I puttered a bit more with Photoshop Elements today. The first photo is a fun memory of my husband, son-in-law, and two of my granddaughters racing their sleds. The girls were so excited and were cheering on their team. So fun [and SO cold]. The guys look pretty determined too!
The red rock was backlit by the bright sky and totally washed out. I fixed that first by adding a layer with a sky from the same day. I set that layer to “darken” blending mode so that layers below it that were darker showed through. Then I erased bits of the sky layer that were affecting the color of the rock and foreground. Next, I applied a dry brush filter to the original photo.
The “frame” of grundge brush marks was added on top. I opened a white fill layer used rough black brush marks around the edges, & selected “darken” blending mode to make the lower layers show through. The black frame was too severe [IMHO] so I added a “muzz” layer – white fill set to 20% opacity with the focal area erased with a soft edge. This softened the effect of the darker frame and gave me a spot to write “the Lord is my rock” in black using my Wacom tablet and a calligraphy brush.
I’m sure I’ve missed some steps because there was a lot of playing around going on. There are many ways to achieve the same effect in PSE 8.0. Frankly, I’m glad I’m not dealing with the full Photophop program as I’m not sure I could absorb more information.
Best learning so far??? Setting up my workspace with “undo history” showing – makes it easy to back up many steps with just one click.
Cheers!
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The hours you can spend on Photoshop Elements - oh my goodness!!! Sharon and I spent some Skype time last night working with fun new stamps/brushes that are found many places on the web [google photoshop brushes and see what you get!]. Starwalt.com is one that has hundreds of fun shapes and sizes that can be used as interesting brushes to draw with OR as cool stamps when used large.
Today I used startwalt watercolor and steampunk brushes in this photo collage – talk about fun – I am really down a rabbit hole here…. Right now I’m filling up my tool kit. I can see all kinds of ways to use these techniques in my mixed media paintings! Enjoy!
Retweet thisLove this quote from Victor Hugo! I recall various points in my life when it felt like the frail branch trembled beneath me. At times like that it’s critical to remember that we were born to fly! I’m enjoying the photoshop course – what a powerful program. It’s lovely to have some of these powerful tools explained in plain language. I know I will use them in my art… but meanwhile my brushes are dry :-[ Ciao!
Retweet thisIt’s been 11 days since I blogged and I wanted to give my readers an update on the happenings in my art world. Over the holiday season I took some time to visit with friends and family and just plain rest. I certainly enjoyed that but I’m anxious to get back to my painting. Here’s a little coastal scene I did a few weeks ago that I’ve just puttered on a bit more.
Over the last couple of days I’ve come back into this painting with some opaque light areas and then used a letter stamp, light over dark and dark over light, to create pathways for the eye to move around in the painting. The butterfly represents life in the midst of cold, sterile winter [the view from the window]. I think it is saying what I’m feeling much better than I can explain with words. Interesting.
I’ve started another acrylic painting using a variety of mediums. I thought I would post a sneak peak. Perhaps it will give me an idea about my next step… seeing the thumbnail images is a great way to get a handle on value at least.
