Daily Design Papers
Two things have converged in my mind to present myself with a challenge. The first is Maggie Taylor‘s work, which I discussed in the post before this one. Maggie uses many layers of scanned images to produce her work, but I prefer to use photographs. I do not have a large collection of vintage photos, nor do they necessarily suit the kind of artwork I do. Besides, Ann Baldwin~who does wonderful collage paintings, as you probably know~talked about the fact that after amassing her collection of vintage photos, someone else grouped some of them into copyrighted products! The safest way to avoid copyright issues is to only use your own work (or get permission for that of someone else).
The second thing that impressed itself upon my brain for this challenge was Jane Dunnewold’s Daily Visuals. This is how she describes them:
On November 10, 2008, I committed to a year-long photo-journaling practice. As an artist, I believe it is valuable to spend time every day looking at the world around me. To this end, I committed to posting a daily photograph and a few thoughts when applicable – on color, design, spirit and making. While this is primarily a witness to processes that help me go deeper into my own art-making, it is also a practice worth sharing. I invite you to comment, if you are moved to do so. And thanks for joining in!
I especially love the comment Jane makes on her December 4th offering, which is papery bark on a tree, where she muses that “Every artist faces a myriad of possible considerations when it comes to representing an image drawn from Nature. The challenge is to recognize the elegant choice.”
Well, I’m going to do my own daily visuals, and see how many I can turn into design papers, as I am wont to call them. I will dub this practice my Daily Design Papers. That is my personal challenge. If you are interested in trying this as well, I have some ideas that could make it quite interesting. We could do swaps, for instance: you send me one of yours and I’ll send you one of mine. Later, we can share artwork where we’ve incorporated them. Sound like fun?
Fun is the operative word: anything goes. Do not let perfectionist tendencies stop you from taking, or posting, pics. Nothing is too mundane to photograph. Recognizing the elegant choice does not always happen immediately!
I am going to start with my hand reflected in the window on the door in my studio.
Hand reflection in studio window
After a few quick duplications and flips in Photoshop Elements, the selection turns into this:
Hand reflected design 1
Rather argyle sweaterish, non? Combine things a little differently, tweak the colors, and you get this.
Hand reflected design 2
Now it’s your turn!
#copyright #JaneDunnewold #PhotoshopElements #AnnBaldwin #DailyDesignPapers #DailyVisuals #swaps #scannedimages #fun #designpapers #MaggieTaylor #vintagephotos
