"High Contrast Sandbox" Corel PhotoPaint - Plus

Sand Castle

Look!

We sat with my Grandson today and I was able to get a few Photographs. The family bought him a turtle shaped sandbox and some colored sand. As he played in it Grandma was right with him.

I took the photographs with my Canon XTi, and opened them with Corel PhotoPaint. I wanted to create some High Contrast images with bold colors. I applied the Local Equalization first to the images. This gives great contrast when set high.

Then for the color depth and punch I applied the Tone Curve to both of them. I finished the images with a Film frame from Filter Forge's Frames. This workflow is simple and straightforward and makes for High Contrast High Color pieces.

Listening --- Neil Young --- Old Man

"Grunge Singer" Paint.NET - Corel PhotoPaint

Wet on Wet Watercolor

Today I took one of my Mayang's Textures of a floral stained glass piece and opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I rotated the image, and auto painted it with Wet On Wet Watercolor.

Grunge Background

I opened the background with Corel PhotoPaint and applied Filter Forge's Photo Effects Grunge to it. Then I copied and pasted the Singer onto the background. Using the property Screen I made the Singer slightly transparent allowing the colors to show through. (see below.)

Ink Singer

Saving that for my background I searched for an interesting photo to overlay on it. In Picasa 3.9 I browsed to a High Contrast  photograph of a friend of ours singing. I opened with Paint.NET and used the Ink Sketch tool on it. I saved that file.

Final Singer Digital Collage

Still in PhotoPaint I applied the Tone Curve to add more depth to the colors. I saved that iteration after merging the files plus my signature. I resampled the images for display to show the steps I took to arrive at this piece.

Listening --- The Moody Blues --- I'm Just a Singer

"Self-Portrait with Guitars" CorelDRAW - Plus

Seagull 12-String Guitar

 I took this photograph of my Seagull C12 Cedar 12-String Guitar and using Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 auto painted it. I used the Illustration feature for the painting and outlines. Saving that I used Corel PSP Pro X3 to resize it to a larger image. I added with the Fill tool the Yellow Orange background color and saved the file.

CorelDRAW Collage

Using Picasa 3.9 I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and copied it to the clipboard. From there I opened CorelDRAW and pasted the image. I made differing sizes of the guitar by making duplicates and placing them in a collage with a brown border while in DRAW. I Grouped the pieces into one image.

Grunge Collage

I copied that to the clipboard and went to PhotoPaint and pasted it into that program. I saved the large iteration and resampled slightly to allow Filter Forge's Photo Effects Grunge work on it. I applied the grunge effect.

Ink Sketch Portrait

Browsing in Picasa's faces I selected a Self-portrait. I opened with Paint.NET and made an Ink Sketch of it. I pasted that into PhotoPaint and fit to size. I used the property Overlay for it and that gave it the transparency I wanted. I added my signature and saved the larger iteration.

 

Final Self Portrait with Guitars

I resampled in PhotoPaint for display here and saved that final file.

"Blue Halftone Grandmother" Corel PSP Pro X3 - Plus

Spouse's Grandmother

Browsing in Picasa 3.9 I was struck by this image of my wife's Grandmother. I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and adjusted the tone with Curves. This added some facial features that had been washed out.

I applied the Halftone feature, and then changed the Color to a Blue tone. I added my signature with the Image, Visible Watermark. Then I took that and applied the Picture Frame Cyan-tone frame. I also added a blue border and again using Picture Frame added the Black frame. I saved the large iteration and resized for display.

I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and used the Tone Curve on it for just a bit more color depth, resaving it.

Listening --- Bob Dylan --- Tangled Up In Blue

"Vintage Postage Stamps from Greece 2" Digital Collage - CorelDRAW - Plus

Vintage Postage Stamps from Greece

These "Vintage Postage Stamps from Greece," were found in my Cigar Box Stamp Collection. As I am sorting the stamps I have found most of them to have been canceled, used. A slight disappointment for the values of vintage stamps are higher if they are pristine, never been used at all, except for collection.

Using my Canon MP495 I scanned the stamps in at 300dpi. I used Corel PhotoPaint as my "holding pen," then I opened CorelDRAW to align them and to resize them. I copied and pasted each stamp into DRAW. As you can see that they are not original sizes. I wanted to make a real digital collage with them, so I adjusted to my eye. You may notice that some of them were on Airmail envelopes, I left them like that for the realism.

After I adjusted them I copied to the clipboard and pasted them back into PhotoPaint. I used the Tone Curve to deepen the colors. Then I used the Wand selection tool for the white space and then selecting a background tile I filled with the Fill tool that space. I saved the large file and resampled for display. I added my signature and saved this iteration.

Listening --- Lifescapes --- Postlude

"Grunge Cool Dude" Paint.NET - KPT Collection - Plus

Grunge Cool Dude

"Grunge Cool Dude," began as a trip to Dairy Queen for something cold, I garnered this photograph of my Grandson. I opened from Picasa 3.9 with Paint.NET. Here I cropped the photograph and applied the Ink Sketch feature to it. I copied to the clipboard. I opened Corel PhotoPaint and pasted as New from Clipboard.

I took that image and applied KPT Collection's Gradient, which gave me a blue background. I then pasted from the clipboard the photo image and used the property Multiply on it to let the gradient show through. I added my signature in white, merged all layers and added a blue border to the image using Image, Papersize, Centered 40 pixels.

I then used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Grunge on the piece for texture. I applied a light effect so as to show as much of his face and sunglasses as I could. I saved the large file, then resampled for display.

"Red Orchids" Van Gogh Style - Corel Painter 11 - Plus

Red Orchids

Simple post today. This photograph was taken by my son Keir M. Gatzka. From Picasa 3.9 I opened with Corel Painter 11 and made a Quick Clone. I selected the Artist brushes Auto Van Gogh set at 37.8 and increased the Jitter slightly. I applied the auto painting feature.

Saving that file I reopened in Corel PSP Pro X3 and added the painterly frame. I saved that iteration and opened with Corel PhotoPaint. Here I added my signature in white and using Filter Forge's Photo Effects applied Vibrance to the image. I resampled the image to display size and saved again.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Come To Terms

"Orchids and The Married Couple" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Orchids

The Married Couple

As I mentioned in yesterdays post we attended a Wedding. Today's images come from photographs taken there. The Orchids were photographed by my son Keir M. Gatzka and the Married Couple was taken by myself.

For the Orchids I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and auto painted with the Colored Pencil feature. And the Married Couple was done as a Classical Oil Painting with some cloning for facial details. I used Corel PSP Pro X3 for adjusting the color of the Married Couple, adding the ornate frame as well.

I have more photographs to select from and may use them in future posts.

Listening --- Hulu --- The Middle

"Dilapidated Shed" Impressionistic - Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Dilapidated Shed

A Wedding makes this a short post day! I am, of course, taking my camera. This is a rework of one of my favorite photographs. It was taken by a family member who will not be named but remembered.

I browsed in Picasa 3.9 to a folder containing some tiff files and this photograph was in there. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and converted to a JPG file for use in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. After saving that I reopened with Essentials and applied the Impressionistic feature of auto paint with two differing sized of brushstrokes, both Swirly and set at Random with Rough canvas.

I stopped the auto paint when my eye was satisfied. I saved the file opened PhotoPaint and added my signature in green. Saving that iteration I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and added the ornate frame. I saved again and then resized for display.

This is all the time I have today!

"Alaskan Sunset" Impressionistic - Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Alaskan Sunset Impressionistic

Simple post from my laptop today. I opened from Picasa 3.9 this sunset and applied the HDR effect for color enhancement. Then I selected this photograph of an Alaskan Sunset and applied Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 Impressionist style with no changes to the setting. I deepened the colors using the Tone Curve in Corel PhotoPaint and added a watermark signature. Saving the large file I then resampled for display here.

Listening --- Peace and Quiet

"Guitar Head - I Am a Poor Rambling Boy" Corel PhotoPaint - Plus

Guitar Head - I Am a Poor Rambling Boy

Using the Impressionist auto paint in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 with the brushstroke set at Swirly and the canvas set at Rough I created the background. I saved that and reopened with Corel PhotoPaint from Picasa 3.9. I cropped the background so as to see the brushstrokes.

Using Paint.NET I made the guitar player, minus head, into an ink sketch, and did the same with the 12-string. I resized both to fit and used the 12-string guitar as the head.

In Picasa I selected the music piece, "I Am a Poor Rambling Boy," reminiscent of a Blues tune and added it and the large pointing hand.

In PhotoPaint I used the property Multiply for the pieces and their transparency, merged them and I saved the cropped piece. I added a light blue border and resampled for display with my signature.

I went back into PhotoPaint and using the plugin Filter Forge's Frames added a light film frame to darken the blue border. I saved that file.

Listening --- Eric Clapton --- Unplugged

"Grunge Seagull S12 Cedar Guitar" Corel PhotoPaint - Plus

Grunge Seagull S12 Cedar Guitar

Today I selected another blown glass floral photograph from Painter Talk Forum. I auto painted it using Detailed Watercolor in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4, as the background. I saved the file.

I took photographs of my "1990 Seagull S12 Cedar Guitar," and used the auto paint feature Illustration on one. Then I opened the other with Paint.NET and applied the Ink Sketch with full color.

Using Picasa 3.9 I opened the background with Corel PhotoPaint. There I copied and pasted the images of the guitars. On the Ink Sketch guitars I applied Effects, Creative, Alchemy which gave them a loose grunge feel. I duplicated the Illustrated guitars and placed them for a pleasant composition of repetition.

I used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Frame for a grunge look and feel for the entire image. I boosted the background color depth a bit with the Tone Curve. I saved that iteration.

I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and added some Vibrancy to the colors with Hue and Saturation. Saving the large file I resized for display after applying my signature with the Visible Watermark feature.

This guitar is my current instrument of choice for songwriting and jamming. I will even improvise Blues leads on it playing to backtracking MP3's in A minor and C major.

I am working on a new song I started last night called "Come To Terms." I have yet to work out melody and chord progression for it so I have some work ahead of me.

Maybe in the near future I will get an inexpensive but playable Electric guitar for improvising my leads and melodies.

Contemplating --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Come To Terms

"Impressionistic Butterfly with Foliage" Corel Painter 11 - Plus

Impressionistic Butterfly with Foliage

Today I selected another photographic reference from the Painter Talk Forum. I opened from Picasa 3.9 the "Butterfly with Foliage," with Corel Painter 11. I made a Quick Clone then I chose the Artist, Auto Van Gogh with the brushstroke set at 37.5. I then auto painted it with Effects, Auto Van Gogh.

I saved the large iteration and closed Painter 11. From Picasa I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3. There I applied Hue and Saturation Vibrancy at 33.

I then selected the Image, Picture Frame and applied a loose edged frame. After which I applied my signature with the Visible Watermark selection. I went back to Picture Frame and added the gold frame. I adjusted the color depth with Curves. I saved the large file again. Then resized for display saving that iteration.

Listening --- Emerson, Lake and Palmer --- From the Beginning

"70,000 Plus Pageviews Milestone - Three New Images" - Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Blown Glass as Detailed Watercolor

Gouache and Detailed Watercolor

Splat Brush Gouache

We have reached over 70,000 Pageviews and it is once again a Milestone for "gatzkART!" Thank you for visiting! We appreciate your visits and views and your comments are always welcome. You can join the blog as a Google friend or RSS or Atom feed, as well as an email feed as is your pleasure. You can also use Google+ to vote for your favorite posts. Digg the post or Share on Delicious as you desire. Share with your friends this blog about the Digital Visual Arts and Music!

We invite you to read "About Me," and "My Art For Sale," pages for more information. Art not shown on Fine Art America or Zazzle can be requested to be added by an email to me. They both make great quality prints and other products for your selection. The Art is competitively priced.

We will continue to share photography, digital collaging and other digital imaging, along with explanations of workflow. Corel products are highlighted as well as imaging tools like Paint.NET and others.

I recently retrieved some photographs for painting from the Painter Talk Forums. I Auto-painted them with varying results. These were shared with us for painting exercises and I chose to use Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 to "Paint" them. I have yet more to experiment with.

Each title describes the image and auto paint features used on them. I truly enjoy Painter Photo Essentials 4 for it's versatility and easy use for making great paintings from good source materials.

Listening --- Neil Young --- Falling Off the Face of the Earth

"Vintage Arephon and French Postage Stamp" Corel PSP Pro X3 - Plus

Vintage Aerephon and French Postage Stamp

I selected a yellow background texture from my Mayang's Texture folder using Picasa 3.9. I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and auto painted using Gouache settings. I chose Random Splat brushstrokes set at 80%. I saved this large iteration, reopening with Corel PhotoPaint

I just had received from the Free Vintage Digital Stamps Blog, the image of the "Aerephon." So I copied, from Picasa, and pasted and resized it to fit the background. I applied the Tone Curve to darken the lines of it. I then scanned in at 1200dpi a Vintage French Postage Stamp and copied it to the clipboard and pasted it onto the image.

I resized the stamp to fit each corner and made copies for each. I used the Feather tool to thin up the border of the stamp before I set them with merging.

I saved that large iteration and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and resized the image to it's original size at 300 dpi. I then added my signature with the Visible Watermark tool. I added the matting and gold frame to the image. I resized in PSP for display.

Listening --- Emerson, Lake and Palmer --- Trilogy Album