Hemi - All Dressed Up - Paint.NET - Photoshop 7 - PhotoPaint

A photograph taken by my brother Kent M. Gatzka at the Franken-
muth Auto Fest is today's first subject.

I cropped this image to focus on the Hemi being displayed. I cloned out a date on the image and two figures at the top of the trunk in PhotoPaint. Saving that file I opened in Paint.NET 2.5.5 version.


Once there I used the Effects> Artistic> Ink Sketch filter with the color turned all the way up, which gave the white car a aqua tint and deepened the shadows. I saved it again and reopened it in PhotoPaint. Here I used the Tone Curves to add depth and increased the saturation by 7. I added a frame using Filter Forge's Freepack - Frames.



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Listening to: After Midnight Cover - Kirk Mathew Gatzka
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Warm Guitar Complete with Blanket - Photoshop

I just got an extension cord for my Wacom Tablet that allows me to disconnect it from my PC and then connect it to my Mac G4. Why would I want to do that? Because I wanted to explore Photoshop version 7 better.

This photograph, taken by myself, was put through some paces in both PhotoPaint and in Photoshop 7. I made a quadtone of it in PhotoPaint and then saved it to my Zip 100 disk so I could port it to the Mac.

In Photoshop 7 I used some of the Artistic filters on it to give it some grain and paint daubs. I adjusted the Curves to deepen the shadows. I was using the jpg file format to move between the programs with ease of use.

The title is somewhat an oxymoron as Blue is not the warmest color there is, but it is a comment on the blanket in the photograph, draped around the guitar.

I brought is back into PhotoPaint and added Filter Forges Freepack - Frames watercolor frame to the piece. I resized it there for the web.

The second image is from Peter Frampton's, "Alive" cassette cover. I had scanned in the image and saved it in tiff format. Using the Zip 100 disk called Ferryboat2 I moved it over to the Mac G4 and used Photoshop on it for a painterly look and feel. The filters are different than what I have in other programs and I like the look of a variety of them. So I applied one here as well. It softened the image, I used Curves on it and adjusted the saturation of it in Photoshop.

Ferrying it back to the PC I added the watercolor frame to it in PhotoPaint.

The third image is one of a sketch I did of my son, when very young, sleeping on a pillow. I scanned in the sketch and using Painter 8 painted it with watercolor brushes.

I also Ferried this to Photoshop and added a Gaussian blur with some texture as well as doctoring up some of the lines of the sketch with a black 2pixel brush. I again used a watercolor frame for it with a 10pixel black frame to finish it off.

I am still learning how to use Photoshop 7 and would love to have CS5 but it is cost prohibitive at this time so I use what I have to the best of my current knowledge and abilities.

Three very different images all done using Photoshop 7 and PhotoPaint.

Listening to --- Move in Time --- by Kirk Mathew Gatzka

Self-Portrait - circa 1969-1970 - Photoshop/PhotoPaint

We recently set up our Mac G4 with Photoshop 7 on it and I opened up an old photograph of myself playing my Harmony 6-string guitar. I moused around in Photoshop and used some filters and a Gaussian blur for the background.

I saved the file on a Zip 100 disk and moved it to my PC, opening it in PhotoPaint. I found a second photograph of myself taken at the same time and cut out pieces of that photograph, with the lasso tool, to add to the main one I began with.

I ended up with the digital collage you see here. I also added a frame to it using PhotoPaint's Image> Paper size> centered. I selected this border with the wand tool and used the Effects> 3d Effects> Bevel effect> for a 3d frame.

I selected the guitar using a lasso tool and resized the object and angled it, adding six guitars and my arm strumming to the lower part of the image to add some interest. I was fresh out of High School at the time these pictures were taken. So my appearance now is quite different. This was just when I was growing out my hair long and had a mustache and goatee. Seems like ages ago, in fact it was!

I was songwriting in those days as well. Most of the songs were not worthy of keeping so they are all lost now. Only one that I copyrighted titled "Hello Sunshine, Goodbye Moon." Which we recorded on a reel to reel tape recorder with guitar, flute, lead guitar, piano and back up vocals and I entered it into a song contest which I did not even get an honorable mention. I believe that my sister has a copy of that on reel to reel tape somewhere, that my Mom had kept. It was the Bad Old Days then.

I can't even remember that song now, except to a few words and the chorus, no chords and the melody escapes me. It is odd how time changes your viewpoint and your approach to songwriting. But at the time it was on of the highlights of my endeavor to write, sing, play and record. Funny how time and memories work.

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Now playing on Windows Media Player: Kirk Mathew Gatzka - Something Amazing
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Vector - Guitar and Banjo Players

Think 1980's. This photograph is an old scan from years ago. I have been reviewing some of my older work and photo-
graphs and thinking of ways to make them fresh images.

I opened the original scan and using PhotoPaint I altered the color. I like the green tones I ended with.

I copied the file to a Zip100 and pulled into Photoshop 7 on my Mac G4. I applied an Artistic filter which acts a bit like posterizing. Back to the PC I did some more work on it.

I used CorelTRACE on this old scanned photograph. After saving it in .cmx format for CorelDRAW I opened it in said program.

I ungrouped all the vectored pieces and moved some of them to provide white space. I added a yellow background and curved the corners. I added a beveled frame.

I am keeping with a guitar motif for a time as it comes under the Music discussion part of this blog. I am having a great time reviewing my older work and photographs and the inspiration comes. Thank you for reading and viewing my artwork!

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Now playing on Windows Media Player: Kirk Mathew Gatzka - Hello Hello
via FoxyTunes

The Gossamer Veil and other Stories

Speaking about years ago, I found this image on a Zip100 disk and I promptly took it to my Mac G4 and Photoshop 7.

It is either 1969 or 1970 I was about 19/20 years old at the time. I used Photoshop's Artistic filters on it. Yes, that is my old Harmony 6-string and it looks like I'm playing a D chord. I also did the large artwork behind me, in blacklight paints no less. That piece was shown at the then called Pontiac Mall now called Summit Place Mall during a spring art show.

I learned acoustic and played electric using a Woody pickup even back then. I remember learning "House of the Rising Sun" as one of the first songs I played on a regular basis. Most of my songs I wrote then were love songs or imitations of songs like "Eve of Destruction" and Beatles\Dylan. I was really starstruck in those days, like many I wanted to make music my lifestyle. So I emulated the stars I liked. Although I could not play as good as "Jimi Hendrix" (Jimi Hendrix Experience) or "Eric Clapton" (Cream Disraeli Gears) I had dreams of being a singer songwriter.

As I look back I humbly admit that I probably did not have what it takes to make a star. Like so many I have continued to play and write but more for pleasure than anything. I am working on a song called "The Gossamer Veil" which the lyrics were written in the mid 1990's. It's a song about how difficult it is to communicate between persons in interpersonal relationships. The "Veil" hangs as a barrier to full understanding and feelings we personally have. Good Communication is a key to interpersonal relationships. But it is very difficult at times when our background and experiences are different, even cultural differences.

The chord progression is pretty basic. But it is an interesting set and great to work with. I have the song melody and chorus and some backup written and a raw recording. The lyrics needed quite a bit of cutting and correcting, but I am happy with the song so far. It still needs polishing. I may add a positive verse to it but it is already over the 4 minute length, I have been known to write 5 minute songs (or longer.) Not sure I can keep the listener's interest that long!

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Now playing on Windows Media Player: Alison Krauss - Nothin'
via FoxyTunes