Hate leaves ugly scars, love leaves beautiful ones.
–Mignon McLaughlin, The Complete Neurotic’s Notebook
Below is the original photo used to create this image. Awesome clouds just before sunset, taken last month after dinner. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
“They aren’t ugly.” I bit my lip, trying to find the right words. “More like beautiful things that have had the misfortune of being broken.”
–Danielle L. Jensen, Stolen Songbird
As promised, below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s a lichen and moss covered tree trunk and exposed roots from my backyard. Taken on an overcast day with no special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone. In Photoshop, I also added a flower-shaped layer mask and a gradient fill for the background.
Ugliness is an illusion, gentlemen. Like beauty. Like color. All depends on the light. The only reality is action.
–Karen Traviss, True Colors
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s a candle in a cracked-glass hurricane. This was taken in the spring of 2016 for a Photography 101 challenge called “Warmth.” No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my Kodak Share digital camera.
People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet.
–Saadi
Below is the original photo used to create this image. I found this container of pansies on a lunchtime walk around downtown Richmond, VA. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my Kodak Share digital camera. And it’s even a little blurry…
Life isn’t all grand, but it isn’t all miserable either. There’s both sweet and sour in every day. So why focus on the ugly when you can gaze at what’s beautiful? Concentrate on the good.
–Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
Below is the original photo used to create this image. I caught this lovely sunset on a random Sunday evening as I was leaving a grocery store. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
Beauty is not always as perfect as we imagine it to be, but it can be damn close if we learn to accept the scary parts or the ugly parts.
–Nick Miller, Isn’t It Pretty To Think So?
As promised, below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s a maple sapling growing between stone pavers in my backyard. Taken on an overcast day with no special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!
–Dr. Seuss
To see the inspiration behind this original digital art, please see the story here.
True beauty is not the absence of ugliness, but the acceptance of it.
–Terri Cheney, Manic: A Memoir
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s water flowing along the sidewalk into a storm drain. This was taken last year on a bright fall afternoon, no special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my Kodak Share digital camera.
People who say you are ugly, may be true, because to them, you look like a monster. People who say you are beautiful, may also be true, because to them, you look like an angel.
–Michael Bassey Johnson
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s my car’s engine, no special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
I prefer to believe the opposite – that there is always an indestructible beauty at the heart of darkness.
–Mary Balogh, A Secret Affair
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s the big blue sky pic I took on a recent trip to Illinois. No special lighting or retouching, simply a snap from my smart phone. Yes, the sky really was that blue…
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D.M. Sessous: writer, artist & dreamer 