So what are the benefits of taking work-in-progress images?
- The camera doesn’t lie. If something’s not quite right or if it’s negatively drawing your eye – taking images during the working process may just help pick up these minor issues, which can be easily overlooked otherwise.
- Because this is still a work-in-progress, rectifying these problems should be relatively simple.
- These images become a fantastic record of achievement – something that’s often overlooked in the process of creating and making. Achievement should be celebrated.
- If everything’s working the way it’s been designed to, you will have a bountiful and liberal pool of images to use on your social media. Why not create an annual e-book to share with family and friends or simply as a record for yourself? And to my mind, promoting you and your work is huge.
- Even better, you’ll have a base of design work that can be manipulated using a graphic design platform – like Canva, which can lead to the creation of new design ideas – new from old. Now that works for me.
To create an original piece of embroidered textile art, I’ve had to pour an extensive amount of time and effort into ensuring everything is as good as I can make it. But I’m not perfect – and there are times I find I need to change something or rectify problems I’ve overlooked. Maybe I’ve forgotten to transfer a line in a design, so the resulting image just doesn’t make sense, or it may be a colour I’ve used that I now find jarring. These oversights often tend to surface in images. Sometimes I’m just too close to see it normally.
So by taking WIP images, I’m generating the opportunity to evaluate through the cold, hard lens of a camera because it presents that image in a different format from what I’m used to seeing, day after day – and that alone can make a huge difference.
Now I’m no photographer – I simply don’t understand the processes required to take great images using a camera. But for some reason, I can use my i-phone adequately enough to produce fairly good images. So that’s what I do.
I’m careful about lighting, I frequently use filters along with the Canva platform, and I try to be creative using my images. Just go to my Pinterest Mark Making board to see how I’ve utilised some of my images.
At the end of the day, it’s your work, so why not make the most of it and the artistry of what you do at the same time.
By taking work-in-progress shots of your textile and fibre art, you’re not only promoting yourself and your brand but also your style and even the genre you work in.
Happy snapping.
