Choices, Choices

Some of you may be aware that I'm trying to re-boot my (almost nonexistent) art business, and have been researching the best ways of doing so (see my last post for some of the things I've learned). So right now I'm working on branding. I'm not going to try to define branding, as it's a bit of an abstract concept, and not that easy to describe in a few sentences. There are lots of articles that can help you with that; just google "branding for visual artists", and you will find tons of helpful information. I think "Branding 101 for Artists: How to Create a Strong Brand for Yourself and Your Art" by Gregory Peters on emptyeasel.com is one of the best articles I've read on the subject.

Anyway, I digress. Part of creating your brand is using the same "logo" or image on all of your art sites. Right now, the image I have on my facebook business page, my pinterest profile, my twitter profile, and my blog looks like this:

I like the image; I think it stands out and works well compositionally (not a real word, apparently). The problem is, it comes from one of my collages, and I don't think it really represents my work as a whole. Looking at this, people would probably get the idea that all I do is collage. Also, a lot of my work, even the collages, reflect a strong sense of the sacredness ( is that a word?) of nature, which this image really does not.

So I've been working on creating some new ones, and I was hoping I could get the benefit of opinions other than my own. I would appreciate any kind of feedback: which you like best, how any or all could be improved, comments about composition, color, subject, anything. I hope you'll feel free to let me know what you really think; believe me, you're not going to hurt my feelings if the criticism is constructive. So here they are, in no particular order:

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I may do more, but I'm pretty tired of photoshop right now.  Thanks in advance for your help!

Real Abstract

If you've been a reader for a while, you've probably noted my fascination with photographing the abstract patterns that result from the interplay of water and light.  If these were painted, would they be masterpieces of abstract art?  Or should I just leave them as photos?  Something to think about.  While some have been altered using Photoshop, others are straight out of camera, or have only been "auto- leveled."   (For those of you not familiar with PS, "auto levels" is just a standard adjustment meant to correct color and contrast to "normal".)  The variations in pattern, color, and form never cease to surprise and amaze me.

This one has had nothing done to it except auto levels, I swear.  Freaky, huh?  If I saw this without knowing what it was, I don't think I would ever guess it was water.

Again, just auto levels...

When I look at these, I know beyond any doubt that I can never create anything so beautiful.  Who do I think I'm kidding, calling myself an artist?  On the other hand, maybe I should paint them; it would be a challenge, and probably lots of fun.  But there they are, already.

A Monkey With Photoshop is Still a Monkey...

Last week, let's see- I forgot what day it was, but I was doing something else- I forget what- and I got distracted by playing around with Photoshop, something I haven't done since I can't remember when.  Usually I start out to do a specific thing, then as I'm looking for the thing I wanted, I get distracted by something else, like, "Oh wow, why have I not done anything with this photo..." and pretty soon my original purpose has gone away somewhere, to be completely forgotten, or to return to me at a later time when I least expect it.  I swear, I never used to be this way, and I find it pretty distressing at times.  What has happened to my brain?  Is ADHD contagious?

Anyway, here are the results of my distraction:

Okay, this is a bit scary, like the cover of a weird horror novel or a scene from a creepy movie...

This is the original photo of a full moon, and here's what I did with it:

I was attempting to create a sort of frosty, winter-y mood here.  I don't think I was successful, but it reminds me of an illustration for a children's book, so it's still somewhat interesting.  All in all, I like the original better.


With this one, I was just playing around at first, with nothing much in mind (as usual).  Here's the original, a shot through some hemlock boughs.  I liked the lines created by the dark twigs.

Then I wondered if I could make it look as if it were a stained glass window, with the sticks separating the panes...

I'm not sure what this looks like; a Kandinsky painting, maybe?  Hmmm....

So I just kept going....

... until it looked like- what?  A sixties flashback?  Something out of Scientific American, like the structure of proteins in a spider's eyeball?


Oh well; let's just say these were not my finest Photoshop moments.  What have I learned from this?  I've learned that it's fun, and sometimes liberating, to just allow myself to play without worrying about the end result.  I've also learned that a monkey with Photoshop is still a monkey!

Butterfly Girl (Little Mona Lisa)

This was another Photoshop exercise. I took this photo at a recent butterfly show at the Krohn conservatory. Unfortunately, it was a very dark and rainy day, so it turned out pretty grainy. But I liked the image because the girl had such a mysterious expression- an inscrutable smile, you could say. She reminded me of a young version of the Mona Lisa, so I wanted to see if I could fix the photo. I thought it would be cool, since it was grainy, to make it appear to be an old sepia print, with the butterfly in color to make it stand out more. I ended up calling my son, who guided me through the process of making a mask, etc., to accomplish this, which we finally did. Another problem was that the girl's face was at the edge of the frame, so there was a lot of unwanted space behind her. We were able to kind of blur this out and make it darker, but the yucky composition still bugged me, so I cropped it. My son said it was not "professional" to crop the frame, and that it was still too grainy. I had hoped to enter it in a photo contest, but because the quality isn't what it should be, I guess I'll just chalk it up to a learning experience. I still like it this way, though.

More Photoshop Weirdness

My very slow Photoshop education continues...mostly by trial and error. But I am learning, and having fun when I don't get too frustrated.
Here's the photo I stated with. I wanted to make the ripples more prominent,


which led me to this. Of course, I have to keep pushing it, just to see what happens.



After several incarnations, it's starting to look pretty strange and science fiction-y. But I don't stop yet...



Okay, this is too weird, even for me.



I decided to go with the science fiction theme here. I wanted to test my skills and see if I could make it look like the moon was coming out of, (or going into) the water.



It could certainly use some improvement, but I'm making progress! what do you think?

Red Tara(s)

My friend Mish saw the gold and green Taras and asked if I could make her red, or black, or white. Those are her other colors, you see, in some of her 21 aspects. So, I started thinking, Hmmmmm.... I guess I took it as a challenge, to see if I, as a Photoshop beginner, so to speak, could figure out how to manifest these color changes. Here are some of my attempts at Red Tara. It's a lot harder than it seems like it would be- you can't just push the color bar over to red (darn!). Can I do black or white? We'll see...