Each week, the LMAC Community run by holds a collage contest round for its members to participate. In the Community, you'll discover a variety of themed contest entries submitted for consideration in the contest. Hopefuls anxiously await result indicating where their creative collage scenes will be chosen for the final round of competition. If you'd like to participate, just visit the LMAC Community account here for details on the latest contest.
The LMAC Community also offers an opportunity for members to create "freestyle" collage themes and post to the Community. In the freestyle option, you have more freedom to design your creations without having to incorporate the weekly contest photo. You still, however, have rules in which you must abide by when posting to the Community.
For my Freestyle Collage No. 84, my theme is a blooming desert.
On first glance to the naked eye, it may seem as though a desert is a dry and desolate place where no life can exist in any meaningful way. But quite the opposite. In fact, plants and animals not only survive, but thrive there.
It's called adaptation and evolution to fit one's environment.
Some varieties of plants have the ability to store up water. What I find most fascinating is that in some deserts in Australia, where the conditions are extremely dry, aquatic life have adapted to survive in those conditions.
In preparing my theme, I assembled numerous images to represent the thriving life in a desert. Among the images were two background scenes. One I used for the skyline; the other for the landscape.
Below are the list of images I included to complete my theme:
| Item | Contributor | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mermaid under water | Pixabay | Link |
| Desert landscape (Contest Image #179) | Link | |
| Woman with red roses in hair | Pixabay | Link |
| Purple Butterfly | PurePNG | Link |
| Black birds | Link | |
| Red flower | Link | |
| Woman Sitting Side (Public Art - "Sculptures Garden" in Tel Hashomer) | Link | |
| Red tree | Link | |
| Blue moon | Link | |
| Flaming Flower | Link | |
| Woman Sitting forward (Public Art - "Sculptures Garden" in Tel Hashomer) | Link | |
| Granite Sculpture (Public Art - Sculpture Gardens) | Link | |
| Butterfly - Pink | Link | |
| Butterfly - Yellow | Link | |
| Butterfly- Green | Link |
When compiling my freestyle collage design, I upload the images to Canva, my design program I use for compiling my images and completing the project. Below are the procedures I use that incorporate the tools at my disposal in my Annual Pro Membership Subscription.
To a blank canvas, I added the mermaid image.
Resized the mermaid image, then duplicated it to fill the screen as my background. I knew I only wanted to use the background of the image, so I decided to replace the mermaid with an alternate image.
Added the woman with red flowers in her hair.
Removed the woman's background. Added the red tree, moon, and bird to the woman's head.
Added the LMAC landscape oasis image. I knew I wouldn't need the skyline portion.
Removed the landscape background; resized and duplicated it to fill the bottom half of the screen.
Added the flowers. Removed the backgrounds, then resized and repositioned them. One in the skyline and the other in the landscape.
Added the colorful butterflies. Three of them are my own fractals. Others are free images.
Added the statutes of people. Colorized, resized and positioned them on the canvas.
Below is my completed collage:
Thanks for your visit. I appreciate it. I hope you like my freestyle collage theme.
CONTEST RULES
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
It is imperative that you read the post LMAC School - Public Domain Picture sources (Free Materials for creating collages) by , which discusses public domain issues. The post offers valuable information on images for commercial use. Links are included to sources that offer public domain images and other images that are free for commercial uses. Using public domain pictures and free pictures for commercial use are requirements for all collages that are submitted as entries in the LMAC contest and the LMAC Image Library (LIL).
Good luck everyone with whatever your endeavors.
SOURCES:
a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines
f) Thumbnail Image created by me in Canva.
g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/
English is my native language.
If translation included, I use DeepL to assist my readers.
Thanks for your patience an understanding.