Something To Think About —

I recently interviewed Caroline Julia Moore here at QuillAndCamera — and following that interview two things struck me:

1.) I really needed to create a tutorial on that image of hers titled “The Watcher.”

And …

2.) It was probably a good time to also bring up the subject of capturing your own images for works of art you hope to sell.

So. First off — if you’re in my Photoshop Artistry course, you can now log in and head to Module 4 Section 4 and you’ll find a two-part video tutorial on how this composition was brought together. LOTS of cool stuff in this one. Highly recommended.

Next, and more important — let’s talk a bit about taking your own photos for use in artwork you hope to sell.

For my part, I totally understand the feeling of wanting the artwork you’re going to sell to be made up of your own images. That’s how I would feel, I know. Although I ALSO understand that a lot of students in the course don’t have any exceptional images of their own to work with … which is why I try to provide so many in the AWAKE course, and why I can’t fault anyone for finding cool free images online to use.

(Of course there’s no reason you can’t use ANY images you like in works you’re simply creating for the fun of creating them. What I’m talking about in this post is more specifically images you’ll be using in compositions you plan to SELL. Especially with the new portfolio website for the AWAKE students about to launch, where the artists in the group will be able to sell their prints and canvases, and have the monthly magazine bolstering the marketing of AWAKE artists internationally.)

While on the one hand I strongly believe that you can make great art out of just about ANY images … It can’t be denied that a really cool photo can radically elevate a composition (and certainly make it more immediately impressive to a potential buyer).

That said, a case can also be made that stock photos tend all too often to LOOK like stock photos. In which case, the irony is, they actually become LESS apt to sell. (Or at least less apt to sell for much money.)

Often a strangely-interesting yet far-from-perfect photo (even one with something clearly “wrong” with it) will prove substantially more sellable when made the main subject of a work of art.

(This is an important point you may want to reflect upon.)

Personally, as an artist, I know for certain that I would feel stronger emotionally about a composition I was going to sell if it were my own photos going into the creation of it. And the more thoughtful and deliberate those photos, the more personal and important the work would feel.

Mind you, I feel far less particular when it comes to artistic elements like textures, custom brushes, scanned painterly overlays, and so on. (The huge arsenal of content I licensed as bonus content in Photoshop Artistry, and the even larger, more impressive library of material in AWAKE.) Unless you particularly want to get all artsy-crafty and create material like that of your own, there’s no reason you should feel bad using any of that sort of content in your work.

But the main image — that’s going to be the crux of the entire composition. What you DO with it is critical, no doubt. But so much of the impact your work will have will come down to the main subject itself. The main image at its core.

And if you can control that main subject by having captured the image yourself … I really think you will derive the greatest pride from your work.

Not to say you must capture your images yourself. But if you can, I think you should try.

Even if it means booking a plane ticket to Nepal or setting up a model shoot for the first time. You only live once. All those things you would love to do — go DO them.

This is one of the things I’ve been admiring in many of the works I’m seeing my advanced students post lately. Again and again I’m seeing the words “Photos all my own” in their notes. And I love that. Especially when it’s clear that the image wasn’t easy to get. When it took some thought and effort. When it took talent. When it took vision.

Granted, it’s not easy to come up with artistic ideas of your own and go capture the images you’ll use in your compositions. It’s much easier to download a cool photo online and just start there. And again, nothing wrong with that if you’re just having fun.

But if you want to create great work of your own … TO SELL … If you want to establish yourself as a unique artist with a unique voice … If you want to create art that will ultimately come to define you … Then you really must begin to take more of the process into your own hands.

And once more, to make sure I am not misunderstood: If for now you want to make use of images you have the commercial rights to employ in your work, and even use those images in compositions you plan to sell — no problem. That’s what the licensed content in the course is there for. And if you secure rights to stock photos you love and wish to work into your compositions — have at it. That’s fine too.

(Fact is, in many cases, your vision will demand just that. No way around it. Not if your vision includes a fire-breathing dragon and a NASA shot of the Earth!)

All I’m suggesting is that, where possible, you begin to branch out more and more into works of art that you create largely from images you yourself have thought out and captured. (Largely. Not necessarily exclusively.)

If you do so, I think you will find yourself challenged in a whole new way.

And from that challenge — if you stay with it, if you push through it — you’ll find yourself growing as an artist.

And best of all, you’ll find yourself increasingly proud of your work … and proud too of who you are becoming through the act of creating it.

– Sebastian

PS: Something else to remember — You don’t have to rush off to Nepal or conduct your own model shoots to create art-worthy photos for use in your artwork. You could take photos just around your house. You could set up beautiful still-life images with flowers and various odds and ends. You could stage photo shoots with your kids (or nephews and nieces). You could create an entire body of work with little more than artistic photos of your cat. Point is, don’t be quick to dismiss the possibilities of capturing your own images. Get creative with what you’ve got. Your artwork doesn’t necessarily need to involve stunning models levitating over drowsing lions!