Just Messing Around

Three images: Big Pond landscape, a fern leaf, a balloon X2.

or how about in Black and White:

Emulating Jerry 2

His:

Mine:

Lakeshore Gallery – Jennifer Schlick

Emulating Jerry

I’ve felt stuck, creatively speaking.  Then someone (was it you Debra Eck?) posted a link to an article by Todd Henry called The Four Phases of Developing Your Creative Voice.

Briefly:

1-Discovery Phase

• What new ideas or skills are obsessing me right now?
• Where is my curiosity leading me next?
• Who are the handful “best in class” practitioners of this particular skill or craft, and what can I learn from them?

2-Emulation Phase

• Which “mentor works” of my heroes should I immerse myself in, and emulate, in order to build my skills?
• Which daily, repeatable practices should I engage in as I continue to close the gap between my taste and my skills? Maybe this is a daily writing regimen, creating spec work, or practicing a skill in front of a mirror.

3-Divergence Phase

• Where am I stuck emulating, and how can I take a strategic risk with my work?
• How do I need to push myself out of the comfort zone so I can add unique value?
• What new opportunities do I see, and need to uniquely pursue with my work?

4-Crisis Phase

• What is the next frontier of growth for me, in order to continue pursuing mastery of my craft?
• Where am I protecting my reputation, when I should be striving for growth?
• What is inspiring me right now, and how might I begin to incorporate it into my work through emulation?

—

I have long been wanting to create digital composites, but the ideas just don’t come.  So, to continue developing my vision and my skills, I’ve picked Jerry Uelsmann for some Emulation Exercises.

His:

Jerry Uelsmann

Mine (please remember!  this is just practice!!):

Emulating Jerry Uelsmann – by Jennifer Schlick

—
And I am totally blown away by the fact that Jerry does his with film and in the darkroom. Oh Jerry. I worship you.