Different Strokes from Different Folks

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Our Year End Challenge II

We did this last December - let's do it again. And I'll just reiterate how I described it last year.

The current challenge is simply this -
1- I am asking those who want to participate to take a photograph of themselves from the shoulders up. That photo needs to be taken at a high resolution, saved at 300 dpi and around 4" at the widest dimension. You need to email that file to me (don't reduce it down, as you normally would for the web or email) to kjurick@mac.com - and INCLUDE YOUR FULL NAME please. By sending me your photo, you have committed to completing the challenge. The deadline for sending me your photo is Sunday, December 6th, by midnight please.
2 - In turn, I will email you someone else's photograph, who will remain anonymous, and you will paint or draw from that photo. It's uniquely yours.
3- If you cannot manage to send your photo by the 6th, I'll look for you to jump in on the next challenge starting in January.

For those who are considering or currently committed to this challenge - I want you to recognize a couple of things:

- You are not producing a commissioned portrait here, so relax. It's not that important that you nail the likeness - remember no one knows who you're painting except for me and in the end, the person you have painted - and there will be no comparison of your finished work to the original photograph, so again, relax. Remember, the gist of this blog is how you interpret, approach, see, transform the information given to you from a photograph. If you're skilled at painting faces, good for you - if you're unsure or apprehensive about painting faces - I believe you can, by approaching it this way -

- To start, a face is no different than a still life or any object really - it is a composition of form, contours, shadows and color. A human head is merely a round or oval form, with protruding bones, mostly covered by skin.
- What makes us unique is somewhat mathematical - both the distance between our features and the width and length of our features. If you pay close attention to mapping out where those features belong, in the beginning, the rest is a matter of refining those traits that really do make us different from one another.

Why did I not have you paint yourselves? Simply because we know our own faces. Again, the purpose of this blog is to provide you with a reference that is foreign to you and you, the artist, will interpret what's important and what's not. What is important, to me, is that you take the information given to you, compose it to your liking and use your chosen medium as what it was meant for.

An additional note - some of these photographs are very defined, some are not, some have dramatic lighting, some don't. The lesson here is that it doesn't matter - it's merely a reference. You have the opportunity to expand on the obvious - emphasis what you find interesting, maybe place shadows where there are none, use colors that you never thought you would place there,etc. You only depend on the basic information (or ingredients) to start what could end up being a very compelling work of art.

For those who are participating, I will randomly draw a name of another participant, and email you the image no later than Wednesday, December 9th. You have until Thursday, December 31st, to submit your finished piece. Take your time, enjoy the challenge and have a happy and peaceful holiday time.

The Purpose in All This

- to paint or draw the scene, not the photograph
- to paint or draw from photographs
- to make choices from the information given to you

A 3-week challenge for any artist who would like to join in - I'll post one photograph every other Wednesday evening and I want you to paint or draw or etch it your way. Sorry - no digital interpretations (and that includes paintovers) after Week 1. My intentions are for you to use different mediums (in the tradition sense) and not the computer.

To view the original photograph to use as your reference, scroll down to the bottom of each new posting. You'll have a full two weeks to work on your piece - please send your image no later than the second Wednesday evening, when I will also post a new photo.

Please respect my rights to each photograph - your original art, resulting from these images, is yours to keep, sell or give away - any digital copies of the photograph are not yours to sell. And please do not use my name or the blog name on your eBay listings - I appreciate the credit, but it should never be included there. Thank you.

How to Submit your Artwork

- Create a professional, sharp and accurate jpg file of your art. Helpful instructions can be found here. My suggestion is to size the image at 300 dpi, around 450 K in pixel dimensions, then 'save for web' as a high-quality jpg. I will not accept out-of-focus images, glare spotted images or low resolution files and please don't impose your copyright label on the art. Remember - your image is what sells your work. It is the second most important part of your efforts.
- Email the image directly to me at kjurick@mac.com. I will not accept emails with links to your image.
- When emailing, type 'different strokes image' on the subject line or your email will be deleted.
- Every time you send me your image, include your full name and website/blog address or I won't include it. I will be happy to include a link only if you have a devoted personal website or blog that has some history to it.
- Please do not ever ask me to post a painting or drawing that has not been done from the reference photo or deviated from the obvious subject.
- Please do not print out the photo and paint over the image. I know it when I see it.
- Please spell my name correctly as Karin Jurick. And I promise to take the time to spell your name right.
- Please know I appreciate your time and effort with this weekly project.

If You Don't See Your Submission, This Could Be Why

If You're Selling or Auctioning One of Your Submissions

I appreciate the credit given to my name and blog when you are describing your piece of art - but I ask that you do not include my name on your eBay sell page. I would suggest that you do include a line, such as 'this painting was done from a photograph provided on the blog Different Strokes From Different Folks, where artists are encouraged to paint or draw their own interpretations.' That would explain why browsers see similar subjects and compositions - and you wouldn't be violating eBay policy. Thank you.

Different Strokes from Different Folks

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Our Year End Challenge II

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Week 52-54 Challenge - Airport Travelers

Some of Our Different Folks

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The Purpose in All This

With Respect to Photographing in Public

How to Submit your Artwork

If You Don't See Your Submission, This Could Be Why

If You're Selling or Auctioning One of Your Submissions

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