"Grandson - A Little Young to be at a Bar" PicsArt - Corel

Grandson

My Daughter took this picture with her LG Phone. They went to a restaurant for lunch and found that they had added a Bar to the place they went. So it appears that my almost 5 year old Grandson is at a bar. Look closely at the background of this image.

I had her send me the photograph and saved it on my phone. I used two effects filters in PicsArt App to create this image. I emailed it to myself, downloaded it, and opened in Corel PSP Pro X3. here I added the black frame and my signature in white. Oh, yes, I increased the image size as well. I merged all the layers to one.

Simple as that I had an interesting image of my Grandson.

"Blocks Tower and Grandson" Corel PSP Pro X3

Blocks Tower and Grandson

Blocks Tower Alone

We have been very busy watching our Grandson lately, as my Daughter works part time. He is 3 and 1/2 years old and loves to play hard, all boy! What I am sharing today comes from that play. A photograph of him with his Blocks Tower, big blocks of course. And a shot of the tower itself.

I used our Canon Rebel XTi for the Photographs and took a number of different poses as well as the Tower itself. I opened the photographs in Corel PSP Pro X3 and did some adjusting.

First I applied the Digital Camera Noise Removal and then the Smart Photo Fix on both images. I adjusted the sharpness a bit and kept the color much the same as the originals.

I added a colorful, playful frame to both using the Image Picture Frame feature in PSP Pro. Then I added my signature using the Visible Watermark tool, using a PNG of my signature. I saved the large iterations and then resized for display.

Being a Grandparent is an enjoyable thing! I get so much more exercise when he comes to visit that he wears me out, but it is so much fun. We also had some Bubble blowers from a Grad party we attended and we blew Bubbles for hours! He really enjoyed that. My wife got some video on her phone video camera of him popping the Bubbles that were floating near his head, so he would smack his forehead to pop them, hilarious.

Years ago had no idea that being a Grandparent would be so much fun and at his age right now is the cream of the relationship. We read to him, share DVD's with him, draw with him and generally have a wonderful time!

Love is a Great thing isn't it?

"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 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.

"Whirligig" Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Whirligig

Today I took a photograph, given to me of my Grandson being fascinated by a Whirligig. The photograph was black and white so I played around with it in Corel PSP Pro X3.

I used a painterly background I had previously made in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I copied and pasted the photograph, as a New Layer and Mirrored the image. Then I used the property of Luminance at 100% opacity, which allowed the basic colors to show through.

I merged the layers and saved the large image opening in Painter Photo Essentials 4 and applied Modern Painting Auto-paint with jagged edges. I then applied the Pen and Ink Auto Painting. I saved the file and opened with Corel Painter 11.

There I used Watercolor brushes to paint in more colors to add to the mirrored image and to brighten up the whirligig. I appended the Flesh tone palette and used a color selected from that on the hands, face and legs.

Saving the file again I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 where I added a 10 pixels border and used the Visible Watermark for the signature. I saved again and then resized in PSP for display.

Listening --- Seal --- Whirl

"Playing With Cars" Infrared Photography - Corel PSP Pro X3

Take 1

Take 2

One of my favorite pastimes is visiting and photographing my Grandson. I took these photographs recently with my Canon Rebel XTi with the ISO set on 1600 and in Program mode. As you can see, at just short of 2 years, old he is interested in playing with Cars. The Pixar movie "Cars" is one of his favorites, he gets very excited watching it.

I opened Picasa 3.9 and went to Corel's PSP Pro X3 with both photographs. I always fit to screen and then make my adjustments. I applied the Decrease Digital Camera noise on both images first. I cropped the photographs. Then I used the Infrared feature for both. I applied the Unsharp Mask for sharpening. Then I added the film frames. Saving the large files I reopened in Corel PhotoPaint.

Here I added my signature and resampled for display. I could have used Picasa 3.9's Infrared feature but I like Corel's PSP Pro X3 a lot for image manipulations.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Baby You Can Drive my Car

"Funny Face" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 Plus PSP Pro X3

Funny Face

A "Funny Face" photograph of my Grandson, is today's subject image.  I browsed in Picasa 3.9 and discovered this photograph and decided to play with it in digital form. I opened with Corel's PSP Pro X3 and cropped the image. I also used the Saturation - Vibrancy to give the colors a boost. I saved the large file.

I opened it with Painter Photo Essentials 4 next where I applied the Modern Painting style to the image. After it was finished I used the soft cloner brush on the eyes, mouth and ears for additional details. I had caught my Grandson in a humorous face in the original photograph, I think his pursed lips expression stands in the painting.

I saved again and opened with PSP Pro X3 for the Cyan photo frame. Then I saved again to open with PhotoPaint for the signature and resampling for display.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- On the Lake

"Slip Sliding Away" Paint.NET - Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Slip Sliding Away

We took a little trip to Spicer's Cider Mill for cider and donuts the other day. I got some photographs of my Son in Law and my Grandson Playing together. This is one of my favorites, sliding down the slide.

I opened the photograph in Paint.NET and applied the Ink Sketch tool with the color turned all the way up. I adjusted the Curves to deepen the tone. I saved that large file and opened with PhotoPaint, adding a lens flare with KPT's Collection and added a beveled frame. Saving that I opened it with Corel Painter 11 and selected a felt tip brush and chose the quick clone. I then applied the Auto Van Gogh using that brush setting.

I selected the soft cloner to add back in some details to their faces and arms, hand, and legs. Saving the file with a iterative save I opened with PSP Pro X3 and used the Vibrancy tool on it for a boost to the colors. I added a crumpled paper texture to it as well. I saved the large file then resized in PSP to display size here with an increase to the dpi around 150 but a decrease to 1220 pixels length.

It was a great little trip and the cider and donuts and watching my Grandson play made it a worth while endeavor away from the computer. And I gained some new photographs to boot.

Listening --- Paul Simon --- Slip Sliding Away

"Favorite Book" Corel Painter 11 - PhotoPaint

Favorite Book

Today I felt like digital painting so I opened a photograph of my Grandson and his "Favorite Book," in Corel Painter 11. I quick cloned it with a white background and began painting in Gouache. I painted his head, face and body with it and then switched to a large Chalk. I used texture with the Chalk brush for the background.

I also used the Soft Cloner for some detail in his face. Then I used a Digital Watercolor brush and painted in some flesh tones, and a touch of color in the background. I selected a thin Pastel chalk brush and added the lines for definition.

I adjusted the texture with Image Luminance, and upped the saturation to boost the colors. I also decreased the value for some depth. I cropped the image to show only him and his book. Then saved the large file.

I opened it in PhotoPaint and added my signature, saved again then resampled for display here, saving that iteration. I opened the file in Picasa 3 and viewed the full screen image. I like the image so I am sharing it for your enjoyment.

Listening --- 4Hero --- Morning Child

"Ingenuity of Youth" - Corel PhotoPaint - PSP Pro X3 - Filter Forge

Ingenuity of Youth

Here is an image of my Grandson playing with his family's iPod. He is only about 18 months old and he knows how to turn it on, find the games and play some of them. I'll admit that I don't have one and he knows more than me!

I took this photograph with my Canon Rebel XTi and opened it in PhotoPaint. I cropped it some to make him the focal point, especially his hand above the iPod. I applied the Local Equalization to it and used the Tone Curve for depth. Then using Filter Forge Photo Effects Vibrance twice I saturated the colors. I also used the Frames for a light film frame.

I saved this large file and opened it with PSP Pro X3 to add the Picture Frame Cyanotype and a ten pixel black border. I did an iterative save and reopened in PhotoPaint. There I added my signature and resampled for display.

Listening --- C S N & Y --- Teach Your Children

"Zeke Amazed" - Corel PSP Pro X3 - PhotoPaint

Zeke Amazed

Another photograph of my Grandson and his current favorite book. The thick pages allow him to turn them and the buttons on the right hand side make noises related to the Disney "Cars" theme.

Here you see him making a delightful expression full of fun and amazement. I opened the photograph in PSP Pro X3 and made adjustments. I used many of the Noise reduction tools as it was taken at 1600 ISO and it had much noise in the original.

I also cropped the image and focused on my Grandson as much as possible. It is rather asymmetrical in balance. with the floor of the kitchen in the upper right hand area balancing it out.

I used the Adjust, Hue and Saturation Vibrancy tool on it a couple of times for a punch to the colors. I tried other tools to soften it a bit and the blur tools which made it too soft. I applied the Unsharp Mask tool instead.

I added the Image Picture Cyanotype frame and a ten pixel black border as I did with yesterdays image. I saved the large file and reopened with PhotoPaint where I added my signature in white and adjusted the Tone Curve a small amount for depth.

I resampled the file for sharing here and resaved it with a differing name.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Baby You Can Drive My Car

"Reading to Zeke" - Corel PhotoPaint - PSP Pro X3 - Filter Forge

Reading to Zeke

My Daughter and Grandson visited the other day, and my camera, the Canon XTi Rebel, came out. I took many photographs and selected this one for today's subject.

I opened the photograph in PhotoPaint and used my High Contrast workflow on it. I first applied the Local Equalization and then used the Tone Curve for depth. I applied Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance on it for brighter color. I added my signature in white.

I saved the resulting large image and opened it in PSP Pro X3 to used the Noise reduction tools on it. I Deinterlaced it and removed jpeg artifacts. I used the Image Picture Frame for the Cyanotype frame and added a ten pixel black border to the piece.

I tried out various softening tools but did not like the results, as I did not with brushstrokes applied. So I left the image as is and saved it again.

Once again in PhotoPaint I resampled for display here and saved the finished piece.

Listening --- Gordon Lightfoot --- If You Could Read My Mind

Painter 11 Portrait - Corel PhotoPaint - Picasa 3 - Filter Forge

Click for Larger Image

I recently spent some time with my Grandson and took a few Photographs of him. I browsed in Picasa 3 to the dated folder containing these and selected one closeup. I went to Create Picture Collage in Picasa 3 and created a large file of the closeup as a single image in the collage.

I opened the image in Painter 11 and did a Quick Clone to duplicate the image ready to paint. Using the Auto Van Gogh brush I applied it to the clone. Afterward I wanted to push the background to the back visually so I chose the Grainy Water Blender and painted the background with it.

I decided it need more grain so I selected a Suminagashi 2 Grainagashi brush and painted on the background with the clone tab selected.  I also applied the Soft Cloner Brush to the eyes and then used the Grainagashi brush around the eyes and mouth and nostrils.

To bring out more clarity in detail for the eyes I selected the Straight cloner brush and painted the iris and pupil.

I saved this very large file as a jpg format. I closed Painter 11 and using Picasa 3 went to the folder where I had saved it and opened with PhotoPaint. I resampled the image for the web. Using Filter Forge's frames I added a small frame variation with rounded corners and three colors, adjusting the width of each color. I saved that file as a jpg with my signature as an iterative save.

Listening --- Led Zeppelin --- The Rain Song

Puppeteer - Art Deco - Digital Collage - PhotoPaint

Art Deco Designs by Edouard Benedictus is the source of the background designs of this image. I scanned in the pieces as high resolution scans in PhotoPaint and applied the Tune Blur to smooth out the scans. I used the Tone Curve to boost colors.

I also opened with PhotoPaint a photograph of my Grandson and applied the Local Equalization tool then cut him out from the photograph and copied to the clipboard.

I pasted the large clip into the background after I applied feathering to smooth out the edges of the cutout. I used the Tone Curve again and also increased the color saturation by 15.

I scanned in the image of the teacher and little schoolboy from North Light's People at Work clip art series. I used Multiply for transparency and Color Replace for the pinkish color. I hand drew the strings attached to the teacher and schoolboy "puppet."

I used the font A bite for the word Puppeteer and selected a complimentary color and added the text.

In Filter Forge's frames I selected a photography frame for a 3D finishing touch.

Listening --- Archie Roach --- Beautiful Child

Neighborhood Stroll - High Contrast - PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

A Neighborhood Stroll for the Grandparents, Parents and Grandson is the image for today. I cropped this photograph in PhotoPaint which shows us taking a walk with our Grandson near where he lives.

I used the Local Equalization tool for the High Contrast adding back in depth with the Tone Curve and upping the saturation for color. To add punch to the color I used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance, then a film frame.

It's great when your grandchild begins walking well enough that you can take a stroll with him. An easy family outing that goes at his pace and that is leisurely.

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Now playing: Kirk Mathew Gatzka - I Walked Along the Lakes Song
via FoxyTunes

Time in the Sand - High Contrast - PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

As you know I really enjoy time with my Grandson. We spent some time taking a walk around to the Park near his home. There he had some fun in the sand filling both hands with it and sifting it, watching it very carefully. His attention to detail constantly amazes me for such a young age.

I browsed to this photograph in Picasa 3 and opened with PhotoPaint. I used my High Contrast workflow on it for today's image. I had cropped the photograph, which has one flaw in that I just barely got the top of his head in the frame. So I cropped to a tight fit for his sitting there in his new sandals.

I also used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance for a boost to the colors as well as the Tone Curve in PhotoPaint for depth.

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Now playing: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Teach Your Children
via FoxyTunes

Phone Camera Portrait - Paint.NET - PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

Short post today with a Phone Camera photograph that was printed out on a Kodak printer. I scanned it in with auto scan on my Canon MP495. I opened with Paint.NET and applied the Kuwahara Filter Modified for a painterly feel. Saving the large file I reopened it in PhotoPaint.

In PhotoPaint I applied Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance for additional punch to the color. Then I gave it a film frame with Filter Forge's frames.

The photograph credit goes to my Daughter, Dresden Solomon of Design Perfection.

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Now playing: Chuck Berry - Johnny Be Good
via FoxyTunes

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

Where's the Dip? - High Contrast - PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

A short post today, going to visit my Grandson, whose photograph is today's subject. I browsed my folders in Picasa 3 and selected this photograph.

Opening in PhotoPaint I applied the Local Equalization tool for the high contrasts. I used the Tone Curve to add depth. Using Filter Forge's frames I applied a film frame. I saved the large file and resampled for display here. Simple manipulation but effective I think.

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Now playing: John Prine - Grandpa Was a Car
via FoxyTunes