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.

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  

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!

Dispel The Darkness

Background - created using three images from Pixabay

Model - Extracted from http://kechake-stock.deviantart.com/art/Frostblommor-10-449349188

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. 

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

Emotional Junk

Model - Cassandra photo Colby Files 

Textures and other stuff my collection

The Family Tree

Background - started with http://fairiegoodmother.deviantart.com/art/Lambert-Castle-3-166505801 

Girl - extracted from a vintage photo

Skull heads - http://dragoroth-stock.deviantart.com/art/Fantasy-Skull-2-316962994 and http://dragoroth-stock.deviantart.com/art/Fantasy-Skull-4-316963298  

Textures, hat, flowers, bird, other skulls, books, candle, feather, pentacle, bow and webs - my collection

Pretty weird right!!!!

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.

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.

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.

Escape The Sea

Model - extracted from http://jagged-eye.deviantart.com/art/Flight-1a-414626916

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

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!

Redemption

Background - created using five different images

Model - Ariana photo by Colby Files

Skulls - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Pack-Large-Textures-1807-469005175  

Textures, birds, moon, headpiece, wings, moon, bubbles, clouds - my collection and AWAKE content

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.  

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.