"Shadow Guitars" Paint.NET - Corel Painter

Shadow Guitars

I have been remiss in not posting, but I have been quite busy lately. I am now trying to get some new photographs of my Seagull S12 Guitar for new images. This began as a photograph of two guitars with deep Shadows.

I opened the photograph in Paint.NET and applied the Effect, Artistic, Ink Sketch to it without color resulting in a black and white image. I saved that large image. I then opened it in Corel Painter 11 and painted it with various watercolor brushes. I boosted the Saturation in Painter and saved that iteration.

I created a signature file for my copyright for 2014, in a PNG file format. I opened both in Corel PhotoPaint and added the halftone Frame in Filter Forge Frames with a greenish cast. I added the signature to it and saved that iteration.

I opened the file in Corel PSP Pro X3 and added Image Information, Title Artist name, Copyright, etc. I saved the resized file for display.

"Digital Painting 12-String and 6_String Guitars" Corel Painter - Plus

12-String and 6-String Guitars

I browsed my guitar photographs and opened this one in Corel Painter 11. I digitally painted it there and used the following steps. I used my Wacom Tablet to paint with.

• 1. Corel Painter 11
• A. Brushes
• 1) Two Airbrush variants
• 2) Two Digital Watercolor Brush variants
• 
  
• 2. Picasa 3.9
• A. Warmify
• B. HDR 
• C. Cinemascope
• 
  
• 3. Corel PSP Pro X3
• A. Fit to window
• B. Effects
• 1) Speckles Brushstrokes
• 2) Texture - Hatching
• C. Adjust
• 1) Saturation - Vibrancy

I added my signature in Corel PhotoPaint in White, resizing to display size for this post.

"Guitars Dual Necks and Headstocks" - Picasa - Corel

Guitars Dual Necks and Headstocks

I browsed to my guitar folder in Picasa 3.9 and selected this photograph. We have since sold the Lyon by Washburn Guitar and now only have my Seagull C12 left.

I used Picasa's Brighten feature to lighten up the darker parts of the photograph. I then applied the Warmify tool. I like the HDR look and feel so I used a light touch of that on it as well. I saved that iteration in my Working folder.

I opened that with Corel PSP Pro X3. Here I used the Saturation Vibrancy for some punch to the colors. I did a High Pass Sharpen on it to make those strings and tuners show up distinctly. I added my signature using the Visible Watermark and saved again.

Using the Image Information tool I gave it a title, myself as Artist and also myself as copyright holder. This is added to the EXIF JPG information.

I saved it again in the larger format and then resized for display here.

Our Internet ISP had problems today so I had plenty of time to do this image and take my notes for the workflow. I am still without it at 2:00 pm and am waiting for them to fix the connection to post and read my email.

4:00 pm back online! Yes!

"Oil Painted Guitar Headstocks - Polar Inversion - Textured" Corel - Plus

Headstocks Polar Inversion
Click for more Detail

I took a photograph of a shot of two Guitar headstocks on a patterned pillow. I browsed to it in Picasa 3.9 and opened with Paint.NET.

I applied the Distort Polar Inversion with Clamp as the setting. I played around with the cursor setting, moving about the mini picture of the screen until I liked the image.

I then used the Effects Artistic Oil Paint and pushed the settings to the max. This resulted in fewer details and more textures. I saved the large iteration.

I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and used Filter Forge's Photo Effects plug-in Vibrancy to add some punch to the colors. I then applied the Texture Elephant Skin to the image, set at 48 / Black, for additional texture. I added my signature PNG and set it.

I saved it large again, Then for a lark I rotated the file 90% and resampled to display size.

"Dual Guitar Wrap" Paint.NET - Corel

Dual Guitar Wrap

I opened from Picasa 3.9 a Dual Guitar photograph with Paint.NET. There I applied the Effects, Distort, Polar Inversion to the image. I used the settings Wrap with the Quality set High.

I used the Adjustment tool Hue/Saturation and increased the Saturation a bit. Then I applied the Curves set to RGB and lightened the colors back slightly.

To Soften the tones I used Effects, Blurs, Surface Blurs on the image. I Then Sharpened the image with a setting of Seven.

The resulting image is a Kaleidoscopic style piece, which I saved the large iteration. As you peer into the center you kind of get lost in the fractal likeness of the guitars.

I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and using the Visible Watermark I added my signature, saving again, and resizing to display size and saved the final.

"Abstraction Guitars Multiplied" Corel - KPT Collection - Plus

Abstraction Guitars Multiplied

I opened Picasa 3.9 folder of my recent guitars shoot and selected a portrait styled photograph. From Picasa I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3. There I applied the Digital Camera Remove Noise and the Smart Photo Fix. I increased the Vibrancy in Hue and Saturation. I saved this image.

I opened the image with Corel PhotoPaint. Using the capture rectangle tool I selected a portion of the image from the center of the photograph. I copied and pasted, removed the mask, and placed the cutout, in effect dualing the Guitar necks for three pieces and aligned them. I pasted one more and turned it on it's side, placing it on the bottom.

Using the same cutout I pasted and resized the piece and using the property Difference I reproduced and lined them up along the bottom of the image.

I used the Circular capture tool and created the using the property Invert a number of the round circles. At full size I applied the Art Strokes Effect Crayon to the entire flattened image.

I then used the KPT Collection Equalizer and adjusted the transparency. I also adjusted the tiling in KPT Collection, which created the vertical texture of the image. I inverted my signature to white and placed it using the Property Add. I saved that iteration.

I have enjoyed playing my Seagull C12 today in the Open G Tuning. I tuned the strings to the following "DGDGBD." As you strum the open strings you have the G chord. Finding some open chords and flatpicking I strummed and picked the tuning to my delight at the tone of the 12-String Guitar. A creative day indeed.

"Acoustic Guitars Hyper Tiling" Corel - KPT Collection

Acoustic Guitars Hyper Tiling

Another photograph of Guitars I've taken, recently manipulated. I opened my folder in Picasa 3.9 and grabbed this photograph of our Seagull and Lyon guitars.

I opened in Corel PhotoPaint and applied KPT Collections filters to create this image. I used Hyper Tiling for the duplication of the strings and sound holes. I adjusted the transparency to allow the Tiling to show through.

I then used KPT Collections Equalizer for an HDR effect. And I added a Lens Flare to the image as well. So the entire image was manipulated with KPT Collections filters.

Here I demonstrated that the use of filters for Manipulation can be rewarding and enjoyable. Sometimes a simple approach to a creative image can yield decent results.

"Abstract Guitars Digital Collage" Corel - Paint.NET - Plus

Abstract Guitars Digital Collage

I have used more of the photographs of our 12-String and 6-String Guitars to create another Digital Collage. I browsed in Picasa 3.9 to my folder of a recent guitar shoot and selected three photographs separately for this collage.

I opened the first two with Paint.NET and using the Ink Sketch tool I made them into pen and ink sketches. I copied them to the clipboard and then pasted as New from Clipboard into Corel PhotoPaint. I fit the images together with merging them with the Multiply property. I used the wand tool and selected large dark areas of color and then filled them with a blue gradient with the fill tool.

After I did that I copied to the clipboard the third photograph of the guitar necks crossing each other. I opened as New from Clipboard and applied the Local Equalization tool. Then I used the Art Strokes tool Conte Crayon on it. I copied to the clipboard again and pasted upon the other merged pen and ink, gradient guitar image. I merged those and saved that iteration.

In Picasa tools I applied Warmify to the image for color warmth. I saved that image with a new name. I then used the plugin from Filter Forge Frames film frame to add a light frame, adding my inverted signature to the whole piece saving one more time at the larger size.  I then resampled for display size and saved that.

For a finishing touch I ran Filter Forge's Photo Effect Vibrance on it to add some punch to the colors.

I ended up with a very Abstract Composition of Guitars Digital Collage. I enjoyed the process. I hope you enjoy the results.

"1,100th Post! Grunge Guitars" Paint.NET - Corel - Plus

Grunge Guitars

For today's image I selected a photograph of our two guitars upright, leaning on the couch. I opened from Picasa 3.9 with Paint.NET and used the Ink Sketch tool on the photograph. I ended up with a pen and ink, black and white, image.

I browsed to my Pictures folder on my external hard drive and went to Mayang's Textures. I selected a metal rust texture and loaded it as another layer. Still in Paint.NET, I resized the texture to fit, used the layer property Multiply, and merged the layers, saving that large iteration. I opened the file in Corel PhotoPaint.

I next went to the Internet to find some fonts of paint splatters that I could use for adding to the grunge look and feel. I found Split, Splat, Splodge and WTC Rhesus TT fonts for free use. I applied the paint splatters, and used the Distort, Wet Paint tool for the drippings. I changed the opacity of the splatters showing the background through them for effect of aged splatters.

I used the Filter Forge Photo Effects plugin for Vibrance to add some punch to the colors. Added my signature in white and resampled for display.

I played my 12-String Seagull last night and practiced for a couple hours. Some new chord progressions and a few tunes. Green Day's "Warning," Coldplay's "Clocks," and Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Lucky Man," (without the synth.) As I get older my calluses don't take long to begin hurting after only a short time, well I blame it on age and FMS.

All in all I really enjoyed my practice on the guitar, and the singing, too.

"Pillow Talk" Corel - Plus

Pillow Talk

Another angle of our two guitars the Seagull C12 and the Lyon 6, taken with my Canon Rebel XTi with Manual settings. I used only the light coming from the nearby window. I cropped the shot in the viewfinder, leaving a portion of the couch and floor visible. Both guitars are crossed at the upper neck balanced on the pillow, thus "Pillow Talk," is the title.

From Picasa 3.9 I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and began by applying the Local Equalization tool to the entire image, for High Contrast. I used the Tone Curve tool to add depth to the colors. I then used the plugins from Filter Forge: Photo Effects Vibrance and the Film Frame for a punch to the colors and a dark frame.

I like the warm bronze and browns of this image. The High Contrasts jump out of the dark frame. Leaving a warm and interesting result.

"Grunge 6 and 12 String Guitars Digital Collage" Picasa - Corel

Grunge 6 and 12 String Guitars Digital Collage

With today's digital collage I started with Picasa 3.9. Using the CTRL key I selected individual photographs of the 6 and 12 String guitars photos. I used Picasa's Collage maker feature and selected a mosaic of the photographs. The touch of red comes from our dining area that is a sittings area now. and I used the couch as a background for the photographs.

I saved the collage automatically in Picasa and then opened with Corel PhotoPaint. I applied the Local Equalization tool, for the High Contrast with a full 255 setting. I then used the Tone Curve tool for adding depth to the colors.

I like what I had but decided to add just a touch more Grunge to the image. I saved the original large iteration, resampled to a display setting, adding my signature. I used Filter Forge's Metal Rust to that. I used a rust addition that added only a small amount of metal rust to the image. I saved that digital collage.

With this collage I have just about used up the 28 or so photographs I did with my recent Guitars Photo shoot. I may use them in other images but I think it's time to practice on my 12-String, I could use some practice!

"High Contrast Guitars" Corel - Plus

High Contrast Guitars

From my recent photo shoot of our two guitars, I used my Canon Rebel XTI DSLR to take these. I opened Picasa 3.9 and browsed the photographs, I selected this one of the full bodies close up, with just a small gap between them.

I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and applied the Local Equalization, for the High Contrast. I used the Tone Curve to give depth to the image. I like the wood and lines that are emphasized.

Using the Filter Forge plugin I added a slight film frame deepening the color of the edges. Keeping the color dark and contrasting I saved the image with my signature and then resized for display.

"Waiting to be Played Today" Corel PSP Pro X3

Waiting to be Played Today

I really should practice on my Seagull C12 12-String today, it is my favorite guitar, of our two. Here is another photograph taken with sunlight coming from the right hand side of the image with darker shadows to the left. I laid them out on the brown couch, the C12 on it's side and the Lyon 6 on it's back.

I opened Corel PSP Pro X3 and selected this photograph to adjust. I am enjoying the workflow I have done recently on the other Guitar photographs. Noise Removal, Smart Photo Fix, Saturation Vibrancy, Color Balance Tungsten and High Pass Sharpen. This really warms up the image and shows off the deep wood tones of both of them.

If you look close you can see my etching on the 12-String's pick guard. I selected a Hummingbird instead of a Seagull. It being a smaller bird and the addition of some floral touches. Just above the pick guard you can see my playing scars on the soundhole, this guitar has seen many years of stylized rhythm playing and now some scale playing. It's hard to bend two strings at a time when playing lead. But it is rewarding to play a little Blues in pentatonic scale with a backtrack.

The Lyon 6 is my least favorite guitar. If it were a higher priced Washburn I would be happier with it's tone, but unfortunately it sounds more muddy than I like. Lesson learned when it comes to guitars spend a little bit more to get a better guitar! It is my son's guitar and he has a hard time pressing on the fingerboard as it is a narrow one and his hands are on the large side. So he is trying to learn to play his Yamaha Portable Grand Piano. He likes it much better.

"Of Crossed Guitars Seagull C12 and Lyon 6" Corel PSP Pro X3

Crossed Guitars Seagull C12 and Lyon 6

From my photography session the other day. I crossed the two guitars to contrast them and their differences. I used a brown couch and a patterned pillow to prop them up at the crossing point.

I opened from Picasa 3.9 update with Corel PSP Pro X3, I recently reviewed Corel's newer X5 version, very nice implementation.

In PSP Pro X3 I applied the Digital Camera Noise Removal, and the Smart Photo Fix with an increase in color. I wanted a sharp warm image so I applied the High Pass Sharpen tool and the Effects Color Balance Fluorescent Warm. I then increased the Saturation with Vibrancy to punch up the colors. I used KPT Collections Equalizer for some additional Vibrance, turning up the settings.

I added my copyright and name and saved the large iteration. Then I resized for display and saved with an new iteration name.

Today is a busy day so to even have time to do this was precious time. Glad I could do it!

"Of Headstocks Seagull C12 and Lyon by Washburn 6" Corel PSP Pro X3

Seagull C12 and Lyon by Washburn 6

I got out our two guitars again for more photographs of them. I took this one on a Macro setting, a close up of the Headstocks of each guitar. I used my Canon Rebel XTI for the photographs I shot this afternoon.

I loaded them onto my computer and opened in Picasa 3.9 update. I used Corel PSP Pro X3 for my workflow. As usual I applied the Digital Camera Noise Removal first, then used the Smart Photo Fix where I increased some color and sharpened it a bit. I then went to Saturation and used the Vibrancy for punch to the colors.

I went to the Effects Browser and selected lighting and tried differing lighting effects. I chose Tungsten as it gave the whole image a golden look and feel. I added my copyright and name as for some reason my PNG of my 2013 signature file is not completely transparent. I will have to adjust this so I can use my signature. I feel that a signature is better with the copyright symbol and year date, it adds class to the images I create.

I have found that if I go into Corel PhotoPaint that my bitmapped photograph loses all EXIF data which I want to keep. So I did not use it to add the signature. PSP Pro X3 allows my adding a title and copyright date and artist information using the Image Information tool. This shows up in the EXIF data of the image, which would be lost in PhotoPaint.

"Infrared Guitars" Corel PSP Pro X3 - Plus

Infrared Guitars

This photograph was taken with our Canon Rebel XTi of our two guitars. The Seagull 12-String is mine and the Lyon 6-String is my Son's.

I had this stored on my external HD and opened it with Corel PSP Pro X3. I applied the Digital Camera Noise Removal and then the Smart Photo Fix. I cropped out of the right hand bottom corner an unwanted part of the photograph to focus on the guitars.

Then using the Photo Effects I picked the Infrared Film tool. This gave me a B&W high contrast image which I liked. I added a black border and the black Picture Frame to the image. I saved the large file.

From Picasa 3.9 I opened with Corel PhotoPaint. There I used the Touch-up tool to remove some white spots from the dark rug. I added my signature by Inverting it to make it white and placed it, merging with property Add.  I resampled for display in PhotoPaint saving that iteration.

Post 963 and moving to my 1,000th post.

"Seagull 12-String and Lyon 6-String" Digital Manip - Corel PSP Pro X3 - Corel PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

Seagull 12-String and Lyon 6-String

Returning to a Guitar motif I took this Photograph from my External HD and manipulated it using the following steps and programs.

• 1. Open with Corel PSP Pro X3
•     A. Window - Fit to screen
•     B. Enhance Photo
•         a. High Pass Sharpen -
•             Hard Light
•     C. Color Balance
•         a. Increased Warmth
•     D. Effects
•         a. Art Media Effects
•             1) Brush Strokes
•             2) More Sticks
•     E. Adjust
•         a. Hue Saturation
•             1) Vibrancy
• 2. Name and Save As
• 3. Open Picasa 3.9
•     A. Open with Corel Painter 11
•         a. Apply Surface Texture
•             1) Luminance
• 4. Save Large Iteration
• 5. From Picasa Open with Corel PhotoPaint
•     A. Fit to Page
•     B. Effects
•         a. Filter Forge's Frames
•             1) Grunge Frame
•             2) Red and Black
•     C. Open Signature jpg
•         a. Copy to Clip Board
•         b. Select Working Image
•             1) Paste and Place
•             2) Apply Multiply
•             3) Merge with Image
• 6. Save Large Iteration Change
• 7. Reopen New with PSP Pro X3
•     A. Window - fit to Screen
•     B. Image - Picture Frame
•         1) Add Gold Frame
• 8. Save again
• 9. Resize to Display width 1220 pixels.
•     A. Save with New # designation

These steps resulted in the Image for today. I have both Guitars and my Music Stand in the image. Plus our rocking chair. I shot the photograph with my Canon Rebel XTi at 1600 ISO Medium size jpg.

"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.

"Dual Guitars" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Picasa 3.9

Dual Guitars Gouache

Dual Guitars Cinema

I began today on Twitter sharing photography, digital art, graphic design and typography leads. I enjoy using Google Alerts on these subjects set for "everything" and "happening now," as it garners some nice leads to share.

I then went to browsing in Picasa 3.9 and selected two photographs of my Seagull 12-String and a Lyon 6-String guitar. The first photograph I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and played around with it with a Gouache auto Painting. I had first added some saturated color and a "museum mat,' in Picasa 3.9.

The second photograph I played with only in Picasa 3.9. I upped the saturation and applied a feature called "Cinema." This cropped the image and placed a black border on top and bottom. I saved the file and opened with PhotoPaint to use Papersize to add a full black border. I had both images in PhotoPaint to add my signature and resample for display.

Listening --- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss --- Rich Woman

A Journey Called Collage - Acoustic Guitars - Music - Painter 11

Click for Larger Image

In taking the course at Digital Arts Academy, A Journey Called Collage, I am learning to use Painter 11 techniques for digital collage. Yesterday's collage was based on guitars and so is today's piece.

This is based upon Lesson 3 of the class. Using Layer Masking for a portion of the work. I used photographs of my own guitars and turned one into a pencil like style for the main focus.

I added music and texture to the piece painting on layers, masked and otherwise, with the Chalk brush. I made special paper textures for this image of both acoustic guitars and a piece of Dover Clip Art of sheet music. I kept the color scheme ocher oriented.

I also added with the property Multiply a painted guitar which I placed into the image and copied and pasted three times. I added a thin frame from Filter Forge's frames. The original image is 8" X 10" at 150dpi, I resampled for display here.

Listening --- The Early November --- Ever So Sweet