EDIT: Okay, before you read this - let me assure you on one thing. I adore the gorgeous, hard working female stock artists around here, as well as the awesome stock photographer men who give us a bevy of beauties to choose from. Without them, and their generous donation to this community...where would we be? In a lot less lovelier place, I assure you.

I am also quite obviously not against using the female form in my artwork! It is one of my favorites to use. The point of this little journal is to try and inspire people to create something unique with the stock we have, rather than mimic popular styles. I truly hope nobody misunderstands that. Anyway, that's all. Read on!

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Skill is an ability that has been acquired by training. Creativity is using the imagination rather than imitating something else.

Creativity. It's a wonderful thing, ain't it? It certainly makes MY little world go 'round, that's for sure. And being a member of dA gives me a ringside seat to one of the most fascinating studies on creativity I could have ever hoped for.

If there is one thing I wish I could shout in very loud and enthusiastic words to the whole photomanipulation community here... it is BE CREATIVE. Please! If you want to grow as an artist, if you want to discover the joy of creating something truly fresh... don't be afraid to experiment!

If you look back at the last five things you've posted and they all look the same as the new piece you are starting to work on in Photoshop, give yourself a break! Surely there is something in that lovely, vivid imagination of yours that wants to come out, other than repetition? If your main subject for the past five deviations has been a pretty girl against a backdrop that has already been done a thousand times - think of something new! Find something else to be your focal point. Find a beautiful animal, or a curious looking object. Anything! Challenge yourself. Or, if you really want to use the enchanting model for your piece... do something different with it! Don't settle for mimicing what everyone else around you is doing! Dream of something new for yourself, and for your model!

Skill does not equal Creativity.

Let me repeat.

Skill does NOT equal Creativity.

Skill is an ability that has been acquired by training. Creativity is using the imagination rather than imitating something else. <--- read that ten times over. Then read it again.

I see countless pieces submitted to the photomanip catagory that are studies on skill. You saw a piece that someone did that you liked, and you wanted to see if you could do it yourself. And you did. Okay, that's skill. You've proved it. Now....step out of the comfort zone. Use that SKILL, and dream up something original on your own! You may balk at the idea. You may say "but I have no originality! My imagination stinks!" - no it doesn't. You've simply let your imagination become stagnant by relying on other people's ideas.

Take your imagination back! Ask yourself... what is something you've always wanted to see? It doesn't have to be epic. Maybe you've always wanted to see a fox playing with a pretty ribbon? Or maybe you've always wanted to see a sandcastle built on the moon! Or maybe you want to see a miniature version of your model walking through a toy garden? Do it! Come on! You have nothing to lose. You have already proved you can find stock photos, blend them to perfection, and make something of them. All it takes is for you to really think about what you envision in your daydreams, and then start the hunt for stock.

Am I saying it's bad to have a little cliche' in your gallery? No. Heck, one of my more popular recent pieces looks like Ophelia. And if that's not an overdone theme, I don't know what is. But I tried to make it 'my own' as much as possible. She's lovely. I got it out of my system. Now I'm moving on. Maybe someday I might revisit the theme... but not any time soon. Also, am I saying that it is bad to have a lot art where females are your central theme? Again - no. There are talented artists out there who do wonderfully creative stuff with their artwork. They do not mimic the popular 'look'. They forge ahead with their own look. I love that! But a lot of others don't, and that is when we get this phenomenon of seeing dozens of girls in white dresses, with snowy backgrounds (and...I bring that up simply because that is the latest trend with a very popular 'viral stock' piece).

I see so many talented people out there spinning their wheels on someone else's ideas. You are shortchanging yourselves. You have a gift of skill. Now give yourself the freedom to use your gift of imagination. It's waiting for you!

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Check it out! A friend of ours made it on CNN with his artwork of Jimi Hendrix! [link]

I gotta tell ya about a contest that is going on that needs LOVE, people!!
The sweet and talented is running a contest found here: [link] - and she needs your involvement! So go, enter, win!

And....See that banner up there? Yeah - that one, that says "Moving Sale". Seriously, you need to mark that on your calender! Why? Because this is one sale that you CANNOT MISS!! Duirwaigh Gallery is moving, and they have storehouses chock full of treasures and wonderments galore that need a new home! To quote what Angi is saying about the sale: "Among them you'll find Cheshire cats and frog footmen, drag queen roosters, high heeled teapots, flitting faeries, fuzzy-brained bears, and divas of all shapes and sizes. They hale from places like Wonderland, Narnia, Oz, the Hundred Acre Wood, Lothlorien, Neverland, Fairyland and the Duirwaigh forest."

Click on the banner or this link: [link] to read more about it - but take my word for it, there are going to be treasures to be HAD!!
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So, old news - but good news - I have projects in the works for Duirwaigh Gallery, TattoedSteel.com, and several other entities. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with these fantastic people.


This nifty badge means that I am going to be hunting down fantastical wallpapers from the lot of you!