I’ve been concerned about writing diaries. I’m not much of a writer. I can write long comments, but when it comes to starting something interesting, alas, I have no creativity.
Creativity is not something I’m lacking mind you. I’m very creative when I want to be. I’m an artist though, not a writer, and I’ve been told a picture is worth a thousand words. My concern is that I’d like to create graphic diaries, and discuss the ramifications that the artwork suggests. is that something people are interested in or not? I need the answer to this question.
Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Am I wasting my time creating my artwork?
Recently I’ve begun offering some of my artwork on Kos (and have also sprinkled a bit of it over here); but I sometimes wonder, is what I do just annoying or does it offer some positive juice to our cause? Would you like to see me continue to put the way I see the world on electronic canvas or just stop altogether? I’m not looking for kudos here, I’m looking for honest feedback. I want whatever I do to be a boost to our cause, not a distraction from it.
So, to offer a few examples of my work (for those you have not been blessed – or cursed – to see it), I’m going to place some of my recent artwork here. Afterwards you can take a poll and tell me what you really think. Don’t be nice, I’m not looking for nice, I’m asking you to honestly access whether what I do has any meaning in regard to diaries. Your honesty will be appreciated.
Thanks for looking, now please take the poll! 😉
i think graphics in diaries would be great.
personally, i like making images that play off current events, because for me, when i make the image, i have to distilll all the relevant things down to their simplest form and go from there. i fnd the process very liberting, although time consuming.
it would be cool to see more graphic images as diaries. or so i think, but i might be biased…
hi dadanation, great to see that you made it over here. Isn’t this place awesome?
Thanks for your opinion.
By the way, to be fair, I’m not taking the poll. I grew up with the understanding that one shouldn’t toot their own horn too loudly, or vote for themselves in elections.
posts his cartoons on dkos, & they’re just about my favorite. (I just realized that I never post comments on his diaries, so it might be a good idea to always post a first comment, to open the floor).
Your work is much more serious. I would love to see more graphic diaries. Many times some of the long, verbose diaries take too long to read & could be stated in fewer words, imho.
Yes, a picture can be worth a thousand words, & some wordsmiths evoke a thousand pictures with few words. I think we need both.
Maybe you & your cohorts can come up w/a snappy title for all the graphic diaries, (scratch ‘1,000 words’ off the list, people may think that’s how many words they’ll have to read), maybe, “Pictolitics Today”, or some such.
Go for it.
Thanks x, I like the idea of naming graphic diaries. How about “Polipix”?
I have seen some of Bateman’s cartoons, I’m awed by them. I recently started doing a little cartooning myself (nothing elaborate, just experimental, but it’s fun).
Thanks for your input.
And I love the name suggestion! Looking forward to seeing more.
Great name, very descriptive and will instantly identify diary/thread.
I love seeing any kind of artwork. I think this would be a great idea to have here.
Everyone processes information different and sometimes instead of reading, a great visual will really get people talking/thinking/mad/laughing-whatever.
These are incredible….the one of bush/christian man is disturbing in a good sense as that really makes a point.
Like any great painting, a great graphic can be a work of art. And the point is to make you think/feel and for the purposes of this site to discuss.
I’m recommending this and hope everyone here does take a look at it and let you know what they think.
Thank you chocolate ink, I appreciate your feedback.
[Note to all readers of this diary: I’m going to bed now, so if anyone wonders why I’m not saying much, it’s because I’m sleeping. I’m sure this diary can look after itself. Goodnight!]
Went out West and recommended your diary/graphics there also.
I do think it’s a great idea and could start some interesting discussions. Art always does.
That’s very kind of you to do that, I would never have expected it. Thank you very much.
I have to admit chocolate ink, that I did go over to the thread and look at what you wrote, I’m floored that you like my artwork so much to recommend it.
I saw you mention that you are for the most part stuck in an apartment in a red area. So am I (no disability though, I voluntarily shut myself in when my life fell apart on Thanksgiving day). I hope to get to know you better, it sounds like we have a few things in common.
Thanks for recommending my diary on another thread. I truly appreciate it.
glad to see you made it to recommended diaries.
Reading the rest of the postings I see that for now do this without pay but would hope you could make money off your graphics. They are very good.
Being stuck in my apt. most of the time isn’t that bad, for me anyway–keeps me from dealing with stupid/bigoted people around here. All though I imagine it would drive most people crazy…but I like a lot of time to myself so guess it is a good thing I have learned to enjoy it.
As for liking art, I really do-I have a huge print of Van Goghs ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’ in my bathroom-why should bathrooms have stupid fishes,etc in them anyway.
Thank you, my first ever recommended, (and it was only a diary about how to create a good diary, LOL, had NO plans of that happening at all). 🙂
I love staying inside, the only problem is my husband tries to encourage me to go out, and I freak out when I get out among people. We have billionaire Republicans who own the city where I live, it’s very, very, very red down here. I’d just as soon stay in all the time myself.
Van Gogh in the bathroom, why not? Sounds good to me. ::grin::
Talk to you soon.
it worked a few moments ago, but then went south on me, so here we go again, ok?
dada, I gave you a four on your previous attempt post since someone else also rated you there. I didn’t want you to lose that rating.
Cool graphic, the actual wording on the bill is a little hard to read, a suggestion, if you have the FAILED section on a bottom layer, I’d lower the opacity on that layer a bit. Just an idea.
Awesome concept.
Hope you don’t mind dadanation, I did my own rendition of that subject. I just got creative and couldn’t help myself. If you feel like I stepped on your territory, I deeply apologize.
your version is far better and much easier to read and see. i’ve been doing too much mandala work in my recent pieces that i lost track of perspective — at 16″ X 20″ my image, in spite of how text intensive it is, actually works — but that scale is all wrong i know. i need to think 8 x 10 for agit prop or else i get far too suckered into the depths and jagged edges of pixelation and layers. your version, regardless, is so much better than mine. so tonight i’ll take a stab at your improvement and see what i get, ok?
where did yo get the jpg of the senate chambers?
<u>underneath is all technical jargon of graphics artistry, just a warning for those who don’t know what this conversation is about</u>
jpg of Senate Chambers found on image search in Google and the image actually came from Wikipedia (but it’s a picture of our congress senate chamber and I felt it should come under free use).
I normally work in 350pixels-500pixels range usually square, but then sometimes I start adding borders and such. More often than not I make room for the border before I start. (It’s a habit I got into, I’ve always liked to add fancy handmade frames to my work).
With this one I did it a bit differently, since I wanted to cram a lot into a little bit of space, I opened a 600×600, splashed a gradient on entire canvas, then starting working with the area I wanted to utilize placing the images on layers, and cropped the outer edges down to a good size when I had my spacing issues set (usually the second to last thing I do before saving, just before I create the frame(s)- this one has three, the red/blue one I set first, the gold frames (one inside red/blue frame and one on the outside) I created last).
We can discuss some cool techniques, email me. Just remember, I’m working in Paint Shop Pro, not Photoshop, so while I have most of the same tools you have, some of my tools (and therefore some techniques also) are a bit different, but I think I can show you how to get around most of the differences.
Talk to you soon, glad you like it, and hope you don’t feel I was trying to slight you, because I wasn’t. I just liked the concept so much I decided to do one myself.
Incidentally, I said something not quite right above, when I said “bottom layer” (lowering opacity on the “FAILED” layer), I meant “lower layer underneath the actual wording of the bill” not the bottom layer. You don’t want to do that to the bottom layer as your background would also lose opacity as well.
Talk to you in email, we’re going to have a lot of fun.
As perception seems to be how moron America determines what’s important and what’s not, a little visual manipulation could prove valuable. Who knows, maybe you can unravel some of the damage the right has done to the “truth.”
Thank you Lahdee, that’s what I’m hoping to do. It seems the opposition has given me plenty of material to work with. A nation’s demise always seems to be a political artist’s goldmine. I hate to think of it that way, but it’s true.
Maybe I can help to set some things straight. I’m not afraid to be blunt, so it’s a purpose well-suited for me, I think.
Thank you for offering your opinion.
We are a little community.
And y’all as a community should decide what kind of diaries you like by recommending and commenting.
Personally, I think your artwork is cool, and I see nothing wrong with posting about it, as long as you provide a little context.
Hi Boo. Thank you for expressing your concern about context. You are correct, context is necessary.
I would never put a graphic above the fold, nor would I just leave it hanging there with no purpose. If I post a graphic diary, I would want to start a discussion of what is important about it and why. A graphic that just sits there only wastes diary space that could have been better suited for another purpose. I would of course offer reasons or evidence as to why I felt it was important, including citations of quotes, facts or assumptions on my part. I would ask questions of my audience, and I would also expect that not all viewers of my graphics will be entirely happy with what I’ve submitted. I would expect that research must be done on the subject, just as any other diarist should do.
I also realize I would be placed at the mercy of the readers, just like any other diarist is. I accept that, and I am eager to create such graphic diaries that will conform to such context and standards.
Should we come up with some fair use rules on how to create graphic diaries? Or does what I just expressed seem like a logical guide? I would be happy to conform to any standards you wish. It’s your site after all.
Cheers!
I’d like to defer to the community.
Essentially, if people post diaries and no one pays any attention to them, they will either stop posting, or make them more interesting.
If people complain, ususally the diarist will take the hint.
And trolls are trolls. We know how to deal with them.
So, I’d say, do what you want.
March 19th in the peace demonstrations that will be held all over the world.
TXsharon, if you would like to do so and you have the means to do it, you certainly have my permission.
I would love to know that my images are being used for such a purpose.
If you would like me to re-create some of my images in higher resolution, you can contact me at my email and I’d be happy to do so. There wouldn’t be any cost.
To be quite honest, I’m not a professional (my understanding is that professionals get paid and I have never made a dime off of any of my creations) but I’m hoping one day to make my artwork my career. I’m not expecting to make any money off of these images at the moment (although I’m considering selling my images as screensavers for a dollar or two in the near future, and hopefully moving into posters and such in the future). You are completely free to use whichever ones you like for the demonstration. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need the resolutions changed.
Thanks.