This fantastic sci-fi image shows off a lot of skill with Painter. In the foreground, the damaged metal of the hydrant is done very well - the bumpy, scratched texture is very well done. The concrete and smoother metal textures are also excellent, and the dramatic background imagery, colours and lighting really add to the atmosphere of the piece. Plus, it has robots! I particularly like the hulking but oddly elegant forms of Simon’s mecha creations, and their dull metallic colouring and red star insignia reinforces the title of the piece, as we see them as units within an army. This intriguing image raises all sorts of questions about the backstory behind the scene - where is the city, why did the war start, whose side are the robots on?

Amanda’s painting treads a fine line between fairytale illustration and fantasy art. On one hand it’s beautifully stylised; the patterns on the dress and around the circular border frame and formalise the composition. On the other hand it’s a different spin on the idea of Red Riding Hood: older, with a sword in her hand and a wolfish grin on her face - not to mention the wolf sitting tamely at her feet. Painting an instantly recognisable subject from a different angle is always a rewarding exercise for both the artist and the viewer; it always provokes thought. What I love most about this image are the facial expressions - this Red Riding Hood is perfectly capable of walking through the woods alone (in fact, the wildlife ought to be afraid of her), and the Big Bad Wolf would evidently rather be chasing sticks than eating little girls. The composition is lovely too - reminiscent of Wen-Xi Chen’s circular-themed, red-toned Opium piece. And note how paying attention to value and tertiary tones has allowed Amanda to combine two colours that we’re often advised to steer away from mixing: red and pink. Keeping both colours orangey-toned and working with shading means that they match well and add to the richness of the overall colour harmony.

There’s something very appealing about the naive, scribbly style Stefanie has used here. It’s not as simple as it looks: the light and colour on the fish’s scales is delicately done in a gorgeous complementary mix of orange, gold and sea green, while the thick, inky lines add definition and informality to the composition. The texture is particularly well done, I love the scratchy flowing pale lines and the very subtle diffused Leaky Pen blobs for bubbles. It’s a fun image with wide appeal and a lovely cartoon style. There have been a lot of great images submitted to the Gallery this week, and it’s been a tough choice to pick just one - my other favourites from the last seven days include Grimoire’s Angelus, The Day After in Times Square by Maximuz, Egg Symfony by GEORGE5, lydiayan’s Snake Angel, and the fantastic Rise and Shine by regular Painter contributor Wen-Xi Chen.

I’m a sucker for dry, witty British art of the kind found on Banksy murals, Massive Attack album sleeves and on the pages of the late and much lamented Deadline magazine. This image by Mark Hollis plays on several British stereotypes - the council estate, the chav and the idea that an Englishman’s home is his castle. I love the contrast between this idea and the rundown social housing in the background of this image, and the juxtaposition between the baseball cap and the beautifully painted silks and satins of the 18th Century costume underneath. Mark has a very painterly technique when it comes to colour, texture and light, and combining this with the twisted social realism of his subject matter makes for an intriguing image which evokes past masters of social commentary like William Hogarth.

I’ve just had a press release from the lovely people at Microsoft Research, who’ve come up with a new photo editing toy for Windows users. If you have a play with it, be sure to let us know what you think, either by posting a comment here or on the forums!

 “Microsoft Research today launched AutoCollage 2008, a desktop application that allows users to easily compile a set of individual photographs into one seamless collage.In just a few clicks, people can transform an unwieldy group of photos, for example, of an event like a wedding or holiday, into a single collage image that can be printed, used in e-postcards, web pages, desktop backgrounds, or emailed to family and friends. “AutoCollage is an advanced computer vision and image processing program that assembles pictures into a seamless collage using methods such as object recognition and face detection. Having automatically identified interesting parts of pictures, AutoCollage combines the separate pictures into a composite collage by deliberately following natural features as a boundary between images.  “AutoCollage runs on Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2 and above, and is available worldwide through a 30-day free trial.  An unrestricted version is available to purchase in the UK and US only at this time from http://research.microsoft.com/autocollage/Download.aspx.”

This Pic of the Week was a tough decision as many of you have submitted some wonderful work over the last seven days. Honourable mentions have got to go to Anne Pogoda for her fairytale ‘Lolita Lantern’ painting, George Piatygorets for his surreal pen and ink piece ‘Wedding in Egypt’, and to Sarah Madsen for her warm and fuzzy ‘Let’s Get Knitting’ sketch. 

My Pic of the Week comes from Mohammed Abotalib. ‘Andalusia‘ is a wonderful illustration that’s full of movement and rich colour. I’ve always been fascinated by traditional illustration and this piece has so much action going on in it that it tells a story in itself. I love the energy in the horse’s movement - you can tell that it’s about to rear and pivot, whilst the rider is visibly bracing himself. The musician in the foreground and the palatial background, meanwhile, evoke the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria, whilst the Moorish patterns take us straight back to the countryside of southern Spain and the title of this gorgeous piece. I’m sure kids in particular will love this dramatic image, and be fascinated by the many little stories it tells.

Despite being described as a portrait practice, I think this is a very accomplished piece and a worthy Pic of the Week. The intense lighting creates a wonderful mood, almost bleaching the features into indeterminate shapes. This makes the eyes all the more powerful, helping the viewer have something to instantly engage with. Be sure to check out the rest of Olga’s gallery – there’s a wonderful image of a peacock!

I've been told about an exciting new photo course being set up by Park Cameras. I've posted the press release below for those who are interested - the company is based in the UK, so bear that in mind!

Park Cameras Announces its ‘School of Photography’ Park Cameras new retail premises in Burgess Hill will see the company provide a comprehensive range of workshops, seminars and training courses across a vast range of photographic genres under the banner of the ‘Park Cameras School of Photography’. Held on a regular basis, seminars, workshops and courses will be part of a three-tier approach adopted by Park Cameras. This will see the company utilise their own inhouse trainer as well as provide courses run by product specialists from leading brands such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sony and also experts from across the photographic industry eager to impart their knowledge to the photographic benefit of others. The very first of these workshops - Fashion and Beauty Lighting with Jon Gray - is already on sale with places going fast. The day, based around Jon’s insights into how to enhance fashion and beauty subjects through the utilisation of lighting equipment, is highly hands on with Jon guiding the group through the various techniques before inviting delegates to put what they have heard into practice, with the opportunity to shoot a professional model in Park Cameras dedicated studio. Designed to be very much hands on, the latest Bowens lighting equipment will be on hand to provide a truly memorable and informative day to those that attend. In addition, Park Cameras’ own inhouse seminars, workshops and course are also now on sale, offering consumers a wide range of opportunities to develop their skills, regardless of their level of ability or photographic interest. Ultimately it is hoped that Park Cameras will offer one of the widest and diverse number of courses in the country, continuing to ensure that it offers unrivalled levels of service to its customers. For more information please visit www.parkcameras.com/training and find out how you can benefit from one of Park Cameras new photographic courses. About Park Cameras Ltd Park Cameras Ltd was founded over 37 years ago by Managing Director Reg Atkins. Over these years the company has come to be recognised as one of the UK’s leading independent photographic retailers, catering for the needs of amateur and professional photographers alike. As one of leading stockists of brands such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sony as well as vast range of associated photographic brands, Park Cameras continues to offer one of the widest range of photographic products in the country, both instore and online. The company currently operates with two stores in Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath and is currently finalising a move to an all-new purpose built retail outlet in Burgess Hill that will greatly increase the level of products and services that the company is able to offer to its consumers. For more information on the diverse nature of Park Cameras business please visit www.parkcameras.com or call us on 08450 50 22 66.

Victoria is a recent member to the gallery and if this image is anything to go by, she will soon be filling her pages with gorgeous images. This image was chosen as Pic of the Week for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think the colours work really well. The green background contrasts nicely with the girl’s hair and gives an overall feeling of nature (helped by the sunflowers). Secondly, it’s sometimes nice to have a portrait where the subject isn’t staring out at you. By having the eyes cast down, Victoria evokes a more esoteric mood. And lastly, it’s just really well done! The skin is nice and smooth, the billowing hair adds a touch of movement and the composition is good. Fantastic work, Victoria!

If you have a few moments to spare, head over to www.photofaceoff.co.uk. Set up by our sister title, Digital Photographer, it’s a crazily addictive game where you get to decide which image you like best out of two random photos pulled from the site. As soon as you’ve made your choice, another two will appear and the fun can begin again!I’ve said to go there if you have a few moments spare, but the truth is I suspect you’ll find yourself on there for a lot longer. In fact, the mag will probably be late this month as I’ve been playing it so much!