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Friday, February 24, 2012

Photo Art Fiday - February 24, 2012

It's Friday and time to join Bonnie over on Pixel Dust Photo Art for PAF (Photo Art Friday)!
This week we were given 3 different options: 1. Post Any Photo Art we wanted to.
2. Continue to work with Layer Masks or
3. Create a piece of Photo Art that wasn't pretty.  In Bonnie's own words:

Share a piece of photo art that isn't 'pretty'. Yes, art isn't always made from what's beautiful. How about sharing a piece of photo art that is:
* ordinary
* everyday
* gritty

* grungy
* that captures the underbelly of life
* that highlights the flaw
* that is an artistic statement without having to portray beauty
This doesn't mean that your piece won't be appealing, stunning, arresting or captivating ... it just won't (this time) be based on presenting something generally considered beautiful ...

Well that sounded interesting to me.  However last night after peeking at a few of the entries and seeing what Bonnie did I'm not so sure my piece fits #3 but since I already had it completed I'm going to say it's a "Combo" of #1 and #3 just to be on the safe side.

So here's a bit of the story behind my Art Piece.  At our local park they have this tree that has this one limb that grew way out to the side and kids love to climb on it and then try to climb further up the tree.  It's been a favorite tree in the park for many years.   Sadly it's also been used to carve "Graffiti" on as well although it does sort of add to the charm of the tree now after all these years.

Here is a picture of Coleen on the tree:


As you can see the limb has gotten so low to the ground they had to put a support post under it (behind Coleen).

Now for my piece I started with this Close-Up of a portion of the tree.  You have to admit it's certainly, Not Pretty, It's Oridnary, and it's a bit Grungy so those three things alone qualify it for #3 on the list.


I cropped the picture to get rid of some of the Graffitti marks on the right hand side and then edited it in GIMP using the Artistic Van Gogh feature until I got something that I liked.  Then I went into Picnik and used the Boost feature and adjusted it to a level that looked appealing.  Once that was completed I noticed that one of the tree knots looked very much like an eyeball and that gave me the idea to add the Quote and the frame.  (Yes I love to use Quotes on my photos).  So here is my final piece:

On a side note the book I ordered : Beginning GIMP (From Novice to Professional) arrived yesterday and I'm anxious to get started learning how to use this Photo Editing program better.  Wish me luck.

Don't forget to go check out the other entries as you are bound to be blown away by all the creativity.

18 comments:

  1. What an incredible challenge and how you worked it to a piece of art...way to go.

    And, to answer your question as to where I live to have 84 degrees in February [it's unusual - normally it's about 70 to mid 70s]...but I live on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

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  2. That tree limb is amazing; it's so low....

    I love the pictures of the tree knots and I agree they do look like eyes....Great shots

    Have a good weekend...

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  3. I love this Ida!!
    Fantastic shapes and tones.
    I wish you the very best with Gimp!
    Sending you wishes for a wonderful weekend.

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  4. OMGoodness! What a cool challenge. Btw, I loved your photos!

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  5. Wonderful photo, I love the beautiful light and perspective to make this sweet and beautiful portrait. Greetings.

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  6. I think this processing is really cool! That's a really neat tree! I've seen a huge magnolia that the branches layed down on the ground like that. It's amazing the fun we can have with our photos! I've just downloaded Gimp and haven't tried to use it yet! I may have to check out the book you mentioned!!I usually use Piknik, but they're shutting down. :(

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  7. Ida - this is not pretty! ;) but it is intriguing, which is exactly what was asked for! Thank you for sharing your process. That tree is grand and I can understand why Colleen enjoys climbing on it. Thank you for sharing your work and process on Photo Art Friday!

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  8. Beautifully done....good luck on your endeavor with your new book!! I still have soooo much to learn!

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  9. wow, apparat from your art I would very much like to see that tree. :)

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  10. great idea with the macro crop. i really like the processing. I use GIMP all the time and I love it. Good luck with the book I bet you're gonna like how many things you can do in GIMP.

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  11. A fun, abstract result....you'd never guess it was tree bark. Thanks for the visit.

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  12. Great close-up images of the knots of the tree. Wonderful processing too.

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  13. Wonderful close up of the knots of the tree. Great processing too.

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  14. I was wondering what those circles were...how fascinating! Very textural! Visiting from PAF.

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  15. You are right, the knots do look like eyeballs. And I think gnarled old trees have a weathered beauty of all their own.

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  16. Your final photo really turned out to be unique and interesting, Ida. Love what you did with it! :)

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  17. Hmm, they really do look eyes!! Great work.

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