"New Milestone Reached - 30,000 Pageviews" + "Hit List" Corel PhotoPaint - PSP Pro X3

Hit List

gatzkART! reached the 30,000+ Pageviews milestone overnight! We want to thank our regular readers and also the newly interested ones for helping us make this goal.

Today's image is a Digital Collage created in Corel's PhotoPaint using the scan, cut and paste, and erase methods. The pieces of the collage coming from various sources. After I completed assembly of the collage I saved the large file.

I opened with PSP Pro X3 to add the ornate picture frame I like for these types of collages. I resized for display here and added my signature.

Corel's new version of Paintshop Photo Pro X4 is now on sale with a shortened name at Corel.com.

I would like to update but finances do not allow at this time. It has many new features and includes a improved HDR image creation tool. I have found that it is so hard to keep up with upgrades, I know that others are sympathetic.

Listening to a Hit List right now.

"She is Only a Child" Grunge Bauhaus Art Deco - CorelDRAW - PhotoPaint

Grunge Bauhaus Art Deco

With text from Fillerati and Art Deco Designs by Edouard Benedictus, also a Bau Haus font, I created today's image. I scanned in the Art Deco designs into Corel PhotoPaint and copied them to CorelDRAW where I added the text. After that I grouped all vector and bitmapped pieces and copied to the clipboard.

In PhotoPaint I Tune Blurred the scans and added depth with the Tone Curve. Using Filter Forge's Photo Effects I added a touch of Grunge and Vibrance. Thus I created a cross version of Art Deco Grunge. I used the text phrase "She is Only a Child!" for the title placing it at the bottom of the image in all lower case. The other phrasing from "Alice in Wonderland," I used force full justification on the paragraph.

I created the zigzag pieces on the right hand side in CorelDRAW with the pen tool. I saved the large file first. Then I resampled for display online and added my signature.

Listening --- Jefferson Airplane --- Somebody to Love

"Fireplace and Living Room" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4

Fireplace and Living Room

Short post today, filled the day with many things! I used my Corel's Painter Photo Essentials 4 program on a watercolor settings and then on the illustration setting. It began as a photograph of my brother's home in Alaska that I took with my Canon Rebel XTi DSLR. I am doing this from our laptop and Windows 7, so I am learning to use this program here.

I like the programs ways of making paintings out of photographs through the settings and it's auto paint facilities. I put it on the laptop instead of my desktop to give me an art program where I could paint and experiment with the styles selections, on the run so to speak.

Many are using portable or mobile tablets and smartphones to create art these days, so I thought I would try it on a laptop. I like the results thus far.

Not Listening to any music at the time of this post.

"Steampunk Experiment II" Corel PhotoPaint

Steampunk Experiment II

I discovered this diamonds light grunge texture online, I love the colors. I opened it with Corel's PhotoPaint and went to Picasa 3 and browsed to my Leonardo folder for some diagrams and lettering. These are DaVinci drawings. I enlarged them and darkened them,after copying and pasting into the background, using the Tone Curve. I applied the property Color Burn to them each, lining them up. I then searched my Dover Publications sampler folder and found four more pieces to add to my Steampunk Theme. 

I used Color Burn on the flute players and Subtract on the car, I made the car smaller and lined it up with the DaVinci drawing. I added the harp player keeping the color. I feathered that piece. The Art Nouveau woman in the circle I added next shrinking it to size.

I like the DaVinci influence for Steampunk, adding his genius makes for a great image. The music themed images and the car don't fit at all until you add the Steampunk Theme.

I added a 70 pixel brown border and used Filter Forge's film frame to frame the piece. This was all to size from the beginning size of the background texture. (Adding 70 pixels made it slightly larger.) All in all not the largest image I've worked on. I completed it with my digital signature.

Listening --- Jethro Tull --- Thick as a Brick

"Steampunk Experiment" Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Steampunk Experiment

I received some Dover Publications samplers recently and among them were some Steampunk clip art. I browsed with Picasa 3 to my Mayang's Textures and selected one. I cropped it in PhotoPaint. I used some of the clip art and cut and pasted into the texture. Using the Tone Curve I gave each one more depth. Then I altered the colors of the pieces with Color Replace.

I endeavored to make a balanced composition with each piece placed individually. I used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance for color punch. I saved the large file and reopened in Corel's PSP Pro X3 and added the frame. Back in PhotoPaint I added my signature and resampled for display.

Listening --- Bobby Freeman --- Do You Wanna Dance

"Pontiac Music and Sound" Waterford, Michigan Corel PhotoPaint

Hand Holding Electric Guitar

Violins

Classic Kay 6-String Guitar

Peavey Equipment

Dobro 6-String Guitar

Front Desk

Collection of Electric Guitars

I recently visited Pontiac Music and Sound in Waterford, Michigan with my son and we took some Photographs. I used my High Contrast workflow on the photographs.

I opened them in Corel's PhotoPaint and applied the Local Equalization tool. Then I used the Tone Curve to add color depth to each image. I upped the saturation for a boost to the colors as well.

It is a simple workflow that results in some deeply colored and textured images with plenty of contrast.

Listening --- J J Cale - Eric Clapton --- Danger

"Theory in Practical Format" Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Theory in Practical Format

I began this digital collage, "Theory in Practical Format," with old magazine cuttings and some art work that I had done. I also included an Art Deco floral piece that I got from Edouard Benedictus' Art Deco Designs plate book.

I scanned in the cuttings and used the largest piece for the background. I used Corel's PhotoPaint to assemble the collage. I used feathering on some of the objects, and some opacity settings, for fitting the  dark color scheme.

I did the Warhol like cubist self-portrait partially in CorelDRAW, quite a long time ago when I worked at a finance company. The girl is from a portrait of my Daughter and the man is a freehand sketch painting both from some time ago.

I found it a refreshing way to use these pieces in a new and unusual setting. I added the matting in Corel's PSP Pro X3 and saved the large file. I then resized to display here.

Listening --- Peter Frampton --- I'm In You

"The Dancer and Her Mother" Corel PhotoPaint Corel PSP Pro X3

The Dancer and Her Mother

I had gotten this colorful coffee stained crumpled paper texture (off the web) for a background and this is where I began today. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and upped the saturation for a boost to the colors. I browsed in Picasa 3 to my Dover Publications sampler folder. I found these sketches of an old woman and a Dancer and cut them out to place them on the background texture. I used the property Multiply for transparency and applied the Tone Curve to darken the sketches.

I altered their sizes to fit and placed them. Also from Dover I used sketches of hands in the same manner, placing them on the collage. I found an Art Nouveau banner and placed that as the bottom of the piece. I also used some sheet music to match the Dancer theme.

I saved my large file with my signature and opened it in Corel PSP Pro X3 where I added the ornate frame. I feel that the ornate frame adds credence to the digital collage process and results. I resized for display here and saved that file.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Dance Away

"The Big Trike" Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

The Big Trike

I took this photograph of my Grandson at Spicer's Cider Mill just before his Dad put him on this tricycle and gave him a ride on it. I opened the file in PhotoPaint and cropped it then I applied the Image; Threshold; to it. I adjusted the color and the histogram for the deep shading in the image. I upped the saturation and used the Tone Curve for depth.


I saved that file and opened in PSP Pro X3 and used the Vibrancy tool on it adding to the color a boost. I also added a frame on the piece, along with a 10 pixel black border.

The photograph was taken in the late afternoon and so the shadows are long and deep, I resampled the image in PhotoPaint for display here.

Listening --- Steppenwolf --- Born to be Wild

"Slip Sliding Away" Paint.NET - Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Slip Sliding Away

We took a little trip to Spicer's Cider Mill for cider and donuts the other day. I got some photographs of my Son in Law and my Grandson Playing together. This is one of my favorites, sliding down the slide.

I opened the photograph in Paint.NET and applied the Ink Sketch tool with the color turned all the way up. I adjusted the Curves to deepen the tone. I saved that large file and opened with PhotoPaint, adding a lens flare with KPT's Collection and added a beveled frame. Saving that I opened it with Corel Painter 11 and selected a felt tip brush and chose the quick clone. I then applied the Auto Van Gogh using that brush setting.

I selected the soft cloner to add back in some details to their faces and arms, hand, and legs. Saving the file with a iterative save I opened with PSP Pro X3 and used the Vibrancy tool on it for a boost to the colors. I added a crumpled paper texture to it as well. I saved the large file then resized in PSP to display size here with an increase to the dpi around 150 but a decrease to 1220 pixels length.

It was a great little trip and the cider and donuts and watching my Grandson play made it a worth while endeavor away from the computer. And I gained some new photographs to boot.

Listening --- Paul Simon --- Slip Sliding Away

"Raw!" Grunge Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

Raw!

I returned to Grunge Guitars Digital Collage for this image. I browsed in Picasa 3 to a folder with rust textured images for the background. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and resampled boosting the dpi from 72 to 256 in increments to enlarge the texture.

I used the Tune Blur on it, both the Directional Blur and Soften, then the Unsharp Mask to keep some textural detail. I browsed to an image of a 12-String guitar and placed it with the property Color Burn. I selected my Dover Publications folder and used the music notation, with Color Burn and reduced the opacity to 69.

I scanned in a image of three guitar players from an old magazine and used the Threshold to change it's transparency. Selecting the white areas with the Wand tool I applied a Hubble Telescope image to the unmasked areas.

I added a Victorian corner to the upper left hand corner. And I scanned in a scrap of a poem entitled "Raw!" that I wrote in 1996. I angled the poem and used Color Burn to make it transparent.

I applied Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance and also a Grunge texture and slight frame. I turned down the grunge filter and upped the stains before I applied it to the piece.

I finished with my signature and saved the large file, then resampled to display here as today's image.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- I'm Raw

"Acoustic Magazine No. 3" Fake Cover -Corel PhotoPaint

Acoustic Magazine No. 3

Digital Collage is great fun for a creative exercise, so I did another "Acoustic Magazine No. 3" for today's image. Old magazine tearings and cutouts were used and scanned in with my Canon MP495. I used Corel PhotoPaint to assemble the pieces scanned at 300 dpi.

I used the fonts I have previously used on these projects (please refer to the first "issue.") I saved the large file with my signature and then resampled for display here. I don't know if I will make anymore of these fake parody covers or not, I hope you enjoy the humor and the balancing of text phrases and images.

Listening --- Blind Blake --- West Coast Blues

"Autumn Color" Corel PhotoPaint - PSP Pro X3 - Filter Forge

Autumn Color

Although the color isn't at it's peak here yet, I browsed in Picasa 3 folders and found a photograph of "Autumn Color." I applied my High Contrast workflow to it in Corel PhotoPaint and used Filter Forge's Photo Effects on it. I applied the Tone Curve to it for depth.

Saving the large file I added my signature and resampled for display. I thought it needed just a bit more punch to it so I opened it in PSP Pro X3 and used the Vibrancy tool. I also added the Cyanotype framing and a ten pixel black border. I resaved the slightly larger file and am sharing it here for today's image.

The original photograph was taken at Kensington Park here in Michigan. If we have a good peak this year we may go to the parks again for more fall photographs. That's a project I would really enjoy.

Listening --- The Moody Blues --- Forever Autumn

"Favorite Book" Corel Painter 11 - PhotoPaint

Favorite Book

Today I felt like digital painting so I opened a photograph of my Grandson and his "Favorite Book," in Corel Painter 11. I quick cloned it with a white background and began painting in Gouache. I painted his head, face and body with it and then switched to a large Chalk. I used texture with the Chalk brush for the background.

I also used the Soft Cloner for some detail in his face. Then I used a Digital Watercolor brush and painted in some flesh tones, and a touch of color in the background. I selected a thin Pastel chalk brush and added the lines for definition.

I adjusted the texture with Image Luminance, and upped the saturation to boost the colors. I also decreased the value for some depth. I cropped the image to show only him and his book. Then saved the large file.

I opened it in PhotoPaint and added my signature, saved again then resampled for display here, saving that iteration. I opened the file in Picasa 3 and viewed the full screen image. I like the image so I am sharing it for your enjoyment.

Listening --- 4Hero --- Morning Child

"Acoustic Magazine No. 2" Fake Cover - Corel PhotoPaint

Acoustic Magazine No. 2

I liked doing the first "issue" of "Acoustic Magazine," so I did a second. I scanned in ripped pieces and cutouts from old magazines and created issue No. 2., though both lack real magazine content. I only do fake covers.

I used Corel PhotoPaint for the project and after placing all pieces and text phrases I merged then used the Tone Curve for some depth to the colors. I did use the same fonts as the previous fake cover.

I saved the large file before resampling for displaying here. I think it is a nice parody. Some tongue in cheek humor here for you to enjoy.

Listening --- Alan Jackson --- Gone Country