INTRODUCTION
Julia, a bald eagle living in Shiloh, TN
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When I began the journey of creating art from my photos, I asked myself the questions, "How can I make my own work stand out from the crowd? How can I make my own work more memorable and unique?"
You might think all three of these eagle photos are mine - but, you're wrong. This is one of those moments when I realized my photography just doesn't stand on its own. One of these eagle photos is mine - the other two were taken by other photographers who happened to be there at the same time. Even though I felt some satisfaction in realizing my photography had improved enough where my photos fit in well with those of the more seasoned photographers with more experience than myself, I felt a bit of disappointment that I was basically just one of the crowd. There was no sense of uniqueness to my photo. It was just another good photo of a bald eagle sitting in a tree. When putting this photo up for sale in my venues, it didn't stand out at all among the millions of great eagle photos in the marketplace. And that's when I decided, something had to change. I had to do something different! |
My Journey Into Creating Art From My Photos Began
My artwork is a form of creative communication, just like a story, or a song. How much it has to say often depends on the subject, their look, their pose, the environment around them, and their mood at the time. Sometimes what is conveyed comes totally from me, from a concept I wish to create, or from a story I wish to tell the viewer. With my work, I am always striving to develop the character of the wildlife, as well as give them a sense of time, place, and most importantly, mood.
Mood is one of the most important aspects of my work. I will ask myself:
Do I want to portray a happy, lighthearted mood with this bird or animal?
Or something more somber or pensive?
Do I want to portray power, delicacy, sweetness, or anger?
Do I want to portray deep thought or make a point based on something I wish to say to the world?
What about what the animal or bird wishes to say? Can I imagine that? I believe I can! Because I photograph all of my own subjects, and I'm there, in the moment, I feel I can imagine what they may say, because I know what they were doing at the time I took the shots.
Those are just a few of the things I think about when starting a piece. As I work, and add various layers of interest, or bring in multiple subjects to help create a scene or story, I'll ask myself, does this piece really capture the audience? Does it get the message I envision across? If the answer is no, I'll keep going, until the answer is yes.
I feel the most important things in my work are color and light. Both being equally important, yet at different times during the work. Color comes into play first, as I decide in the very beginning whether this will be a warm or cool toned work of art. Later, as I blend in layers and merge layers together, I'll look at the light - the light of the layers individually, to make sure it's lined up right for the finished work, and the light of the finished work as a whole toward the end. Light in the proper place has the ability to indicate not only time of day, but it helps to bring the focus right where I wish the focus to go...which is often the subject, in my case. Light can give a sense of temperature, such as warm and summery, or cool and wintry. Light can convey emotion, such as happiness and sadness. Light can add dimension and texture, it can add richness and elegance, it can add form and volume. But most of all, it can make your subject speak to the viewer, not only what the subject might be portraying, but what I desire the subject to portray.
Mood is one of the most important aspects of my work. I will ask myself:
Do I want to portray a happy, lighthearted mood with this bird or animal?
Or something more somber or pensive?
Do I want to portray power, delicacy, sweetness, or anger?
Do I want to portray deep thought or make a point based on something I wish to say to the world?
What about what the animal or bird wishes to say? Can I imagine that? I believe I can! Because I photograph all of my own subjects, and I'm there, in the moment, I feel I can imagine what they may say, because I know what they were doing at the time I took the shots.
Those are just a few of the things I think about when starting a piece. As I work, and add various layers of interest, or bring in multiple subjects to help create a scene or story, I'll ask myself, does this piece really capture the audience? Does it get the message I envision across? If the answer is no, I'll keep going, until the answer is yes.
I feel the most important things in my work are color and light. Both being equally important, yet at different times during the work. Color comes into play first, as I decide in the very beginning whether this will be a warm or cool toned work of art. Later, as I blend in layers and merge layers together, I'll look at the light - the light of the layers individually, to make sure it's lined up right for the finished work, and the light of the finished work as a whole toward the end. Light in the proper place has the ability to indicate not only time of day, but it helps to bring the focus right where I wish the focus to go...which is often the subject, in my case. Light can give a sense of temperature, such as warm and summery, or cool and wintry. Light can convey emotion, such as happiness and sadness. Light can add dimension and texture, it can add richness and elegance, it can add form and volume. But most of all, it can make your subject speak to the viewer, not only what the subject might be portraying, but what I desire the subject to portray.
My finished art, based on my eagle photo in the group shown above.
In this course, I share several works of art with you, and you'll see my efforts to make them richer with the application of light and color, as well as texture and tone. You will see photos go from snapshot to finished works of art, worthy of wall hanging. You will see how I begin, from my time in the field in shooting the original photos, to the reviewing of those photos afterwards, to hearing what photos will get trashed and why, and what photos would possibly make a good work of art. You'll watch and learn as I go through the art creation, integrating my photos with various textures and backgrounds to create the look, the style, and the mood the piece dictates. You will gain valuable tips, tricks and new ideas, and even be inspired by those who have inspired me along the way!
Thanks for joining me on this journey of creating artful memories from photos. I feel honored and blessed you're here!
Thanks for joining me on this journey of creating artful memories from photos. I feel honored and blessed you're here!
