Pushing Your Creative Work Further —
Whatever you are doing in your art right now … stop it. Well, not entirely. But DO endeavor to try something different this week. Something you’ve never done before. That is how you will continually grow as an artist …
A Video Post, by Sebastian Michaels
Video Note: If you run into playback problems, pause the video and let it buffer for twenty seconds before pressing play again. If problem persists, install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. Also, note that you can hover over the video to pull up the controls, and always feel free to resize this entire window with Cmd (or Ctrl on a PC) and the Plus/Minus keys.
Transcript continued:
If you are used to creating scrapbook-style images compiled of a dozen different elements … try instead to concentrate on making just ONE image more powerful, and try exploring images you normally wouldn’t imagine using, while deliberately leaving out elements you would typically think to bring in.
If you normally focus on one image and mostly just layer in a few textures … try out some of the other techniques in the course, stuff you haven’t really tried yet (maybe some more complicated extractions or masks; maybe some interesting lighting effects or custom brush work) and see how many of those other effects you can pull off.
If you normally go dark with your images — try going light, soft, and bright.
If you normally go soft and pretty — try going more stark or grungy.
If you normally make your images dense and packed with content — try creating some minimalist pieces with more white space.
If you normally create simple compositions with one subject — try going the other direction, and see how much you can pack into a canvas.
If you normally use stock photos, try going out and taking a few photos of your own, even if only with your iPhone, and see what you can create with the simplest of materials.
Point is: try something NEW.
See if you can create half a dozen pieces unlike anything you’ve done up until now.
Just to try it. Just to push the boundaries a bit and see what happens.
Play with it. Take some chances. See where you end up. Half of the canvases might end up in the scrap heap. That’s perfectly fine.
What matters is that the process of creating art excites you and keeps you on edge.
Whenever you find that what you are creating feels too much the same as ever, mix it up some, try something new and more challenging.
If you wish to grow as an artist, I urge you to become more ambitious in your work.
I think you will find yourself not only getting better and better, but also having a lot more fun.
– Sebastian
PS: The image atop this post is from a composition by AWAKE artist Jean Hutter, the feature cover artist from Issue 2 of Living the Photo Artistic Life. The image here makes use of one of my model photos (Rose) and the compositional process is explored in depth in Module 4 of the Photoshop Artistry Fine Art Grunge course. This piece makes for a great example of pushing one’s artistry further. Jean Hutter’s work (more of which you can find on her website here) involves a combination of advanced iPhoneography techniques and Photoshop compositional methods and brings together a number of disparate images and components. I just love this piece.