"Cup and Teapot" PaintDotNET

Cup and Teapot

A new photograph from Unsplash, free to edit. This one caught my eye. I like the full reddish color of the Cup and Teapot sitting on the checkered towel.

I brought the file into Paint.NET and applied the Ink Sketch Artistic tool. I upped the color and lowered the pen size. I then went to Adjustments, Curves RGB, increasing the depth a bit. I also increased the Saturation to boost the colors to 110.

I went to Effects Photo for Sharpening the image as it has such great depth of field, I wanted the subject to stand out a bit more.

I saved the large iteration after adding my name and the year, with the text tool. I then re-sized the image for display at 72dpi, 1220 X 813 pixels and used 75 for compression. I saved that display size.

"Arches and Shadows" PicsArt App

Continuing to work with the PicsArt App on my tablet. I used a Pastel filter first, then I added a Gouache filter, lightening the fade.

Got my Stylus in hand, choosing colors and adjusting the opacity, size, of the Brush. I painted on the image. I applied enhanced color according to my mood.

I tried to make sure that I painted lightly.  I'm sure that as I gain experience with this approach to digital painting I will improve. There are many different types of brushes to choose from but two of them are my favorites right now.

I have found that PicsArt has many #freetoedit, photographs of many different kinds.

I chose the Arches for the shadows and great perspective.

"Acoustic Guitar Player" PicsArt App

More painting on my tablet. I used the PicsArt App. I applied some Curves and a HDR filter. Then I hand selected colors to paint with the stylus on the image.

I applied an Artistic filter like a Lomo effect. The surrounding area was darkened a bit.

I did not resize the image of the Acoustic guitar player so it may be larger on the blog than what I can see on this tablet.

Still learning how to use the Blogger App, along with the images I create with the PicsArt App. So blame it on the learning curve and my inexperienced ways.

Away from my own guitars and missing practice. I have found that I enjoy learning the song "The End of the Line," by the Traveling Wilbery's. Also a good Tom Petty song "Learning to Fly". I recently got a Martin DRS1 6 string that I really like. A great addition to my Seagull S12 Cedar 12-String Guitar.

I have been working on a new chord progression as well. Missing my guitars while away. I use the program Verse Perfect for writing lyrics on my PC. I recommend that program to help rhyme lyrics.

"Woman Scarf Portrait" PicsArt App

#FreeToEdit #PicsArt done with my phone. LG G2 average screen to work with.

Used my Stylus to hand paint after I applied a sketch filter. I made the lines of the image a bit darker.

Selected colors by adjusting each with the palette sliders. Did not use the standard colors.

First image on a phone. Typing this with the Stylus.

More time spent on PicsArt App. Learning how to get the image I want.

"Abandoned House" PicsArt App

Another piece of digital art done with the PicsArt App on my tablet. I used a Sketch filter then selected painting.  I used a painterly brush, adjusting the opacity.

I chose the colors carefully and painted by hand, with a Stylus. Using the tools I resized the image. I applied enhanced color saturation as well. Saved the file for posting. 

As I am using the PicsArt App I am learning a lot of fun in image creation. 

Abandoned House

"How to: Vintage Rusted Truck In The Forest" PE5 Plus

Vintage Rusted Truck In The Forest

Another great photograph of a "Vintage Rusted Truck In The Forest." I like these honorable old vehicles that have seen better days of service. Here we see that it was labeled a "Resort Beach," service truck.

I opened it in Corel Painter Essentials 5 (PE5) and used the Effects: Equalize then upped the Saturation Uniform Color to 71%. I saved the large file. Next, I used that image to digitally paint. I chose a Pastel Drawing set for this. I selected a Chalk, Pastel and Crayons Brush the Scratchy Jitter Smooth Brush. After the digital painting I used the Soft Cloner Brush to add back in some details of Rust, and color to the Forest. I saved this iteration.

Opening in Paint.NET, I applied the Effects, Artistic, Ink Sketch lightly. I added my signature layer and merged down the layers, saving with a new name.

In Corel PhotoPaint, I adjusted the Saturation to 23 and used the Tone Curves to add depth. I quickly used Picasa 3+  and applied the Warmify filter to the full-color image. Saving that I used PhotoPaint to resample for display an Optimized JPG, 150dpi, 1220 X 810 pixels, Anti-aliased, Maintaining the aspect Ratio.

I have been using the free program Grammarly while I type my workflow. It is very helpful in Blogger to make corrections on the fly to my descriptions of each step I take to create an image. You can even Ignore a recommendation if it does not fit your narrative style. I recommend it.

"You Won't Get Away With That With Me!" PE5 Plus

You Won't Get Away With That With Me!

I grabbed some very nice photographs from UnSplash recently, free to edit and modify. I had some time on the computer enjoying working on this post. I have done many Older Men images. So I thought, when I saw this photograph with so much personality I had to work with it. A classic Older Woman with Glasses and a Bright Hat.

I opened the photograph in Corel Painter Essentials 5 (PE5.) I began by applying the Effects: Equalize to increase color, then added the Woodcut effect. I minimized the heaviness of the woodcut for a better image. I saved that and used the resulting image to digitally paint. I selected the Watercolor Sketch, admittedly one of my favorites. But instead of using a watercolor brush I chose a Photo Painting Brush: Bristle Oils Cloner Brush.

This gave me a wonderous image. I next used the Soft Cloner Brush to brush back in by hand, some details. Clearer Eyes, eyebrows, glasses and her fantastic wrinkles. I saved that large iteration at 72dpi.

Now I went into Paint.NET and added my signature layer and merged it down. I used the Curves to add some more depth to the colors. I also Upped the Saturation of the colors set at 110. I saved again this time at 150dpi.

I used Corel PhotoPaint to resample for display. I selected an Optimized JPG at 150dpi, 1220 X 915, Anti-aliased, and Maintained the Aspect ratio. My compression was set to 75 and the smoothing to 25, I saved the display image with a new name.

I have been enjoying working on my art on my Tablet. I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 tablet. I like the PicsArt App and the Autodesk Sketchbook App for creating art for blogging, Facebook, Google+ and, Twitter. Still learning to use the tablet for artwork, but having a great time doing it.

I have been jamming with my Martin DRS1 6-String Acoustic Electric Guitar. I found some great Jamming Backtracks on YouTube through QuistTV called QuistJam. First class jamming backtracks, I did subscribe to their feed. I am not a lead player yet, but I am working on learning scales like the Pentatonic Scales and others by ear. By myself and headsets I don't disturb too many in the neighborhood. I really enjoy the A minor tracks a lot, as I can fit the Pentatonics in and practice the scales, and try Improvising around the backing. Now to get an amplifier for some real action!

"Windswept Woman and Blue" PicsArt App

I have been using free to edit pictures from PicsArt App, on my tablet. I layered the Woman using a Sketch filter set to Multiply over an enhanced Blue photo of a set of what appears to be shutters.

I'm continuing to work with my tablet for experimental art. I am using a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 tablet. I have a stylus for sketching, but did not use it for this post.

I have Autodesk Sketchbook, and PicsArt App. Also a interesting app called Motion Portrait for animating faces.

I am not sure about sizing the images on the Tablet yet. If you want to coach me let me know what I can do.

I will be receiving the Martin DRS1 for a gift. I have it now and I have found jam tracks on YouTube by QuistJam. Practicing scales by ear as I jam with it. I am using the Line 6 PodXT Live and my PC set up to do so. Enjoying the new guitar and the jams. Now I need a new guitar amp! It is always something.

"Homage to Van Gogh - Sun Flower" PE5 Plus

Homage to Van Gogh - Sun Flower

Among my favorites of Van Gogh's work are his Sun Flower paintings. I found this photograph online (free to edit.) I thought of him right away. I wanted to do a representation of his style.

I opened the photograph in Corel Painter Essentials 5 (PE5.) I selected the Watercolor Sketch set, choosing the Artists Brushes - Van Gogh, I digitally painted the image. I switched to the Colored Pencil Drawing set and used the same Van Gogh brush, painted some more.

I next used the Apply Surface Texture Effect, using Original Luminance for the texture. I saved the large file.

Next I opened the file in Paint.NET and applied some Adjustments: Curves to add depth; Saturation set at 110 for the punchy colors. I added my signature file as a layer, sized and placed it, using the property multiply I then merged the layers. I saved that iteration.

Though Picasa is not going to be supported with upgrades by Google, I still use it. I opened it and added the Museum Matte to frame the piece. Saving again I used Corel PhotoPaint to Resample the file for display. I used 72dpi, 818 X 1200 Pixels, Optimized, anti-alias, maintained aspect ratio, and saved the display file.

Musically I am working on a new song and I am testing out a Martin DRS1 Sapele guitar to get. My family is going to get it for a wedding anniversary present if I like it. So far I am enjoying playing a 6-String Martin Guitar. I seriously like this Acoustic Electric. I think it will be a great addition to my song writing and improvised lead playing.

"Old Man Reading" PicsArt App

Working with the Tablet Galaxy Tab S 8.4, I used the Artistic Sketches tool. This gave me the opportunity to paint on the Old Man Reading.

I selected the option to draw with a brush and I adjusted the opacity. I chose the colors carefully and I left the background sketch like to focus on the Old Man.

This will probably be a large piece on the blog. I have not been able to figure out how to make it smaller.

Using the Blogger app for Android devices. A few tricks to get down yet.

Old Man Reading

"FREE Downloads of CDBaby songs - Originals!" CDBaby - CorelDRAW

The Tally has been done. I had to disqualify one song as it was released in February 2016 and had many first time hits. So out of the remaining eleven songs the WINNER is "Something Amazing!" This will now show as it's price $0.00 for a Free Download.

As I reviewed the ALL TIME hits for all the tunes I saw that the song with the most overall Hits was "Open Secret!" AS A BONUS I MADE THIS SONG FREE TO DOWNLOAD AS WELL!

Two of my songs for FREE! "Open Secret," is at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kirkmathewgatzka Visit the link and Select this BONUS song!

The winning song "Something Amazing," is to be found here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kirkmathewgatzka9 Select this for the Winner!

Both songs are available now at CDBaby for a FREE DOWNLOAD!

Thanks to all who participated and I hope you enjoy all my Music!

You will need to set up an Account with CDBaby to download the free songs. Put them in your Cart and Download for $0.00!

"Trumpet Player" Done with Tablet

Playing some with PicsArt on my tablet. Used different types of settings for this post. Enhanced, Gouache artistic setting. Tone curve for depth. Corrections Fix face.

Photograph by Unsplash. Free to edit. Limited to playing on 8.4 screen. Fun!