"Woman Laying Down Portrait" Corel Painter

Woman Laying Down

I selected this photograph from Morguefile to Digitally Paint. I did not have to adjust the colors as I opened in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. There I auto painted using the Watercolor Sketch settings. I saved that iteration and opened in Corel Painter 11.

There I used a Gouache Bristle Brush with low opacity to begin adding some different color to the image. I added color to the face, the background, and her blouse. I also added white and light brown to the eyes. I appended the Flesh tones palette to the color palette and began using some of the light flesh tones. I added some to the face, and also to tie the composition together I added to the blouse.

I switched to a Blender Brush and did some softening of the bristles. I left the roughness of the eyes outline and eyebrows as I felt they looked painterly.

I saved that iteration and opened in Corel PSP Pro X3. There I added my signature and a Platinum Frame as layers. I merged all layers and applied the Saturation Vibrancy and a Paper Texture to the piece.

I also played a bit with Curves for some depth to the colors, Everything was complete and I saved the Large iteration. I Resized at 200dpi to display size and saved with another name. Here you see the result.

Be sure to  click on the image for the larger view! You will see the texture better as well as the image details. This is one more in my current series of Digital Painting with Corel Painter. I am enjoying this series very much, as I hope you are as well.

Note: As for my Music I am still allowing patrons to hear the full songs at CDBaby, before considering a purchase. I feel this gives one a better idea of the songs and is beneficial. 

In March, I will be releasing a series of songs that deal with the trouble one can have with Self-centered people. A song about such a person, A warning song, a reckoning song. Then I will finish with a song about the wonderful world around us, as healing takes place. 

"New Song: 'Art for Arts Sake' now available on CDBaby"

http://cdbaby.com/cd/kirkmathewgatzka5

CDBaby MP3 For Sale

I have a series of songs coming up in March. Each one as a single, that you can listen to the full song before considering buying. As for today, I just added the newest song here and on Facebook. You will find "Art for Arts Sake," to be an upbeat tune, just vocals and my 12-String. I call my genre Alternative Folk/Rock. Click and have a listen!

As always hope you like what you hear! Thank you for your looking into my Music as a Singer-Songwriter!

"Bright Eyes Womans Portrait" Corel Painter

Bright Eyes Womans Portrait

Continuing with my series of Digitally Painted Portraits I selected a Woman's Portrait. I first opened in Corel PSP Pro X3 and created an RGB Grayscale image. I saved that large file and opened it in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and auto painted it with the Watercolor Sketch settings.

After saving that I reopened it in Corel Painter 11 to Digitally Paint it using my Wacom tablet attached to my computer. I adjusted the Round Tinting Brush and began with some selected colors. I knew I wanted this to be a bright colorful painting, so I stuck with a palette that had just what I needed.

I spent much time on the face and eyes, keeping it bright. I did some blending with a blending tool. When I was satisfied with the face, eyes, and hair I painted the Background using a Chalk Brush. I used a form of Burnt Sienna for the base color. I also chose a light texture for the Chalk.

I switched to a Gouache Brush and an Indian Yellow, still using the texture, and painted around the Womans head. I narrowed the brush size and added some Indian Yellow to the Hair. Finishing with that I saved the large iteration with another name.

I opened it up in PSP Pro X3 again and layered my signature. Using the Effects Texture tool, I chose a paper texture for the entire image. Every layer was merged.

I had attempted to make the Eyes Hazel with blue, green, light brown, and yellow. I felt they looked just as I had wanted them, thus the "Bright Eyes Womans Portrait," Title.

"Sad Homeless Man Portrait" Corel Painter

Sad Homeless Man Portrait

Another in my series of Corel Painter paintings. I selected this Portrait of a Sad Homeless Man from Morguefile. It reminds me of the sadness of my Father n law, who had Severe Parkinsons Disease, who is now deceased.

I opened the Portrait in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and auto painted it with the Watercolor Sketch, as I did the "Bearded Man Portrait," I posted recently. I saved the large grayscale image in RGB color.

I opened it in Corel Painter 11 and this time did not clone the image, I sized it to the screen and chose Tint Round brushes to paint in color to this piece. I used flesh tones on his face and hand. With some Burnt Sienna for the beard. I worked hard on the eyes so they projected his sadness and dejection. His mouth curved down in a defeated frown was also hard to capture.

I used rough brushstrokes for that painterly look and feel. I also used some blending, but not too much. I saved that iteration with a new name. I opened it next in Corel PSP Pro X3.

Here I used the original iteration to add back some details and adjusted the Opacity. I added my signature as another layer. I then merged all layers and applied the Smart Photo Fix to add to the color brightness. I used the Effect Texture with a rough paper like I did with the "Bearded Man Portrait." 

I used the Image Information to add some information to the image file. Saving that large iteration, I resized for display here.

I hope you are enjoying my painterly efforts. Please remember to click on the image for a larger more detailed view. use F11 to open up your browser completely, and F11 back to the standard browser status. Thank you for your viewing my Digital Artworks.

"Homeless Man Busking" Corel Painter

Homeless Man Busking

I was able to get another portrait from Morguefile of a Homeless Man Busking. I opened the file in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and used the Pencil Sketch auto paint on it. I saved the large file.

I opened it with Corel Painter 11 and proceeded to paint Tints on it with a basic round brush. I had enough detail in the image from the Pencil Sketch to reduce the Opacity of the brush I used. I also varied the size of the brush.

It took me a few hours to complete the large iteration by zooming in on the details and painting. I am fairly satisfied with the rough appearance of this piece. After all, it is a Homeless Man Busking and the roughness adds to the sad aspect of being homeless. But at least he has a Guitar to play for some help.

I saved the painting as a large file. I opened it in Corel PSP Pro X3 and applied the Smart Photo Fix to adjust the image and it's brightness and contrasts. Here I also added Image Information, Title, My Name and source plus programs used. I added my signature from my black and white signature file as a layer and sized it and applied the property Lighten to make it transparent. I added a black border.

I have played my guitar, both amplified and not, in the open air before. But, I've never played as a Busker on the streets. Only outside my own home and on our driveway, and later on our deck. I haven't done that in a long time. And, of course, it being winter it is cold enough in the house let alone outside.

Wikipedia states: "Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is practiced all over the world by men, women and children and dates back to antiquity. In English-speaking countries, people engaging in this practice are called street performers or buskers." 

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | Hello - Hello | CD Baby Music Store

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | Hello - Hello | CD Baby Music Store

New playful song on CDBaby! "Hello - Hello," is a Beatles-influenced tune. Simple and fun to listen to. Click on the above link, it is on sale now for only $0.75! A bargain, to say the least.

"Bearded Man Portrait" Corel Painter

Bearded Man Portrait

I decided to do some Digital Painting and chose Corel's Painter 11 as my program to paint in. I had this great Bearded Man's Portrait from Morguefile and opened it first in Corel's Painter Photo Essentials 4 and auto painted it with the Watercolor Sketch settings. Since it was Black and White I saved it and loaded it into Painter 11.

This I cloned and began painting with the Tint Brushes. I used flesh tints for the face and select colors for the shirt, coat and hat. I used grayish colors for the beard. I had to stop yesterday and so I saved as a Clone RIFF file. I opened it today to finish what I started and lost the ability to use the cloning function.

I opened the Black and White Watercolor Sketch file, and I layered it over the Clone file. I played with the properties and gained a balance of what I started with. I continued to paint, and also did some color blending with a blending brush. I added some white to the eyes to make them stand out clearer.

I merged all layers and saved as a large iteration. I then opened it in Corel's PSP Pro X3 to add my signature layer and merge again. I then selected Textures and used a Paper Texture for the overall image. I used the Smart Photo Fix tool which brightened up the piece. Also I added some Image Information, Copyright, Title, Artist and the Source file, programs used.

I saved the large file, then resized for display here. According to Grammarly, I have written approximately 276 words for this post.

"Map of NYC - Young Woman Portrait" Corel

Map of NYC - Young Woman Portrait

I was reading the other day that longer written content is getting greater attention on the Internet. This was according to some Marketing statistics. More words more attention.

Personally I have not experienced this phenomenon. I try to be fairly concise with my posts, to be fair to those who have a lot to read online. After all, we have Facebook, Google+, Twitter, News, and other things like videos to keep up with. I include myself in that statement.

I have almost used up my current Public Domain Maps. I will be searching for more if you are aware of any leave me a comment with a link I can follow.

Here, I have taken a Young Woman's Portrait and merged it with a Map of New York City. I used Corel's PSP Pro X3 to create this image. I imported the Young Woman first. Then opened and copied to the clipboard the Map, pasting as a new layer. I played around with the Curves of the Map, using Multiply as the property to add the transparency needed to see the Young Woman.

I wanted a full-color image so I did not use the Threshold tool for this piece. I added my signature as a layer, then I merged them all to one. I saved the large iteration then resized for display saving that with a secondary name.

According to Grammarly, I have slightly more than 237 words in my post. Was it long enough to keep your attention? Or, did I need more written content? What is your opinion? As this is a Digital Visual Art and Music blog, I think that the main focus is the image. 

Remember to click on it for a larger view! Thank you for your time and attention.

"150,000+ Pageviews for gatzkART! - Thank You All"

"Hazel Eyes with Map Textured" Corel

Hazel Eyes with Map Textured

I began today's image with the Hazel Eyed Woman's Portrait, from Morguefile. I opened the file in Corel PhotoPaint. I sized to screen, and then applied the Threshold tool to it.  I left quite a bit of her hair and the left background the same. I saved this file.

I used the Wand tool to select white space created by the Threshold tool. I then loaded a map file into the fill tool, and using that I filled the face and neckline.

I used Filter Forge's Photo Effect Vibrancy on the face with the Map to add color.

I opened a burgundy Texture file from Stockvault and copied and layered that over the rest of the image. I reopened the same base Portrait and Cut out the lips and eyes and placed them on the image, merging all layers. I did use the Tone Curve on the lips and eyes to deepen the color as well before merging.

If you look closely at the Map, you will see the, "Vicinity of Detroit, Michigan" as well as part of "New York, and Cincinnati."

NOTE: As a reminder my Songs (singles) for sale at CDBaby all allow you to hear the full song now prior to your considering buying them. Feel free to have a listen to them. Comment if you wish. If you have a CDBaby consumer account you can Review the song on it's page.

NOTE2: Take a look at my new Facebook Page and Please like it! https://www.facebook.com/KirkMathewGatzka.Music.Art

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | The Roof Instrumental | CD Baby Music Store

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | The Roof Instrumental | CD Baby Music Store

A melodic Instrumental in the Alternate Tuning DADGAD. Mellow and smooth for Easy Listening, it starts out slowly and builds to a climax ending. All tracks written, played and mixed by myself. Have a listen.

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | Hook Line & Sinker | CD Baby Music Store

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | Hook Line & Sinker | CD Baby Music Store

Go to CDBaby and listen to the full song now, instead of a clip. 

This song was actually inspired by a singer/songwriter discussion about "hooks" in our songs. How we use them and if we do or don't. It readily came to my mind as I sat and wrote it. The later part of the song says, "you set the hook," just like fishing for trout or bass. 

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | Open Secret | CD Baby Music Store

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | Open Secret | CD Baby Music Store

"Sunglasses Woman's Portrait with Map" Corel

Sunglasses Woman's Portrait with Map

Today is another in a series of Texture Blended Portraits, using Maps as a background texture. I opened the Woman's Portrait in Corel PhotoPaint. Here I cropped the image.

I next applied the Threshold tool for white space. I left some color in her face, hair, and eyes. I then applied the Local Equalization for a very High Contrast textural look. I then went and looked for a suitable Map background.

I found one that had Maps, graphs, and measuring tools. I opened that in PhotoPaint. I rotated it 90 degrees to Portrait setting. Copying it to the clipboard and pasted as a layer over the Woman.

I applied a property for transparency, then merged the two together. I used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Lomography for a vignetting. Added my signature and saved that iteration.

I then compressed the file at 75 and 33 for smoothing the optimized JPG. Saving a second iteration for display here.

"A Minor Ballad on SoundCloud" Music Creator 6 - Line 6 Pod XT Live

Seagull S12 Cedar 12-String

I recently got Cakewalk's Music Creator 6 Touch for a DAW program to use. I tend to use Audacity, but it has MIDI limitations and no Instruments or Loops you can use. I created the A minor Ballad you see linked below.

I put it on SoundCloud for those that listen to my music can hear what I am working with. I play Lead Guitar through my Line 6 Pod XT Live and added some reverb in Creator 6. I also, during mixing, Panned the Guitar and the Drums to opposite sides. I am still learning the interface of Creator 6, but I am having a good time doing so.

This Tune is Mellow and short, very basic Guitar. Please remember that I play a 12-String! Not electric, I use a Soundhole Pickup a Woody from Seymour Duncan to plug into the Pod XT Live, my USB connection to the computer.

I hope you enjoy this short tune, it's only about 2 minutes long:

https://soundcloud.com/gatzka-music/a-minor-ballad-02012015