Wherever you find yourself on this day, I have a wish or two for you…
Wish Gathering
…I wish for you to experience beauty and joy.
…I wish for you to explore your curiosity and creativity.
…I wish for you to be enveloped by people who love and cherish you.
…I wish for you to find peace in your heart, your home, your life.
My most heartfelt, best wishes go out to you this holiday season.
As my #30edits project continues, I’m getting more experimental! Last week I was inspired to create a tree mandala as a coloring page, since adult coloring books are all the rage these days.
I created the mandala first and then colored it with an app called Art Set, which allows you to color and paint digitally on a photograph. I am making the blank version available for you to download here. You can either print and color on paper, or import into a coloring app like Art Set or Procreate to color digitally. Either way it’s good fun!
It is actually very easy to create these mandalas in just a few steps from a photograph. If you want to try it, pick a simple, graphic image — something with good lines and edges. Then, follow these steps:
1. Create a high contrast black and white image of your photograph. Snapseed is a great place to start, using the Black and White filter. You might need to run it through the Black and White filter more than once to get the strong black/white contrast you need for this process.
2. Create a line drawing from your photograph, using an app like Sketch Me or a drawing effect in iColorama. You want to pick up the edges of your shape, keeping the center open so there is space to color. Experiment with settings until you get something like this:
3. Use a kaleidoscope effect to reflect the image in slices around a central point, which creates the mandala. I used the Kaleidoscope effect in XnView Photo FX to create this one:
Easier than you thought, huh? Have fun coloring!
I’m 11 pieces in to my #30edits challenge and still going strong. I’m surprised at how much fun I’m having! Who would have thought editing one picture multiple times could bring such joy?
I think it’s because I’m being challenged creatively. Here is how the #30edits challenge is showing up positively for me so far:
To do some of the things I want to do, I have to solve problems and learn something new. I get great satisfaction in both figuring out how to make something work, and in discovering new techniques when something doesn’t come out the way I expect. There is no downside.
If I reach a dead end, I am forced to move in another direction rather than abandoning my efforts and losing steam. Stopping is not an option, because I need to create something new with this image. Some of my dead ends one day have become starting places the next day, as I see new possibilities given time and experimentation. That is a powerful lesson – there are no dead ends, only altered destinations.
Each individual edit doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. It’s about finding a new way to use the elements I have available. It is pushing me beyond my usual places, letting me experiment with new apps and new ways to use old apps. Sure, some edits result in better images than others. Who cares! I have 30 to do, I can’t get wrapped up in any single result.
And it’s a fantastic reminder of why I love trees. They are such an interesting graphic element. Look at all of the amazing things I can do with one tree! Imagine what I could do with more. (Well, you don’t have to imagine, because that’s what I’ve been doing for the last three years. But it is a reminder to me to get out and photograph some new tree images to work with, once this challenge is done!)
So, do you have a challenge you are working on? Pick something, anything, like I did. It doesn’t have to be #30edits, but find something that gets you excited to keep moving creatively. Something that gets you out of your comfort zone and trying something new.
Who knows what will result? We’ll see what happens for me. 19 more to go!
December is usually a slow creative time for me. Too much to do, too little light, not many photographs. Instead of dropping into a creative funk this year, I’m giving myself a challenge. I’m going to edit the same photo, 30 different ways.
At the Edge, edit #5 of 30
Care to join me? Pick a photo, and start editing. Post using #30edits on Instagram. There are no additional requirements, no time limits, no awards for finishing except the creative boost you might receive.
Life Force, edit #4 of 30
It’s already got my creative juices flowing. Ideas are popping on to my head to try during the day. So many options! So hard to choose what to do! What a fun problem to have.
Blueberry Sky, edit #3 of 30
To get you started, how about a new Stackables formula? This one is called Blueberry Sky.
To download the “Blueberry Sky” formula for your own use, 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.
Join me in the #30edits fun!
PS – If you are anxiously awaiting Part 2 of the Cleaning and Cutting for Compositing Images tutorial, it will post next week!
