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"Three Irises" Digital Impressionism - Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Three Irises

I selected another older photograph of "Three Irises," rather close up and cropped for today's image. I browsed my external hard drive and found this photograph already cropped to focus on the 3 flowers.

I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and selected Impressionistic auto paint and kept the default settings; Full image, Impressionistic colors, Basic paper, and Impressionistic Brush.

I saved at 100%, highest quality jpg format. I then opened with Corel PSP Pro X3. There I applied Hue and Saturation, Vibrancy to give the colors more punch.

I added my signature using the Visible Watermark, Lower-right corner. And then added the Golden frame with Image, Picture Frames. I saved that iteration.

I did not resize because of the cropping done to the photograph, plus the frame, was almost 1000 pixels square, just slightly more. So the image was large enough, yet small enough to display here.

I'm still investigating those discovered Postage Stamps, some of which I shared yesterday. I really need to spend some time sorting them as they are not all in an album. There are a few duplicates as well and differing countries, too. Like putting together a puzzle, this is going to take some time.

"Stamps in a Cigar Box" A Discovery - Corel PhotoPaint - Scanning Canon MP495

We have discovered an old cigar box filled with postage stamps from the USA and Worldwide. I used my Canon MP495 All in One and Corel PhotoPaint and scanned in these that you see here.

They come from the Mystic Stamp Company and I have written them about any value to these in particular, referring them to our blog. 

If nothing else these stamps may prove to be useful in creating textures in Corel Painter 11 for collage work. Click on the appropriate image for a closer view.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- I Love You So Much

"Return to Grunge Guitars 2" CorelTRACE - CorelDRAW - Plus

"Return to Grunge Guitars 2"

"Return to Grunge Guitars 2" began as a photograph of our two guitars. I opened in Corel PhotoPaint and rotated the photograph to portrait. I cropped it slightly and saved the large file.

I opened CorelTRACE and turned the piece into a grayscale photograph and traced the Outlines. I saved the image to a Traced folder. I opened CorelDRAW and selected this image.

In DRAW I Ungrouped all the traced parts into individual pieces. I then selected some basic colors for the majority of them. Red, blue, cyan and yellow. I then regrouped all the pieces to one image. I copied that to the clipboard.

I pasted that into Corel PhotoPaint with a height of 2500 pixels at 300 dpi. I used the Adjust, Local Equalization and the Tone Curve for differing depth of colors. I then applied Filter Forge's Photo Effects Grunge, trying different variations, under Settings, til I found one I liked. I saved that large file.

I next opened the image with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I tried a couple of auto painting styles and finally settled on Gouache with the programs settings. Auto Painting the piece gave it more character, brushstrokes, and some abstraction. I saved that iteration.

I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and added my signature using Image, Visible Watermark, Lower-left corner. I added a 25 pixel black Border and saved that. I then resized for display saving my final iteration.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Help! CD

"Return to Grunge Guitars" Paint.NET - Corel PhotoPaint - Plus

Grunge Guitars

I browsed to my guitar photographs on my external hard drive and selected this one. I opened with Paint.NET and tried out a few features and settled on making a copy of the layer and using the Find Edges on it. Layering with Multiply I merged the two layers with the color showing through. I saved that file.

I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and applied the Adjust, Local Equalization tool, then increased the depth of color with Tone Curves. This gave me a High Contrast image.

I used Filter Forge's Frames Grunge and applied variants til I found one I liked, increased the texture and tiled. Saving that file I reopened with Corel PSP Pro X3.

I Fit to Screen, applied Adjust, Hue and Saturation, Vibrancy to boost the colors. I went to Image Borders and added a 25 pixel black border to the piece.

Saving that I opened in PhotoPaint and added my signature. Here I resampled for display as well.

Listening to the Television News

"Digital Impressionistic Floral" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Digital Impressionistic Floral

This photograph is of smaller sized Snowball like flowers. I opened Picasa 3.9 and browsed to a Garden folder selecting the photograph. I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and tried a couple of auto paintings.

I concluded that the Impressionist style looked very interesting and auto painted the whole image. I especially liked the use of Impressionist colors for the white snowballs. The orange and lavender and white with a touch of blue.

I saved that file and selected it in Picasa and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3. Here I applied the Hue and Saturation Vibrancy to give the color some punch. I also Adjusted the Brightness using Curves. I added texture using the Effects, Art Media, Brushstrokes. If you look at the larger image you can see the textures better.

I added the Mat and Golden frame in Image, Picture Frame after I had placed my signature with Visible Watermark.

It is a cool and windy Spring here in Michigan this year and I am using the photographs from our garden from previous year's blossoms. Many of our perennials come out later in the spring.

I saved the large file then resized for display here.

Listening --- The Invisible Band --- Flowers in the Window

"Day Lillies Digital Detailed Watercolor" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Day Lillies

I browsed in Picasa 3.9 to a Garden folder and selected this photograph of Day Lillies. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and applied the Adjust, Local Equalization tool for higher contrast. I then applied Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance to add punch to the colors.

Saving that file I reopened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I used the Photo Painting Detailed Watercolor, Jagged Edge, Color, Saturate, Paper, Rough, and a Dry Brush. I auto painted the piece with these settings. I saved an iterative file.

I opened it with Corel PSP Pro X3 and Fit to Screen, I tried out some features before I selected Texture, Small Hatched Texture and applied that.  I used Image, Visible Watermark to add my signature.

I added the Picture Frame Rose Mat then the Golden Frame. I used Layers, Merge, Flatten to drop all the layers to one. I also applied Image, Increase Color Depth to 24 bit RGB. Saving that large iteration I then choose Image, Resize to 150dpi and 1220 x 1083 pixels display size for here.

Musically, my Son Keir and I have been working on an older song that I wrote many years ago (1981) using my 12-String Guitar. We are endeavoring to use his new Yamaha Portable Keyboard to learn the chords and the rhythm of the song "Spending the Afternoon." We will try to also play the melody after we get the other parts down first. Neither one of us are great keyboardist's at this point but we are working that out. It is a challenge and great fun.

"Columbine Digital Watercolor" Corel Painter 11 - Plus

Columbine Digital Watercolor

Yesterday I tried a different way of posting the steps I took to produce the image of the two guitars and music stand. I have described the steps taken today in paragraph form. I would be open to comments on which form you preferred, the bulleted outline of each step or the paragraph explanation of the steps taken. Leave a comment if you have a preference, please.

This image is from a Challenge at Painter Talk forums. I downloaded the photograph to a working folder and unzipped it. Then I opened Picasa 3.9 and browsed to the folder where the photograph was. I opened it with Corel Painter 11.

In Painter 11 I created a quick clone of the photograph, used the brightness/contrast to reduce the brightness of the original. With a lighter cast to the image I selected the Auto Van Gogh Artist brush and auto painted the full picture. I saved that with an iterative name and browsed to it in Picasa.

From there I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and selected  Photo Painting, Simple Watercolor with a Jagged edge, Color set to Lighten, Paper set to Coarse Canvas and the brush set to a Coarse Watercolor brush. I also set it to Random Strokes.

I then clicked Start and let the program Render my Watercolor painting. I saved another iteration and through Picasa I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3. I fit to screen and went to Adjust, Brightness and Contrast, Curves and added back in some depth of color.

I added my signature with Image, Visible Watermark. Then applied Image, Picture Frame twice, once for the Mat and then added the Golden frame.  I Merged all layers with Flatten, and saved that file.

I applied Image, Resize to 888 x 1000 pixels 16bit RGB and saved that iteration for display.

"Seagull 12-String and Lyon 6-String" Digital Manip - Corel PSP Pro X3 - Corel PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

Seagull 12-String and Lyon 6-String

Returning to a Guitar motif I took this Photograph from my External HD and manipulated it using the following steps and programs.

• 1. Open with Corel PSP Pro X3
•     A. Window - Fit to screen
•     B. Enhance Photo
•         a. High Pass Sharpen -
•             Hard Light
•     C. Color Balance
•         a. Increased Warmth
•     D. Effects
•         a. Art Media Effects
•             1) Brush Strokes
•             2) More Sticks
•     E. Adjust
•         a. Hue Saturation
•             1) Vibrancy
• 2. Name and Save As
• 3. Open Picasa 3.9
•     A. Open with Corel Painter 11
•         a. Apply Surface Texture
•             1) Luminance
• 4. Save Large Iteration
• 5. From Picasa Open with Corel PhotoPaint
•     A. Fit to Page
•     B. Effects
•         a. Filter Forge's Frames
•             1) Grunge Frame
•             2) Red and Black
•     C. Open Signature jpg
•         a. Copy to Clip Board
•         b. Select Working Image
•             1) Paste and Place
•             2) Apply Multiply
•             3) Merge with Image
• 6. Save Large Iteration Change
• 7. Reopen New with PSP Pro X3
•     A. Window - fit to Screen
•     B. Image - Picture Frame
•         1) Add Gold Frame
• 8. Save again
• 9. Resize to Display width 1220 pixels.
•     A. Save with New # designation

These steps resulted in the Image for today. I have both Guitars and my Music Stand in the image. Plus our rocking chair. I shot the photograph with my Canon Rebel XTi at 1600 ISO Medium size jpg.

"Lil' Miss Lillian Decides" Video - Logitech - Audio - Line 6 Toneport UX1

This song was inspired by a Black and White Photograph of my wife as a child on a Carousel. Probably circa early 1950's, she was riding by herself, but I include in the song that, "I'm alongside, of you." "Lil' Miss Lillian Decides," is ©2010 Kirk Mathew Gatzka, All Rights Reserved.

"Guitar Harp Player"

"Grunge Guitar Harp Treadplate" Corel PhotoPaint - Paint.NET - Filter Forge - Plus

Grunge Guitar Harp Treadplate

Doing some clean up on my Hard Drive I ran across this photograph of a Guitar Harp. I thought it would make a great image so I opened it with Corel PSP Pro X3 and resized it to 150 dpi. I used the Saturation Vibrancy on it for some color punch. I saved that iteration.

Next I looked for a grunge background for the piece and found a yellow Treadplate. I opened that with Corel PhotoPaint and resampled to a larger size. I took the Guitar Harp image and opened that with Paint.NET using the Ink Sketch tool on it for only the outlines of it. I resized it and selecting all copied it to the clipboard.

Returning to PhotoPaint I pasted the image into the Treadplate. I used some adjustment to size and then applied the property Color Burn for the grunge color and transparency to allow the Treadplate to show through.

I applied Filter Forge's Frames using a grunge frame. I saved that image. I reopened in PSP and added the Picture Frame. I saved the large file and reopened with Corel PhotoPaint. There I added my signature in white and resampled for display. I also added some dripping splatters to the frame for more grunge.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Help!

"Bubble Mobile" 2012 AutoRama - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Bubble Mobile 2012 AutoRama

A short post today. I elected to create another High Contrast image from a photograph taken at the 2012 AutoRama. I used Corel PhotoPaint to make the image High Contrast. Then I used Corel PSP Pro X3 to apply the Depth of Field tool. I also added my signature and a colorful frame to the image there.

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

"12-String Digital Watercolor" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Corel PSP Pro X3

12_String Digital Watercolor

I found this photograph today on my external drive. I opened it in Corel PhotoPaint and rotated it to a portrait and cropped it. Saving that file, from Picasa 3.9 I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and adjusted the color with Equalize, lightening it. I then auto painted with Wet on Wet Watercolor. Added the Pen and Ink lines with a Pencil brush. Then added more color with the Colored Pencil thicker brush.

I saved that iteration and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 to add my signature, the Polaroid frame and the black border. Saving the large file and then resizing for display.

I like the "1990 Seagull 12-String S12 Cedar," for a motif and was glad I rediscovered this photograph. Painter Photo Essentials 4 is a fun program to use to layer differing styles of imagery to create a one of a kind image.

Listening --- Kirk and Keir Gatzka --- Be Kind, Be There

"Bright Parrots" Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3 - Corel PhotoPaint - Plus

Bright Parrots

Today's digital painting is from a Watercolor Painting challenge at Painter Talk Forum's. The photograph was supplied with the instructions paint a digital watercolor and focus on the foreground with the Parrots and make the background recede. I chose to almost eliminate the background.

I first opened the photograph with Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the Saturation Vibrancy on it set about a third. I applied All Media Effects Pencil to the image. This gave me a colored pencil sketch to work with. I saved that file.

I next opened it with Corel PhotoPaint. This is where I used the Tone Curve to give the remaining color some depth. Then I used the erase tool to eliminate the busy foliage from the background, leaving the perch and sticks showing.

Saving that I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and used the Detailed Watercolor auto paint feature on it. Saving that I opened with Corel Painter 11.

There I painted with Digital Watercolors Filbert brush, and added details and color to the image. I added back in some light greens for the background using a Sponge paint brush set at 60 then 24, with the Opacity set low. I saved that iteration.

Using the Image Visible Watermark I added my signature in PSP.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Blackbird

"Graffiti Building and Overpass" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Graffiti Building and Overpass

I was cleaning up my Hard Drive and came across some photographs not in my Picasa listed folders. I opened this one of the "Building and Overpass with Graffiti ," with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I auto-painted it using a Watercolor setting with color set to Intense. I saved the 300dpi file and reopened with Corel PSP Pro X3.

There I added a 50 pixel border and a Film frame then an Ornate Picture Frame. I saved that larger file and resized for display.

I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and added my signature and saved with a little more compression.

Listening --- Kenny Chesney --- Live Those Songs Again

"Trio of Pretties" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Corel PhotoPaint

Pink Lips

Red Hair

Brunette

Today I used Corel's Painter Photo Essentials 4 to create some images from three pretty ladies. I browsed in Picasa 3.9 to the faces folder and selected these. I opened with Painter Photo Essentials 4. There I applied the Auto Painting Gouache with High contrast color settings.

I then, with the finished image, I applied the Watercolor Sketch Auto Painting with saturated color over top the Gouache paintings on each. I saved each one in succession. I then used Corel PhotoPaint to add some sparkle to the eyes and add my signature. I saved the larger files then resampled for display here.

Listening --- Edward Sparks --- The Coat TEST BURN