Why Textures? Why Not?
Conversations with other flickr artists about textures and texture use – technical and philosophical – have been coming up recently. Quite exciting and intriguing conversations, they have been. ~ View On Black ~
Texture test #2 using flypaper textures: flypapertextures.blogspot.com/2009/09/flypaper-tex-box-1_...
The gist of it is: “Why textures?” And, for me, “well, why not?” alone, is a most reasonable response. Textures are here. And while simply "being here" may not work for all things in life, just "being here" is worth a look-see in art.
The more I learn about textures and get comfortable with them, the more I find myself looking back to some of my older flickr images. The concept of textures didn’t exist in my mind when I captured these, but, I’m finding it intriguing to look at them now with textures as an option.
There are now new artistic opportunities for an image that was of the “nice try, but no cigar” category: properly composed, exposed, colored and processed, blah, blah, blah. The kind of image that is but one of a hundred just like it, that one can find on Flickr on any given day.
Now such images have a fighting chance to find a new artistic life - in addition to a photographic one. Don’t get me wrong, textures don’t make bad images good, but it can provide an outlet for “good” images to get better; or at least uniquely styled and affected (adj.). The finished image (can an image ever really be “finished?” :-) ) may be similar to others, but, if done well, it will bear the artistically unique touch and vision of the individual behind it, and avoid getting lumped in – and lost – among all the rest.
And don’t, for a moment, think that each of us - at a certain artistic level - doesn’t want our images to stand out on the screen like a beacon of light. Only a crazy person, or a forgerer, wants their work to look just like everyone else’s.
Well, that’s my story (for the moment, anyway) and I’m stickin’ with it. :-)
Main texture courtesy Flypaper Textures: “Necropolis” - flypapertextures.blogspot.com/2009/09/flypaper-tex-box-1_...
Texture courtesy Alexedg: “Painting” - www.flickr.com/photos/60991687@N00/1442015943/in/set-7215...
Border and third texture courtesy Telzey (representing Jerry Jones - Ghostbones): www.flickr.com/photos/telzey/sets/72157611268347999/
Had a 45 minute phone conversation with John last night: jssteak - www.flickr.com/photos/jssteak/ We exchanged some philosophical thoughts, photo approaches, and cs4 techniques I used here. Good man and artist. Thanks J.
Clouds by me: The Mad Cloudnapper
Original image taken at Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois, 2008
Why Textures? Why Not?
Conversations with other flickr artists about textures and texture use – technical and philosophical – have been coming up recently. Quite exciting and intriguing conversations, they have been. ~ View On Black ~
Texture test #2 using flypaper textures: flypapertextures.blogspot.com/2009/09/flypaper-tex-box-1_...
The gist of it is: “Why textures?” And, for me, “well, why not?” alone, is a most reasonable response. Textures are here. And while simply "being here" may not work for all things in life, just "being here" is worth a look-see in art.
The more I learn about textures and get comfortable with them, the more I find myself looking back to some of my older flickr images. The concept of textures didn’t exist in my mind when I captured these, but, I’m finding it intriguing to look at them now with textures as an option.
There are now new artistic opportunities for an image that was of the “nice try, but no cigar” category: properly composed, exposed, colored and processed, blah, blah, blah. The kind of image that is but one of a hundred just like it, that one can find on Flickr on any given day.
Now such images have a fighting chance to find a new artistic life - in addition to a photographic one. Don’t get me wrong, textures don’t make bad images good, but it can provide an outlet for “good” images to get better; or at least uniquely styled and affected (adj.). The finished image (can an image ever really be “finished?” :-) ) may be similar to others, but, if done well, it will bear the artistically unique touch and vision of the individual behind it, and avoid getting lumped in – and lost – among all the rest.
And don’t, for a moment, think that each of us - at a certain artistic level - doesn’t want our images to stand out on the screen like a beacon of light. Only a crazy person, or a forgerer, wants their work to look just like everyone else’s.
Well, that’s my story (for the moment, anyway) and I’m stickin’ with it. :-)
Main texture courtesy Flypaper Textures: “Necropolis” - flypapertextures.blogspot.com/2009/09/flypaper-tex-box-1_...
Texture courtesy Alexedg: “Painting” - www.flickr.com/photos/60991687@N00/1442015943/in/set-7215...
Border and third texture courtesy Telzey (representing Jerry Jones - Ghostbones): www.flickr.com/photos/telzey/sets/72157611268347999/
Had a 45 minute phone conversation with John last night: jssteak - www.flickr.com/photos/jssteak/ We exchanged some philosophical thoughts, photo approaches, and cs4 techniques I used here. Good man and artist. Thanks J.
Clouds by me: The Mad Cloudnapper
Original image taken at Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois, 2008