Art Creations Friday, meet iPhone

Yesterday I downloaded the Art Creations Friday challenge image, a gorgeous texture. Today I took a few pictures of Tippi with my new iPhone. And this afternoon I decided to combine the challenge image with one of those iPhone images; results, above.

The technique was not complicated. First, I squared off the photograph of Tippi, then made some curves adjustments, lightened the photo and boosted the contrast. I then made some additional colour adjustments, just minor ones, using the Color Balance command. Next, I applied the Pioneer Woman's Vintage action and brought the opacity of that down to 80 percent. I then placed the ACF texture on top and chose the Saturation blending mode at 100 percent. Lastly, I merged the layers together and used a clipping mask I found online (unfortunately, I don't remember where) to soften the edges and round out the corners.

I have been under the weather for the past couple of days; possibly a mild case of food poisoning although I suspect a glass of merlot I had Wednesday night is the true culprit. Today is better although not yet normal; it was good to have enough energy/concentration to get in some photoshopping!

Art Creations Friday...on Tuesday

It's been several weeks since I participated in an Art Creations Friday challenge. Every week I download the image and then, before I know it, the week has slipped right past me. So, last Friday I downloaded this week's image (Waterhouse's Ophelia) with good intentions but once again didn't get to it...until now. You see, I created yet another new texture (please read the previous two blog posts to get the entire scoop) and wanted to try it out. Poor Ophelia popped into my head and, a few clicks later, she popped up onto my screen and away I went. Results, above. I think I shall call it Ophelia Fading. As for ACF, I'm going with the better-late-than-never philosophy. Sigh.

This texture creation process is addictive. Here's the newest one, the one I used on the artwork above. Just click on the image below to go to its Flickr page, where the All Sizes link will take you to the download page.

Hope you give this one a try too!

Narcissistic

I like being behind the camera. That's why there are so few photographs of me; I typically am the one taking the pictures, not posing. And that suits me just fine.

But for the first Art Creations Friday challenge of the new year -- a vintage photograph in a vintage frame -- I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and work on altering a photograph my sister-in-law Heather took when we were on vacation together back in '08. A photograph of me. (Actually, the original was a photograph including the captain too, but I've cropped out my own head shot here.)

Instead of using the vintage photo in the challenge, I chose instead to use the lovely frame and insert a photograph of myself, altered to look "older". I cringe at bit at this, but am using it just the same. All in the name of exploring new horizons this year.

Just don't expect to see this very often!

Numbers game

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics," wrote Mark Twain. I've always loved that quote. I do believe that you can manipulate statistics to prove or disprove anything. Mere numbers alone don't tell much unless you know the context in which they are used; they're facts, for sure, but facts alone don't tell a complete story.

Today's post is all about statistics. Facts. When a new year rolls around there is the temptation to "review" the previous year...media outlets do it all the time. Forgive the self-indulgence, but I was curious if I could document my creativity for the year by looking at the numbers. So, for what it's worth, here are the stats:

Total photographs taken in 2009: 11,021
Total photoshop projects started: 699

I find those numbers absolutely startling. I took more than 11-thousand photographs? 11,000+! Sweet jesus. How will I ever get around to using even half of those? And when you take into consideration that I took 7,826 photos in 2008 and started 569 photoshop projects (I checked that year too, while I was looking), it gets mind-boggling; let's not even get into all the pictures taken in 2007, 2006, etc. I could tie myself to the computer and never run out of creative possibilities even if I never took another photograph.

Um, like that's going to happen.

But let's get real here. What those stats don't reveal is that I often take two, three, even a dozen photographs of the same subject. I know full well that quantity absolutely does not equal quality. More than 11,000 photographs does not mean 11,000 great images. I learned a long time ago that it's good policy to take several shots to ensure the possibility of one good one. Still no guarantee -- and I have lots of photos to prove it -- but at least there's a fighting chance at a keeper. It's not always possible for me to take multiple shots -- when we're zooming down the interstate and I see something interesting, for example, I often have only one chance to grab the camera and click before we've driven past whatever caught my attention. Sometimes I'm lucky, sometimes not.
I also tend to start projects and not finish them, or finish them but never share them. The "dreams coming true" collage is a fine example of that. I created it for an Art Creations Friday challenge but changed my mind after it was done and never used it. This is the first time I've shown it, to anyone.

But enough about my output. Let's have a look at my photo galleries, found on Flickr. What do folks like to look at? Here's my photograph with the most views:



Not what you might expect would garner the most attention? Me neither.

This is the one with the second-most views:



Moving right along. This photo has the most comments and has been marked as a "favorite" the most times:



I'm not surprised; it's one of my personal favourites. And the photo with the second-most comments is also one I love:



The one with the second-most favorites is understandable -- it's the hula-hoops photograph from the contest I ran last year.



Flickr also has a category called "most interesting" and it's calculated by some obscure algorithm known only to them. It's never really made sense to me. According to Flickr, this is my most interesting photo:



Sure, it's one I really like and am proud to have created, but I could certainly point to others that are also deserving. This one, for example, which is the second-most interesting according to Flickr:



One intriguing sidenote: both the photograph of the dahlia bud and the gull were taken on the same afternoon, the first time we took Tippi down to the beach for a walk. It does feel a little special that the first time we took our new pup out for a beach romp was the same day I generated some great images. This, one of my favourite creations of '09, was also a project originating from that day's photographic output:



So there you have it. LOTS of statistics. What do they mean? Not much, really....except perhaps that I need a bigger hard drive and more memory cards for my cameras!

Anything Can Be

listen to the mustn'ts, child,

listen to the don'ts.

listen to the shouldn'ts,

the impossibles, the won'ts.

listen to the never haves,

then listen close to me.

anything can happen, child,

anything can be.
*shel silverstein*

(posted for Art Creations Friday)

Mediterranean beauty

This week's challenge image from Art Creations Friday is titled "Mediterranean Beauty" and that she is.....a lovely portrait.

I decided to keep it simple and seasonal and created the holiday card you see here. The photoshopping really was quite minimal: some cropping, some colour play, a festive clipping mask (bought from the Designer Digitals site) and finally some text, using the Algerian font.

As always, please click on the image to see it full-sized.

Marilyn, with a gift for you

I have always been a Marilyn Monroe fan, so when I saw that this week's Art Creations Friday challenge image was an old publicity still, I was delighted.

I decided to keep it very simple. I hunted down her autograph online, then used a simple holiday message from a vintage Christmas card. Combining the three, along with a few stars -- fitting for a movie star, no? -- and a red border, and that was that.

And speaking of that vintage holiday message, I'd like to share it with you. Just click on the image below to see it full-sized, then save to your computer. It's a PNG file, meaning the background is transparent (even though it appears white to you here). I hope you'll be able to use it for any holiday creations you have planned this month! And if you'd like to see a few more of my free downloadables, please visit my Freebies set on Flickr!

ACF "Dreams"

You may recognize the image I used in this week's Art Creations Friday collage. It's from a previous ACF challenge HERE, a collage I called "Grace". I was unwell yesterday and so last night, when I checked the ACF site for this week's image and saw the wonderful background we were to use this week, I really didn't know what to do and so forged ahead, creating quite a complicated collage. Only trouble, when I looked at it today I was displeased. That's what happens I guess when you create with a fuzzy head.

But one thing led to another and I decided to do a little photoshop experimenting today and what you see above is the result. I like this one so much better than what I concocted last night! I think it has an aged, almost waxy appearance. I'm also pleased to be able to take a previous creation and use it in the production of a new project.

The most beautiful things in the world

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched -- they must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

(artwork created for Art Creations Friday -- congratulations on their first anniversary!)

Three little boys

Once upon a time, three young brothers lived on the wrong side of the tracks just outside of Pittsburgh.

Or not. Truth is, I'm just guessing that they're brothers, although the building really is just outside of Pittsburgh, really is just next to the local railroad tracks. I photographed it last year.

You see, the original image of the boys is this week's Art Creations Friday challenge photo. I knew when I saw it that I wanted to split the three apart and position them in one of my own photographs -- I also knew I took many photos of older buildings in Pittsburgh last year and hoped one would fit the bill. I also knew I wanted the final photograph to look as if it came from an older era.

I don't know why I do this to myself sometimes. Positioning the boys on the stairs required a lot of fine, close-up work in photoshop, erasing parts of the photograph and erasing parts of the boys in order to make it appear they're really standing there. But I think it's a good exercise in patience and I welcome the opportunity to hone my photoshop skills. Even thought I'm always highly critical of my own work and know I didn't do a perfect job, I am pleased with the results.

And it's always fun to take on a challenge like this, especially when the final outcome inspires me to think of what possible story the image conveys. Who are the boys, why are they out on the fire escape? Are they rich or poor? Hellions or angels? What does their future hold? What do you think?

The little boatswain

When I saw this sweet little sailor this morning over at the Art Creations Friday challenge site, I knew immediately what I wanted to do....and set about to create it. Above is just about exactly what I had envisioned. He's a real cutie and it was a pleasure to put this project together.

Pumpkin carving?

A little pumpkin carving, courtesy of Photoshop. I decided to take a seasonal approach to this week's vintage image over at Art Creations Friday and carve her into a pumpkin. I wasn't all that happy with the selection of pumpkin photographs I had to work with but, in the end, I'm pleased with the results.

Happy Hallowe'en to all the creative participants enjoying these ACF challenges!

The right folder, the right time

Is it luck, coincidence, good timing, the karma gods smiling down, or none of that? I downloaded the Art Creations Friday image (a beautiful girl) last night and was yet again stumped as to what I would create. Putting her aside, I started looking through old photoshop files, searching for projects that I'd started but hadn't completed. This has been an ongoing task for me, one I find very enjoyable.

As I browsed, I came across a work-in-progress collage featuring a monument I photographed in one of Savannah's many squares. It was okay, nothing I'd want to share though. But when I turned off the layer featuring the main image, I realized I'd created quite an attractive background.

Inspiration then took hold and I knew I should use this background along with the ACF image. So the project began, many alterations were made, and the final product is what you see here. I'm so glad I found the old collage when I did ... definitely a case of good timing!

This project has got me thinking

When I saw the lovely lady with such a beautiful smile featured in this week's Art Creations Friday challenge, I wondered what I could do with her image that would be different. After some thought, I decided to crop her square and create a calendar page for November (having already done an October calendar page here on my blog late last month). Just click on her to see the full-size version, perfect for downloading if you wish.

This is different than the typical card or collage I would do for ACF and I'm happy I tried it. It also got me thinking....wouldn't a calendar of vintage images be terrific? Something else to add to my ever-growing list of projects!

The streets of Paris

When I saw the image for this week's Art Creations Friday challenge, I admit I had no clue as to what to do with it. This saucy mademoiselle had me stumped.

After some consideration I decided I was going to remove her from her setting and plunk her down on the streets of Paris. Thanks to Leslie's generosity, I have some Parisian photographs and permission to alter them as I wish, so the hunt was on for a suitable street photograph. I narrowed it down, tried to use a couple with little success, then finally hit paydirt. A little texture, a little edging, and finally I called it done.

This one turned out to be quite a challenge for me but then, isn't that the point?

Using my imagination

This is Vivian. A young girl, with her life ahead of her. What were her hopes for her future? Would her dreams be fulfilled? How many children would she have? Was she happy? I honestly don't know.

Okay, the truth is.....I don't know anything about the girl in the photograph. I do know her name isn't Vivian. I made that up. I don't know her real name, when the photograph was taken, or where. Oh wait. I do know a bit. I know the bench was photographed on May 2, 2009, outside the Bus Terminal Restaurant on Danforth Avenue in east-end Toronto. What, you thought it was an old photo? I hope you did, 'cause that was my intention. But I inserted the young girl into my photo; she's the subject of this week's Art Creations Friday challenge and so I sat her down on this bench and took it from there. It was a fun project and I took the opportunity to work on my "sepia skills". It's surprising how you can age a photograph with just a little photoshop magic.

If you have creative work

I never feel age.
If you have creative work,

you don't have age or time.

-Louise Nevelson-

(Artwork created for Art Creations Friday)

My latest work

I really have no idea how I created this collage. I downloaded the Art Creations Friday challenge image earlier this evening, but I thought I was too tired to work on it. A second wind came along with a small burst of creative energy and so I opened up Photoshop. I knew I wanted to work with a dictionary page but that was about it. Somehow it just all came together. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes you should stop thinking about what you're doing and just DO.

The beauty of the ballet

If you're on North American time, you'll see that I'm definitely early for Art Creations Friday. It's only Thursday night. But I realized (only today) that because this challenge site is European, I would likely find the challenge image posted on Thursday evening, my time, and wouldn't have to wait until Friday morning to check it out. And I was right!

I loved this week's ballet duo image. So versatile! My creation, "grace", came together quite easily; as always, please click on the collage for a larger view.

I haven't been to the ballet often, but I am so fortunate to have seen Sleeping Beauty, starring the amazing Rudolf Nureyev, at Toronto's O'Keefe Centre back in the early '70s. His performance was absolutely stunning. I'll never forget it.

Art Creations Friday on Saturday

Yesterday I checked this week's offering over at Art Creations Friday and was delighted to spy a gorgeous background instead of the expected vintage photograph. I was brimming with ideas on how to use it, eventually settling on what you see above -- started late last night but finished just now. Please click on it to see it much larger.

Somehow the theme of the piece became reading; it features a page of text from an old school book as well as a stone statue of a mother reading to her daughter (which I photographed in a Buffalo cemetery). Also in the mix, one of my new textures that I just put up in my Flickr galleries plus, in the top right corner, a photoshop brush I created using one of the Paris photographs Leslie so generously shared with me. Not too many elements but I think the collage came together nicely.