Imperfection in a digital world
You can't have realism without including flaws ...
In the world of advertising, social media and (increasingly) AI, nearly all images are perfect. Filters are applied to smooth out our natural flaws, AI spits out unrealistically symmetrical and flawless faces that all look uncannily alike.
But reality is not like that. Reality is messy. As everything and everyone goes through life, the edges get rubbed and worn and torn. Our faces are all unique and become even more so with age, with wrinkles and flaws that add character.
So, even though I create digitally, I embrace imperfection. Because it adds depth and interest, catches the eye more than soft focus slick perfection - and reflects reality.
That means crumpled and cracked backgrounds, dried and crinkled leaves like in the page above using one of the collaborations in the Hear My Voice Project with Rachel Jefferies of Pixels, Paper & Paint.
Or messy paint, scratching and dangling threads, as in this heartfelt page using “Let It Go” collection:
Here are more of my creations featuring torn and crumped paper, messy stitching, dangling threads and general .. wonkiness:
And some from friends (Esther, Chigirl, Marijke):
Some of my personal favourites using recent and old family photos of mine with the “Pocket Full of Pebbles” collection:
Now, as I have written before, often when I am making a travel album, for example, I DO want crisp, clean lines and little distraction from the photos, like this:
BUT even in multi-photo pages, and especially when working with old vintage family photos, some “imperfection” aka messiness just adds to it for me:
And it’s just … fun.
FYI all the imperfect creations above were made with collections that are currently part of my Black Friday sale (see details below)
ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?
Scroll on if you are not ready for Christmas, but it is fast approaching (sorry!) and I have some new creative assets that can make recording Christmas memories quick and hopefully fun :-)
The Myrrh collection has a purposefully limited palette so it can be used with those notoriously busy and hard to scrap Christmas pics. And I love a bit of sweet retro holiday imagery.
A WRAP OF THE BF DEETS ...
Because it’s Black Friday, there are lots of new designs from digiscrap designers all over the various stores, and lots of different sale events happening across the weekend.
You can find all my 50% - 60% specials at The Lilypad PLUS the new Christmas releases right here. Don’t miss the special bundle of Hear My Voice collections.
Do check out my Oscraps store, as the edit of my designs you can find there are all 40% off in a storewide sale (and you will also find many of the 50%-60% deals there too)
Also: All my commercial use assets are 60% off at both stores.
Thanks for reading my Substack blog and showing an interest in what I create. If you are enjoying ‘Life in Pictures’, I’d love to hear from you - like or leave a comment and let’s connect. (If you haven’t already, you can subscribe for free to receive new posts and some welcome gifts in your email. You might also like to download the Substack app to see extra notes and find other great creative inspiration from around the Substack world). Thanks again :-)
