I once had a professor that taught me how to perceive a picture or a surface and then transform it into an area. For the first couple of weeks in his class, I remember pulling my hair out thinking on ways to do this and trying to make sense to the meaning of his words. But finally, it hit me. 

When you look at a picture almost every time what we notice is its color, the ambiance, and maybe imperfections (which for this exercise, is a good thing). Now, beyond this, it is a bit difficult to see anything else. But wait, what about the feelings one photo can provoke in you? Does it makes you want to sleep or laugh? Or maybe that special image takes you to a zen place! No matter the feeling it produces in you, the thrill of this exercise is to put color, texture and even form to that sensation.

Maybe next time when you take a second look at the picture and realize it makes you feel happy; instantly try to think about what color you can relate with that feeling. Maybe an orange or a yellow. Perhaps for you, that color is white. It doesn’t have to be necessarily a color present in the picture. 

Other thing you can take in consideration is texture. I’ve seen some interesting pictures like the one above where texture is the main theme. You can try to duplicate this in a decorative pillow, a vase with a similar surface or even a rug.

My interpretation

Like an abstract work of art, sometimes what you feel and see in a photo is not what your friends see or perceive. Taking this in consideration, here is my interpretation of the picture above.

I’ve always enjoy nature. For me it is the essence of life. When I took this picture all I thought about was how peaceful and pleasant I felt in that surrounding. Everything, even the fallen leaves or the tree bark on the trunk seem to follow some kind of order.

In the picture of the nature, although there is some green from the little sprouts, it also has lots of branches and dead leaves. To use this fact as part of my interpretation I employed muted colors representing faded life. Also the branches on some of my items were examples of this.

Texture plays an important role in this photo, so I played with lots of them. Here are some examples.

1. Branches: representing the essence of faded life.


2. Frame in mirror: it brings the green just a little bit, but also reminds us of firewood found in the outdoors.


3. Plaster artichoke: its layered surface resembles that of the tree trunk.


4. Stitched toss pillow: not only does the color is acquired from the photo, but if you pay extra attention, you will see a thread-like plant. The stitching of the pillow duplicates this texture.


5. Mini flower toss pillow: representing the form of the clinging green plant.


6. Porous balls: Again, repeating texture and form.