Latest work: "Number 20 Cracked"

This is an image I uploaded to Fine Art America this morning -- a composite of peeling paint, a dumpster, and the number 20 from another dumpster.

The color version didn't have the impact I was looking for, so I converted it to black and white, made a number of adjustments, and then let just a hint of some grungy blue color come through here and there on the numbers.

Is it great? Nah. But I do like it. Always a sucker for grungy stuff, numbers, letters, rusty metal, and peeling paint. So, really, what's NOT to like?

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Latest work: "Depth Gauge Five"

Not too sure about this one, so I'm letting it "steep" awhile.

I photographed a rusty metal tank, a number "5" on a weathered depth gauge, and an extremely grungy painted wall to create this mashup of color and texture.

Sometimes these things come together so quickly, so smoothly and they look great. Other times it takes hours, and I'm still not sure. Which is the case here. We shall see. . . 

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

The power of wonkiness

These letters look cool together. The top one, I believe, was on the side of a fishing boat, and the lower one was on the side of a shipping container in a salvage yard in Washington.

The rusting metal, the overall texture, and how they each have similar colors is what I find appealing. And their wonkiness gives them more energy, more life, than if they'd been perfectly level.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

What's it made of?

A lot of people ask me, when I make a photomontage, what's in it? Where do you get the stuff and how do you use it?

Well, this morning I was poking around in my "Astoria, Oregon" photos, not looking for anything in particular, and saw a big "S" that was painted on a wooden sign.

It's a good-looking "S," and you can see the original in the second photo.

I didn't like the monochromatic look, so, still in the "Astoria" files, I saw a photo I'd taken of a cement wall that had been painted red, and the paint was beginning to chip and peel. (See the third photo.)

The wall gave me the texture and the grunge and the color that I needed. But I wanted something more.

Still in that "Astoria" file, I found a photo I'd taken of a piece of metal that had holes punched in it. So I used a part of that to create a "base" of sorts to the "S." See the white space below the "S" in the second shot? Too plain and boring. Hence the weird metal.

Look at the very top of the first photo and you can see where I added a bit of the metal up there as well.

And there you have it. An "S" with good bones, tricked out a bit with color and texture. And it's RED! Good way to start the day. (If you're weird, that is!)

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Latest work: "Three Zees"

Handpainted papers, a hand-sanded letter “Z,” and a few other elements come into play in this piece. I know it’s a bit strange, and won’t appeal to everyone, but I’m fond of the weirdness, love the muted blue, brown, beige, and sepia colors, and am always drawn to diagonal lines.

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Today's daily dose of "3"

This is a “3” montage I made six years ago and set aside to include in this March madness of “a 3 a day.” But when I looked at it this morning and was wondering what to say about it, I couldn’t remember what I used to put it all together. So I went back to the original files.

Six years ago I was apparently throwing everything into the mix. In this case, I began with a photo I took of an old trunk in the Cedros district of San Diego. The old peeling papers made a good base on which to put my numbers. The big “3” is from the side of an old fishing boat (and apparently I’ve used this same “3” in lots of my number pictures — tried and true). The “2” is also from a boat, and the “5” is an iron number you might use on the front of your house, showing your address.

There are also a lot of subtle numbers, such as a “6055” from a nautical chart, and a “25” from a burlap bag used to hold coffee beans (Old Town San Diego). I also photographed rivets on the Alsea Bay Bridge in Waldport, Oregon, and threw those into the mix.

In one version I also created a cruciform sort of object. That was my final step, and now, six years later, I see that it’s a step too far. It clutters up the whole picture. To show you what I mean, you can compare the two versions. Just because I could, I shouldn’t have.

So there you have today’s daily dose of “3.”

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

It's all part of the process

Based on how well I liked my previous polka-dotted “3,” I thought I’d try something similar with another one. I’m showing you the versions I went through (not ALL of them, because they’d make you as crazy as they made me) and then the final version.

I found this “3” back in 2005, probably on the side of a fishing boat, maybe on the side of a dumpster. I liked the golden colors, the rust, the texture.

Then I added a tan-colored texture to the picture and came up with a very different, very muted, yet very colorful version of the “3.” I was intrigued. But the “3” seemed to blend in too much, no real differentiation from the background.

So in the third photo, I darkened the “3.” Not bad.

But what if I add polka dots and some color? (The fourth photo.) Well, now it’s looking kind of muddy.

So finally, in desperation, I turned to Topaz Impression and brightened the colors, softened the background, but kept the texture sharp on the “3.” (Final photo.)

By now, I just didn’t care any more! I do like the final version, but in my heart I know it’s weird and rather gimmicky. And yet, and yet… I’ll revisit it in a few years and see what I think. But I’ve worked this damned “3” to death and it’s time to move on.

You’re probably thinking the same thing about now…

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Destined for the trash heap

This is a “3” I made three years ago, beginning with a macro photo of a metal tag. To that initial photo of a “3” I then added another photo of metal scratches, a photo of an ink spill, a photo of rust, and the stripes came from part of a photo I’d taken of a fishing boat reflected in water.

The sad part is that when it was all done, it’s just not sharp enough for me to do anything with other than include it here in my daily “3” project. Sometimes when you work really hard on something, it’s tough to throw it all away, isn’t it?

I do like this concept, however, and so I may go back to all the original images I used for it, find the out-of-focus culprit, and see what I can do to fix it. If it can’t be fixed to my satisfaction then ENOUGH! Out it goes! Maybe . . .

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

What's your quest?

I’m going to harp on this because I think it’s important. If you’re serious about your photography, about improving your work, about making your work your own, unique to you and nobody else, a “quest” of sorts will encourage you to experiment, to try, to fail, and to try again.

This month’s project is to post a picture of the number “3” every day. There are 31 days in March, and I have only twenty-some pictures. I need to create more. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! No pressure, right?

If I were a different sort of person, I might blow off the last week of the month, figuring enough is enough. But it’s a cool challenge, and it’s a challenge I know will help me grow. Everywhere I’ve gone this month I’ve been looking for “3s,” so it’s an exercise in seeing (always a good thing). And I’ve also been encouraged to look through my own files for pictures of “3s” I might have forgotten about. And I’ve also been encouraged to find a boring “3” and try to pump it up. If it ends up looking horrible, that’s okay.

The important thing is that at least I’m trying, and in trying I might just learn something new.

That’s what happened with this morning’s “3.” Let me give you a peek into what I did.

I found a “3” that I’d photographed on the side of a metal fishing boat in March of 2011. The photo is boring, but the “3” is cool. I took the picture knowing that I would tweak it later and create something new with it. This was my starting point.

So yesterday I wondered, what if I added some dots to it? What would that do? I scanned a piece of tissue paper, white with black dots on it, and added it to the mix. Hmmmm. Not bad. But still boring. So then I added a photo of painted paper, paper from my studio that I’d used to clean paintbrushes and rollers (last photo).

I then did a few other things, added some shadowing around the “3,” etc. and declared the picture done. I liked it so much that I uploaded it yesterday to Fine Art America. Will it sell? Probably not, because few of my number photographs do, but that’s okay. I think it’s good. I’m proud of it. And (pay attention now) NO ONE ELSE CAN CREATE A NUMBER LIKE THIS.

Can you say that about your own work? I’m not saying go make your own photomontages. I’m saying please experiment. How can you shoot a slot canyon and make it unlike all the millions of slot canyon photos out there? How can you make a photo of a California poppy that stands out from the rest? How can you make your quilt, your collage, your assemblage art, whatever, be unique to you?

You start with baby steps. Begin experimenting, whether it’s with software, composition, technique, viewpoint, fabric, papers, etc. Give yourself a quest. What will you work on this month that could take you out of your comfort zone?

If you’re a photographer, oh, man, it’s so easy! Got a cellphone? Got an app? Pick one app and work it for a month. I mean really work it. Look online for tutorials. Keep testing. Can you use that same app on pictures you’ve taken with a DSLR as well? What pictures do you already have that maybe can be transmogrified using that same app?

 You’re going to create a lot of crap. Who cares?

Keep creating. Eventually you will either discard the idea entirely, or you will suddenly be inspired. Aha! Yes! That worked great. Are there other images to which I can apply that same technique? Can I make a series of this, or that?

I’m babbling. What I’m trying to say is that throughout your creative life, it’s all just practice. You work on something, maybe you perfect it, maybe you don’t, but everything you do increases your artistic knowledge and your skills. So you continue. Building on what you learned before.

Maybe dots isn’t the right component for something, maybe it’s squares. Maybe it’s silver squares! Maybe it’s silver squares, duplicated, then flipped horizontally and toned green. Try it! Who cares if it’s garbage? Eventually you’re going to discover something that works and it will surprise the hell out of you. It’ll be an “aha” moment that will push you further into your own unique way of seeing and making.

I took a plain photograph of an ordinary “3” and made something completely different. Something that’s unique to me. Something I like well enough to offer it for sale.

All because I gave myself a quest and acted on it. That’s all. A simple little quest. What’s your quest these days? Hmmmmm?




©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!