All Stocked Up.

Made my annual trip to the local Art Shop today. Every few months, I have to make this trip to stock up on Ink, Bristol Board, Brushes and so on. Our local (and as far as I know only) Art Shop is in one of the roughest parts of town. It’s like a little quest I have to do three or four times a year. I hate that this shop is so far away and to get there, I have to walk through parts of town I’d rather avoid (or better yet… firebomb!) But when I return triumphant and all restocked, I still get a little giddy and a bit of a buzz off it. Doesn’t last long, but there’s something about knowing I’m all stocked up and ready to go that I like.

I’m starting to develop a real mean pet-hate about something I see more and more when I’m online. It’s when people post their photos up on the net and they’ve put on really bad Photoshop filters, so their photo is now all weird shapes and colours, and you can’t really make out what the original image is meant to be, unless this was the aim of the person posting the photo (which nine times out of ten, it wasn’t.) It’s a trap most people fall in to when they first get their hands on a copy of Photoshop and discover the filters. In the late 90’s when I was studying Graphic Design, I’ve got to confess it was maybe a trap I fell into myself a few times in the early days. You think these filters are the coolest thing in the world when you first start using Photoshop, and you can’t help yourself. I know nowadays it’s a bit of an inside joke in Design. People with their home copy of Photoshop and the need to use those horrible filters they think look so arty and edgy. Photoshop (and other Art Programs) are awesome for cleaning up, sharpening and adjusting your photos, but the photo itself is the piece of art. Putting on tacky, unneeded filters just looks garish. If you’re super skilled at Photoshop and know how to use filters without ruining your original shot, then fair enough. But otherwise, tread carefully, or better yet, step away from those shitty filters. When it comes to filter, less is more. Or better yet, none at all.