New palette creatures are now swimming in an alternate setting. For those not familiar, palette creatures are colorful shapes that actually show up on my watercolor palette after a watercolor painting session. When I spot them, I take a photo and play with them in Photoshop. Some creatures require more attention than others. This lot demanded a little more nudging than some of their predecessors.
This portrait was created with thin layers of oil on watercolor paper. It was monochromatic (green hues). Later I tinted slightly in Photoshop.
Happy Graduation L!
A very simple little watercolor with a small Photoshop tweak, (the angle of the hair drips;)
*This post was written long before the events in Boston however, “feeling blueish” is an apt title for today.
Photoshop has a very cool feature found under Image>Adjustments>Variations. I’ve clearly been experimenting with Variations.
Since color can dramatically change the way a piece is viewed; the way it feels, Variations helped me decide how to convert my black and white bird-children to a more eye-catching color to prepare for sale on Blue Canvas. Since then, I’ve gone conversion wild, playing with several new pieces.
Which one do you prefer?
This is the second birdie child-vison influenced image.
Most of the elements in this piece began as really loose watercolor paintings. I brought them into Photoshop and digitally placed and painted.
I almost always put in a little more work after I show you what I’m up too. This piece is no exception, but I need a little time to know just what I want to do.
A wild wind blew through my neighbor’s yard, causing a very long piece of packing plastic to take to the sky and dance. Naturally, I shot many photos of the performance. Later, I pulled the images into Photoshop and positioned them one atop the other to create the image below. Then, I sampled areas of the image that I found pleasing.
I woke up with an image reflected on my retinas. I had an overwhelming urge to realize the vision. It had to be dreamy-loose but also had to adhere to my vision.
I began with a watercolor sketch, but the color was too vibrant. It needed to be somber. I took a photo of the watercolor and opened it up in Photoshop, then decided to desaturate it. I painted a very simple back round so the bird-girl takes the spotlight. A new series is born.
The watercolor sketch:
For those interested in process, above is the finish. Below is the entire composition before I worked to my satisfaction. I enjoy lifting the color to refine the painting. I may refine the finish a little more, but I will wait a day or two to see it with new eyes. The only downside of waiting is the reluctance of the watercolor to lift easily. Thankfully, Photoshop is always there to rely on for touch-ups when reproducing the paintings for prints.
Here is Fall, just as we come to the official close of the season. You many recall my Winter and Spring portraits. I’ve only Summer to go, and the Four Seasons will be available as prints.
Below you can see the progression of the face. Nothing fancy, just using the brush tool in Photoshop to act as a real brush, accomplished with layers and changes in opacity. You can see that I was playing with the idea of birds, but decided to keep the portrait very simple. I may fuss with Fall a little bit more. Thank you to my beautiful model.
Ya know how you see figures and creatures in marble, wood grains and shadows? Below is an example of a sketchbook entry where I’m actively pulling out what I see, in an effort to allow others to see the same thing.
I’ll try to clarify:
The first two images are from my new sketchbook. I’ve pasted in three discarded pieces of a failed monotype print. Before fastening to the sketchbook, I turned these discards every which way and discovered this magical scene from an imaginary children’s book. I inked in some details. Then with a little digital enhancement, I’ve tried to flesh out the scene, but not too much-trying to retain the magic I saw in the first place. But, I’ve no idea if anyone else sees what I do.
Can ya see it? What do you see?
Final “Spring”
Because Spring is part two of a four-part project, I had be sure that the choices I made for this piece will harmonize with the previous work.
I have a very clear vision of the overall project, and have decided to contrast the moods of the seasons greatly. On the other hand, I will needed to organize specific consistencies.
They are:
*minimizing of neck and body
*some sort of collar appropriate to each season
*the same necklace representing nature’s hardships
*long hair with a life of its own
*a certain amount of dimension and texture in the back round
*a value gradient dark to light from bottom to top
*one element of disguise
*clear difference in position of the head and eyes reflecting the qualities of each season
(*perhaps a border when all four have been completed)
Below are the steps I took to stylize Ms. Spring, ultimately leading to the finish (above).
Quick sketches with a twist of Photoshop distortion to push them just a little further.
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Okey Dokey, part two is mostly about the way I manipulated my photos to provide a back round and a dress for Ms. Spring. There have to be myriad ways to deal with photos incorporated into digital paintings. I’m simply revealing the way I went about it in this piece. And, I have no problem revealing this to you. I think that the photos in this context will get the job done better than my painting of said areas.
Illustration Friday‘s prompt this week is stripes. And, while my above entry is less an illustration and more a portrait, I couldn’t help myself. I love to paint real people. As my penance for not pushing the illustration angle, I decided to make watercolor my medium for this challenge. My watercolor skills are well, not so hot. And even though I smacked my hand when I reached for it, I confess to using opacity in the form of white watercolor in this. I know, I know watercolor is supposed to be translucent. There-in lies the beauty. What can I say, I’m a layers kinda girl.
When I finished the painting, I had to scan it into Photoshop for cropping, and I did it again! I picked up the highlights and messed with it some more. Then, I found the black and white too strident and cold, so I sepiaed it up.
(original painting) (after digital enhancements)
That is my full confession. I WILL try unadulterated watercolor again. I want to, but not before hiding my ever so tempting, gleaming tube of white.
*Update: A fellow artist mentioned that she would like to see the original sketchbook entry without the influence of Photoshop. Great idea, so..here it is. Oh, I should probably say that the deep blue is acrylic paint smudged onto a blue watercolor wash with an old (worn out 😉 credit card). The “drawing” is simply herding shapes into figurative images with a black sharpie and a white Prismacolor pencil.
*
I don’t sketch enough. I draw just about every day, but it’s always with a project in mind. So, I decided to stretch the creative muscles and sign myself up for The Sketchbook Project. I didn’t let myself think about the theme, but picked a theme on impulse. I chose “in ten minutes”, figuring that this theme was about as open to interpretation as I could hope for.
The sketchbook has arrived but I haven’t actually started yet. It looks a little scary. It’s absolutely pristine. Kind of funny that I picked up my old sketchbook to plan the new one. I enjoyed looking back on some of the old pages so I’ll be posting many of them. This one I played with just a tiny bit in good old Photoshop.
This isn’t easy to admit. My work is well, sort of old-fashioned. At least, it’s not HOT. Not a big deal, I can change, except I really don’t want to. Let me back up a bit. What I love to do, is not as marketable as it could be, and I am really not at all good at what seems to be winning the children’s illustration awards in 2011. The style is spacial, heavily designed, and far less realistic than mine. Some of it is stunning. I simply gape. Some of it in my humble opinion, is boring. The work that I’m not crazy about is lacking the charm, emotion, and magic that I look for in a children’s book or app or magazine.
I enjoy working digitally. Photoshop has become a great friend. And, I’m open to working in any kind of medium, so no problem there. I do not want to be left behind, and I want to grow while remaining true to what I love. So, I’ll be posting some new work with a more inclusive age range, a little distortion, a different color palette, and a lot more space. I’ll also be experimenting with texture and line drawings.
I’ve no idea what will evolve. Please let me know what you think, especially if you are a young person (five to about forty:>). Seriously, all of your comments are always helpful and appreciated.
You may have seen my Emmadroid portrait and tutorial. In THIS piece, we have a portrait of Emma’s feet. But this time, it’s Emma’s work.
Emma began with a digital photo that she cut apart and reassembled, embellished by various Photoshop filters. She then painted her feet, using a Vis Tablet, bringing continuity to the piece. Pretty cool!
As promised, a tutorial covering the basics. In evidence are the magic Photoshop conveniences of gradients, filters, and made to order brushes. I do not have time this week to cover the alchemy of making the hardware, which is simply a Photoshop enhancement via filters, that takes ordinary lines and turns them to silver and gold. Though I am obviously enamored by the wonders of Photoshop, don’t for a moment believe that I leave the traditional drawing and painting skills in my messy old studio. It’s still all about the concept, composition, drawing, and painting.
I’d like to acknowledge two digital master artists whose skills and generosity astound me. It was one year ago that I discovered them. They taught me through their tutorials, to beam my traditional skills up into the digital world. Thank you Linda Bergkvist http://www.furiae.com and Marta Dalig http://dahlig.blogspot.com Check out their amazing work and detailed tutorials. A very big heartfelt thank you to you both.
Creeping closer and closer to Halloween night, we are. What’s out there? What’s in the closet? What’s in the basement? Darkness.
Happy Halloween!
Below is a quick digital painting tutorial at it’s most basic. Quite traditional, were it not for the Wacom stylus and tablet. This piece could just as easily been created with acrylic or oil paint on canvas. All I’ve done here is transfer traditional painting skills into Photoshop via my Mac. Digital work need not appear slick and shiny. You maintain control over the medium. Do not be afraid to give it a try.
