Creative Courage

It's Monday and there are no prompts, so I'm going to post an example of what I've been working on these last few days. Discovering that I can merge my art work with PSE has opened up a whole new world for me...I want to share my results with anyone who might be interested in doing this themselves. I hesitated posting, though, because of my insecurity about my very flawed art work...in the past, I would've stopped right here and not written this post. But my excitement over showing what you can do with photo editing/art is stronger than my embarrassment at people seeing my amateur drawings. I'm a beginner and have a lot to learn. But I won't be hard on myself...instead, I will enjoy the process and share my work, even if it's not perfect. If anyone reading this has thought about trying something new and held themselves back because of doubts about your abilities, don't let it stop you! We all have to start somewhere, right? It's about the joy you feel while you're creating, not the end results.

For this image, I started with two of my creations - a charcoal sketch of a girl (excuse the wonky eyes and misshapen face) and a painted abstract background. Painted background are very freeing to do...it's basically just adult doodling. You can slap paint and scribbles wherever you want, and if you don't like it, you can paint over it! It's wonderful, and very therapeutic. I scanned both creations into my printer and then uploaded them into PSE. I played around with my background first - the incredible thing is that you can paint an original background, upload it into PSE, and alter it completely (with added layers and textures) to create a whole new look. Once I liked my altered background, I layered it over the top of my charcoal sketch. I then added a crackle texture and put it into Radlab to add a couple filters.

And there you have it - I named this "Crooked Eyed Girl". :) Don't let fear stop you from trying something new...jump in and just do it. One little step at a time. You can do it, I know you can.

Original pieces:

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

This week's Scavenger Hunt Sunday prompts are simple, transportation, grain, stitch, and bubble.

1. Simple. One lone rhododendron bud...simple, but beautiful.


2. Transportation. I got creative with this one...I captured this shot of a jet fuel streak in the sky and thought it was so pretty. It does involve some sort of transportation, right?


3. Grain. I decided to interpret this literally rather than "photographically"...


4. Stitch. I'm not a sewer at all...the only thing I could think of that involved any sort of stitching I've done was this pin I made years back, when crazy quilting and silk embroidery was all the rage. I did have a machine back then, and used it to sew these tie scraps together. I then stitched the rose and leaves with silk ribbon (and added a few beads). I'm glad I still had it for this prompt!


5. Bubble. Trying to capture bubble shots all alone, with a bubble wand in one hand and a point-and-shoot camera in the other, is pretty comical. I'm glad no one had a video camera nearby...needless to say, the only successful shot I got was of one bubble that landed and didn't pop. It sat still long enough for me to snap a picture. It's there, I promise - you may have to squint to see it! :)

Photo Art Friday - Favorite Quote

For Bonnie's Photo Art Friday this week, I created an image with one of my favorite quotes. And since the quote involves creating art, I started with a very simple charcoal sketch I did last week. I also used an Instagram cloud photo from my iphone and various public domain textures and images. I just kept layering and layering, "eyeballing" the different blend modes with each layer until I liked how it looked (and using lots of reverse layer masks). I also used Bonnie's "Dream Wonder" texture at Saturation/100%, and put the image into Radlab several times to sharpen it, lighten it, etc. It turned out dramatic and dark, but I love the end results! And the quote is absolutely true, in my opinion. Art is so good for the soul and is a cathartic way to express ourselves...and photography is a wonderful art medium! I can't believe the joy I have found being able to incorporate my new photo and editing skills into my painting/drawing attempts. It has opened up so many ideas in my head and I can't wait to learn more. There's not enough time!

LIFE DRAWING

Shape of a treasured memory
Hue of a hidden fear
Shade of an unfilled destiny
Tone of a tender tear

Contour of a fragile thought
Erase of a word that stings
Portrait of a soul that's lost
Sketch of a hope that clings

Value of a loving touch
Texture of a smile that's kind
Circle of a permanent scar
Oval of a light-filled eye.

©Sherri Brannon

My original images:

Beautiful Blooms

“If flowers were merely beautiful to the eye, they would still hold their charm; but at times their scent draws us back – like a happy condition of existence, like a sudden invitation – to a deeper sense of life. Whether I’ve sought out these invisible emanations or, more especially, whether they have suddenly happened of their own accord, I accept them as an intense but precarious expression of a spirit whose secret is hidden by the veil of the material world.” ~ Etienne Pivert De Senancour, Obermann, 1833

More flowers to share on this lovely spring day...I soak up their beauty with a smile on my face and in my heart. Yes, spring does that to me...have a wonderful day! I'm linking up to both Wordless Wednesday and (thinking a day ahead) This or That Thursday.

In the Right Light

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose

I love these three tiny vases...they sit on the window sill above my kitchen sink. The sun was starting to go down this past week and I liked the lighting. For Texture Tuesday, I used Kim's "little things" texture at Soft Light/31%. I removed the texture from the window glass.

iPhone Monday

I am loving the camera apps available for the iphone! I downloaded four more of them last night and wanted to share some examples for anyone who is interested. They are so much fun! (Keep in mind that these were quick samples I created last night when I first got the apps; the editing isn't exactly perfect.) Best of all, you can use these apps with fresh photos OR with photos from your camera roll (which is what I did for all the images below).

1. Pic Stitch. This app allows you to make collages with your iphone photos. And it's free! It's very straight forward and easy to follow. The app offers effects, too - I used the same effect for all four photos so they'd look cohesive.



2. Impression. This app allows you to put a watermark on your iphone photos. There are many different fonts to choose from, and you can move the watermark around to place it anywhere on your photo. You can also make the watermark as large or as small as you'd like. This one costs $1.99.



3. 100 Cameras in 1. This app has TONS of effects and filters, and you can continually keep adding effects until you're happy with the results. Each time you create an effect, you can continue with that altered image and the app will provide 100 new filters. Once you're happy, you save the image. It gives very "artistic" effects to your photos. I paid for the $1.99 version because it got great reviews; the free version didn't have very good comments. My image is rather dramatic and needs work, but it gives you an idea of the grungy, artsy effects you can achieve.



4. BeFunkyFX. This is another app that has different effects to choose from, and I downloaded the free version which gets great reviews!. It's very simple and straightforward.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

This week's Scavenger Hunt Sunday prompts are new, life, fragrant, pink, and obvious. Happy Easter!

1. New. Our lily of the valley flowers are just barely starting to bloom. I've been keeping a close eye on them day by day.


2. Life. This can be interpreted in so many ways. For me this past week, "life" has been filled with lots of art work. Which makes me happy. Excuse the bald girl...I'm so intimidated about drawing hair. I'm going to stare at this poor girl for a few days and get the courage to give her some style!


3. Fragrant. This lilac bush down the street looks beautiful and is very fragrant!


4. Pink. I believe this is a crabapple tree...? It is so gorgeous, and stands in front of a house that's empty (for sale) in our neighborhood. This was good news for me, because I didn't feel funny standing in the yard for 10 minutes taking photos!


5. Obvious. I love that our flag in this photo provides a subtle backdrop for our azalea bush, yet it's very obvious. My intention was purely to capture the pink blooms, but then I happily noticed what was in the background.