Shadow Shot Sunday : Altered Image

For this weeks shadow shot I dug in my photo stash from my photography classes from about 6-7 years ago.  This was one of my first assignments.  We had to take a photo of something, then figure out ways to alter the photo in different ways.  The original photo is above.  

No photoshop her folks, all printed in a darkroom (I miss it sooo much!)  with some hand-altered goodness.

For this second one (which I LOVE because it looks like it has shadows from palm trees!) the developer was brushed on loosely.  So cool!

 The one above was bleached.  I love how soft and faded it is.

For this forth one I used oil paint that's specifically for photos to color it.  There were no brushes so I had to paint it with cotton swabs.

And the last one that I'm showing you from this assignment shows that my love of collage was already creeping in at that point.  To do this I printed the photo twice.  One in black and white and one in sepia.  Then I tore the black and white one and glued pieces of it onto the sepia and folded the edges over a bit here and there.  

I have many more versions of this photo, but these are my favorites.

To see more or join in with us for Shadow Shot Sunday go here.

Stalled

"Whatever God's dream about man may be, it seems certain it cannot come true unless man cooperates."

                  --Stella Terrill Mann

Just a quick post today.  This is a photo of my beautiful, happily used water container that I use for painting.  I put a butterfly sticker on it months ago... I can't believe it's still hanging on!  In the background you can see a bit of a work in progress... a tree painting.  I need to finish it.  I love it but haven't had much time to work on it (and truthfully have been avoiding it lately).  I have worked on other things but this is the one that calls to me most...yet I avoid it.  I need to stop thinking and start doing.  I need to get back into the habit of creating everyday... it's the best way to fend off perfectionist fears.  

"Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot 

attain it in anything."

                    ---Eugene Delacroix

Art Journal Flowers

Lately I've been feeling dumpy.  Just haven't been able to completely shake it.  I figured I needed a lil extra TLC, so I pampered myself last week by making myself some flowers in my art journal that'll never droop, get moldy, or die.  It did help a bit.  Making art usually does make me feel better, plus making something completely for me was nice.  

The photo above shows the colors fairly true to how they are in "real life".  Click on photo for closer look.

Notice the page next to it says "no more excuses"?  hmm.... coincidence?  Or maybe it should say "snap out of it"!

I wrote "remember" across the bottom to remind me of all the good that I have in my life.  All that I am grateful for.  There's so much really, but here's a short list...

Things I am grateful for in no particular order:

• This blog, Blogland, and all you wonderful lovelies out there who are so loving and giving
• My wonderful friends and family
• Being an artist...I truly love it and feel blessed to know it's my calling
• Having people who believe in me
• Having the most wonderful husband ever, and our funniest/smartest/cutest two year old son
• Coffee 
• Dark organic chocolate....YUM!!!
• Online art classes!! 

Of course there's way more, but that's enough for now.

To make this collage I first used metal tape (from a hardware store) to make the frame.  I painted gesso over everything to prep the page and tone down the silver of the tape.  Then I tore papers to form the vase, flowers, and other details and glued them down.  I again gessoed over everything to soften it.  I wanted a soft faded feel to it, something different than what I normally do. When dry, I used a graphite pencil to write "remember" and also to add details and shading to finish it off.  

There.   Done. 

 Pretty flowers to help brighten the day.  

I hope they brighten yours too, because you readers brighten mine! 

 Thank you!

Shadow Shot Sunday : Door

Quick post.  Big headache.  Cool door to an outdoor patio at a restaurant. 

Welcome to Shadow Shot Sunday.

For more or to join in, go here.

Sorry so short.  I'll be back as soon as my brain behaves.  xo

Shadow Shot Sunday :

Hello there.

Another week has flown by. 

Another set of shadow shots to post for Shadow Shot Sunday.

I don't know if you've figured this out yet, but I LOVE dramatic lighting.

I love how dark the shadows are in the photo above with the pop of sunlight on the ground in front of the cool silhouetted tree.

I was only going to post the photo above, but I wanted to share more photos so you can better see what the sky looked like at this time...

Not natural, but it looks cool.

It's fun and addicting to search for and photograph shadows.  

You should join in the fun.  

You know you want to.  

Stop fighting it and go here to figure out how to join in with the rest of us shadow hunters.  

See you there.

Oh...And I totally forgot to thank you all for you input on last weeks shadow shots...so THANK YOU!!     I couldn't decide again this week, so I put all three.  Close enough.

Heart On A String

Here is a card I made recently.  This is the one I was supposed to be working on when I "accidentally" made this collage instead using the same materials.  

I first glued down some papers from my new vintage books (oxymoron anyone?)  onto the background to create a nice base and texture.  I painted over it with off white, then added some soft washes of color.   I tore the bird's shapes out of various scrapbook papers,  glued it all down, then added some crochet bits to add additional texture.  I drew in some details with a pencil.     I wanted a bit more depth on the heart so I put 2 layers of heavy gel medium on it.  The stars/dots on the red are a raised silver pattern that was part of the paper.

I've had the image of a heart tied on a string and hanging from a bird or a tree in my head for quite a while (a few years actually!), so I decided to do one with a tree too.  I made a quick 5x7 inch collage on watercolor paper with vintage book pages glued down as a base, and then painted over with fluid acrylics.   I added some details with a pencil and scraps of paper.  

  It's a bit different from what I've been doing lately, but that's part of the fun of art. Experimenting and having fun and following your inspiration .  I'm not done using the heart on a string image, I think it'll continue to pop up here and there.  I'm not even sure exactly what it means to me yet, but that's ok. I do know it has to do with sharing your heart and being open, but I think there's more to it than that.  I'm not too worried about it right now though. 

 I know these things usually reveal themselves in time.     

Shadow Shot Sunday : Decisions, Decisions...

So it usually takes me FOREVER to choose photos to post because I always have trouble picking my favorites out of the MANY that I take during each shoot.  I wanted to narrow it down to two photos...one of the closer vertical shots, and one of the long horizontal shots.  I kept on going back and forth between each of these.  There's something a like about each one.  Finally I decided to post them and have you choose instead!  Please let me know which your prefer out of the two photos above, then while you're at it...pick one from the photos below too.  Thanks for doing my job for me! ; )

If you want to join in with your own shadow shots, or just see who else is participating, pop on over to Hey Harriet for Shadow Shot Sunday.