Question And Answer Time Ask The Artist

Recently I have had several question and answer sessions for interviews and then also from people messaging me. I thought it would be fun to respond to the main questions I get asked in my blog today (and you can ask me more in comments if you wish).

Question and Answer Time Ask The Artist

How Would You Describe Your Artistic Style?

If you had asked me this a year ago I would have answered differently. Recently I realise that I had indeed developed an artistic style, which someone called ‘soft dreamy photos’ but I call ‘instilling a sense of place or emotion’. Now you are going to ask me what I mean by that aren’t you?

Instilling a Sense of Place or Emotion

I have talked before about how I try and give the viewer the experience of the ‘feeling’ of an image. How it felt to stand there and look at the scene or object. The best way to explain it is to illustrate it!

The Madness of a Car and Motorcycle Rally

‘Racing Red‘ depicts noise, excitement, shiny toys, smiling faces and happiness.

It is from a class car and motorcycle rally that I went to in Tuscany, complete and utter madness and great fun! All of which I have depicted in this image.

I focused on the bright red, shiny popping colour and removed any noise around the edge with a ‘scratchy’ vignette. The eye goes to the helmet and goggles initially, suggesting the motorcycle rider.

A real spirit of excitement and fun.

The Cuteness of a Group of Kittens

With ‘Kitten Cuteness Overload‘ as a title it probably says it all.

I caught three of my kittens in this fabulous pose but my eye was also caught by the grain of the concrete around them and the other textures. I wanted to show the graininess of the textures, keep the soft snuggleness (is that even a word?) of the babies and use soft warm shades for that ‘aaaaaahhhh’ feeling.

It helps that two of the kittens were looking at the camera. But my animals are well used to having their photos taken.

Making the Most of Fog

‘Picturesque Boats Moored On The River Thames‘ shows a group of replica paddle steamers on the River Thames.

The boats are usually available for hire but the day I was there it was cold, dreary and quite foggy (something I explored in an earlier blog). What particularly caught my eye was the red on the boats that popped through the fog so I built the picture around that focus. The red suggests the excitement of a river cruise.

Soon people will walk down the boardwalk and get on the boats for a party! The boats are ready and waiting for their passengers but while the Thames is calm, the visibility in the distance is not so good because of the fog. Storytelling is an important aspect to my work and I often create a story to go with the images I create.

How Many Pictures Do You Create Each Month?

Eeek, this is a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question.

If I had to put a figure on it, I would guess 30-50 images each month with less some months and more others.

It depends if I have attended an event or gone on a specific photo shoot in which case there are a lot of images to process. I had over 300 images to work through from the car rally I mentioned above when I talked about ‘Racing Red’.

I always have a lot of finished images in hand that are ready to be uploaded to my sales sites. But I like to complete the processing and leave them a bit and then go back and check they do get across the feeling I was aiming for (that spirit of place thing again). This image from Copenhagen in Denmark was actually taken in 2015 but I only completed the processing and made it available for sale this month. It is shown here in a suggested room setting, click on it to see the full image in detail.

I also like to market each piece of my work so I rarely upload more than three in one day.

Where Do You Find Your Subjects?

Literally everywhere. Over time I am trying to visit all the local towns and villages here in Umbria in order to capture scenes for my portfolio. I love the light here and the local architecture and how it blends into the countryside. So I visit places specifically for a photoshoot and then I produce a blog and sometimes a YouTube video to go with the images all aimed at the tourist market and local sales.

When I visit festivals or events they are an opportunity to get images such as images of jazz musicians or maybe umbrellas lining the street of my local town, Paciano.

I am always looking at things thinking ‘I could do something with that’. My husband and Mum also get involved as ‘spotters’. I was visiting my Mum recently and we were out shopping and she said ‘come and see what I have found, I can see you doing something with this’. Sure enough she had looked up and spotted an interesting roof line which led to my piece ‘Hove Rooftops’.

Otherwise subjects appear. Cats are an important focus for me, as they are for my life, and I have a lot of them. Because I know how they move and can anticipate what they will do next I have got some great shots of them, like the kitten image mentioned earlier. I enjoy working with florals, old bits of machinery … in other words everything is a potential subject I guess.

Do You Ever Get Bored Taking Photographs?

No! Never! Every new day is an opportunity and every day is different, even if the nuances are subtle. Even for the same or similar subject, the lighting is different, things present themselves in different ways because although nature changes (I live up a mountain) I also feel different on different days. If I feel good, happy and healthy then I see things in a different way to a day when perhaps I don’t feel too well or am tired. Just the way people look at art in fact!

And I am always excited to get home and start working on the photos to create the latest images in ‘my style’.

Want To Ask Me A Question?

If you would like to ask me a question about my art work please use the comments section. I will respond to every comment.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Thank you for reading!