Kat Eye Studio

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An Abstract Question

Ok, I’ll admit it, I’m stuck.

This #30edits abstract project I was so excited about is kicking my butt. I haven’t created a new one in almost a week, and I’m not really motivated to get back into it. Here’s the last…


So what is it that is leaving me flat about the whole thing?

Sure, it’s fun. It’s been good to see where each individual piece goes. But it feels like there is no purpose, no cohesiveness to the whole group of work. They are a series of individual pieces that don’t really relate to each other. And so far, they are not pushing me to much out of my comfort zone.

I’ve realized a few things lately, as I’ve worked through this project… 

Since I’ve sat with my art for several weekends at art fairs, I’ve realized that there is something those winter trees give me, besides inspiration. They give me a cohesiveness to my work which is otherwise very disparate in style. Even in my last #30edits project, which resulted in vastly different pieces, they related to each other since they started with the same photograph. That creates a connection between the work at least in my own mind. A connection I can talk about with others. These abstracts have no relation to each other. For some reason that bugs me.

Maybe that bugs me because it feels that they have no story on their own. The only story in them is the processing itself, the project itself. Even though what I love about abstract art is the emotion of it, it doesn’t feel that there is an emotional driving force in the creation of them. They are interesting, but when they are done, they aren’t conveying something more to me, something inside of me, in the way my art does usually. I decided I don’t want to share the starting photograph of these, because it ruins the magic of the abstract. But maybe it also ruins the magic of creation in a way, that there is no clear tie to the starting photograph, which is usually so important to my process. You can’t tell that it started as this one thing and was transformed into something new but related.

So I’m trying to decide… Do I continue the #30edits Abstract project or do I stop? Will I find inspiration if I push through this stuck place? Or have I learned my lesson and I should focus on the thing that has given me some inspiration lately… The figure?


Trying to decide. And in the meantime, I’m barely creating. 

That’s probably answer enough, isn’t it? Funny how it took writing a blog post for me to figure it out. 

Time to follow my inspiration. #30edits Abstract is on hold, indefinitely.

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How well do you know yourself?

Last week, my husband asked me: “Are you still doing that abstract project?”

Me: “Yes, I am.”


Him: “I haven’t seen anything lately. Isn’t it supposed to be every day for thirty days?”

Me: “No. It’s whenever I get to it.”

If you’ve been following me in this project, you’ll know I’m on a bit of a hiatus. With back-to-back fairs and a looming vacation there has been so little time for creation.

That’s why I don’t set time limits on these #30edits projects. I know myself. I know I’m not an everyday-come-what-may kind of creator. I know that having a deadline on creating art will make it stressful for me, not fun. I would kill myself to achieve and then resent it.

That’s not a good formula for making art.

That doesn’t mean that challenge and struggle and pushing through boundaries aren’t all part of the creative process. They absolutely are.

But the challenge does not have to be in every dimension, so I take it out of the dimension of time. That works for me.

You will definitely see more #30edits abstracts soon, and I’ve been experimenting with some collage art as well. Lots of creative material to work with.

Perfect timing too… I just got an iPad Pro and Pencil! After three different people, whose iPhone art I like and respect, told me it would rock my world, I decided it was time. I’m looking forward to creating art on the big screen. 

When I have time, of course.

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Begin with a Background (Mobile Tutorial + Stackables Formula)

I’m already learning from my #30edits Abstract Challenge! Just what I was hoping would happen. And that, of course, means I have new things to share.

One of my early observations: The first step in any abstract edit is removing the connection to reality in the image.

Abstract Kat Sloma iPhone Photography

Turns out, that is harder to do than I realized! Our brains seem to want to make meaning out of the slightest texture and pattern, so removing that connection to reality requires some work. One way to do this is through blur of the image, which softens the lines and textures which provide a lot of information to our brain.

Today I’m sharing my favorite method for creating background blur using the Stackables app, using an image I shared last week in another post. I think this forest fern image was leading me toward my abstract project.

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I started with this forest image, which caught me eye due to the interesting repetition in the ferns and fir needles.

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In Stackables, you can add a blur layer by going to the Adjustments menu (top bar) and selecting the Blur effect (right menu). You can increase the blur by selecting Intensity (lower left), and then increasing the slider (bottom bar). Layer 6 in this iPad screen shot is the blur layer in the Stackables formula I’m sharing with you today.

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If you want to increase blur more than possible with a single layer, no problem. Just duplicate the layer. You can keep adding Blur layers to reach the desired effect. Increasing blur increases abstraction, by taking away the edges and textures of the object you photographed.

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The final image (here again) was created by blending the blurred background with some other fern images. It is not a full abstract, but you might be able to see how the original image comes through as a background layer.

File Jun 13, 6 08 08 PM

Now I have the Stackables Formula for you! This formula, called Bluish Blur, was used to create the fern background above. It shows you how you can use blur along with other Stackables layers to begin changing an image toward abstract. Have fun abstracting!

To download the “Bluish Blur” formula for your own use in the Stackables app, do the following:
1. Make sure the Stackables app is installed on your iOS device.
2. On your iOS device, download the formula file from this link. (This is a Dropbox link, and you may be prompted to save the file to your Dropbox account, if you have one. Go ahead and save it to your Dropbox and then download from there.)
3. When you go to download or open the file on your device, use “Open in…” and choose the “Open in Stackables” option.
4. Stackables will open and ask if you want to import the formula, tap “Import.”
5. To use the formula, load a photo, go to Formulas (1), choose Favorite Formulas (2). You will see the imported formula (3), so tap to preview. Click the wrench icon (4) to apply the formula and make changes to the layers.

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Join me in a new #30edits

I’ve been in a creative lull lately, so it’s time to kick it up a notch. I’m starting a new #30edits project, and you are welcome to join me! 

This time, instead of creating 30 pieces from the same starting photograph, I’m going to create 30 abstract pieces, starting from different photographs. The thread tying them together is the abstraction. It will be an exploration of line, color, and shape separate from reality.



I’ve danced at the edge of abstract for several years now, but I’ve always maintained the tie back to some recognizable element of the photograph I used to start the process. The goal in this project is to eliminated that tie. Push into new territory.

How far can I go? What will result? Watch here and Instagram to see. 

If you’d like to join me in your own #30edits project, I welcome you. Pick your parameters–whether it’s 30 edits from the same image like I did last time, 30 abstract edits like I’m doing this time, or something different–it all achieves the same result: Getting you outside your comfort zone. There is no timeline requirement (such as 30 edits in 30 days). Go with your gut. Do what works for you.

Use hashtag #30edits on Instagram to participate. I’ll see you there.

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Lessons from #30edits

What happens when you edit the same photograph thirty times? You get a collection of images that are different, yet relate to each other through common elements. You get a surprising burst of creativity. And you might just get some of the best work you have created in a while.

Kat-Sloma-News-7118

I know editing the same photograph thirty times sounds like something difficult to do. The words “boredom” or “stuck” quickly come to mind. But I found the exact opposite to be the case. This #30edits challenge was one of the best things I’ve done for my creativity in a while. Things seemed to evolve easily. And while there were moments of difficulty — places I had to push myself to get started in a new direction, or continue through to something worthwhile — overall it was simpler than I thought.

Most of the time, to get things going in a new direction, I just needed to try a new app or a new feature within an app. The possibilities really are limitless with the variety of iPhone apps available! Near the end, I spent more time editing within iColorama, an app with fantastic capability but not the easiest to use. The added push of this challenge helped me come a long way up the learning curve for this app, as well as help me get deeper into features of apps I use all the time.

One of the most surprising things I noticed as I progressed through more and more edits was how my point of view on that starting photograph changed. I shifted from thinking of it as “the image” to thinking of it as “the elements.” I looked at how I could use the elements of the image in different ways. How could I repeat, layer, invert, rotate or otherwise change the elements? I broke things apart and put them back together as something new. I wasn’t tied to keeping the same connection to the starting photographic elements and composition I have historically maintained in my editing process. Another invisible barrier to creativity, broken down.

The bottom line? I could have easily kept going beyond thirty edits.

Here are all of the images in the series, printed and hanging on my studio wall. I had to purchase two more of my favorite Photo Ropes to see them all together, but it was worth it! I will be exhibiting these in February, so I want to live with them for a while to figure out my favorites.

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Several other artists on Instagram joined me in the challenge. You can see all of the group’s work tagged with #30edits here. Some participants are still in progress, and some are finished. I asked a few of the participants who were furthest along to share their #30edits thoughts and experiences with us, along with their original image and favorite edit, so you can learn from them too.

Beth @shutterhuff

 

Original

Original

At first I thought one image for a whole 30 days? No way. I had done something similar with the #100dayproject last year although I wasn’t limited to only one image. But the more I thought about it, I figured that if I would pick an image where I could set a stage to do some compositing, then maybe it could work.

The image I picked worked well for compositing. Previously I had used mostly the DianaPhotoApp to blend my images together. I used this project to explore some new apps and to dig deeper into ones that I already used. My favorites being, iColorama, Juxtaposer, and two I hadn’t used much before, Union and Silhouette.

I still have a few more to make it to 30. It has definitely been harder than I thought it would be. I was glad to hear that we didn’t have to do one a day for 30 days, that would have made it so much more difficult, I don’t think I would have kept at it.

My favorite part of the project? Even if I got to the point where I thought I couldn’t do anything new with my image, I just kept working with it and something always appeared!

Fairy Tales 11/30

Fairy Tales 11/30

Janet @jreid1031

 

Original

Original

I love a challenge and this one did just what I hoped it would. It made me stretch and learn new things. It challenged me to take a simple image and see if I could make it look completely different each time I edited it. The first 15 or so weren’t too difficult because I love to edit on my iPad and I used a lot of the editing tools I’m familiar with . But after that I had to start really digging and looking for things I had never tried before. That for me was the real value of this challenge. Could I make it part of a portrait? Could I make it a fantasy? A self portrait? What was the least amount of editing I could do? What was the most?

So thanks very much, Kat, for pushing me along my artistic journey. It was really fun! I loved seeing what everyone else did and learned so much from them as well.

Rose 30/30

Rose 30/30

Shelley @sbenja823

 

Original

Original

I was intrigued by your 30 edits when I first read about it, but could not imagine doing 30 edits on any one photo. Then I took a photo that I knew immediately I could edit in more than one way. The first 10 edits flew by. Then I started pushing the envelope a bit. I saw what others were doing and got some inspiration from them. The last 10 though were the hardest. What could I do now that was different than before. I came up with a theme of 4 seasons and by then only had 4 more to go. One of my last edits is my favorite. Everything worked in that image and it is by far the strongest of the bunch. I would not have created this if I had not pushed through this project. And by the way, I did and posted 31 edits. There were probably another 4 or 5 more that never made the cut. This really was an amazing project in creativity.

I can see doing variations of this challenge for myself to continue this type of creative exploration.

29 of 30

29 of 30

Thank you Beth, Janet and Shelley for joining me in the challenge and for sharing your thoughts with us here! Seeing your work progress throughout the challenge really inspired me, and I thank you for that as well as the companionship of having others working through the same challenge together. It was so much fun, I will probably do it again sometime in the future and I hope you will join me again.

Are you in need of a little creative boost? Are you up for a challenge? Don’t wait for me, you can start on your own thirty edits anytime. Just use #30edits on Instagram. I’ll see you there!

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If not now, when?

[N]ot later, not someday, not in a few years, not when times get better, not when life becomes easier, but right now.

— Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic

  
Those were the words, read an early December morning, that spurred me to start my #30edits project. And here is image #28 in that project, Interconnected, created an early January morning about one month later.

I love this image. It might just be my favorite of the series. Whether you can tell it or not, it’s a personal image. It speaks to my dual nature, that of engineer and artist. The two are interconnected in surprising ways, just as the organic and geometric are in this image. 

Who would have thought, twenty-eight edits in on the same image, I would create something so personally revealing? Who would have thought, twenty-eight images in, I would be creating anything that felt new and different at all?

Ideas come to us for a reason. I was toying with this #30edits idea a week or two before starting. Maybe I would do it in the new year, I thought. Maybe then I would have time. It was reading those words in Elizabeth Gilbert’s book which spurred me to action. To take on the challenge before I new it was possible to finish. To take a leap of faith, put it out there, and get started. 

All I can say now is… Wow, I’m glad I did. This last month has been one of the most creative periods for me in the last couple of years. 

Do you have an idea you are toying with? Do you have something you have been thinking about starting? Maybe looking for the perfect time to start? Don’t wait. If the idea is there, the time is right. It’s come to you for a reason. 

Do it now.

I found out yesterday that my book, Art with an iPhone: A Photographer’s Guide to Creating Altered Realities, is now available for purchase and download on iBooks!! Yay! If that is your favorite format, then you are in luck–you can get it now. For the rest of us, time is close!

And please, please, please, no matter where you purchase, write a review. Reviews are a big help! Thanks!

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