Photoshop Challenge Day 9 & 10

I've had a lot of fun doing things I've never needed to do before, and I've even gained a few wins! (not really the point of these challenges, for me at least, but still pretty cool!)

Here are the top things I've from these photoshop challenges:

1. Playing around in photoshop is called "Chopping".  I did not know that! :-)

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. :-)

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