Another attempt to sharpen my Photoshop skills.
CreativeSprint countdown – 2 days to go…
Artwork
Butterfly Collage
CreativeSprint is starting back up October 1. I’ve decided to use Photoshop as my medium for this challenge, with the theme still being butterflies (of course). So, I’ll be playing around a bit trying to sharpen my rudimentary PS skills, and hopefully posting a bit more often.
Here’s a little something that came as a result of this evening’s messing around…
Getting my #CreateSprint on…again
Well, I wasn’t sure if I would do this again as I currently find myself trying to keep up with my Butterfly-a-Week personal challenge. The more I looked at the email in my inbox, though, the more it called to me. I had so much fun creating things, posting them and looking at what everyone else posted. How could I pass that up, really?
So, here I go again…
Won’t you join me this time? Please visit CreativeSprint and check out the stories. If you find it as inspiring as I do, sign up for the 30-day challenge. It starts October 1, 2016 so you have time to get some mind-space around the idea.
The beauty is, do what you can. If you find a challenge too daunting, use it as a springboard to challenge yourself to come at the idea another way – choose the opposite/inverse, play with the words or collaborate with a friend. It’s a creative challenge after all and at the very least, it will get your juices flowing and ideas filling up your journal or sketchbook.
I hope to see you out there!
Money, like time, flies…
Week Six: (Day 15) What can you do with just a dollar? Use a dollar bill as your medium or inspiration today.
Going for a simple one this week…
Hidden Butterfly
Week Five: (Day 12) Camouflage…Create or alter something so that it disappears into its background.
First of all, so sorry about the HUGE time gap between posts. My life got a bit chaotic (as life sometimes does) and I’m returning to a sense of normalcy now.
That being said, I decided to approach this challenge in a more abstract way as opposed to photo-realistic. Butterflies have great camouflage, but they only mimic the texture of bark and leaves.
So, I took lots of pictures: a few with my wood blank in front of the background to get a sense of scale and a ton of the tree with the vines. I cut the photos apart and the decoupaged them to the blank.
Unfortunately, so much time had passed between when I started this project and when I finished that the lighting had changed. And in hindsight, I should have used the photos that’s came out more “yellow” than the ones that came out more “blue.” But, she seems to blend pretty well.
The prettiest meal of the day…
Week Four: (Day 9) Make something with your breakfast before you eat it.
Oh, to play with one’s food (and not get scolded for it).
The hardest part was being hungry while I worked…
The best part was enjoying my artwork on a new level – in my belly!
Pages of a Book-er-fly
Week Three: (Day 8) Transform an old book into something new by cutting, folding, gluing and so on.
So, I absolutely needed a book that I don’t care about. All the books I own are ones I want to keep. So, it’s off to a thrift store…thank you 2nd and Charles for your free book bins.
The first idea I had was to cut away the page edges or the center (like a book safe) so when the book is opened, there’s a butterfly shape.
The second idea was inspired by a recent trip to a shabby-chic consignment shop. There were a few wreaths on display made from old sheet music rolled into cone shapes.
Then, I discovered book folding…and that was all she wrote. A few YouTube tutorials and and couple of hours on Photoshop later, I had a plan and a template. I ran out of pages on my first attempt (thankfully, I picked up two books) and now I have a bookshelf-worthy book-er-fly.
Butterfly Stencil
Week two: (Day 7) Today, make a stencil and use it in your work.
Of course, this will be a butterfly stencil. Ooh…I just realized this is the perfect project to try out the xActo set I just bought. Oh boy, oh boy!
And, what better way to commemorate a new sketchbook?
Paper Butterfly
Week One: (Day 3) Make something out of paper, but don’t use scissors or glue or draw on it. What now? (And no, you don’t have to know origami to do this.)
So initially, I considered tearing paper into little bits and arranging them. But, I seem to have a psychotic aversion to creating something temporary.
Then, I remembered a high school art project involving making our own paper by putting colored paper in a blender…paper smoothie anyone?
Well, the results are in and they’re not perfect. I didn’t have all the tools needed, like a mould & deckle and couching material & a press. All those goodies are on my amazon.com wish list now though.
So , this project came out as more of a sculpture that a piece of art paper. Fun, nonetheless.
Butterfly of the Week
CreativeSprint inspired me to get started on a creative journey.
My friends inspired me to keep going.
So, I purchased Noah Scalin’s most recent book, 365: A Daily Creativity Journal: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life!
I’m also giving myself some flexibility and challenging myself to one creative project a week. So, this book should keep me busy for about seven years!
My goal is to post the results on Monday or Tuesday of each week. That way I’ve got the weekend if I need it.
So excited!
D.M. Sessous: writer, artist & dreamer 