Thursday, December 5, 2013

Creativity and Expression


Drawing calms me. I could lose myself for hours in drawing. It helped me quit smoking because it busied my hands and took my mind off cigarettes. That doesn't mean I'm very good at it. If I had to give myself an honest judgement, I'd say I'm fair at it. Average. That doesn't matter. Being creative helps me relieve stress, and I love learning new things. That's what matters.

As I get older, I find that I'm more content when I'm creating something. I love projects. Though, if you ask my kids, they'll tell you how much they hated the ugly, half-finished projects I tried around the house. I swear that shelf seemed easier to construct when I watched HGTV. Thankfully, they don't remember the white and green polka-dotted kitchen when they were little.  I do often feel like one of those bored housewives that takes up painting in her spare time then hangs her "masterpieces" in every single room of the house. Everyone exclaims over how amazing she is because she's looking right at them, but behind her back they talk about how hideous or boring they are.

A few years ago, I started teaching myself how to use Gimp. It's a free photo manipulation software. It's difficult to learn, though. At the time, it seemed to be my failing. I defended Gimp whenever someone talked about how bad it was compared to Photoshop. I'm sad to report; it's true. I've started to learn Photoshop. It is light years past Gimp. I'm happy to have had the experience of learning photo manipulation the hard way because that makes Photoshop that much easier!

Some tasks like cutting backgrounds from strands of hair can make you want to pull out your own. There's no real simple way to remove background around strands of hair in Gimp. You have to struggle with masks, inverting colors, cutting and pasting all while keeping the layers correct. If all that sounded like another language, it feels like that while you're trying to keep the steps straight. In Photoshop, it's two to three steps. Everything is easier in Photoshop. It's way more advanced yet so much easier.

While watching a tutorial on something I performed in Gimp frequently, and usually took me a half hour, I was stunned to see it done with one easy click of a button. Stunned doesn't begin to cover it. I couldn't wait to try it myself.

I don't know that I'll ever be good enough to post my work someplace like Deviant Art, but I love being creative. And I can't wait to torture everyone with my photo
manipulations. I'm going to frame them on my blog and make everyone look at them.

Here's the first:


Before


This is the after photo:



Nothing earth shattering, but her eyes are in the right place. They didn't pop off or shoot in opposite directions. I'm inappropriately proud of that little fact. 

14 comments:

  1. I've never tried Photoshop but would like to. I've never really heard anything bad about it. I'll probably get into it when I have more time under my belt with blogging and scrap booking.

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    1. Scrap booking seems fun, but aren't there a ton of supplies. I'd need little boxes filled with beads or...things. What does a person need for scrap booking?

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  2. My second son also loves drawing. It gets him more concentrated in his work. I wish he can find himself like you.

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    1. It took me a long time to find myself. Actually, I'm not sure if I've finished finding myself, yet!

      We have varying artistic talents in the family, and a possible budding creative type that I'm trying to encourage. Make sure to buy lots of different kinds of art supplies. Never know what he may like to do besides draw.

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  3. I can't draw to save my soul. (And I took art lessons and everything!) I use PhotoShop for my photography business, but you've gotten very creative! Great job!

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    1. Thanks! I love your blog btw. Did you create that character yourself? It's cute. Nicely done.

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  4. Love the lighting effect you captured with this photo. I would assume you were a professional by looking at your work. Isn't it fun to find a new talent (i'm still searching). Did you buy this photoshop program or is there a free trial download? I can use all the help I can get with my kindergarten photo skills :)

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    1. I love tutorials on Youtube. There are tons of talented people who are willing to upload teaching videos. Basically, this is one of those tutorials.

      Photoshop has a 30-day free trial! https://creative.adobe.com/products/photoshop?kw=semgeneric&sdid=JTGIR&skwcid=AL!3085!3!33705165978!e!!g!!photoshop%20trial&ef_id=uP5PWwTQDgYAAA2I:20131206200210:s

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  5. I'd love to learn more about photography! That is one of my shortfalls. I think it would make a huge difference in my blog. Great editing on the photo.

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    1. There are plenty of free photos you can get from stock photo sites like sxc.hu if you wanted to add photos to your blog. Plus someone mentioned Picmonkey.com as a good source of easy manipulations. They were right. It's super easy.

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  6. What a gorgeous photo! You did a really good job. I have always been the more creative type, but never really had the time. Lately I've found myself getting back to the "old me". Being able to create gives me a sense of satisfaction. I just purchased Photoshop about a week ago to go with a new camera, so I'm in the process of trying to teach myself.

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    1. We're at about the same step in the process! Luckily, I've had a little experience with Gimp. I know what layers are and what curves and levels are supposed to do. I don't use them correctly yet, but I know the purpose.

      It's great that you're getting back to being you. I waited too long before doing that myself. I often feel like I'm at the teenage phase, trying to find myself and discover who I am. When I should have been a teenager, I was having my first child and skipped over that discovery phase.

      It's never too late! Youtube has some great Photoshop tutorials if you need some help starting.

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  7. cool pic! I am a Pic monkey girl, it is super easy. I really like creating with it, I am a bit afraid to try something else because I am so fast with Pic monkey. I guess I should get brave! LOL. My daughter is an artist and she drew all the way through all her classes...that is how she learns best!

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    1. When I saw Picmonkey for the first time, I was thinking, "Where have you been all this time?!" Picmonkey has some really fun effects for blog photos especially. They give you flare without the long learning process. I like the learning part, but otherwise, I'd stick with Picmonkey too!

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