Mindfulness for Creativity - Part 1
Add mindfulness to your creativity toolkit. It's challenging to be in a creative flow when you're distracted by ruminating on the past or projecting into the future. By grounding yourself in present moment awareness, you create space for ideas to blossom. In part 1 of this 2-part series learn what mindfulness is, how it relates to creativity, and experience a guided mindfulness practice using your breath as your anchor.

When it comes to art, message is king. Having an opinion or a deep interest in a topic is vital to creating work that means something, says something, and influences others. Creating a deep-seated message in your work starts with a general portfolio and often gets more specific as a career advances. This class will look at what your message is, how you infuse your work with it, and how to communicate that message to your audience. You will learn
- How to discover what your core message is for your art and brand

- How to create work that successfully communicates that message

- How to engage and audience around your message so that you are positioned as an expert

What does it mean to make a great photograph? What does it mean to create personal work? Do you find it a challenge to describe what your photography is about? Does it drive you crazy when people look at your work and see nothing more than just a pretty picture? When you look at your photographs, do you find it hard to understand how one image relates to another? There are many ways to approach learning about your work, but it can take time to express what your work is about. From just answering simple questions a friend might ask to writing a statement about your work, many of us find it hard to say what our work is about. Using some simple tools in Photoshop and key workflows to approach our creative practice, this class aims to help you apply some easy common techniques to help you better understand your work. We will dig into four core elements of understanding your work: voice, vision, signature, and style. If you want to deepen your understanding of how you create and the why and meaning of your work, this class is for you.

You will learn the basics of how voice, vision, signature and style are used to make us unique in our creative process

You will learn how to use some of the common tools in Photoshop to help you better understand your images and how you approach making them

You will learn how to better express and explain what your work is about when others ask about it

Keeping consistently creative in a modern world can be challenging, especially when outside forces intervene and put a stop to the process. So what do you do when there's seemingly nothing to do? Step away from the norm' and try something completely different. Creativity can be right on your doorstep. In this class, Glyn will take us through a project he started during the Covid Pandemic when he was unable to take portraits; a project that took him back to his Photoshop roots, forcing him to think outside the box and revisit techniques that excited him when first starting out and ultimately kickstarted creativity.

Consistency NOT Perfection is the key

The Importance of Personal Projects for Keeping Creative

Breaking down a Personal Project and key Photoshop techniques used to create it

Starting with a loosely sketched concept, showing how to prepare, plan and shoot the principle photography for a creative project. This will have on-set instruction at an actual photoshoot with a model and other practical effects being used in the final creative piece. Instructions detail camera settings, light placements, any effects being captured, and show the actual photos coming from that shoot to be used for compositing.

How to Plan for a Creative Photoshoot

How to schedule and work with a model

How to capture the best images for compositing

How to capture the effects needed for the final project

“Who are your influences?” It’s a question you’ll be asked time and time again. Why? Because it helps people understand you through what you love most and your art by placing it in context. Answering this question benefits you too. And, there’s more than one way to answer it. Actively engage your influences and you’ll see more possibilities, discover new techniques, and combine them into something new. Watching how your influences change over time will help you better understand how your vision is evolving. Alternately, what we don’t do (even dislike) tells us more about what we create. Through comparison (how we’re similar) and contrast (and how we’re different) offers mirrors into ourselves and a window onto new horizons. But the best reason to engage your influences more actively is it’s energizing and inspiring.

The follow up resources for this session will provide you hours of education and inspiration.

Understand why “building a large visual library” is so important.

Discover techniques that will bring new life to your images.

Collect and curate your influences to see how you’re seeing.

Make stronger connections between your art and your audience.

Bert is known for images created from scratch that contain details far beyond what a camera can capture. Those details are from his imagination and reality combined to create incredible realism. There is a lot of prep work needed to make things look real.

In this session, Bert will show you how inspiration starts a journey that requires much preparation. The massive amount of research into how things work that involves studies of the subject, Google Street view journeys and even the creation of physical models to study shapes and the effects of lights and shadows. Many of the techniques he demonstrates will help you in solving problems that arise when you are creating images or compositing existing images that look like they were shot together.

THE STORY BEHIND THE CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS “2.5 SECONDS” PROJECT

In this class, I will talk about how to transform storytelling and conceptual photography into meaningful art. How to use your voice as a photographer to talk about important topics and things you care about through your art. How to convey a strong message through your subjects using metaphors and symbolism. I will walk you through the process of creating my climate change awareness “2.5 seconds” series and the ideas behind it.

How to transform storytelling and conceptual photography into meaningful art

How to use your voice as a photographer

How to convey a strong message through your art

How to use metaphors and symbolism

 I will be walking you through how to compose a background from scratch. I will also illustrate how to bring in water elements to transform the background into an underwater surreal backdrop. We will discuss color grading techniques for underwater images, shading and highlighting, and key details that add to the underwater illusion. 

In this class, Aaron teaches the fundamentals of creating a digital illustration. The class will be based on Photoshop techniques but can be applied to a variety of programs.

Enlisting models (real models or family/friends) and staging awesome photo shoots can be far easier than you might suppose — and you'd be surprised at how little it requires in terms of budget or equipment.

- How to come up with imaginative conceptual ideas for interesting shoots packed with drama and intrigue.

- How to bring together creative poses, wardrobe, props, hair/makeup to craft impossible-to-forget images.

- How to push your shoots over the top with unexpected locations that imbue your work with a sense of STORY.

Bert’s images are known for containing hundreds of layers. Each can employ a myriad of Masks, Styles and Modes to make them have an effect on all the other layers in the overall image. He will go deep into the workings of Layers and all the features they have at their disposal.

Composites are more than just images merged together. To make a great composite, you need to consider color, lighting, perspective and so much more. Join Jesus Ramirez as he shows the traditional art principles that apply to Photoshop composites to make them more realistic.

Understanding and Matching Perspective

Color Matching

Creating depth with Atmospheric Perspective

How Shadows Work

For centuries, artists have depicted animals with human-like qualities. However, how does one go beyond the traditional depiction of simply placing an animal head on a human form to create a charming, anthropomorphized animal character through the manipulation of animal body parts? In this class, Karen will impart her distinctive Photoshop techniques and supply you with the working files to enable hands-on learning.

How to photograph an animal and gather all necessary body parts and angles

How to blend body parts together seamlessly through creative masking techniques and Karen's hairbrush method

How to enhance the blend realistically with shading and lighting techniques.

Working non-destructively is often described as a good habit because it lets you easily change your mind. That’s very true, but to me there’s so much more to the story: using these methods allow you to go far down a road of experimentation, knowing that you can never (well, hardly ever) paint yourself into a corner and be forced to say “oh well, I guess that works”. In this class I’ll share my favorite methods to open up a world of creative experimentation. Among the things you’ll learn:

• How Smart Objects and Smart Filters change everything
• The incredible creative possibilities of the Blend If sliders
• How to mask a mask
• Why you never have to rasterize type (or any other layer)

In this class I will teach how we can build up a more interesting and whimsical scene within Photoshop. We will cover how to create depth and perspective to our images. I will show how to add realistic light and shadows to images so that they appear naturally together. We will cover how to add different elements to help create a story and visual interest in Photoshop and I will end with options for tonal and colour adjustments.

- Layer Masks - Brushes

- Creating Your Own Brushes

- Painting Shadows and Light

- Tonal and Colour Adjustments

In this session we will explore the world of Photoshop filters. Alone, most filters are boring and useless, but with a little creative mixing you can create custom design effects like textures and other special effects and have fun doing it. You'll come away with

A desire to explore realms of the Filter menu you never considered before.

A new understanding of how mixing can give you far more results than most single filter effects

Discover ways of doing something you've always done in a new and creative way.

Join Glyn for this session as he shows both practical and creative uses of textures in editing and compositing. Often regarded as a design element, textures can be so incredibly useful in so many ways, be it quickly adding a new floor into an image, compositing quick fixes or more elaborate artistic creations; there's a purpose for textures in every workflow.

How to use Textures for Quick and Easy Compositing

Practical Uses of Textures for Photographers

Capturing and Collecting Textures

Organising and Storing Textures for Easy Access

Discover Creative Comping methods using Adobe Photoshop, actions, plug in. Learn to think out of the box for some creative compositing techniques.

We will also look at easy ways to add lighting and texture effects.

•pro plug-ins to create fantastic elements

•actions that will give great looks to your images

•how to use color grading presets (get a set of creative color grading presets)

•think outside the box, utilize MOBILE apps to add finishing touches to your composite

Creative collage is a wildly popular look these days, whether for use in a commercial project or just your own conversation-starting wall art. But what exactly is it and how do you get started? Join Khara and follow along to learn the basic building blocks used for blending digital photography with traditional media. You’ll learn how to mix pixels with paint, texture, paper, and more to create digital art that looks and feels analog. (All without the mess that usually accompanies mixed media projects—”Look ma, clean hands!”)

Where to find ideas and source material (or create your own)

Easy projects to start with

The best no-fail backgrounds, accents, and techniques

Renee Robyn takes us through a project from photo shoot to Photoshop.

One of the keys to combining images and creating composites is masking the subject in a realistic manner. In many cases, that means creating a great mask that makes edges - especially fur and hair - look realistic. In this session we’ll explore some strategies that will help you create believable, realistic masks without too much effort. We’ll cover
- the most important step before selecting and masking
- the pros and cons of the AI selection methods
- how to take full advantage of Select & Mask
- dealing with fringes and unrealistic edges
- fail back plans when the automated methods don't work

The Secret Power of Photoshop Brushes: Maximum Creativity. Maximum Fun

• comprehensive understanding of the different types of Photoshop brushes: stamp, pattern, concept, impressionist, mixer, smudge 

• comprehensive breakdown of the brush settings panel

• understand how to fully control your brushes

• modify existing brushes, create amazing new brushes 

• see creative uses for brushes

In this class I will teach how to create images that have glowing objects. We will discuss different options and techniques on how to create a realistic glow as well as how to paint on the glowing light effect onto models, backgrounds, or other elements within the image. We will talk about composition, creating story, and how to draw focus into the main part of an image.

- Creating Brushes

- Layer Styles and Blending Modes

- Adding Glowing Effects

- Tonal and Colour Adjustments

Join Photoshop expert Jesús Ramirez in this information-packed session for advanced Photoshop users that will leave you with at least one, “Wow, I didn’t know Photoshop could do that!” moment. This will be a fast-paced session that will teach you techniques used in the Hollywood industry to create breath-taking composites.

Creating custom brushes for pixel perfect mask edges

Color Matching and Compositing tricks from the Hollywood industry

Advanced Layer Blending

Take a mindfulness break! In the second of this 2-part series you'll learn how mindfulness eases the self-judgement that can naturally arise when entrenched in the creative process. Learn how to drop into present moment awareness to let go of expectations as you find more clarity, focus and self-compassion. Experience a guided mindfulness meditation practice to release mental blocks and physical tension using your breath as your anchor.

This course will set the foundation for nailing your Shadows, Shading and Lighting every time

1. Understand the importance of shadows, shading, and lighting in creating realistic composites
2. Learn how to use Photoshop tools to create and manipulate shadows, shading, and lighting
3. Understand different types of light sources and their effect on the subject
4. Learn techniques for matching the light source and shadows in the composite
5. Create a realistic composite with accurate shadows, shading, and lighting

Interesting art requires more than just taking a picture. Join fine art photographer Anya Anti and learn about the power of compositing in creating storytelling artwork and bringing your artistic vision to life. She will share some secrets of creating realistic fine art photography composites. Anya will break down one of her own artworks, show her tips and tricks on compositing, selecting source images or inserting your own, how to work with masks and layers and how to match all the elements together, turning everything into a finished piece of artwork in Photoshop.

Learn about the power of compositing in creating storytelling artwork

How to create a composite selecting source images or inserting your own

How to work with masks and layers

Photoshop tips and tricks

The ability to composite images from different sources and blend them together in a unique artistic style is a most sought-after skill set.

For myself, compositing is about storytelling, placing images into a digital canvas and having the power to create any story I want, to convey a message in my work.

I approach compositing much like a director of a movie would, it is their story or their version of a story they must convey. They help the actor prepare and give direction on the emotion of the character, mood of the scene. The Director must direct.

Creating a successful composite that can be convincing in its story or message takes planning.

In this course Richard shares his knowledge of managing Photoshop to work for speed while creating the best work he can.

1. Introduction to Fine Art compositing and the planning session.
2. Composition the Foundation of the story.
3. Color Harmony, blend the subject with background colors.
4. Background Removal and those rough edges.
5. Technique and Style
6. What creates depth? Scale, Contrast, Saturation, perspective or all the above.
7. Bringing it home: How to finish and polish the composite. (This is where most fall short)

I will be taking a photo taken under harsh midday sun lighting and manipulating to a dreamy night surreal image. I will be going over using overexposed highlights as a base for glows, painting clouds, and color grading. 

Too often photo artists reach what they feel is the end of their process, having created a cool image or composition, only to quit before giving the canvas that all-critical final push that will unify their piece and give it the dramatic boost that will push it over the top. This session will provide you with a clear system for bringing it all together at the end.

- How to ensure the lighting and shading are just right (and then some).

- How to unify the canvas through textures and painterly effects to bring everything together so that it feels cohesive.

- How to combine Adjustment Layers and Adobe Camera Raw to achieve finishing creative effects that will lend emotional depth and meaning to your work.

In this class, Aaron will teach you how to blend digital illustration with your photography & textures.

Let me count (literally) the ways making prints brings new life to you and your images, including improving your vision, making more high-quality images, sharing your work effectively, selling them, leaving a legacy, and much more. Then get a lightning-fast tour of what you need to do or have done to get the best prints possible, whether you make them yourself or work with someone to make them for you – color management, file preparation, media selection, printer maintenance, print finishing, editioning, etc.

My accompanying ebook The Digital Printing Quick Start Guide will detail this process into easy to follow steps.

My website will help you dive deeper when you want to.

Understand why making prints takes your creative vision to new levels personally and professionally.

Make sure color management is ensuring you’re getting the best color possible.

Learn why it’s important to get your hands on different media before choosing the one that’s right for you.

Know what to look for in great prints and how to get it.

It’s one thing to watch an instructor present a finished, fully formed concept as a step-by-step, follow along project. But what did the process of getting from A to B look like? Is the process as linear as the finished project looks? In this behind-the-scenes session, follow Khara Plicanic as she goes from nothing (not even a concept) to finished mixed media masterpiece. Watch over her shoulder as she brainstorms, tests ideas, finds source material, and experiments. You’ll get to see her try things, throw them away, and start over again, making the mess that you know in your heart is part of the process—but that instructors rarely get to share.

You will learn

That art is a process (no matter how experienced you are)

How crucial trial and error really is

The overwhelming sense of affirmation that comes from realizing you’re on the right track

In this session I will share my process for exploring the works of others to better my skillset and I think you will find it a useful way to pursue your creative goals. We will explore finding a certain effect, then seeking out examples and then explore how to create our own effects from these inspired sources. It's a fun way to keep fresh ideas and to better your skills, which is never a bad thing.

Find inspiration online

Gather ideas and start exploring what others have done

\When you are stuck creatively, fun to do to get your creativity going

As a traditional media artist, I would get attached to my original art creations. It could be an oil painting on canvas, graphite drawing, a colored pencil illustration or a 3-dimensional textured collage. The point, there’s only one original. With digital art and photography, we may have a raw file, a layered Photoshop file or a Tiff. But they are not true original, you can’t touch a file format or feel the energy flowing through your hands as you paint, sculpt or draw.

You can create a true original art creation using Digital Artistic Techniques combined with Traditional artist painting techniques on a Fine art print or Canvas.

I call it “Artistic Embellishing: Mixed Media Original Art” a process that allows you to get back to traditional art without giving your love for digital creations.

1. Full introduction of the creative process for creating Original Mixed Media Art.
2. Starting with Digital creation in Photoshop and then printed on a variety of surfaces including fine art papers and canvas.
3. You will also learn tips on how to output images on certain surfaces to enhance the artistic effect.
4. Prepping the print for added art with sealers to give tooth for colored pencils, paints, and textured gels. Both solvent base process and water base process explained.
5. All materials explained, Brushes, palette knife, options with water base paints, water-based oils, watercolor pencils, oil, and wax pencils.
6. Recommended safety steps to help the artistic experience enjoyable and safe.

Have you ever looked at your art or photography and wished there was an easy way to turn it into a product? In this session, Dave will show you how to easily set up an online store with Zazzle and use a Photoshop plugin to turn your art into T-shirts, bags, promotional items and more with ready-made mock-ups included, as well as how to easily turn your images into prints via a cool Blurb plug-in. Get creative and get selling!

Do you avoid printing because it seems complicated? Yes, printing always appears challenging, but it is also one of the most fun and exciting ways to share your photography. Printing can be easy, creative, and enjoyable enough that you don't need to dread or even avoid it. There are a lot of steps to take when printing, and it can be easy to get tangled up in the weeds. Much of the printing process can be made easier by taking advantage of the best printing tools that exist in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop sphere. This class will discuss the basics of printing calibration, printers, and basic workflow setups. We will follow that up by discussing papers and other fun substrates to print with. Once we cover the basics, we will dive into how to maximize your fine-art printing workflow using the power of Lightroom's printing module and Photoshops editing tools.

You will learn how to properly setup your environment to make quality inkjet prints at home

You will learn how to use a variety of materials to make fine art prints

You will learn how to best incorporate Lightroom and Photoshop in your printing workflow.

Learn the dos and don'ts of what to share and how to share it in the ever-changing world of social media.

How to save your images in the best size and ratio for social media

How to choose between Reels, Stories, Posts, Photos, or anything else

How to grow an audience with your work

"Everything is so digital anymore, it's easy to forget how powerful it can be to carry your work out into the real world — through exhibitions and galleries, publication, commercial projects ... or even simple prints or creative bespoke gifts.  Not only will bringing your art to life in this way prove so much more satisfying, it could easily lead to a vital and fulfilling career."
You'll learn ...
- How photo artists all over the world have made the leap from screen to real life with their art.
- How to position yourself as a meaningful and valuable artist with something important to share.

- How you can revitalize your creative career or enrich your artistic life. 

This class will take a deep dive into what happens after an image is finished in the world of fine art. From ways of sharing to connect more deeply to an audience, to ways of presenting the work and establishing relationships with galleries for exhibitions, this class will take you through the ins and outs of marketing fine art images.

- How to market your images with an emphasis on connection to your audience

- How to establish relationships with galleries

- Expectations for fine art exhibitions