Little Church Again

It has the quality of looking like it's made of lego plastic. But it doesn't have the play set size. The towering building behind it must confuse the focusing in this one.

Little Church

Still not sure that I got this effect nailed. 

Inspired by Childhood

When we were kids we had gotten a bunch of Fisher Price play sets. When I got the Castle for Christmas my sister got the Village.

The village set opened up to reveal the interiors of each shop on the street sides. The halves could be configured so that they faced each other to create the effect of a real street. The fire station sat at one end of the set and a theater/restaurant stood at another. Back in 1976 those sets had retained a lot of the character of decorating themes that were popular with the parents. The theater retained Victorian charms. It always fascinated me, not enough to want to be a theater major but enough to be enamored of this theater in Grand Rapids the second that I saw it.

It also is the perfect venue for this filter effect.  I just needed to change the wording on the marquee to reflect something closer to the toy than the brick and mortar building.

Turning Photos into Diaramas

So Picmonkey added a new filter feature. Imitating Tilt-shift photography, this filter lets you turn just about anything into a setting inside a diorama. The effect looks like the opening in Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. I'm not sure what practical application there is in turning your town into a toy but it is fun to do.
This is a sample of what I worked on today.

This photo was taken a couple of years ago from the second floor of our city library. The park on the east shore of Boardman Lake is very real and very lush. Here... it looks like bits of plastic trees on a flocked cardboard lawn.

This is the south shore of Betsie Lake in Frankfort. The effect didn't really take here like I wanted it too. I still see too much reality in this one.

The water in this picture of the West Bay marina looks as phony as I could hope. The yacht in focus looks like a borrowed battleship. I think I might have too much effect in this one since the marina itself has become so blurry. But it still looks like a diorama.

This photo, taken from Wayne Hill, started out blurry and diffused because the day was so hazy. The Park Place Hotel stands out here with the same quality as the Mr. Roger's opening. However, I think there is too much scenery to make this work the right way.

The goal in tilt-shift photography is too start out above, but not on top of, your subject. A 45 degree angle is preferred. But that isn't always going to be possible. So long as you are above the subject, you should be able to get a good shot that is easy enough to manipulate. Because you are boosting blurs and colors, you want to make sure that you also have a crisp shot, clear colors and haven't added any other effects before you apply this one. I think this would have better if it had not been such a hazy day.

 Since I am not an expert, I am not certain what I did wrong with this one. The effect seems flat and the little out building that is in focus doesn't quite have the toy quality that I was going for.
This one is of my dad's birthplace. To me it still seems too lifelike and real to be the diorama that I was looking for. Even in the next one, the effect seems diminished compared to what I was looking for. But then, I wasn't above my subject either.

To me it doesn't look all that different than the real life town of Suttons Bay.

This is a picture of down town Grand Rapids from my Urban Hike a few years ago. The hills that Grand Rapids sits on gives enough variations in height to make this work better than it otherwise might have.

Not too bad for a learning experience eh?

Photo Group

It looks like art photography is going to be a thing for me for a while. In part due to a lack of studio space and patience for a long project. Also due in part to the ease with which digital photography allows art to be made. I've been quite the shutterbug of late.

And to encourage my subjects to come to me, I am helping to do up the yard. If I am to be close to home then I am going to enjoy it. That means a bird bath, flowers, and a small investment in feed and feeders.

Also, I have been invited to participate in an online group at Google+. http://www.kujaja.com is a collaborative group that hosts competitions within the groups and also puts together books for charities. I was invited by the co-founder and have entered a Black and white competition. We'll see at the end of the month if I will get anywhere with it. So far the one photograph has gained 30 +ups. A far sight more than my artwork or blog posts ever get.

Anyway, these are the blossoms on the flowering crab outside my bank. I've taken out most of the color and tinted it toward the sage end of the spectrum/ I thought about adding a soft blur to the photo but I rather like how it's come out. Except for the one cartoony blossom near the bottom. Hmm.... might have to go back and play with that some.

A little bit me....

A bit of a self portrait. A little layering. A little change in atmosphere and there is something kinda me coming through in my shadow. I kinda like the non-portrait self portrait.

Playing with Online Tools

While I was toddling around the Internet today, I cam across some websites that will generate a variety of word clouds.

This one is from tagxego I am quite impressed. I started out over at Text is Beautiful If I just want to do a graphic for an illustration to make a point about something or to highlight a presentation then I would use Text is Beautiful, part of Wordl. But if you want to make art then go with these guys over at tagxego.

If I were to illustrate lyrics then I would also use these guys.

I love text. And I was going to do this the hard way over at PicMonkey. But I think that this will do me just fine.

Botanicals

Taken on Silver Lake. It's funny. But I forgot that there were several kinds of swans until I went looking up the scientific name to make the placard.

I'm sticking close to home this Summer so the inspiration for art, digital and otherwise, will have to come from close to home.

There is little in life more confusing to a person than wading through the scientific classification of things. The internet is a great place for information. But sometimes it is too full of information. I miss the days of a World Book encyclopedia where I could look something up by a common name and have an easy informative graph or table for the short reference in addition to the long complicated description in the body of an entry. World Book knew how to keep things succinct and pertinent to a search. Britannica however is every bit as verbose as your typical arch criminal who loves to hear the sound of his own voice.

EDIT: as it turns out this is not a cottonwood. The fissured bark is at the base. There is smooth bark at the top. It is an Aspen. But in all the information about identifying Aspens no mention was made of "mature" bark. Apparently, trees age wrinkled too. 

It started with the Blue Jays screaming at the pew pewing Cardinals. The Jays stood still and actually let me take photos. The Cards not so much. So I filled the feeder and sprinkled a seed/nut/fruit mix on the ground. I got chickadees this morning. I could have had a very pretty red headed sparrow with an Eye of Horus brow line but the camera didn't cooperate.

The female Cardinal was on the ground foraging so I think I need to consult some pros about what types of feeders the bigger birds would prefer. The shallow tray is only going to make the finches, sparrows and thrifts happy.


When did I turn into such an old lady?
I'll blame Midsomer Murders for this one. It surely isn't a Sherlock kind of habit.

Swans on the Lake with a GEDSC

Playing with photography still. Taken today on Silver Lake, south of Traverse City. The camera is a GE digital superzoom which some people think is not worth buying and is only good for toasting bread. I beg to differ.

I've taken some really great photos with this thing. You have to know how to compose a shot. And you have to understand how things focus for each of the settings on this camera. Once you understand that there really is no reason that you can not take good or great pictures. Can you do what Ansel Adams did? Maybe. Can you do what the NatGeo guys do? I don't know. My guess is probably not. But if you are going to learn then this was a really inexpensive camera to start with and no reason to be ashamed for the purchase.

But let me tell you, even if you can't get the "perfect pro shot" with this one, you can get a good substrate for digital manipulations. Take the about shot of swans. The camera zoom was set as high as it would go. They were still out of focus and with the angle of the sun they were in a glare with the light radiating off of their backs. There is still depth in the shot. The mid ground where the tree trunks are is distinct. The top of the frame where the silvery branches are is full of texture. It wasn't the "perfect" shot. It did need help with some photo editing. Enter PicMonkey.

Adjusting the shadows and contrast sliders brought things into focus through visual trickery. It didn't really sharpen the features but it cut down on the feather glare. It also made the bare branches stand out a little more. But it was still a weak and uninteresting picture. That means it is time for a filter. I used the Stock Film filter on the Reala setting and played with the slider until I got the look that I wanted. It looks more like it did live in this picture. But the glaring bright greens in the undergrowth on shore are gone so as to be almost monochromatic in appearance.


Of the 20 something shots I took of the swans while they were within range only one did not require any editing of any kind. That is this one of the pair digging in to get some good propulsion. Not a bit manipulation went into this one. They were just at the edge of the camera's range to take this. A few feet further out and there would have been no hope for it.

So you can, in fact, get a good shot with this "worthless" camera. When I am more confident in my abilities I will graduate to a :big girl" pro cam. For now, this one is perfectly suited to my needs and abilities.

Photo editing

This is as Easter as Easter gets this year. The oak goat gets a bit of pastel treatment in picmonkey. 

when there aren't enough words

Illustrated Sayings

It seems that art and life can not be easily disentangled. Nor does it seem that life allows art to be made without there being some amount of sorrow or pain associated with the creation. 2015 has begun with a series of personal tragedies following a rather large dry spell in the art department throughout the later half of 2014. And from this perspective it seems that art is going to have to wait for a while longer before it can take center stage in life again.

As has been the case in this past year, digital art production is a quick hit for getting the creativity going. And I am still working on my photographic skills, honing the set up and snap shot process of capturing the essence of food before it gets lost to the ravages of too much counter time. So it isn't like ABSOLUTELY nothing is getting accomplished. I do have to remember that and not get down on myself for being unproductive. It's just that the kind of art I am doing is a bit of a departure from the art that I am used to presenting here.


Take, for instance, this set of images I made for my facebook page. It uses 4 layers of textures, the first of which is my own painting of the sacral chakra which was heavily manipulated. Then a series of overlays from my own files that were culled from graphicstock and voila!

One of the things that I hate about the internet is how fast snark and sarcasm spread. It isn't just snark and sarcasm though. It is the way that trite one-liners and pseudo-proverbs that are woefully one dimensional spread. One of them that got me riled was the saying that Actions Speak Louder Than Words.

When a promise is made and broken that says something about the person who made the promise. When a secret is shared and then blabbed about town that says a lot about the person who broke confidence. It says you don't care. It says you lie. Two times the saying is true. The problem with this saying is that in other situations, you have to be able to interpret actions objectively.

I do not know too many people who are objective enough to be reliable interpreters. One has to be able to understand human psychology and behavior and disciplined enough not to run another's actions through the filter of your own pain. Even with my considerable skills as an empath, I don't get it right all the time. Few people get it right at all.

This is the placard that I created in response to the haphazard application of the pseudo-proverb Actions Speak Louder Than Words.

Digital Mandalas

I've been playing with www.picmonkey.com for a while now. And I am really digging on how versatile this site is. Digital art is fun when there is not a lot of time or space to get out all the goods. I try to make something everyday. But with the day trips that is kinda hard. The mandalas started about two weeks ago. And I am finally starting to get them up on the blog.

And while I am making them I am noticing a theme.... my inner hippie is starting to come out.

Saved!

Today the Undershaw Preservation Fund announced that the home of Arthur Conan Doyle has been saved from demolition and despoiling by privateers. It will be renovated in the character of the home that Arthur Conan Doyle first envisioned to become a school for children.

Well done, I say!

Playing with Picmonkey

I was going to play with the new fonts at picmonkey, and then I ended up playing instead with the textures while I've been listening to Benedict Cumberbatch in Cabin Pressure.

Happy Birthday (late) to my Pen Pal

as they say.....

 

 

 

 

Playing with picmonkey again, this time with the pics I took at Fred Meijer park. 

Thinking Spring

I think this is going to be my facebook cover.... I don't know. One of my friends asked me if she could use the last post as her cover which got me to thinking. The previous post really was not formatted for facebook. So I have no idea if it is going to let her do what she thinks it will.

But it did give me an idea for this one.

So more noodling........

Over Winter

As is the rest of this half of the world.

It's been a long cold lonely winter.... well not so lonely. But certainly long and cold.


West Bay is frozen over and it looks like a shanty town out there with all the ice-fisherman taking up root. And who knows when it will thaw enough to take those shanties off the water.

Lake Superior is frozen over so I expect to hear that some half wit has decided to grab some gear and head for Canada. Wouldn't that be a thing to tell the grandkids!

I forgot canned goods in the back of my car and they are frozen solid. That should be a fun conversation with myself when I try to open them.

And then there is the ever frigid drive to work. Which, will quadruple if we get the apartment that we are hoping for. And then the inevitable moving stuff in the snow. Because.... well.... this stuff isn't going to melt any time real soon and we are hoping to be in and settled before Easter.

Today, in the hope that Spring will come faster if we think on it really hard.... I have been noodling around on Picmonkey. Took three hours to erase the background of my watercolor and add in the whites that the camera made grey and then just a short little 15 minutes to add text and assorted goodness to the thing to have some thing to share. Not too shabby.