Title Challenge
This was the second week of the new Art Challenge (Theme: The World Inside). I managed to create a new image despite the lighting obstacles in our dark apartment only to be presented with trying to decide how to title my new work.
I photographed one on my late mother’s scarves. It was a red and gray scarf with an abstract fall design. Because the scarf was not reflective I was able to compensate for the low light conditions by using the camera’s flash.
Most of my greeting card designs are for the Christmas holiday or birthdays and I thought that in the next few weeks it would be beneficial to add a few other designs.
Deciding that this week’s design would be a sympathy card I changed the colors on the scarf from bright red to a reddish brown. Red just didn’t seem appropriate somehow.
Photo software enabled the color change as well as an elongated text box for the message. After adding the message with the text tool it was time to title the image, write up a description or back story and list tags before uploading on the web site.
The title presented me with a new challenge. Although the message was a vague one that could be sent after the passing of a loved one or beloved pet, a natural disaster or any other traumatic event in someone’s life, should I call this a Sympathy or Condolence message?
I confess that I had to research to learn the difference between the two. My understanding of the several definitions I read is that sympathy is more personal, more informal and it conveys that the sender might relate to what the recipient is feeling or experiencing.
The title for this week’s new image became simply Sympathy Message.
There are many times that I struggle with finding the “right” title for my images. On the one hand a title that contains one or more of your tags (also called keywords) makes the image easier to find in an internet search. But art collectors seem to like catchy or humorous titles when appropriate.
This week’s image did not appear to favor using a humorous or catchy title so I used one of my tags in the title.
One challenge completed with the creative side this week , overcoming low lighting in creating the image and a second challenge completed, researching Sympathy versus Condolences for the title.
When was the last time you completed a challenge only to be presented with an obstacle in the same issue? Please feel free to share in the comment section.
Click here to view a larger version of today’s featured image.
