"2012 AutoRama Two" Photograph Manipulation - Paint.NET - Corel PSP Pro X3

Blue Flames

Blue Corvette

Red Orange Custom

Yellow Pickup Custom

"2012 AutoRama Two," features photographs take by Keir M. Gatzka. The Photograph Manipulations are done by myself. I browsed in Picasa 3.9 to the AutoRama folder and selected these photographs to manipulate.

I opened them each in succession in Paint.NET where I applied the Ink Sketch feature. I adjusted the Luminosity in Curves and upped the saturation a bit. I also applied a painterly filter to each image. Saving the large image I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3.

There I further manipulated the images. I adjusted the paint strokes on each one just slightly. I used the saturation Vibrancy on them. I used the Smart Photo Fix on each as well. I also added my signature as a Visible Watermark. I finished each with a 25 pixel black border. I resize in PSP for display here.

I noticed that we are soon to reach 50,000 Pageviews and wanted to thank all of our readers and visitors for making that goal possible. We have over 866 posts to date on gatzkART!, and are happy that many enjoy our blog.

Listening --- The Beach Boys --- Fun, Fun, Fun

"2012 AutoRama One" High Contrast Photographs - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Green Custom

Red Blue Custom

Red One Custom

Yellow Custom

My son, Keir M. Gatzka, borrowed my Canon Rebel XTi and went, with my Brother to the 2012 AutoRama in Detroit. It was held at Cobo Hall. He got about 180+ photographs, I selected just four today to do some photo manipulation on them.

I browsed in Picasa 3.9 and opened each with Corel PhotoPaint. I used the Local Equalization on them and then the Tone Curve for depth. I added some lens flares from KPT's Collection, I added my signature there and saved the large files.

These I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and added some Image Information, and a black border of 25 pixels each. I resized in PSP for display and uploaded them to gatzkART!. I had cropped only one photograph and lost the EXIF data on it, but the others are intact.


Listening --- Dishwalla --- Counting Blue Cars

"Watercolor Parrots" Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Watercolor Parrots

I did another digital painting of Watercolor Parrots in Corel Painter 11. I used the same techniques as yesterday. I used a Dover Publications image resized in Corel PSP Pro X3. I saved it and opened with Corel Painter 11.

I used various watercolor brushes at differing sizes and opacity. It was a large file so the painting took some time as some of the watercolor brushes were slow to respond on my older PC. I also used some Liquid Ink fine point for some outlining and the eyes. Also I toned down the area between the birds with a textured chalk brush.

I added the mat and frame in PSP again, then resized after adding my signature. I have placed both images, yesterday's and today's, as Posters on my Zazzle account (please see my Art For Sale Page for the link to my store.) And also more products which will be released within 24 hours per Zazzle's terms. When the new products post you should check them out!

The posters do not have the mat and frame as you can select real mats and frames on Zazzle as part of the purchase if you choose to.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Can't Buy Me Love

"Watercolor Plumage" Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Watercolor Plumage

Late post today, took some time to paint this image and finish it. I took a Dover Publication's Bird image and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and resized it, applying the Pencil feature to it for a color sketch. The file was about 11" x 9" and 300dpi. I saved this file and opened with Corel Painter 11. Thus, "Watercolor Plumage."

There I used various Watercolor Brushes at differing sizes and opacity and painted this image with high saturation colors. Each color selected had it's corresponding RGB setting set to 255.

I saved that file and reopened in PSP and added a mat and frame and visible watermark. I resized for display and saved that file.

Listening --- PBS --- Sharks

"12-String Guitar Headstock" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4

12-String Guitar Headstock

I took this simple photograph with my Canon Rebel XTi of the rear headstock of my Seagull 12-String Guitar. I thought I would play around again in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. So I took the photograph and opened with that program. I selected the Impressionistic style and set the colors to Intense.

I applied the feature and got a lovely image of this photograph. I applied the Apply Surface Texture Luminance to it for the brushstroke textures. Then saved the file.

I opened in Corel PhotoPaint and used the Tone Curve for depth and upped the saturation to boost the colors. I also added my signature in PhotoPaint. I saved that and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3.

There I used the saturation Vibrancy on it for yet more punch to the colors. I added the Ornate Picture Frame and resized for display here.

I really like the simplicity of the image, the brushstrokes and color, as well.

Listening --- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss --- Rich Woman

"Sweet Guitars" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint

Sweet Guitars

I wanted to do another guitar based digital collage. I found this great sheet music with a light watercolor wash over it. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and went to Picasa 3.9 to search for some guitar images. I located six of them at various angles and close ups as well as a full 12-string.

I resized them to fit as I wanted and used the property Exclusion on four of them for color and transparency. I applied Little Ink Pot's Thredgeholder, for the sketch appearance, to the other two guitar images and placed them with one near the center. I used the property Multiply on these for transparency.

I added my signature and saved the large file as well as resampled for display here.

Listening --- Madagascar's --- I Like To Move It

"Blue Study in Textures" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

"Blue Study in Textures"

Just a short post for today. This "Blue Study in Textures" is a combination of part of one of Mayang's Textures, A Dover Publication Cartoon, A view of a dilapidated barn, and a water-tower. And a grunge effect from Filter Forge's Photo Effects.

I have limited time for a more detailed explanation. I did construct this in Corel PhotoPaint using Little Ink Pot's Thredgeholder on the photographs of the barn and water-tower.

It is a piece that needs a closer look for searching out the details and textures. Click on it for the larger view, use F11 to enlarge your browser screen. Enjoy your searching out the details.

Listening --- Laura Marling --- The Muse

"Dancers" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Dancers

I took some time to browse in Picasa 3.9 in my Dover Publications and Free Vintage Clip Art folder. I have over 1,000 pieces of art in the folder and it took some time for inspiration to hit me.

I found the pieces you see in today's image. A floral like background, a woman and man's faces and the dancers silhouette. I opened the floral in Corel PSP Pro X3 and resized it to a 10 x 5.8 inches 300dpi background. I then saved that and opened in Corel's PhotoPaint. There, and from Picasa, I copied and pasted and erased around the faces, placing them opposite each other.

I searched for the "Dancers," silhouette and copied and pasted that and used the property Multiply, then resized to make them the centerpiece in the image. I merged all, used the Tone Curve and upped the color saturation, and added my signature, Then saved the large file, resampled it for display and saved that. I looked at the enlargement in Picasa 3.9

I decided to use Picasa 3.9's Museum Mat for a frame, I applied that, adjusted the mat color to blue and saved that file separately.

It was a simple Digital Collage project with pleasant results.

Listening --- Elton John --- Tiny Dancer

"Mother In Law as a Young Lady" Paint.NET - Corel Painter 11 - Digital Watercolors

Mother In Law as a Young Lady

This is an old photograph I scanned in with my Canon MP495. It is my Mother In Law as a young lady. I took the image and opened with Paint.NET and used the Effects; Artistic; Pencil Sketch on it to simplify the picture.

I cropped that to focus on her face and hair. Saving that file I opened with Painter 11 and used Skip Allen's Digital Watercolor brushes to paint it. I used the Flesh Tone palette and the Gray Range palette for the colors, with a couple of selections of my own for the reds.

I varied the brushes and the size and Opacity as I painted. I kept the image simple and painterly as I could. If you look closely you can see some of the noise of the original photograph left in the background. This gives it an elegance it might not have had if I had blurred or softened the photograph more.

My Mother In Law was an out-spoken and straight-forward person. Here I see her as a young lady who loved to dance and have fun. She is now deceased and missed. My wife helped me with this by being a by-stander as I painted.

Listening --- Sheryl Crow --- Mother Nature's Son

"Vintage Man and Woman" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint

I Don't Think I Can Make It . . .

I've been following a blog that has free vintage clip art to share recently. FREE ViNTaGE DiGiTaL STaMPS has a lot of really nice clip art, both backgrounds and other pieces of interest.

Using Picasa 3.9 I browsed to the newest pieces I garnered from them and opened the background with Corel PhotoPaint. I added the Lady and Gent on the phone, copying pasting, erasing around them and adjusting to fit. I then took a piece of Dover Clip Art of a stained glass window and used the property Multiply on it for transparency.

I used the font Brickley Script for the statement: "I Don't Think I Can Make It . . .," above the couple. I added a lavender border to the piece and my signature, saving the large image and resampling for display here.

Listening --- Primitive Radio Gods --- Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand

"Watercolor Portrait" Corel Painter 11

Portrait

Found in browsing with Picasa 3.9, a digital pencil sketch of a young woman. I opened Corel Painter 11 and was working on creating a new workspace. I created some new Texture papers using some textures from Flaming Pear saving them in a new library.

I opened a new 8" x 10" 300dpi canvas and using the Chalk brush I painted the entire canvas with textures in very light browns and yellows, ochre really. I saved that file and using copy and paste I opened the pencil sketch on it's own layer. I used the resizing tool to make her fit the large canvas and committed the transformation.

Using differing watercolor brushes I painted the young lady portrait. I altered opacity and selected each brush as I went along. I kept some of the sketch showing through for small details, especially in the eyes, where I used a Tint brush for the eye color.

I did use the Tint brushes quite a bit as well for the painting. If I remember correctly the pencil sketch was created digitally also in Paint.NET, quite a while ago.

My son and I have been discussing portraiture recently. He is going to try to develop his drawing skills with traditional pencil drawings and I, of course, will be working digitally. This is my first attempt within this discussion.

Listening --- Def Leppard --- Woman 

"Whirligig" Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Whirligig

Today I took a photograph, given to me of my Grandson being fascinated by a Whirligig. The photograph was black and white so I played around with it in Corel PSP Pro X3.

I used a painterly background I had previously made in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I copied and pasted the photograph, as a New Layer and Mirrored the image. Then I used the property of Luminance at 100% opacity, which allowed the basic colors to show through.

I merged the layers and saved the large image opening in Painter Photo Essentials 4 and applied Modern Painting Auto-paint with jagged edges. I then applied the Pen and Ink Auto Painting. I saved the file and opened with Corel Painter 11.

There I used Watercolor brushes to paint in more colors to add to the mirrored image and to brighten up the whirligig. I appended the Flesh tone palette and used a color selected from that on the hands, face and legs.

Saving the file again I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 where I added a 10 pixels border and used the Visible Watermark for the signature. I saved again and then resized in PSP for display.

Listening --- Seal --- Whirl

"A Waiting Lady" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

A Waiting Lady

Today I used some Vintage Clip Art I recently got from online along with Flaming Pear's textures. I opened Picasa 3.9 and browsed to my Flaming Pear folder and selected a texture called "branches." I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and increased the file size by increasing the dpi to 300. I then used the Unsharp Mask tool on it for a bit of sharpness.

I converted this bmp to an RGB image and used Replace Color giving it a blueish cast. I browsed to my Clip Art folder in Picasa 3.9 and found the Marie Antoinette like lady and copied and pasted her into the texture background. I erased much of the image leaving only the lady. I also added the dress making piece to the image.

I Replaced Color on both then added the globe and books and scrolls, copying, pasting erasing, coloring again. I searched for an appropriate corner symbol and did the same. I used the property Multiply on all the pieces of the collage. Saving this I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and where I applied the Saturation Vibrancy to boost the color and Curves for depth. I added the ornate frame to match the elegance of the lady.

I resized for display in PSP saving both sizes of the image.

Listening --- Little River Band --- Lady

"Grunge Guitar Trio" Corel PhotoPaint

Grunge Guitar Trio

Getting some advice on the song "Playing In A Vacuum," to highlight another verse, and drop one chorus. Perhaps a change in the Key as well, then back to the original Key.

With the song in mind I worked on a Digital Collage today. It has a grunge background and a trio of guitars. I added a snippet of the song's chords and lyrics using a Typewriter font. In keeping with the grunge theme I added wet paint drippings to the words and some paint splatters.

On the three guitars I applied Little Ink Pot's Thredgeholder for a rough sketch look and feel. I deliberately kept a balanced composition. I did apply the Tone Curve to the cracked concrete background to enhance the color depth.

I did all this in Corel PhotoPaint with Picasa 3.9 for browsing to the folders where I had the images of the background, and guitars.

Listening --- Bob Seger --- Night Moves

"Dual Guitars" Illustrations - Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Dual Guitars 1 Illustration

Dual Guitars 2 Illustration

Since I've been songwriting again I felt it appropriate to select guitars as a theme for my visual art today. I connected my external hard drive and went to My Pictures folder and looked for my Guitars folder. Finding it I opened Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and dragged and dropped one of the photographs I had taken of our guitars.

I used the auto paint selection Illustration for the painting, with intense color. I used this on both selected photographs. I used Apply Surface Texture, Luminance to both images as well. I like the texture on the second one better as it lends itself to that painterly look and feel.

I saved the large files and opened Picasa 3.9 and browsed to my current folder for the blog images. I opened with Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3 and added the Visible watermark, a black border, saved, then resized for the blog.

Now on to some guitar playing.

"Custom Truck Mashup" Corel PSP Pro X3

Custom Truck Mashup

This little experiment shows the value of having a tripod for differing exposures of the same subject to use for HDR images. I ended up with an Abstract image playing around with Corel PSP Pro X3's HDR feature.

I took three exposures of this same custom truck, owned by a friend of mine, and united them in the HDR feature. I used the Align Image tool and it did its best to give me an HDR photograph. I did not use a tripod, only stood there with my shadow on the bumper of the truck. So my photographs did not align properly, as is evident in the image.

Nonetheless, I found the end result rather interesting as an abstract image. I used the Vibrancy tool for the color and a couple of other photograph smart fixes on it. I added the blue and black borders as a finish to block in the abstract image. I also added the visible watermark, my signature prior to adding the borders.

Musically I worked on the song "Playing In A Vacuum," last night with my 12-string searching for a chord progression and melody. I went back through some chord progression notes I have and found a group of chords that fit the subject well. Using them with the lyrics, already written, I created the song. I found a drum beat that was a blues Shuffle and adjusted the speed in Audacity to the pace I had for the tune. I recorded it today and did some over voicing as well for added balance to the piece.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Playing In A Vacuum

"Sky and Clouds" Fun with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4

Detailed Watercolor

Modern Gouache Pen and Ink

Seurat

I had some fun with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and three cloudy sky photographs today. I took the photographs off my external hard drive where I saved them as back ups. I opened the folder using Windows.

I applied differing styles of auto painting to them. On one, with the deepest colors, I used Modern Painting first then switched to Gouache Painting, and then Pen and Ink, for the finish I Applied the Texture Luminance.

For the one with the noticeable brush strokes I chose the Seurat Painting mode. And for the other I applied the Detailed Watercolor painting.

I saved all 3 images and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 from Picasa 3.9. I used the Watermark to add my signature. I added a black border and black frame to each. I also resized them for display.

I have to say that all three are interesting in there own right. Each one has it's own elegance. I'm glad I took each of these photographs coming back to Michigan from Chicago one autumn.


Which one is your favorite?

"My Brother" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4

My Brother

Working on the laptop today for a change. I browsed to a folder in Picasa 3.9 of some photographs taken in Alaska while visiting family. I found this great photograph of "My Brother." I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and cropped it for a close up. I then resampled to 300dpi to increase the size of the image. I saved it and opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4.

There I tried various auto paint styles and decided that the Modern Painting looked the best. I allowed the program to do all the work, auto painting this style. Since I was on the laptop I didn't have access to my regular signature so I added a watermark in Arial Narrow Italic.

Using Filter Forge's Frames I added a narrow photograph frame to the large image, saved it and re-opened in PhotoPaint to resample to fit display here.

I invite you to read my page about My Art For Sale, I will consider any piece of my art you find here on this blog and will create the link for you as well if you wish to purchase anything.

Commenting is also welcome, I like to get feedback on my efforts to create images and the explanation of my program use and techniques.  Thank you for taking a look at this blog.

"Catch of The Day" Digital Collage in Corel PSP Pro X3

Catch of the Day

I wanted to start the month off with a digital collage using Corel PSP Pro X3. I browsed to my Dover Publications folder while in Picasa 3.9. There I opened a wallpaper background.

In PSP I resized to a larger file by increasing the dpi to 300. Then I used the Unsharp Mask tool to sharpen it.

Again in my Dover folder I found the Dandy with his attendant and copied, Pasted as New Layer into PSP. I used the layer property Multiply and also applied Curves to deepen the color, resizing to fit the large background.

I found the lobster in my Dover clip art and placed the same way. I skewered the lobster on the Dandy's cane. Naming the collage "Catch of the Day."

I decided I did not like the clip art in black so I used Adjust, Color, Red, Green, Blue, and made them a brown, which fits the beige background better.

I added my signature with the Watermark tool. Then added a mat and gold frame to complete the collage. I then flattened all layers to one. Saving the large file I then resized for display.

I was using Verse Perfect to write a song lyric the other night. It was suggested I use a theme of "Playing in a Vacuum." I am fairly isolated from other songwriters locally and write alone most of the time, so the theme was fitting. I now have verses, chorus and a bridge in writing. I need to add the chord progression and melody as of yet.

Pondering --- Playing in a Vacuum