Here's what I started with:
*cringe* horrible lighting, horrible everything really. I kept it because I liked the pose of the carousel horse and planned on eventually maybe using it for a source if I ever got around to working with pastels again (yeah right like I'll ever have time for that with my current paper writing schedule).
Luckily I have pestered a few people on Deviant ART about photoshop techniques along with my own messing around and found a neat way to turn scrap into art in its own right.
After a good three or four hours playing around I ended up with this:
I loves me some photoshop!
Original Photo by me with my panasonic lumix dmc fz8 on August 14, 2008
Photoshopping in Elements 3.0
I'm debating on if I will actually post that how to essay. This type of photo editing is really easy for people to pilfer a net photo and eventually manipulate it into the above. I don't consider that 'creating art', you're taking something already created and altering it. As such, I don't consider "photo manipulations" taking things off the interwebs and combining them to be a honest form of art. . . Now, if people used their own photos to do this, well that's just using your own art to create more art.
I'm having a bit of an internal argument, so until I get some feed back from the artists and photographers on here as to what they think, I'll hold off on actually posting the how to.
It's sad I have to even think of this, but given the amount of net photos turned into photoshop creations I have seen the past week, I'm a bit wary and would not want to contribute to the theft of other work ya know?
Do I make sense or am I rambling again?
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Comments: 24
cheers,gayle
You have raised a genuine question .
Thanks for this beautiful article, mixed in real vibrant colors with real web world truths.
Love
Gotta go get Paul :) I'll work on another one this evening perhaps and take screenshots for a how to.
It looks great!
Here's my opinion on the dilemma:
1) Free stock photos are available on the internet. They exist for people to use for whatever they choose. How do you know what you've seen is stolen?
2) A person who is going to steal is going to steal; I don't think sharing information on a Photoshop technique is encouraging anyone to steal anything.
3) Who gets to decide what "art" is? I can have my own opinion but I don't think anyone should dictate to others what art is or should be to them.
4) If I had a cool technique that I could share with others, then I'd share it. Anyone can pervert anything, but why assume that people will? Most people are honest. I think you're overthinking this, but it's certainly your choice.
I don't think art is taking someone else's work and making your own stuff. I think Fanfiction is nothing more than ripping off original writers, and 'photo manips' as they are called on some sites of stills in movies (such as Harry Potter characters, Lord of the rings characters and Anime) are nothing more than stealing. I think no matter how much work people put into creating these ill begotten work, it's pure lazy and an unwillness to create their own art.
Art is a rewarding process, why not create your own?
But the nature of 'what art is' is going to be debated for all eternity heh. I just think people are all naturally creative, just a few are too lazy to use their own creativity to produce art.