White Wall Wednesday: Alternative Process
Hands up if you’ve tried alternative process before!
I always thought I had no talent for things like working with my hands. I think a lot of us grow into that perception of ourselves; that we can’t draw and we can’t paint if we didn’t grow up with natural talent. I was nervous about trying something physical. Lately I’ve felt so silly for all the things I’ve been nervous for. Part of what has helped me start trying was becoming okay with being bad or untalented.
Whatever the reason, I stayed away from alternative processes…until this week. I should note I do NOT know any official processes, so you won’t learn anything official, but then again…who makes up those rules, anyway?
I had such a blast. I spent a grand total of about 1.5 hrs working on this, from start to the end of editing it in Photoshop. This exercise doesn’t have to take a long time and it can still be really satisfying.
One unexpected takeaway was a new technique! I learned that if you coat an image in agave syrup, it transforms it to look like an oil painting – score! That’s a great tip for me to know since I create painterly images.
And I re-learned a lesson I’ve learned a hundred times: NOTHING MATTERS. I can make whatever I want and it doesn’t matter! I can throw it away, never show anyone, let it sit in my closet…and it doesn’t matter. At work, it’s an experiment. At best, I define a new piece of myself. I felt that trying Alt Pro did that for me; I was able to identify a new technique that is very much in alignment with what I want to do, and I did so while having a ton of fun.
Try some alternative processes this week! Print an image (it doesn’t have to be printed well!) and see what you can do with it! Use scissors, glue, wax, chemicals..whatever you want. Look up traditional methods or do what I did and wing it. Experiment. Play. PLAY.
And share what you make with the hashtag #WhiteWallWednesday.
6 thoughts on “White Wall Wednesday: Alternative Process”
Different from usual! Yet, I loved it! Beautiful!
By chance, I was with Sara Lando last week in Porto. She have a great work too!
I also always had this idea that I could not work with my hands … Until I really did and realized I could. lol. Stay well!
I don’t think I could adore Sara any more than I do without being a crazy stalker. She’s amazing and definitely inspired me to get my hands dirty this week!
🙂 Yes! She is amazing! Very inspiring too. I enjoyed meeting her!
If I see a print of this in person someday (and I really want to) I will want to touch it so bad, because when I look at this my brain is telling me that there is texture there that I can feel, when there isn’t. That is one of the things I love most about this. It turned out so great, better than I expected! I love that shiny paint look it gives.
I was going to make a photo with yarn but two things happened, #1 a major home repair that ate up all my creative time. 🙁 #2 my sister stopped by and took the yarn….. I know, what timing. LOL
I have a White Wall in the works I need to finish, I will get it finished in the next day or so.
Defiantly going to try some Alt stuff though, I love it!
P.S.
Given your history with syrup, you showed a surprising amount of restraint here. LOL 😉
I think this alternative process adds so much more to the image. Who would have thought Agave would be so nice but I have some ideas too. Now I want to get to work. I wonder what else I have in my pantry/home that will be good to spread on a print? Haha. Thank you for sharing this. I am so sad that I missed Sara’s class. I’ve been seeing all of the creations that people have made and they look awesome!
I love how this has turned out with the texture and depth added by the syrup. I need to start getting things printed to play with them.