smoke gets in your eyes

Ok, you probably gonna throw rocks at me right now, but well...


yes, smoking.





*click on each photo to see the bigger version*


Princess Margaret of the UK




Queen Paola of Belgium




Anni-Frid 'Frida' Lyngstad of ABBA




Lady Gaga




Ava Gardner




Gong Li




Debbie Harry of Blondie




Marlene Dietrich




Monica Bellucci




Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA (with fellow ABBA member, Frida - here, surprisingly, not smoking)




Hugh Laurie




Sean Connery




Gregory Peck




Robert Johnson





Frank Sinatra




Ike Turner (+ Tina, not smoking)




Lauren Bacall




Talullah Bankhead




Marilyn Monroe




Sonia Braga




Zarah Leander




Tsarn Nicholas II of Russia




Rita Moreno




Johnny Depp




Shah Rukh Khan




Whoopi Goldberg




Al Pacino




Amy Winehouse





Bill Cosby




Amitabh Bachchan




Ray Charles




Elvis Presley





Grand Dukes Pavel Alexandrovich and Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia.




Josephine Baker




Marjane Satrapi




Tsar Nicholas II of Russia




Jack Nicholson




Michelle Pfeiffer

Dita von Teese




you probably say 'NAY', hmmm?

'everybody lies', the House M.D. obsession!

Well, I never imagined one day this would happen - I am CRAZY about the tv series, House! I always thought it's overrated, I mean - everybody was watching House, people 'suddenly' become more ironic and sarcastic (ekhm) and it become so fashionable to hit everyone around with a great dose of verbal, sophisticated torture, just like House treats his co-workers. At that time, I thought - another tv series, people are crazy now, but it will end soon... and one day, it hit me! I was browsing a polish page with demotivators, and I found one that had a photo of a woman (I had no idea that was Cuddy from House), and the words below were kind of 'Dr. House. 5 seasons, and he hasn't banged me yet'.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLLLLL.
but still, I didn't like the language they used... I just lol to the whole situation between House and Cuddy.

Anyway, my first impressions were:
1) who the hell she is, she's so pretty!
2) why she's doing a faceplam gesture in this photo (she actually was doing a MEGA facepalm):

told you. Btw, it's the original demotivator, I guess... (btw.x2 - nice nails, Lisa Edelstein!)

3) Maybe I should watch HOUSE???




and I did, oh I did! and I fell in love with it, I mean, three things:

1) Finally, the series about doctors, who aren't OH SO PERFECT! They're humans, like all the real doctors, right?
2) It had some REALLY interesting cases, and I was waiting impatiently for each case to be solved! Medical research done very well, dear screenwriters!
3) As I started with season 7 (the first one I found online), the first episode I watched was season 7 episode 1, and...




...f*ck, I am a House/Cuddy shipper now !!!!!!




but then again, I am annoyed, because the next episode of season 7 is going to premiere in January, if I checked right... Ok, I still have seasons 1-4 and half of the 5th and half of the 6th one to watch, but still! Why we gotta wait for so long?

and, as I said, I am obsessed:

took me a whole day to finish.

In the words of a fellow dA artist, 'Welcome to insanity!'.

With pleasure!

Get on the Carousel's ART INTERVIEWS - Siham

Get on the Carousel's ART INTERVIEWS - Siham

Today I am proud to present you our second interviewed artist, my fellow colourist, Siham! She's from France and I absolutely adore everything that pops up on her deviantart - seriously, this girl knows how to put some magic in her works!

name: Siham

where you can see her artworks: www.xsixty-3ight.deviantart.com

Get on the Carousel's QUESTIONNAIRE:

Get on the Carousel: What is your main artistic domain?

Siham: I mostly colour pictures, be it old black and white pictures or re-colouring some which were originally coloured.

GotC: What made you start creating art? When did you start it?
S: It was in 2007 when I registered on a discussion forum about the Romanovs. And I was seeing all these beautifully coloured pictures of OTMAA mostly, and I could not help admiring their work. I think I started a bit later though, especially after seeing so many beautiful colourings by Ally and Justine. They were the one who made me want to try.

GotC: And, the music that inspires you?
S: It may be any kind of songs, from rock to classical. But I do have a weak spot for oriental music (Arabic and Indian music) - it's the most inspiring to me.

GotC: What do you use to make your art?
S: I use Photoshop CS1. And it's perfect for colouring pictures, you do not need more.

GotC: Are you an autodidact, or you had a teacher (e.g. you were in the art schools etc.)?
S: No teacher. I tried to master Photoshop on my own (it was a bit complicated at first), of course, several tutorials helped me. Once you find how to do what you want to do with PS, it's so great.

GotC: What do you want to achieve by your art?

S: I only want to enjoy myself by colouring pictures the way I want to see them. It's just a pleasure for myself, if people think of them as beautiful colourings, then I'm even happier. Because it's a great feeling to know that you still showed something lovely to other people. I love sharing.

GotC: What do you feel when you create something?
S: I don't have any particular feeling - except enjoying myself. I don't even have the impression of "creating" something, I think I rather give pictures a new look.

GotC: Show us your 3 best works:
S: I don't know if they are my best ones but those are three ones that I really like.

*click on the pictures to see the bigger version*

British actress Romola Garai as Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse.

Old-school Indian actress Madhubala

Indian actress Madhuri Dixit as Chandramukhi in Devdas

GotC: What would you say to the beginners, who just started their adventure with art?
S: Do not expect to be satisfied with your pictures, they will be bad at the beginning, but know you only need practice. I think the best advice not to be disappointed is COLOUR FOR YOUR OWN PLEASURE. And then you will be able to enjoy very much your improvment.


Well, well, some nice answers, right? Show Siham some love, she deserves it, and visit her at www.xsixty-3ight.deviantart.com

tiny update - what will be next

hello everyone!

I need to give this blog some fresh air. Soon, you will read & see:

- an interview with another colourist
- 'West Side Story' movie review
- 'How to feel good with yourself' - my very own TUTORIAL, hope it will help you make your days brighter
- some of my new colourings

I really hope you will enjoy all these things. Show me some support and comment, so that I know some people actually read this blog! :)

3 videos of the week...

... and 3 songs of the week, too!

as I was not in the best mood recently (some sad family issues), the blog was kinda abandonned.
But today I want to present you 3 songs that are on my mind this week, and three videos to those songs, which are FAB!


my definite number one is:



- simply because it's about BARBRA and it's so hilarious :D


number two:



- because it had THE VIBE and that's practically how me and my friends dance when we're clubbing, HAHAHAHAHAHA, professional oldschool :D


and number three, which is just MAGICAL:

Nov. 15th - guess whose b-day is TODAY...

YES!

Her Serene Highness Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen, or shorter ANNI-FRID 'FRIDA' LYNGSTAD of ABBA, is 65 TODAY!!!!!

Happy b-day, Frida!

you, among other amazing musicians, are my inspiration and I truly love your music. Keep on being so fantastic as you are and grattis på födelsedagen! :)

and yes, prepare for some Frida-tribute posts later on today :)

Get on the Carousel's ART INTERVIEWS - Ally

Today I am proud to present you the very first artist that agreed on answering some questions about ART. Her art, to be precise. So, let's start the ART INTERVIEW cycle! This first time it's ALLY, my Czech friend and an extremely talented artist, who was my first inspiration with colouring the black&white photos.

name: Ally

where you can see her artworks: www.velkokneznamaria.deviantart.com

Get on the Carousel's QUESTIONNAIRE:

Get on the Carousel: What is your main artistic domain?

Ally: Colouring pictures! Out of more then 2000 pictures I have submitted to Deviantart 90% are coloured pictures of different royals, celebrities and family photos.

GotC: What made you start creating art? When did you start it?
A: First time I ever found out there is something like digital colouring was back in 2007, when I got interested in the last Romanovs. There was (and still is) a discussion forum, where people would post their coloured photos of this family. I was really charmed by some of the works, especially by those made by members „Missy-T“ and „isabel“. Seeing these pictures made want to try. They definitely inspired me.

GotC: And, the music that inspires you?
A: I have enjoyed many different kinds of music. I guess it really depends on the mood. When I´m colouring royalty photos, I usually listen to classical pieces and instrumental albums, mostly by my dear Mike Oldfield. Lately I have started colouring a lot of Bollywood celebrities, and during that I usually listen to songs from their movies.

GotC: What do you use to make your art?
A: Adobe Photoshop – any version from 6 up is fine.

GotC: Are you an autodidact, or you had a teacher (e.g. you were in the art schools etc.)?
A: I´m a professional amateur. Nobody taught me anything, when I started I had no tutorial at all. It was all me trying to figure out how the program works.

GotC: What do you want to achieve by your art?

A: I want to have fun. I want to relax. And sometimes, when it makes other people happy, it makes me happy too – like when I´m asked to colour old family pictures for someone. That also means those people have trust in me.

GotC: What do you feel when you create something?
A: I can´t really say. I have said this many times already – I usually colour to calm myself down and to relax. But when the picture is requested, I usually feel a bit nervous, because I don´t want to ruin it. In the end there is either a feeling of satisfaction, or more often a feeling I could have done much better.

GotC: Show us your 3 best works:
A: These may not be my best ones, but I felt happy with them.

*click on the pictures to see the bigger version*

My mother at the age of 7

Indian actress Madhuri Dixit

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fyodorovna of Russia

GotC: What would you say to the beginners, who just started their adventure with art?
A: Your pictures will probably suck for the first few weeks, if not months. Do not be surprised and mainly do not be disappointed. Only practice makes perfect and with every new picture you will learn what is possible and what looks good. Just don´t give up! And also remember, that you are doing this mainly for yourself. When colouring stops pleasing you, it is the end of the road.

I hope you enjoyed Ally's answers. She is really talented and is one of my favourite artists ever. Be sure to visit her at www.velkokneznamaria.deviantart.com

wondering why 'THE CAROUSEL'?

just watch:

what i do

well, you may ask what will be done here on this blog. my answer is - pretty much everything, but i will try to focus on art, music, my artworks and other people's artworks, mainly my friends'. as you will see, i have some really interesting stuff for you.

for now, one of my recent coloured photos - completely in colour from black&white, done in Photoshop cs2 9.0:Anni-Frid 'Frida' Lyngstad of ABBA during their 1977 Australia tour.

from my deviantart: www.guddipoland.deviantart.com
the original one is HERE: http://guddipoland.deviantart.com/art/Love-you-Australia-185820953