"Picasa Collage Van Gogh Style" Corel Painter - Plus

Picasa Collage Van Gogh Style

In Picasa 3.9 I selected two photographs. One was portrait the other was landscape, of the Lyon and Seagull Guitars. I used Picasa's Create Collage Superimpose at 16:9 setting. This gave me a large, almost panoramic image. I saved that iteration.

I opened it with Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the Digital Camera Noise Removal on it then the Smart Photo Fix. I used the Saturation tool for Vibrancy then applied Curves for color depth. I saved that iteration.

I then opened with Corel Painter 11 and did a Quick Clone, used the Auto Van Gogh feature with the brush setting at 32.9. This Auto Painted the image with a Van Gogh look and feel. I saved this large iteration with a differing name.

If you look closely you can see the Music Stand, as well as the overstuffed chair and a corner of a painting on the wall. The lightness of the musical paper on the stand slightly offsets the blanket on the chair's back.

I used Filter Forge's Photo Effects plugin Lomo feature for color changes with in the piece and a frame. Though I had to alter the size of the canvas to do so as I am using the free Filter Forge plugins and they work only on images less than 3,000 pixels. My beginning image was over 5,000 pixels wide. So I resampled in Corel PhotoPaint to a display size prior to using the plugin. I added my signature and saved the display sized image.

961 posts and climbing to 1,000 slowly but surely.

"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

"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.

"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

"Butterfly Floral" Corel PSP Pro X3 - Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4

Butterfly Floral

I browsed my Dover Publications clip art folder in Picasa 3.9 and found this piece. Two Butterflies on a Floral. I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and resized to 150.0 dpi for a larger file to work on. I applied the Art Effect Pencil for a simplified version of the image.

Saving that file I used Corel PhotoPaint to increase the saturation by 7. I saved again and opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. There I selected to auto-paint with the Chalk using a grainy chalk brush. This gave me a nice light brown background and an interesting chalk drawing of the image.

I wanted more color to show so I selected the Watercolor Sketch auto-paint and used more intense colors. It painted only the Butterflies and Floral and did not touch the background chalk drawing. I saved that file as an iterative save.

I reopened with PSP and added my signature with the Visible Watermark and also the gold frame. I resized for display here.

Listening --- M. Bower--- The Tangible Realm On AGC

"Dual Guitars" Illustrations - Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Dual Guitars 1 Illustration

Dual Guitars 2 Illustration

Since I've been songwriting again I felt it appropriate to select guitars as a theme for my visual art today. I connected my external hard drive and went to My Pictures folder and looked for my Guitars folder. Finding it I opened Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and dragged and dropped one of the photographs I had taken of our guitars.

I used the auto paint selection Illustration for the painting, with intense color. I used this on both selected photographs. I used Apply Surface Texture, Luminance to both images as well. I like the texture on the second one better as it lends itself to that painterly look and feel.

I saved the large files and opened Picasa 3.9 and browsed to my current folder for the blog images. I opened with Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3 and added the Visible watermark, a black border, saved, then resized for the blog.

Now on to some guitar playing.

"Sky and Clouds" Fun with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4

Detailed Watercolor

Modern Gouache Pen and Ink

Seurat

I had some fun with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and three cloudy sky photographs today. I took the photographs off my external hard drive where I saved them as back ups. I opened the folder using Windows.

I applied differing styles of auto painting to them. On one, with the deepest colors, I used Modern Painting first then switched to Gouache Painting, and then Pen and Ink, for the finish I Applied the Texture Luminance.

For the one with the noticeable brush strokes I chose the Seurat Painting mode. And for the other I applied the Detailed Watercolor painting.

I saved all 3 images and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 from Picasa 3.9. I used the Watermark to add my signature. I added a black border and black frame to each. I also resized them for display.

I have to say that all three are interesting in there own right. Each one has it's own elegance. I'm glad I took each of these photographs coming back to Michigan from Chicago one autumn.


Which one is your favorite?

High Contrast - Auto Van Gogh - Portrait - Painter 11 - PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

First time I have had a problem with Blogger, they were down due to maintenance and they lost my Thursday post. According to their blog they are supposed to repost that posting. But I am still waiting. I hope that it is corrected soon. Other than that I have no complaints about Blogger as a great blogging platform.

That aside I browsed my folders in Picasa 3 and grabbed another photograph of my Grandson. I haven't been painting much lately with Painter 11 but wanted to create a painterly image today. So I opened the photograph in PhotoPaint and applied the Local Equalization for high contrast. Then I adjusted the Tone Curve for depth and upped the saturation by 7. I saved the large file.

I reopened it in Painter 11 and applied the quick clone tool with an ocher background. I then used the Auto Van Gogh cloning painting at two brush sizes one small the other a medium brush size. I resaved that file at excellent jpg quality.

I opened it again in PhotoPaint and using Filter Forge's Photo Effects I selected the grunge effect. I adjusted the settings so the grunge texture would not obscure the Van Gogh like brushstrokes. This resulted in a painterly grunge style portrait. I saved the large file.

I resampled in PhotoPaint for sharing here.

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Now playing: Sly and the Family Stone - Thank You
via FoxyTunes

Walking Without Help - Painter 11 - PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

My Grandson is walking without help now and it is a joy to watch. I snapped this photograph of him doing just that. In Picasa 3 I browsed to the folder of my recent photographs of him and selected this one. I opened it in PhotoPaint.

I used the Local Equalization tool for a high contrast piece. Applying the Tone Curve for some depth and increased the saturation for a color boost. I saved the large file.

I reopened with Painter 11 and made a quick clone of the image with an ocher background. I used the Artists Brushes Auto Van Gogh and applied that cloning technique. I saved a new file and reopened in PhotoPaint.

There I applied a film frame from Filter Forge. I again played with the Tone Curve for more depth. I tried different Photo Effects from Filter Forge but was unhappy with the results so I decided to leave well enough alone. I resampled in PhotoPaint for display online.

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Now playing: Pretenders - Walking on Sunshine
via FoxyTunes

Casual Conversation - Grunge - Painter 11 - Paint.NET - PhotoPaint

Late-night posting, we all do it at times. Rather tired this late, but creative. I selected a photograph of a couple paying rapt attention during a casual conversation. I opened in PhotoPaint and cropped to show the faces in profile.

I again opened with Paint.Net I applied the Kuwahara Filter Modified for brushstrokes. I used a light Ink Sketch for some line work and saved that file. I reopened in PhotoPaint.

I applied the local equalization for high contrast. I then applied the Tone Curve for depth and upped the saturation for colors. Saving the large file I opened with Painter 11. I used the quick clone with and ocher background. Then I Auto cloned with the Auto Van Gogh cloner brush.

I saved that file at excellent quality. Reopened in PhotoPaint to apply Filter Forge's Photo Effects - Grunge - and to resample for posting here.

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Now playing: Three Doors Down - Here Without You
via FoxyTunes

Pink Floral - Still Waiting for Spring - Painter 11 - Paint.NET - PhotoPaint

Pink Floral - Waiting for Spring to Come

It appears we are still waiting for Spring here in Michigan. It snowed last night, no accumulation but still Snow? So I browsed my folders in Picasa 3 for a bright floral photograph. I opened with Paint.NET and applied the Kuwahara Filter Modified for a painterly feel.

Saving that file I opened with Painter 11 and did a quick clone with an ocher background then applied the Auto Van Gogh cloning with the Auto Van Gogh brush selected. Saving that I opened in PhotoPaint to apply Filter Forge's watercolor frame, adjusting the width of the framing.

I saved that file and reopened in Painter 11 to add texture using the Image Luminance for showing the brushstrokes and texture of the watercolor framing.

In PhotoPaint I added a 40 pixel black border and my signature. I also resampled the image for display. I adjusted the Tone Curve for depth and the saturation for a color boost.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Silent Spring Instrumental Double Drop D