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Monday, October 27, 2014

"Stone Textured Woman with Dogs - Horse" Digital Collage - Corel

Stone Textured Woman with Dogs - Horse
As I mentioned I would endeavor to create some new Digital Collage works. I had time to do so with today's offering for your viewing.

I started with a Stone Texture from StockVault, I opened it with Corel PSP Pro X3. There I used the Curves tool to lighten the Stone background. I then opened the Woman with the Dogs and Horse. I used the Curves tool again, this time to deepen the colors of this Dover Publications Clip Art. I also increased the Saturation Vibrancy by 33.

Using Corel PhotoPaint, I opened a page of Dover Clip Art with Art Nouveau Designs in black and white. I selected the Bottom Design and cut that out, saving as it's own file. Then I opened the Vines for the Top Design to add some framing to the Woman image.

I copied and pasted these as new layers in PSP, as well as a layer of my signature. I adjusted the size of each one, placed them in position and then Merged all the layers to one.

I saved the large iteration and resized for display in PSP. Saving that I opened it one more time in PhotoPaint. There I applied Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrancy one more time for a boost to the overall colors. I also compressed the file by 70, as it is a 300 dpi image, smoothing is set to 15 I saved the file once again with these settings.

I have many more pieces of Dover Clip Art Samplers on my external drive, to use for additional Digital Collage Artworks. Also StockVault and Mayang's Textures supply me with many types of backgrounds. Look for more of my Collage work in the near future.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

"Taylor Guitars Seven - Lightly Textured" Corel

Taylor Guitars Seven - Lightly Textured


One more image based upon the Taylor Road Show. A demonstration of their T5z Guitar, the one the Guitarist is playing in this piece.

I opened the Canon Rebel XTi photograph in Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the Threshold tool on it. The guitars really stand out in the image. I added a layer of a light Texture, like Blonde Wood guitar finishes. I upped the Saturation Vibrancy. I added another layer of my signature, then using Picture Frame added the Gold Frame. I merged all the layers and saved the large iteration.

I resized it in PSP for display. I saved that and opened with Corel PhotoPaint where I resampled it with Compression set to 50, and Optimization of the jpg. I saved that smaller compressed file.

I will be doing some Digital Collage work soon. Seven images from the Taylor Road Show is a nice uneven number.

Remember to hit the HOME button, Scroll through my Artwork and click to enlarge the images for full impact. (Use that F11 Key to give the fullest view in your browser!) Take a look see at my Labels Cloud for other subject matter you might be interested in. Feel free to browse around my blog, I have over 1,230 posts and multiple images here for your investigation and enjoyment.


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

"Taylor Guitars Six Textured Grunge" Corel

Taylor Guitars Six Textured Grunge


I reverted back to my photographs of the Taylor Road Show at Motor City Guitars for today's image. I shot this photograph with my Canon Rebel XTi during the demonstrations of their 800 Series Guitars. 

I opened the photograph in Corel PSP Pro X3 and I added four layers,


  1. The photograph itself of the Guitarist
  2. A Texture of Rusted Paint
  3. A Texture of a Concrete Wall from StockVault
  4. The layer including my signature.
I blended these using a variety of properties for each individual layer. I applied Saturation Vibrancy to punch the colors. I saved the Large iteration and then resized it, I then used a Plug-in from Filter Forge's Photo Effects on the smaller image. I selected a Grunge Framing with more texture for the white space in the image. I saved this iteration.

I opened this in Corel PhotoPaint and saved it as an Optimized jpg with 50 set as my compression. I recently have found that many of my images I save to post on this blog are not compressed enough and are causing a slower load time for the initial view of the blog. So I will be compressing and Optimizing my image in PhotoPaint (or another program) in the future to improve load times.

Those of you who regularly visit gatzkART! will appreciated this I am certain, and for my new viewers (first time visitors) it will encourage them to come back and view my Artwork again.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

"A Straw Hat Young Woman Map NYC" Corel

A Straw Hat Young Woman Map NYC


I got this photograph of the Young Woman in a Straw Hat from StockVault. I am uncertain where I got the Vintage NYC Map from, it may have been Dover Publications.

I opened the Young Woman using the Organizer in Corel PSP Pro X3. The EXIF data says it is an iPhone photograph, It was somewhat washed out, but otherwise had nice detail. I ran it through the Threshold tool and made it black and white, I adjusted the image to show enough of the nose and straw hat as possible. It resulted in some full black space, which I liked. I used the NYC Map, from my Dover Samplers Folder, as a layer and had to do a few things to it. I had to enlarge it, to fit, using Curves I gave some more depth to the colors. After I merged those layers to one I added my white signature.

I also used the Saturation Vibrancy to boost the colors of the Map. I merged the Map using the property Darken instead of Lighten, which placed it in the white space of the image. I added a 25 pixel border in black to make the top of the image fit better. I used Image Information to add Title, Copyright, Programs used, etc. Saving the Large iteration I resized for display to 1200 x 1200 pixels.

As always, please click on the image for the larger view. Comments are always welcome! Don't forget to view other Artworks of mine by using the Labels (tag) Cloud at the bottom of the screen, or the Google Search for my Artworks of various styles and kinds. You are always invited to search through my blog for Digital Collage work and Guitars, and various other images found here.

I had time to update my Acoustic Guitar Community Page to match my blog for consistency. If you enjoy Singer/Songwriter Folk/Rock and music in general Visit my page at AGC! Have a listen. You can scroll down the pages there to see the explanation of each song in my Player. Scroll to the song you would like by using the Next or Previous buttons on the Player. to stop a song or pause it hit the Stop button. Very simple player options. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

"Getting Ahead Of Myself - New Blog Background - Header and Textured Young Lady - Grunge" Corel

Textured Young Lady - Grunge
Ahead of the New Year I am trying out a new blog setting for gatzk.ART!

I created a new header with new copyright information for 2015 using Black Ladder font and a Vintage Paper background. I changed colors on my site to warm brown tones. I moved away from the Guitar background. I may try another Tiled Image of a Guitar nature in the near future, I have one in mind I just have to find it among my thousands of images on the external drive.

The image of the Textured Young Lady is a Grunge effort that I worked on today, in addition to the first post for this day. I opened Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the Organizer to find the images I wanted for Textures. I found the Gal's Portrait on my external drive looking for something else!

I also layered the pieces one at a time. First applying the Threshold tool to the Young Lady. Then I added the concrete wall to the background. And I finished off with the Vintage paper. It needed a border so I got one from Dover Publications, added that and my signature in white.

Please, when you visit this blog, comment on the current display of it, and whether or not you like the new settings. I can always make changes to satisfy my viewers needs. Comment below or email me at my Google+ address. (Gmail.)

Thank you!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

"Grunge Family Foto - Gustav, Christina, Unidentified" Corel - Mayang's Texture

Grunge Family Foto


I was looking for a Texture in my Mayang's Texture folder and grabbed this Grunge Green, Blue, Rust image for my background. As I searched through my images and photographs I found this one that is repudiated to be of my Family Ancestors Gustav and Christina, with an unidentified young lady. 

I opened all layers in Corel PSP Pro X3 and did some cropping and resizing of them to create this Grunge themed piece. I used Hard Light applied to the family photograph for transparency. I added my signature layer in white, using the property Lighten for the background making it transparent allowing the signature to show by itself. I merged all layers together.

I added Image Information, Title, Copyright, Programs used. Then, saving that, I resized for display.

I mentioned I was moving away from the Taylor Road Show Photographs for a time. Back to Grunge Textured images and Digital Collage for the present.

Monday, October 13, 2014

"Taylor Guitars Five Impressionist Painting" Corel

Taylor Guitars Five


I opened this photograph from the Taylor Road Show in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I applied The Impressionist set, Colors Impressionist, Paper Basic, Brush Soft Edge Cloner. I added back in some details lightly for balance.

Saving this I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the Smart Photo Fix, Saturation Vibrancy, and added my signature in black. I then resized for display and also had added Image Information, Title, Copyright, programs used.

I have many more photographs from the Road Show, and I am uncertain if I will continue this series. Five is quite a few, but not too many for our viewers. Here are some links for you:

Taylor Guitars online.

Motor City Guitars online.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

"Taylor Guitars Four Pen and Ink Watercolor" Corel

Taylor Guitars Four

Programs used:


  • Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4, Pen and Ink and Detailed Watercolor
  • Corel PSP Pro X3, Border, Signature Layer, Image Information, Resizing
I am ill today so a short post. This began as a photograph taken with my Canon Rebel XTi. I digitally painted it with the above program. And added the fine touches with PSP, both Corel Programs.



Saturday, October 11, 2014

"Taylor Guitars Three - HDR Lomo Chalk" Picasa - Corel

Taylor Guitars Three


I began with another photograph from the Taylor Guitars Road Show at Motor City Guitars in Waterford, Michigan. I opened it in Picasa 3.9 and applied their HDR effect first, then a Lomo effect. I saved that file. I opened in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and painted it using the Chalk Drawing set, full page, Classic colors, Canvas paper, Hard chalk brush.

I then used the hard clone brush to add back in details of the demonstrators and the Guitars and brick wall. I saved that and opened it in Corel PSP Pro X3 where I added a layer for my signature. I merged all layers, then saved the large iteration. I resized for display here.

As you can see I left the audience simple chalk drawing and only focused the detail on the number of Taylor's 800 Series Guitars, and the presenters. The Guitarist was quite good and prolific in differing styles of playing, entertaining the group with each guitar demonstrated. I was most impressed with the T5Z Guitar, which was presented last.

It has the qualities of an Acoustic Guitar but doubles as a great Electric Guitar. I, personally would like this one in addition to my Seagull 12-String.

Friday, October 10, 2014

"Taylor Guitars Two Watercolor Colored Pencil" Corel

Taylor Guitars Two

Like my previous Post this photograph was taken at Motor City Guitars in Waterford, Michigan during a Taylor Road Show. I used my Canon Rebel XTi to take the photographs at ISO 1600.

I opened the file in Picasa 3.9 and adjusted the colors and added a Museum Matte. Saving that with a new file name I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and Painted with the Simple Watercolor, Coarse Paper, Light colors. I then used the set Colored Pencils, Random Brushes, Intense colors on top of the lighter watercolor image. Saving that I opened in Corel PSP Pro X3.

I made some color adjustments and altered the size for display here.

A Doctors Appointment is keeping me from further discussion! Watch for more posts from the Road Show!

Thank You for viewing!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

"Taylor Guitars One Modern Digital Painting" Corel

Taylor Guitars One Modern

Had the pleasure of attending the Taylor Guitars Road Show at Motor City Guitars in Waterford, Michigan. They focused on their 800 Series of guitars and also demonstrated a T5z Hybrid Guitar.

I uploaded all the Photographs I took that night to my computer, and opened a couple in Picasa 3.9. I adjusted the tone and color in that program, saving the changes to a new large file. I opened it next in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and selected a painting mode of a Modern Painting, Intense color, Basic paper, Captured brush.

After the painting was finished there I saved it under a new name. That painted Image I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3. There I added Image Information, Title, Copyright, Artist. I also made sure I boosted the colors with the Saturation Vibrancy set at 33. I added my signature and saved that iteration. I resized the image to 800 x 1200 pixels, 72 dpi for display here.

I worked on this late in the night and hope that the posting gets deserved attention. As always please click on the image for a larger view. Also use the Label (tag) Cloud at the bottom of this page for searching for more Artworks I have devoted time to creating. Or use the Search tool for a type of image you may be looking for. Thank you for your interest. Leave comments below if desired.

Friday, October 3, 2014

"Grunge Textured Close Up of a Six-String Guitar" Corel

Grunge Textured Guitar


I had recently gotten two images, one of a group of grayscale Textures, and another of a close up of a Six-String Guitar. Both the Guitar and the Textures I got from StockVault as free images. Using Corel PSP Pro X3 I created today's image.

I used the Texture as a layer with the property of Multiply and blended it with the guitar. After merging the layers I used the Saturation Vibrancy to give punch to the colors on the guitar. The rosettes around the soundhole having coloration in them made for a great focal point.

I added my signature in white as a layer and used the Additive property to get rid of the background of the signature layer. I again merged all. I save a large iteration and then resized to display here.

If you desire to see more of my Guitar images go to the bottom of this page and select from the Labels Cloud what you would like to see, or use the search tool also found there. Thanks for looking and don't be shy about searching my other images. You will find quite a bit of Digital Visual Artworks of varying styles here!