Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Looking At My Work

I did the 20 day Portfolio renovation with Brooke Shaden and it was very informative.  It has me looking at my work in new and different ways.  Right now I feel my work is not cohesive in a number of ways - color, style, subject, appearance, etc.  I am all over the place.  This is not unusual for me as I do get bored but I don’t want my overall collection of work to suffer for it.  I plan on working on sone standards for my finished work.  I also want to work in a more thoughtful way and this will probably mean slowing down which will be a good thing.

One exercise was to look at a group of images and pick out your favorite and least favorite and list why.  I like this idea - I don’t always love everything I post so analyzing why is a good exercise.  I usually complete about 10 to 15 or so images every month and at the end of each month I am going to do this exercise.  So for January I have picked my favorite and my least favorite image.  I had trouble picking my favorite which is a good thing since that means I liked a lot of what I posted but there were a few I was less englamored with so not a good thing.  


One of my favorites was Escape The Sea above. I like it because it is a good composition - the eye moves around the image.  The overall coloring holds together well.  There is a lot of action and things to see so it is interesting.  It has good and correct lighting.  All the parts are in correct proportion and the main image is easily defined. AND the big one for me it tells a story.  


One of my least favorites is The Family Tree above.  I am not all that sure why I don’t care for it but I worked on it a lot trying to resolve some issues and maybe it just has too many elements in it.  Too many things shouting look at me. There is just too much going on.  The coloring is OK and there really isn’t much lighting at all.  It does tell a story but I am not in love with this image.  Problem is I really don’t know what I would change to make it better so sometimes for me it is best to move on. 

I will be blogging more about the Portfolio renovation in the coming weeks as I work through more of the information.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Love Lost


Model - extracted from a vintage photo and then I colored her
Bleeding mascara - http://frozenstocks.deviantart.com/art/UNRESTRICTED-Bleeding-Mascara-Brushes-133311687
Background created using textures, some photos and other stuff - all my collection  

Monday, January 23, 2017

Of Fire


Model - Ashlieya photo by Colby Files
Textures, writing, stuff - my collection and AWAKE content

I am very much in love with the work of Jean Jacques Henner and started off wanted to make a digital image like one of his paintings but that is not what happened here - maybe next time!

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Dispel The Darkness


Background - created using three images from Pixabay
Birdcage - http://frozenstocks.deviantart.com/art/UNRESTRICTED-Rusty-Birdcage-Render-456501840  
Textures, lighting, birds, writing, smoke - my collection

I am not loving this but I am sick of working on it. 

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Crossing


Background - two images from unsplash
Model - well I made her and her dress from bits and pieces
Hair strands - http://frozenstocks.deviantart.com/art/UNRESTRICTED-Windblown-Hair-Brushes-132680582  
Textures, birds, smoke, moon, extra tree - my collection

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Emotional Junk


Model - Cassandra photo Colby Files 
Textures and other stuff my collection

Monday, January 16, 2017

The Family Tree


Girl - extracted from a vintage photo
Textures, hat, flowers, bird, other skulls, books, candle, feather, pentacle, bow and webs - my collection

Pretty weird right!!!!

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Waiting


Background - photo from Pixabay
Model - Kahla photo by Colby Files
Candles - http://darkenedheart-stock.deviantart.com/art/Three-Round-Church-Candles-77100231
Textures, table, cage, birds skeleton - all my collection

I like making images that have a slight graphic novel look.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Lilith


Background - created using a number of images from Pixabay
Model - Ashlieya photo by Colby Files
Textures, wings, bird, grasses, cloth - my collection

Lilith was Adam’s first wife, before Eve. When Adam insisted she play a subservient role she grew wings and flew away from Eden. Lilith travels on demon wings, a conventional mode of transportation for underworld residents.  In most manifestations of her myth, Lilith represents chaos, seduction and ungodliness. Yet, in her every guise, Lilith has cast a spell on humankind.

Monday, January 9, 2017

Island Beach Dunes


Composite of my photos from Island Beach Park.
Textures, moon, birds - my collection
Sometimes I just like to do a simple image but with moodiness! Island Beach State Park - has some beautiful scenery.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Escape The Sea


Sea - created using bits and pieces of many images
Fish, and fishy parts - mischief Circus
Textures, hair, weeds, bubbles, stars, mist - my collection
Lighting effect - Auto FX

Friday, January 6, 2017

Chasing Stars


Background - created using four images
Model - Ariana photo by Colby Files
Sparkle - Mischief Circus
Textures, tree, hair strands, birds, clouds, flower, leaves - my collection

Lots of layers here.  I wanted a mysterious feeling.  Nothing like a full moon!

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Redemption


Background - created using five different images
Model - Ariana photo by Colby Files
Textures, birds, moon, headpiece, wings, moon, bubbles, clouds - my collection and AWAKE content

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Time Stood Still


Background - created by me using seven different images
Model - Hanna photo by The Colby Files  
Textures, hat, feather, moon, bird, sparkle - all my collection

This image has many layers especially in creating the background.  I used parts of 7 images to make the BG with a lot of masking and different blending modes.  The model is an extract from Colby Files.  This was not what I initially envisioned for this work - I wanted an apocalyptic image with a lot of destruction but as I worked adding and eliminating things this is what it evolved into.  It does however portray exactly what I was thinking.  Funny how that happens.  I also desaturated it and up the contrast on the B&W and I think that is much more effective than color on this one.  The final step was a radial blur around the edges.  

Sunday, January 1, 2017

A Sad Tale


Background - http://malleni-stock.deviantart.com/art/Industrial-decay-Stock-60-329843653
Girl - Extracted from a vintage photo
Crows - http://peroni68.deviantart.com/art/crow-8-212671330 
Textures, skeleton, hourglass, star, roses, bird, web, face - my collection

Taking up where I left off in 2016 I guess.