2. My photoshop skills are good enough to pass on a very elementary level, but not anywhere close to what some of these people can do. (I'm not bashing myself, just making a factual observation.) 3. My ideas (thus far) lack humor, character, and storytelling. (Elements that rank higher than skill level, or so I hear). I guess I wasn't clear on the purpose of entries and how they're voted on. I was just challenging my own skills, and posting to keep myself accountable. (I'll have to start using my writer brain!) 4. I lack creative craftsmanship. There are times when I have a good idea, but lack the knowledge to make it happen, forcing myself to fall back on an easier idea. I can see how this could improve greatly with practice, so the thought is not discouraging. 5. I need to change my thought process from "what can I do with this [that's within my range of skills]?" to "What would be unexpected, clever, and/or funny?" And along this line, I have to really consider WHAT skills I want to develop and stay focused on what I'm trying to learn. Do I really need illustration skills? I'm not quite sure. 6. Working on a daily "chop" with a higher expectation in mind takes a lot longer than one hour (the time limit I set for myself). This is the biggest obstacle for me- I really don't have time. I have real work to do, and a million other things, and I have NOT forgotten the fans of my Makai series, asking about book 4. Still, I enjoy the creative energy these photoshop projects generate. 7. Every online community has their fair share of drama, and I feel bad that newcomers can see it. I can agree the quality of submissions is not what it used to be, back in the site's glory days (heck.. I won 3 in a row and my skills are truly minimal). So I'm torn, and embarrassed. While I don't believe my work compares to professionals (and clearly they are cream-of-the crop professionals), I do want to participate, learn, improve, and get feedback. Sometimes a vote is feedback enough to know I've done a decent job. And if I do the daily challenges without submitting finals, I know myself well enough to say I won't have reason to tough it out when things get tough. But that doesn't mean I MUST submit an entry every day, whether it's quality work or not. So it's time to be more selective with what I want to invest in. Perhaps a year from now, I'll look back at these first 10 entries and have a good laugh. :-)
All right, I've had my fun. Time to get back to work. :-) 
 I'm actually kind of happy with this one... The only thing I didn't create from the source image is the ground-- which was taken from photograph I took about a year ago while out at the ranch. But, today's entry has a prize on it.. so all the professional people came out of the woodwork to enter. Holy smokes there're a lot of talented people out there!It's a good reminder to set the bar a little higher.
I actually did have a plan before I got started on today's challenge, but let me be honest and say it didn't work. At all. Not even close. So, I went farther off track (because, trust me, nothing could possibly make it any worse), and then I added flames! (it was poetic at the time). By the end of my self-imposed time limit, instead of deleting the challenge and moving on with my life, I decided I kind of liked it! It's not something I would have done in the past (which is the entire point of these daily challenges). It's colorful, eye-catching (haha), and bizarre enough to get a second glance. Like hiding tasteless vegetables in yummy cupcakes. I'm giving myself browny points for submitting this atrocity instead of deleting it. :-) 
 I'm challenging myself to think more creatively. Not with words, but with images. How? I started participating in daily photoshop contests! The site puts up a random image every day, and artists can do whatever they want with the image using photoshop or any other image editing program. Submitted images are voted on by members of the site, and sometimes there are prizes. But really, my goal is to push myself away from the "normal" work I usually do, and start exploring photoshop in ways that were never really relevant to me before. It's exciting and scary at the same time! Kind of like submitting a piece of writing for public criticism (among writing peers instead of family and friends), except in the art world. :-) And while I feel pretty comfortable in the program, I've never mingled with photoshop people before... I might be terrible, and my friends who've loved my work in the past just didn't know any better, or were too kind to criticize. :-) So, here I go! Sticking my neck out for no other reason than to expand my horizons. Wish me luck! Contest #1 Before/After "The Road to Hell is Paved with Legos"
Contest #2 Before/After Movin Up
"Can you change the background?"   |
Toni KerrOutdoors. Moonlight. Mountains. Convertible. Dawn and Dusk. Beach. Anything creative. DIY White-cheddar Popcorn. Coffee. Salt. 
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