Day 120

When was the last time you visited your local library, smelled the books, seen rows and rows of knowledge lined up on the shelves?  Thumbed through the huge selection of DVD's & CD's of music, movies and How to Videos?  Whenever I want to learn about something, my library is the first place I go to physically read a book or several books on the subject.  Last year it was all about photography and there was a treasure trove of knowledge on the shelves for this topic.  Today it is watercolor painting and unfortunately, very little is available today.  What is happening to our libraries?  They have been selling off the books, no longer take book donations and everything they have on their shelves &/or a combined supply from all local libraries are now available to read on-line.  Including magazines!  Welcome to the sterile world of on-line reading, hope you have a comfortable chair in front of your computer, or a reading device that will allow you to go cozy up in the corner of your couch.  I need a new soft cushion for this old butt, or a new cozy chair that reclines and maybe someone to read for me, so all I have to do is listen.  Probably not too far off in the future!  Enjoy what you can today, for tomorrow it may not be there!

Day 118

I was notified yesterday that my favorite iphoneography group was closing at the end of this month.  It was a place that was full of aspiring digital artists, who were so willing to share their knowledge and art with the group, that it was really like an on-line family.  Several of the people are members of other groups or have their own websites that I already follow, but the atmosphere at the other sites just isn't the same friendly place.  I am so saddened that I will not have this group of wonderful people to share my love of digital art with any more.  I will continue exploring the possibilities of this amazing art-form,  but with not as much interest, unless I'm on a long road trip and need something to keep my mind occupied. This was also the site that was hosting my 52-word prompt challenge this year, so I guess I won't be continuing that challenge any further.  I think posting daily is plenty right now.  I'm determined to see this challenge through to the end of the year, but probably will never do it again. 
Have you ever been admiring the beautiful silk flowers in your local craft store and wanted to grab a photo in the winter to remind yourself that Spring was coming?  I did and I did.  Then I ran it through a fun app called: "Glaze".  It applies a technique that looks like quilling or tight stitching.  (Quilling is rolled papers that are then assembled into pictures.  The results are of a beautiful, detailed art-form).

Day 114

So I'm back to playing around with iphoneography and all the fun apps that are available.  I think I have a couple dozen now, that just add so much interest to otherwise boring photos.  But, that's probably why I got interested in digital art in the first place.  Apps just make it easier!  Every time I hear of a new freebie, I check it out.  Sometimes they stay on my IOS, most times they do not.  Some of the freebies are watermarked, so the app's name is embedded into your finished photo, which really has my fingers flying to the "delete this app" now button.  Other apps are great but has the same features as one I already have, so those get deleted too.  My favorites so far are: "Percolator", "Glaze", my newest app, Distress FX which offers a ton of great choices.  While I may have started with their freebie, I invested in the pro versions for at least a buck maybe more, but these apps will stay in my arsenal of tools!

Week 15-Day 99

You never know when you will find something of interest to take a photo of.  I love the patina on these copper window/vent covers that were alongside a chocolate manufacturing shop.  Fortunately, I had my IOS with me this day as I had never ventured into this part of town before and it will likely be awhile before I venture there again.  Always be on the lookout for interesting elements. 
Word prompt for Week 15- "Angles"

Day 93

"Thistles"-I love the shape of thistles when they are dry and have turned brown.  This image was taken along a mountain trail not to long ago and converted using some apps on my IOS.  I love the colors but I really like the look of what appears to be the ribbing of a corduroy fabric.   

Week 13-Day 83

The other day I was rinsing and stacking the dishes from lunch, getting ready to load them into the dishwasher when I was awed by the colors and how these dishes were carefully stacked, but in random order.  I grabbed my iphone and snapped this image.  The colors are rather intense.  So, this weeks word prompt is "Stacked".  Have fun!

Day 70

In one of my apps for the Kindle Fire, I was able to download several interesting shapes, such as this crystal ball shape.  There are TV screens, Iphone screens, snow globes, magnifying glass, etc.  I used my own photo of the trees (posted below) as the reflected image.  Looks very abstract since it no longer looks like trees.  Now it looks more like scratches and strong diagonal lines. 
The app is called: Pip Camera and it is available in the Amazon App Store for Free this week.  If you don't have a Kindle, but you do have an iphone or ipod, explore:  Picsart from itunes.  Have fun! 

Day 51

This past Sunday we went for a short drive to do some window shopping up at Park City, here in Utah and have lunch at one of the pizzerias.  (Park City is where the 2001 Winter Olympics were held, if you think the name sounds familiar and more recently the Film Festival.)  While walking around and visiting a few of the shops, I kept my ipod handy and managed to grab a few really unique shots.  This is of a hand-carved, life-size wooden Indian that was looking out of the store front window.  I didn't use any apps on this image, but I did use some filters/plug-ins & blending modes to get this awesome effect.  To eliminate the background I painted it out with the brush tool after the filters were applied. 

For a totally different look, but using the same filter/plug-in, I started with a simple winter scene of bright white snow and a dead thistle.  I really liked how this was casting a shadow on the ground.  Noon isn't a great time to take outdoor shots and the snow was almost blinding it was so bright, but it is a good time to get great shots of long shadows.  Coupled with several duplicated layers, the blending modes, and opacity settings, I managed to get this overall sense of light pink & blue shades. 

Day 45

Yeah, I know I am ahead of myself again. Better early than late or never.  I am surprising myself actually, that I have hung in this long!  Usually I get bored way before this and simply find something else to do.  Nope, I am really going to try to do this 365 days.  It will be quite a victory for me at the end of this challenge and the 52 word prompt challenge and Bonnie's weekly Photo Art Friday Challenges and I almost forgot the Milliande Self-Exploration Workshop.  All of it goes hand in hand, so it's fun to share the voyage with you.  I hope it inspires you to find something this year that gives you a chance to share your art, or hobby, or love, or passion. 
This image looks like Barbie-but it's actually the close up of a mannequin that may have been fashioned after the famous Barbie.  I used the photo to create a stencil of which I drew the image onto a large sheet of watercolor paper.  Once I had the image drawn, I had to decide which areas I wanted to remain white.  The white areas are what set this whole process off and make it surreal.  With a masking fluid, I painted out all the areas that were to remain white.  Then the real fun began.  Pouring watercolors!  For years I have wanted to try this technique and I will again because I love it!  It is Jean Grastorf's DVD: "Pouring Transparent Watercolor" that gave me the inspiration to try this technique.  I struggled to find just the right image that would work and I am struggling to find another one, but this worked well enough for my purposes.  After all, it was just an experiment.  I did follow up with painting in some solid black areas, which made this whole thing pop as much as the white did.  But, then I took a photo of the painting and ran it through,....that's right.....Apps!  Just a couple this time and I am very pleased with this final effect.  She's beautiful and needs to be framed.

Week 7-Day 43

The word for this week is: "Architectural".  This is a photo that I took of what used to be called the "Salt Palace" but I believe it is now called: "Salt Air"  Back in the late 20's this was a destination for local residents as well as tourists.  Built along the edge of the Great Salt Lake, it slowly sank into the lake and was abandoned.  Decades later, it was rebuilt and today-concerts are held here occasionally.  This image was combined with a hand-painted background and run through several filters in both CS5 and photo apps to get this hand-drawn feel to it.  It's one of my favorites!

Day 41

We recently went on a road trip down to Las Vegas and while we were there, we made a short day trip over to the New Hoover Dam.  This circular image is a photo of a hand rail in the visitor area and I just loved the shape of it.  Layered with an altered image of a vintage book-cover, it seems to take on its own persona.  Simple and unique.  It becomes the focus of this altered photo.

Day 38

I have been trying to play catch up today and added several images since I had fallen behind.  For the past several days, more like weeks, I've not been feeling that great.  An inner ear infection can create all sorts of other issues, like your balance is off (vertigo), loss of hearing, loss of appetite and lack of energy.  I do like to keep busy and have my mind focused on other things besides the pain, so I was able to learn more about the apps I have and what they are capable of, so that is a positive thing. 
This image is of a dandelion that I took while up in Lambs Canyon before Christmas.  It was a perfect specimen, absolute perfection in it's perfect circular form.  Anyway, I turned it into a thistle and added several other layers to it.  The background is a highly textured abstract painting that took me like 6 months to finish because I just couldn't get the color perfect (it is now), layered with a confetti technique of various light colors and a layer mask for the outside border.  One of my favorite things to make and use with my digital software is photo masks.  The masks can be any shape, size etc. but I prefer the grungy, urban style they bring to the image, as a border or frame.  They give the image a finished look for me. 
Each layer is blended with the next and together they all formed this piece of art.  It has that look of waxed paper, like the image was stamped onto something transparent.  It reminds me of a tape transfer effect. 
After 5-6 years of working with digital software, it still amuses and amazes me every time I have a chance to work with it.  Apps mimic what the big boys can do but in smaller quantity of options, less quality of images due to the lens on the phones, but, the knowledge to use apps or software is the same for both.  

Day 33

So, after working with this image for a few more hours, I was able to get some black line details using some apps on the ipod.  Nothing seemed to work the way I really wanted it to, so I took into my CS5 software and still couldn't get it work right for me, so I stopped with this one.  I love the colors!  The yellow could have been a tad bit more honey colored and I wished there had been a tad bit of brick red in this somewhere.  I just might have to continue playing with it.  Or not! 

Day 32

Minimalist is the theme for the Photo Art Friday this week over at Pixel Dust Photo Art.  I started working with this image yesterday but it still isn't quite right to me.  I think it needs a cartoonish style with black bold lines, so I will run it through one of my apps to see if I can't accomplish that but over-all I love the look of a vintage Chevy!

Day 31

A few years ago Sherre H and I conducted several digital workshops and one of these techniques was to create these circles of color on an image.  Using the image again, I ran it through PhotoForge2, DXP and Pic Grunge apps to develop this digital piece. 
I added a textured background of some beautiful felting I had done on some organza fabric which was sewn to the back of my denim jacket.  The texture has some beautiful gold glitter swirls, purples and dark blue colors. 
For yet another texture, (not shown) I layered a peeling paint texture that I had recolored using yet another app.  Sometimes I run the images and layers through so many apps I just can't remember them all.  It's addicting and it's fun.  A great way to kill a few minutes while waiting in line or a few hours when you're not feeling well and taking a day off. 
I started my journey of iphoneography by downloading some of the freebies from itunes to my ipod, then joined a few of the iphoneography groups.  From there I would view other layouts and see which apps were used.  If I liked the layout, I would research the app at the apple store.  If it was compatible and I didn't already have an app that would do the same thing, I would consider making a purchase.  Having a $$ limit is a good thing!  I try to limit my purchases to $5 which will get me 3-5 apps to play with.  Not a bad investment, nor an expensive one.  Figuring out how to load images to the ipod via photo stream wasn't easy, but once I did this, I have been sorting my photo files to see which images I want to play with. 
I'm also going to be working on some new digital kits, so I hope to share some previews with you soon. 

Day 29

I had to play around with this image again, to see if I could intensify the colors.  These are the two I liked the most after running them through a variety of apps.  I am really enjoying these bold colors and will be adding these vibrant colors of paint to the art studio as well in the days to come.
I am slowly learning what each of these apps can do and quickly developing my own favorites to use.  I have noticed that there are lots of apps that will do the exact same things and they sometimes get pushed out there for the consumer.  "Be aware-compare!"  You want the best app you can get for the $$.  They don't all let you save in high resolution either, so investigate before you buy.  Ask for friends for their recommendations or join an iphoneography group!  (If you google "Iphoneography" you will get a selection of groups that are available and accepting new members.)  Lots of fun, helpful people available to give you their 2 cents! 

Week 5-Day 28

Lots of altered images to share today.  Week 5's word prompt is: Underwater Here is the original and 2 of many altered images that were run through various iphone apps.  So many that I forgot which ones I used.  Probably at least 6, each capable of doing something fun and funky.  I'm still getting used to adding more bright and bold colors to my mostly dull-grungy images.  Guess I am evolving yet again.  That's a good thing!

Day 26

I recently found a wonderful blog called PixelDust that I really enjoy visiting every week.  On Fridays, Bonnie hosts Photo Art Fridays and this week the word was: Hardware. I've been trying to visit more of the people who post their images as well.  I may not have been able to leave a comment for everyone this week, but please know I was visiting! 
I taught a digital collage workshop a couple of years ago and this was created for that workshop.  It's called "Turned to Stone" and was made digitally using a steampunk style of layering various "Hardware" pieces to a stone statue.  A fun piece to create and the only steampunk I've done.  It's a great culture to explore and there are many awesome artists out there who do this style exclusively.  I can't do anything exclusively-I have to be able to spread my wings and explore everything that comes along.  I love new things to try out in my studio and my digital software.  Thus, I am currently enjoying the iphoneography apps but not exclusively.  :-D  I also enjoy my point and shoot camera and my DSLR.  I recently learned how to use my ipod to take better photos and altering them with the apps, but the Kindle Fire, while very limited, can do the same.  Trying to share images between all the resources (different devices) has been a real challenge since Kindle absolutely refuses to log into the Apple store, but of course, Amazon sells apps too and doesn't want to share the customer base.  But, there's always a work around.  Now to find an affordable ipad!  :-D

Day 24

I'm still playing last night with another app but got the same effect of the Lomo Lights.  This time instead of a streak of light, I got these amazing circles of light.  This image went through about 6 different apps and it looks nothing like the original.  That is the fun of digital art!  You can make multiples of the same image look different each time.  I'll be sharing these images later as each one is truly unique. 

Day 23

Lomo Light-an older term meaning light that has gotten into the camera and flashed the film leaving a streak of light, or circles of light, when you did not intend for them to be there.  I'm sure there is a more defined definition than what I gave, but if you are interested you can wikipedia or google it.  I use these lomo light resources to enhance my photos to look like they are from the 60's-70's era.  Now we get to create them and use them as filter effects.  They can be used effectively as in this image.  It's the same as the one in the next post, but totally different version.