"Competition - Plymouth" Paint.NET - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Competition - Plymouth

I have so many of these photographs from the 2012 AutoRama that it is hard to choose from them. Here is one I call, "Competition - Plymouth," because of the sign in the background. It is a Custom Plymouth.

I opened Picasa 3.9 and browsed to my Rust folder to open a texture in Corel PhotoPaint. I selected a close up of the textured rusty, scratched image and copied to the clipboard and made a new background with New from Clipboard. I set that image.

I then browsed to the Plymouth and opened with Paint.NET and used the Artistic; Ink Sketch on it without color, just the ink. I selected all and copied to the clipboard and pasted it into PhotoPaint upon the textured background.

I closed Paint.NET. Then in PhotoPaint I applied the property Color Burn for the ink sketch to allow for transparency. I merged them and saved the first iteration.

I opened that in Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the Fit to Screen for viewing. Then I added my signature using the Visible Watermark and my PNG file.

I applied the Saturation Vibrancy to the image for a little color punch. I added a 25 pixel border then the film like border using Picture Frames and added a second 25 pixel black border. I then added the gold frame.

I saved that large sized piece and resized for display here.

Listening --- Aimee Mann --- Its Not Going to Stop

"Orange 'Cuda" Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Orange 'Cuda

Here is another photograph from the 2012 AutoRama in Detroit, Michigan. An "Orange 'Cuda," is depicted in a High Contrast image with the use of Depth of Field for the background.

I used the Local Equalization tool in Corel PhotoPaint and then applied the Tone Curve for depth of color. I also used Filter Forge's Photo Effect Vibrance for a punch to the Orange. I saved and reopened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the Depth of Field on it along with adding my signature with Visible Watermark. I added a 25 pixel black border and added the black and gray frame in PSP's Picture Frame.

I saved then resized for display here.

We have reached a new Milestone of over 55,000 Pageviews for gatzkART! Thank you for visiting and viewing!

Listening --- Led Zeppelin --- Whole Lotta Love

"Harp and Three Women" Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3 - Corel PhotoPaint

Harp and Three Women

I browsed to this colorful piece in Picasa 3.9 in my Dover Publications folder. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and resized to 150 dpi. Using Filter Forge's Photo Effects I boosted the colors with the Vibrancy tool. Saving this image I opened with Corel Painter 11.

There I did a Quick Clone and using selected brushes, such as the Camel Oil, Chalk and other brushes I repainted the image. I used the Apply Surface Texture on it using Luminance. This gave me a slight impasto appearance. I used the wand tool to select the white border that I did not paint and then using the Fill tool I filled with black.

I saved that iteration and reopened with Corel PSP Pro X3 to add a 25 pixel black border and then the ornate Picture Frame. Saving that I reopened in PhotoPaint, added my signature in white and resampled for display.

Listening --- Moody Blues --- Nights In White Satin

"Butterfly Floral" Corel PSP Pro X3 - Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4

Butterfly Floral

I browsed my Dover Publications clip art folder in Picasa 3.9 and found this piece. Two Butterflies on a Floral. I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and resized to 150.0 dpi for a larger file to work on. I applied the Art Effect Pencil for a simplified version of the image.

Saving that file I used Corel PhotoPaint to increase the saturation by 7. I saved again and opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. There I selected to auto-paint with the Chalk using a grainy chalk brush. This gave me a nice light brown background and an interesting chalk drawing of the image.

I wanted more color to show so I selected the Watercolor Sketch auto-paint and used more intense colors. It painted only the Butterflies and Floral and did not touch the background chalk drawing. I saved that file as an iterative save.

I reopened with PSP and added my signature with the Visible Watermark and also the gold frame. I resized for display here.

Listening --- M. Bower--- The Tangible Realm On AGC

"Blue and Yellow Custom" Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Blue and Yellow Custom

I opened this photograph from the 2012 AutoRama with Corel PhotoPaint. I applied the Local Equalization and the Tone Curve for a high contrast image. Saving the image I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3.

Here I used the Vibrancy tool for boosting the color. Then I applied the Depth of Field tool drawing around the car to put the focus on it. I added my signature using the Visible Watermark. And a 25 pixel black border .

This gave me an image focused on the vehicle at a High Contrast and Vibrant colors with Depth of Field.

I saved the large file and resized for display.

Listening --- Acoustic Junction --- Strange Days

"Plant and Page" Corel PSP Pro X3 - Corel PhotoPaint - Picasa 3.9

Plant and Page

"Plant and Page," is highly manipulated and brushed image. I started out by opening in Corel PSP Pro X3 to resize to a larger file to work with. I applied the feature to eliminate digital noise and used the One step Photo Fix on the image.

I saved the large file and opened with Corel PhotoPaint and used the Local Equalization and Tone Curve for depth. I brushed with the smudge brush on the figures, blending the colors and lines. I applied the Tune Blur to the entire image to Soften it. Then I used the Transform Posterize filter. This simplified the number of colors.

Saving that I used Picasa 3.9 to add a vignette to the piece. Saving again I reopened in PSP and added the frame. Resized to 180 pixels 1220 width, I saved that.

I reopened in PhotoPaint to add my signature in white. Saving it for display here.

Listening --- Plant and Page --- Kashmir

"Self Portrait Recording" Logitech C260 - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Recording

I've spent the last couple of days working on recording video and audio. I have a Logitech C260 Webcam that takes fairly good video, though it is not HD (high definition.) I also wanted to record music so I selected for the microphone my Line 6 Toneport UX1 with Gearbox software. I used a "Detroit RnB Vocal," setting for the audio. The microphone is a Shure PG58.

I experimented with a number of programs like Windows Movie Maker, Logitech's own simple interfaced recorder and Pinnacle Studio 12, and got various results.

Both Movie Maker and Pinnacle resulted in syncing problems with the video and audio being out of sync with each other. I have an older PC with Win XP SP3 and the best combination was Logitech's software with the Toneport set as microphone. Probably worked best with my limited 2.5gig RAM.

The "Self-Portrait," you see is a still from my recording sessions. As I was playing back my video I took the still in Logitech's program. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and used the Local Equalization and a slight bit of Tone Curve for a High Contrast look. Using Filter Forge's Photo Effect Vibrance enhanced the colors, and Frames for a film frame. I saved the 640x480 image and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3.

There I Softened the image, and resized it to 180dpi 1220 wide. Saving that for display here.

For the video I improvised a Blues tune on my 12-String Seagull Guitar and sang some nonsense lyrics that came out: "My Baby Don't Love Me." I placed it on my YouTube Channel also entitled "gatzkART!"

I have a look on my face of concentration, working out the kinks of recording a live video for the first time. So I won't win any contest for most jovial performer with this one!


Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Collision Warning

"Bird and Floral Watercolor" Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Bird and Floral Watercolor

A fourth in my Digital Watercolor Bird series. I again used clip art from Dover Publications and resized and used the Pencil feature on in Corel PSP Pro X3. I increased the pixels to 180dpi and saved the larger file. I opened with Corel Painter 11.

In Painter I used Digital Watercolors to paint the pencil sketch. I used various brushes and sizes, but kept the colors saturated. I used the Salt brush on the background layer (set at Multiply) to add sparkle and texture to the painting.

I saved that file and re-opened in PSP and added the mat and frame using the Picture Frame feature. I saved the large file and resized for display.

I am featuring this and the others in the series on Zazzle, and Fine Art America, as posters and prints and greeting cards. Please see My Art For Sale page for the links to these.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- UJam Series My How Time Flies

"Watermelon Pickup Truck" Corel PSP Pro X3 - Corel PhotoPaint

Watermelon Pickup Truck

"Watermelon Pickup," is a photograph manipulation  of one of the images taken at the 2012 AutoRama. I opened the photograph first with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3.

There I applied the Lights to the image for the corner lighting effect. I added a couple of other effects that I kept simple. I saved the large file and opened with Corel PhotoPaint.

In PhotoPaint I applied the Local Equalization for high contrasts and the Tone Curve for color depth. I used the Tune Blur Soften on the image. Then applied KPT's Collection Lens Flare to augment the lighting I did in PSP.

I ended with a High contrast textured image with highlights of this Chevrolet Pickup. I saved another iteration of the large file. Re-opened with PSP and added the white ragged edging and a black frame. Saving that I resized for display at 180dpi.

Back in PhotoPaint I made the jagged edge black using the wand tool and the fill tool.

Listening --- Ken Brodie --- Borderline

"Grunge Custom Coupe" Paint.NET - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Grunge Custom Coupe

This photograph was taken by my Son, Keir M. Gatzka with our Canon Rebel XTi, at the 2012 AutoRama in Detroit, Michigan. I opened with Paint.NET and applied the Ink Sketch tool. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint a Mayang's Texture and cropped it. I copied and pasted the Custom Coupe into PhotoPaint.

I cropped it there and adjusted the Tone Curve for depth and increased the saturation. I used the font type WC Rhesus B Bta for paint splatters. I applied the Effects; Distort; Wet Paint to these and the title for the dripping paint effect. I saved the large file and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3.

There I added Vibrancy to the colors and added my signature using the Visible Watermark. In addition I added a Polaroid type frame and a 25 pixel black border. Then I saved and resized for display.

I recently finished another song that I have placed on My Page at Acoustic Guitar Community entitled "Play This Game." Recorded with my Shure PG58 mic through a Line 6 Toneport UX1 and lead guitar using an "Aerosmith 4" setting in Gearbox software. I used the open source program Audacity to record and mix the vocal and guitar playing then the voice overs and lead guitar. I saved this as an Audacity Project and exported as a MP3 for AGC.

If you want to visit My Page go to my links on the left and go to the Acoustic Guitar Community link. Select the song and have a listen. It was tricky production for me.

Listening --- Kenneth Brodie --- Open Secret

"Digital Paintings" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Adobe Building

Fishing Wharf

"Adobe Building," this is a Photo-Manip and Auto Painting. I used Corel PhotoPaint and applied the Local Equalization tool, then adjusted the Tone Curves for depth and increased the saturation. I saved the large file and opened it with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and selected Modern Painting, with a Dry Sumi brush, and Pavement for the texture. I then Auto Painted the image you see here (resampled for display.) 

"Fishing Wharf," I opened this photo in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I Auto Painted using the Watercolor Sketch with a Dry Brush selected. I then saved the file and opened it with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 and added Vibrancy to the hues and saturation. I used the Picture Frame feature to add the edge and small mat and border/frame.

I used the Visible Watermark for my signature and saved the large file then resized it for sharing here.

It's not "hand" painted, but I enjoyed playing with the image!Both images are from a Challenge at Painter Talk Forum, that I belong to. They could be painted by hand in Watercolor or other media could be used. I was really busy today so I chose Photo-Manip and Auto Painting with these great programs from Corel.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Play This Game

"Hummingbirds Watercolor" Digital Painting - Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Hummingbirds

I felt like doing some digital painting today, so I looked for another bird motif clip art image in my Dover Publications folder. Browsing in Picasa 3.9 I found some Hummingbirds with a nest and flowers. I used hue saturated colors to paint in Corel Painter 11. 

I used the Digital Watercolor brushes at differing sizes keeping the opacity high. I elected to leave the outlines of the original clip art for detail. After I painted the hummingbirds and flowers and leaves and nest I created another layer and used the property Multiply. I created the background and used the Salt brush on it for texture.

I had up-sized the image in Corel PSP Pro X3 to 4000+ pixels and 300dpi. So it was a large file that I used for this painting. I added my signature using the Visible Watermark and added a mat and frame in PSP. The file was so big that I ran out of RAM to resize it to a display size so I saved it and opened with Corel PhotoPaint and resampled it there instead. I also closed down Picasa 3.9 to free up RAM.

As you can see that worked in resampling this image.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Free As A Bird