ad libitum

MORE MERMAIDS

I’m still working on making mermaids. I’ve used my older daughter’s prom picture (the mermaid in the back, jumping in the waves: I blocked out her dress and gave her a sea shell bra and I bent her arm and moved it across her chest), my younger daughter’s baby and eighth grade pictures (the mermaid on the rocks holding herself as a baby), DJ’s niece (with someone else’s arms wearing a bathing suite from an ad), and a vintage clip art bathing beauty. I decided to bring them all together on one of the many beach pictures I took in Kauai last April. There’s more work to be done on each of these figures, but I think I’m making progress. I will probably use these figures in other pieces; I have already used the sitting mermaid and baby a few times.

One of the things I like about making my own component parts is that I can use them as often as I want and then reuse them over and over again. It’s sort of like an artistic recycling program.

Photoshop Phantasy

It’s been a long held ambition of mine to turn my daughters into fantasy creatures (fairies, mermaids, etc). They are my favorite subjects for my Photoshop art. I’m sure that it’s some sort of psychological thing (ah, finally I have some sort of control over these very independent young ladies); but I really love turning them into angels, queens, fairies, and I’m currently thinking about the possibilities within the animal kingdom and various plant forms.

I’m thinking of using this piece for the Photoshop Phantasy book due in July for the Photo Art Journal group I’m in. This is the first time we’re using altered photos. This is made from photos I’ve taken of a bird’s nest (a friend’s garden), a hatched egg (the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago), a tree at the Studebaker Mansion in South Bend, IN, my older daughter posing for me, and a picture of a snake I found on the internet. The class I’m taking at KIA has spurred me on to work with textures and patterns and I’m really loving it. I spent a lot of time working on this piece (a fair amount of two and a half days) and plan to reuse different parts in future works. One of the really cool things about Photoshop is that you can use parts in many different ways.

I used to send out postcards with my Photoshop projects (it was my way of making me practice; I gave myself the task of completing a project to send out once a month). I fell out of the habit around last Christmas. I’m not really sure if anyone misses the cards, but I sort of miss sending them. It was kind of fun to let people know I was thinking of them. In a way, it was similar to doing a blog. I would send my art out into the world and get some feedback, but not from everyone and I was never sure who saw the art or what they thought about it.

HEADS UP

I belong to an art group called the MultiMedia Mavens. We meet the last Wednesday of each month and often issue challenges to each other. The challenge for the month of June is to decorate a paper mache head, I decided that I wanted to make my head look like a bust that was retrieved from the ruins of Atlantis, a fragmented statue of a mermaid. I applied a few layers of paint, some crackle, ribbon, and beads. I’m not sure if she’s finished because I’m thinking she might need some shells, but I live in Michigan and shells are not abundant.

VARIATIONS ON A THEME

Yesterday, I had my Photoshop class at the KIA (Kalamazoo Institute of Art). It’s billed as an intermediate level class and suggested students come with a project in mind (my project is that I want to add texture, like scales and feathers or text to the bodies of goddesses, fairies and mermaids). There was an implication of individualized attention. Boy! Do I have individualized attention! I am the only student!!! I spent from 1:00 to 3:30 getting a tutorial. There are 5 more weeks (I’ll miss a week in July, but I knew that might happen when I signed up). This is going to be great. Well, OK, the instructor (a photographer who works in a more realistic mode than I have in mind, but does very creative stuff) goes too fast for me and the museum has Photoshop CS, which I don’t have; but I left the class all excited and ready to play.

I had to delay gratification (I’m not good at delayed gratification, for me, instant gratification takes too long) in order to help a friend pack for a move (I’m not good at this) and to take her out to dinner (I’m very good at this). When I got home, I couldn’t follow my hurriedly written incomplete notes, but I played for a few hours anyway. This morning, I had to report for jury duty (it took them over 3 hours to not choose me) and I didn’t get to play with Photoshop until this afternoon.

So, with faulty notes, but lots of enthusiasm, I set out to make another fairy picture (mermaids are waiting in the wings). I grafted my daughter’s head onto the body of a swimsuit model (it pays to have a friend who does photo shoots for a sports store; thank you, Brittney), which took a long time to blend (my daughter is white, the model is black, it took forever to get rid of a “this head was pasted on someone else’s body” appearance). Then I had to figure out how to texture the body because Jim used a mask and a map and I couldn’t remember how to do either one of those. After I got the fairy body into acceptable shape, I played with her setting. That’s why I’m showing you two variations of the same theme. Out of curiosity, I would love if you would post which you prefer.

A NEW DOOR OPENING

This is a Photoshop picture I composed a while ago. Tomorrow I’m taking a class in Photoshop at KIA (Kalamazoo Institute of Art) and I’m hoping I’ll be opening some doors to using Photoshop. I am beginning to think this is my favorite milieu; but picking favorites of any category never really works for me: as soon as I start thinking something is my favorite, I start thinking about other things I like just as well. After I focus on Photoshop for a while, I start thinking about making jewelry, or I get an idea for making a doll, or I want to work on a canvas, or….

I prefer not to think of this as a lack of focus, but as a wide range of interests.

Anyway, I look forward to picking up ideas and techniques in the Photoshop class and will post anything I do that turns out at least half way decent.