NEW! HUGE Impact Collection

See it here

YAY! I just learned how to use a hyperlink!!! Expect to see a lot of them from me!

Sorry, that's not the point of this journal. The point is to talk about my new collection. The artists represented in it made something that was more than a picture to me; or in one case, a collection of words. This may or may not be a big deal to the artists featured here, but if I found out that one of my works had this kind of effect on someone—rare enough to be 5 out of hmmm... approximately 960 deviations—I would be honored. So, based on the numbers, you can tell this doesn't happen very often. And—as cheesy as it sounds—I'd like to give these artists a little free exposure (even though I barely have a big enough audience to make a difference). Since this is a small folder and since it doesn't happen very often, whenever I add something to it, I'll have an update journal talking about the artist's work and how it affected me. Or I'll probably just do it whenever I have time.

But before I start, there's something I wanna say......................................... xP Isn't that awesome!?! I saw someone use that in one of their deviation descriptions, and I thought it was so cute!!! I've never seen it before so I was really excited about it... That's probably why it doesn't have its own emote [it being so unused].

Sorry for the spontaneousness, but I just had to get that out of my system...

Okay, no joking around anymore. Since there is no special order for this, I'll just talk about the works from the first favorited to the latest favorited. Oh, and if you wanna see my original reactions and the artists' original reactions, just read the comments... Or in the case of this one, a critique and its comments.

So... here's the first favorited:
:thumb307836034: by alyssaincolor

In terms of the actual impact, it's probably on the small end of the scale of all the ones in this collection. But it's still enough to be HUGE. I had never seen anything like this before. Normally, when you see pictures of flowers, they're super close up with big fancy macro lenses and all that. But in this photo, you're nowhere near that close to the flower. And not only did alyssaincolor take a photo like this, she actually pulled it off and made a great photo! The weird thing about this is she hasn't replied to my comment on there... She replied to the other two on the page. I don't know why she didn't reply to mine. It's not rude; in fact, it's nowhere near rude, it's a compliment. But I guess she just hasn't been on in a while. Oh well, we'll see...

Next one:
Waiting.. by MishUMuch

Before I talk about this in this... emotive way, I'd like to talk about it in an artistic way first: the shoes are kind of dark, or more specifically, the leggings are dark. The black border really brings that out and draws attention to the shoes (and the leggings), which are the subject. But we already knew that the shoes were the subject, so the black border just brings even more attention to them, making your eyes wanna follow them after checking out the floor. If not for the border, the picture would be less interesting. If you saw the two versions next to each other, they'd be two different pictures. Whether the one without the border is good or bad, that's up to you, but I think the one with the border is the best.

Okay, now back to the journal:
This is a big one. At the time of the photo, MishUMuch was waiting for her dad in a hospital room to come back from a serious operation. That itself means something, but it doesn't mean anything to me because it wasn't my dad in the hospital getting operated on. But it still had an effect on me. Like MishUMuch said, "Sometimes a single simple shot tells more. Maybe this is one of them." I felt this inspirational sensation when I found this photo again as I was looking through my 40 pages of faves. Even without really remembering what the description said, I was suddenly inspired looking at this picture. I really wanted to write a story or a poem or something to go along with this photo. Idk, I guess it's how you only see her feet in the corner of a blank (but slightly patterned) floor. Maybe her feet symbolize the small bit of story we have to work with (the prompt), and the floor symbolizes how much potential this story has (if you look at this mathematically, that's a lot); the story being waiting, or more specifically waiting on a loved one to get through a serious medical operation. Anyway, as ridiculously cheesy as all that sounds, that's the inspiration I felt. And I think it made a big impact on me because of how personal it was to MishUMuch. I don't know how serious the operation was, or just how hard an experience it was for MishUMuch, or if maybe I'm just making a complete fool of myself, but either way, inspiration is a wonderful sensation.

Moving on... the next one is
:thumb314110992: Don't Hide by MizBnaN

This is VERY psychological, I think. Which is why it's so long: I've got to explain it. I think it's even more psychological than the last one. The best way to explain is to have the artist explain it first. The description reads:

I met a friend at the Washington Leadership Conference this last week and she wrote this on my hands because I cover my face too much. Whether I'm laughing or emberassed or whatever, I cover my face. Soo now when I go to do that I see my hands and don't do it(: And since she wrote it, I've been rewritinging it everyday so it never goes away

Beware! I'm going to start this explanation off negatively:
I used to have this friend. I won't reveal his name, but he was smart and he knew it. In fact, he knew it so well, he showed it off; he showed it off A LOT. So he was cocky; he was VERY cocky. He still is. Would you agree that cockiness is a bad quality? I think so. If you don't, then you should just meet my friend. Not only does he use big words in his regular speech, he also points out that because he knows these big words, and you don't, that he's smarter than YOU! Yes, you. He'll personally target you. I hated him the the first year I knew him. Hearing him reminded me of what he did and I didn't like what he did. So every time I heard his voice, it ruined my day. And I said that to his face, too. After that first year, I finally got used to it, but I still didn't like him. In this year, I figured out why I didn't like him: I don't like to see bad qualities in people. In fact, it made me angry to see bad qualities in people. That's why I hated him with a vengeance. I told him this too... I don't remember what he said. But shortly after that, we weren't friends anymore. But if we started talking again, I would hate him like I did in that first year. I'd have to start all over again if I wanted to get used to him.

Now let me tell you how that applies to this:
Things can only exist if they have an opposite. Heaven can't exist without hell, hell can't exist without heaven. In terms of mankind still living, Men can't exist without women, and women can't exist without men. There are so many more, but that's not the point. So, because I don't like people with bad qualities, I like people with good qualities. In terms of the deviation, there's someone out there that wants to help this person [MizBnaN]. She wants her to stop covering her face, so she wrote "Don't Hide" on one of MizBnan's hands and "Beauty" on the other. And because MizBnan knows someone thinks she's beautiful and wants her stop hiding it, she does. She doesn't cover her hands with her face anymore. But she rewrites the words everyday to remind her why.

So... I suppose I like this deviation because someone did a good deed. And, like I said in the comments, the fact that it worked made the photo that much more better. And as I was writing this, I noticed another thing about the photo: the writing on her hands says "Don't Hide Beauty" while the title is "Don't Hide." They both mean something different, but good, even though they're very similar. The fact that they're very similar—in terms of words and letters—is pretty neat.

And that's what makes this photo amazing!

Next is:
WaterI lap at your feet, welcoming you into my depths.
Seducing your toes to step closer, wade further
It’s a cool day, and I offer warmth and comfort
Begging you to swim, even though you know
                                       I know
That danger lurks with me
                           I entice your senses,
A single dance with the darkness
                           A sway into danger,
Can’t be that bad,
                   & Water by TheLeavesOfMemory

Since it is summer and there is no school (at least for a little while longer), I haven't really read anything much. I think I've only read about 3 books throughout the summer... Anyway, reading this poem—just like the books—helped me rediscover the joy of reading. I really can't think of anything else to say here, so just go read the poem and my critique. I am NOT going to copy and paste all that in this journal. It's already long enough.

And finally, the last one is:
Viola and Bow by me

Yes, you read that right. It does say "me." The only reason I faved my own own work is because of the comments. It's kind of like the situation above I did all the writing on the comments and not here. It's really long and I'm not going to make this journal any longer than it has to be. I'm sure you're all bored already. So, you'll just have to read it. You don't have to read it now cuz I'm going to do a brief summary of it all:

It all started with Breakaway13's innocent comment: "such a beautiful instrument. I like how this was taken as a close up and you can see the music notes in the background" Then I went and wrote (and I literally did plan it out) a big speech about... well, a lot of things. (This is what makes it long) The reason it started out being was why I like this photograph, then it went to why I love the Viola. And that's where it got really long. Then Breakaway13 replies saying why she also likes the Viola and that the cello is a close second. Then I replied to that saying that's why my "ruling out" of the cello was so short. It was kind of hard to find big enough reasons. I also tried to say (in a nice way) that pretty much all the strings have the same design, since she said she liked the Viola because of its design. And I also said that I was glad someone shared my opinion about the Viola. And I also asked her if she plays anything. Then she replied that she doesn't play anything and would like to learn to play the acoustic guitar, then maybe electric.  And she also said how she's left handed, so finding a guitar to start out on might be a little difficult. Then I replied explaining all the ego-related reasons for playing an instrument. And then Breakaway13 ended it all the same she started. She said "I just might sounds nice"

And that concludes it all!

Hope you liked it!