The Challenge Addicts Club over at Fine Art America had a seven day mystery letter challenge. The challenge was that each day a letter would be drawn and your image of an item starting with that letter would be created and uploaded that day. So, it would not be possible to create ahead of time. We had 24 hours to get it finished and uploaded. You can see all the entries here.
Day 1
The first letter was “W”. I googled a list of words that start with W. It was not very inspiring, so I headed into the studio. I found these “W”hite beads and put them on a white background. I set up one strobe, thinking to have a soft directional light. But hadn’t put the diffuser on yet when I shot this one. I kind of loved the hot highlight and heavy shadow, so I decided to keep it.
Day 2
The second letter pulled was “P”. I started to go with purple here. But instead chose to do a little food art. I had some pears, so I wrapped in them in a string of lights and put them on white acrylic so there would be a nice reflection. I finished it in black and white for a moody feel. I darkened to the pears to almost black so they look almost like velvet. I love this image!
Day 3
“H” was the letter on day 3. Funny story here, the person pulling the letters actually pulled a “Y” but thought it was a lower case “h”. I often can’t understand my own writing, so I can relate! H was an easier letter anyway! I had been thinking of doing some honey stuff and this was the perfect opportunity. In addition to this pic, I got some other really nice ones that I will share later. But a word to the wise when working with honey, that stuff can get messy! LOL! I love the gold of the honey with faded blue stripes. There is so much happening in this very simple image. Horizontal lines, heavy vertical shadows, and that golden circle almost in the center.
Day 4
This one should have been easier for me. There are so many options for “C”. I decided to do charms. Then I found a cookie charm. I like the contrasting, delicate box and brick wall. But the charm gets a little lost. I may revisit this idea.
Day 5
“L” is for Lettuce. It was a good idea. But I think my lettuce was a little wilted. This might be one of those things to revisit with better produce in hand! Again a lot of different lines, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal creating a contrast with the organic shape of the lettuce.
Day 6
“A” was a little more difficult for me. Then I remembered that I am actually doing a project called “Alewives and Brewsters“. So I donned my flowy dress, pointy hat, and with a golden lager in hand, created an “A”lewife. The background is not my house, just FYI.
Day 7
The last day, I was actually at the Renaissance Festival and did have access to my camera or computer. So, I used my phone and went with what was around me. The letter was “M”. I spotted this gazebo with its moss covered roof and thought perfect!
I really enjoyed this challenge and I think that this is something that I will continue to do on my own! You can visit my gallery to see more of my work here. All of the images above are links, so if you like them and want to purchase prints or other gifts, just click and it’ll take you to the page in my gallery! Thanks for visiting!
