine too.   Capture your pet buddy’s personality on canvas, with a hand painted portrait by Shane Burke.  When you commission a portrait of your special companion for yourself or as a gift, you will receive a high quality hand painted portrait shipped directly to your door.  Commissioning a well known artist can be very expensive and the time spent waiting for your work can seem like a life time.  Shane offers great accuracy and attention to detail in each piece, with fast turnarounds, and affordable rates.

Charlie is my three year old Malamute.  I recently rescued little Jackie; a lab pointer mix, and the two together are quite the pair.  Little Jackie rarely gives Charlie a break from wrestling and chewing on him, but I was lucky enough get a quick snapshot off with both of them looking up at me.  They grow so fast, and I wanted to make sure I had lots of photos of it, at ended up creating this great piece that now hangs in my living room.

How long does it take? 

Depending on the size and number of subjects, pet portraits take 1-2 weeks to paint and be ready to ship.   Each piece is meticulously bubble wrapped and boxed, and ships FedEx ground.  In most cases, packaging and shipping costs are under $25.00 including insurance, and should arrive in under 5 days.

Pet pencil portraits are usually complete and ready to ship within two days.  Each piece is shipped USPS priority in a protective envelope and should arrive in under 5 days.  Including insurance and packaging, shipping charges are usually around $10.00

How much do custom pet portraits cost?  

Shane Burke, www.beezink.com

Lets face it.  Good work isn’t cheap, and cheap work isn’t good.  That being said, you still have a budget.  Shane Burke and Beezink believe art and design work should be affordable to everybody.  Especially startups and entrepreneur’s who need it most.  Whether its a logo, brochure, or web graphics, there are always options to allow a little wiggle room for your budget. 

 

Limit colors to save money:

On this image, the original black and white line art did not take too long.  The color options are what eats up your design time and your budget.  The price for these 3 images is dramatically different because the time it takes to create each image is dramatically different.   Obviously the image on the right looks a lot better than the other images.  But think about your project and ask yourself if the left or middle image would serve the same purpose.  You could save up to 50% on the project just by using solid colors.

 

Buy in Bulk:

You have 20 characters you need designed.  Get all 20 designed.  Piecing them out to 20 separate commissions is going to take a lot longer, and likely cost a lot more.  Most designers will give discounts when you buy in bulk.  Sometimes character templates can be created and reused to create new unique characters.  This also works well when creating logos, letterhead, flyers and other advertisements.  Reusing graphics from previous designs keeps costs down, and keeps your brand consistent.

Backgrounds: 

Detailed backgrounds can take just as long or even longer than the original character art.  Can your artwork serve its purpose without a background or a limited background?

These are just a few quick easy ways to keep a little control of your design costs.  If you received a quote that is a little outside your budget, consider some of these options.  Finding a cheaper designer may not be your best choice.  Remember, sometimes keeping it simple really is your best option.

Shane Burke, www.beezink.com

 

“Shane has been drawing ever since he could hold a pencil.” That’s what my mom always says. It’s true. I have been doodling and creating since I can remember. I loved to draw. My first true love was comic book art. As a kid walking through the book stores I quickly judged a book by its cover, and continued to collect titles if the story was as good as the art. I created tons of my own characters, and many homemade books where they fought each other throughout the dark cities of Northern California. I knew one day I would illustrate some awesome books. Like one of my favorite comic book artists Eric Larson, I lost most of my collection and childhood art in a fire.

Beezink had only been online for about a year when I was commissioned to create some character sketches for Author Nancy Brooks out of Stockton California. She worked only a town away from me, so after a dozen or so commissions, I finally drove down and met with her one day for lunch. Nancy was full of life, and always wore a friendly smile. She had a ton of stories to tell, and has truly inspired me. She works hard, and is very dedicated to her craft. Over the years I have created over 50 character sketches to help her promote her books. We haven’t worked together much in the last couple of years, but we stay in touch and talk almost every day. As of 2014 we decided it was time to move on. Time to move on to the next book. Actually the first book. A new version of the first book. Below is the first look at the cover art for Nancy Brook’s Graphic Novel, The Isle of Cipit, Illustrated by Shane Burke. (That’s me) We will be working on this new exciting project throughout 2014 and could use all the support we can to get.

 

The Isle of Cipit by Nancy Brooks.

Everything was going according to plan; captive miners were extracting the last of the buried treasure, the next phase of their mission was about to commence, and the future was beginning to seem brighter. In one single moment, all hell breaks loose: adrenaline pumps through his veins in torrents as screams of a dozen terrified men propel a mercenary commander onto a dangerous path in a desperate attempt to maintain control. Fueled by the near-fatal incident, unsettled by a confrontation with a creature neither animal nor human, Kiarme is determined to eliminate the threat by any means necessary—even kidnapping American students who may have crucial information. Knowing he’ll have to kill Maggie to keep the island and mercenary plans secret, he struggles between loyalty to his men and his ardent need for the beautiful woman who has suddenly stolen his heart.

Watch for more information and updates in the near future.   2014 is going to be an exciting year!

Please visit www.legendseeker.com to see more about Nancy and her books.

Shane Burke, www.beezink.com