"Acoustic Magazine No.4" Fake Cover - Corel PhotoPaint

Acoustic Magazine No.4

Today I am sharing another "Acoustic Magazine," fake cover. This is a Grunge Issue with a rusty background and some grunge fonts. I complied the digital collage in Corel PhotoPaint using pieces I had found in my folder for the Series 66 collages.

I added some dripping paint splatters and merged the "guitar player," with the background. I had created the player at an earlier time in another piece, but he fits here.

I always use Picasa 3.9 to browse my folders and found the pieces to put together for this "issue." I used the "Eyes Wide Shut" idea because of the large eyes on the guitar player, a play on words.

I saved the large file as usual and resampled for display here.

Listening --- Corky and the Juice Pigs --- The Grunge Song

"Digital Watercolor Paintings" Corel Painter - Corel PSP Pro X3

Four Eyes

Watercolor Portrait

Browsing in Picasa 3.9 I found a couple of examples of portrait work. The first one is an abstract I did years ago and had scanned in. I opened in Corel's Painter and created a clone then using the Ballpoint Pen I sketched the faces. I switched to Watercolor Camel brush and painted the colors into the image.

I added the signature in PhotoPaint. But I used Corel's PSP Pro X3 for saturation boost and the adding of the ornate frame.

The second image was a pen drawing I did at a book store, also quite a while ago. I had scanned this one in as well. I used the same Camel Watercolor brush to begin with, resizing it as needed. I also used a Flat brush for lines and for the background as well as the Erase Salt brush in the same.

Again I added my signature in PhotoPaint and matted and framed this image in PSP Pro X3.

Both images were smaller when I began, I used 300 dpi for them both and resized for display here in PSP Pro X3.

Last night, before going to bed I got out my Seagull 12-String Guitar and played and sang some Beatles tunes, starting with I Am the Walrus. I ended with Fool on the Hill. What an enjoyable hour that was.

"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

"Guitar and Spring Garden" Picasa 3.9 HDR-ish - Corel PSP Pro X3

12-String Guitar

Spring Garden

Picasa 3.9 has some new features with it. One is a filter called HDR-ish, which as you might surmise allows you to take your photographs and apply an HDR appearance to them.

I selected two examples to demonstrate the feature. First I did the Guitar, adjusting the strength, fade and radius of the image, I also touched up the Tone Curve in PhotoPaint. The second image is of our Spring Garden on which I applied the HDR filter again with some adjustments. I saved that larger file and opened with Corel's PSP Pro X3 and upped the saturation and added an Albumen fade and the golden frame.

I like the new feature in Picasa 3.9 and also the HDR function in PSP Pro X3. I need to experiment with my tripod and get some photographs to use for PSP Pro X3's HDR feature. Maybe when the snow really flies I'll get some interesting shots to share.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Reckonings II

"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

"Venice" An Exercise in Painting with Painter 11

Venice

I have this book about "How to Paint Buildings" by Manel Plana Sicilia and Muntsa Calbo Angrill, that I've had for years. Today I decided to make an attempt to paint using Corel's Painter 11 from it. I found a print of one of the book's paintings and did my best to imitate it. I used Gouache Painter 11 brushes and a Wet Grain Blender brush, along with an Liquid Ink brush for color and line.

It was an interesting endeavor as digital painting is undoable if you make any mistakes. I finished the large painting and saved it opening with PhotoPaint. There I added my signature and applied the Tone Curve to boost color depth. I saved that iteration and opened it with Corel's PSP Pro X3 and using the frames they have in that program I added a mat and golden frame. Saving again I then resized the image for display here.

Listening --- Counting Crows --- Perfect Blue Buildings

"Just a Couple of Guys" Digital Painting with Corel and the New Picasa 3

David

Joel

"Just a Couple of Guys," are today's images. I used the new Picasa 3 for HDR-ish look and feel for David and then saving that I opened with Painter Photo Essentials 4. Here I applied Modern Painting and Colored Pencil Painting for that image.

I browsed some more and found this photograph of Joel, sitting. I applied the Pen and Ink Painting, and the Colored Pencil Painting again. Then in Picasa I applied a Boost to the colors, decreasing the harshness with the slider.

I saved the larger files and opened with PhotoPaint to add my signature and resample for display here.

Listening --- Dr. Oz --- Television Show :-)

Digital Painting with Corel Products - Gouache Painting

Dodge Truck

Forest Road

Tree in Forest

I wanted to do a few more Digital Paintings in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 as I haven't exhausted the auto painting prospects of this program. So I browsed my photographs in Picasa 3 and discovered these three.

The first one of the Dodge Truck rusting away in the brush I applied the Gouache Painting with Intense color, no texturing. The second Forest Road I also used the Gouache Painting but this time with High Contrast color which gave me the deep rich color. I also applied the Surface Texture Image Luminance to the image.

The final Tree in Forest, another with Gouache Painting, High Contrast, Image Luminance texture and a slight boost of the saturation.

I finalized the images in Corel PhotoPaint adding my signature to the large files, resampling for display here and saving them as large and medium sizes.

Listening --- Ben Harper --- Strawberry Fields

"Digital Faces" Digital Collage - Picasa 3 (New Version) and Corel Products

"Digital Faces"

Today I browsed some photographs I had taken long ago of some of my older works, printed out and mounted on a wall display.

I opened the photographs in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and applied a number of the Auto Painting selections to both. After I was satisfied with each painted version I saved them separately. I then browsed in Picasa 3 (the new version) and selected them both and created a collage.

I saved that collage and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 to add a torn matting and black frame.

I saved that file and opened with PhotoPaint to add my signature and resize for display.

Listening --- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss --- Gone, Gone, Gone

Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 Fun Painting Photographs

Alaskan River

Bridge and Mountains

Trees and Mountains

Alaskan Restaurant

I was working on my laptop today on which I have Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I was browsing some of my photographs taken on our Alaskan trip a few years back and selected these examples you see here.

I used the Auto Painting feature of the program to create these images from the photographs I chose. I would take the image and apply more than one painting style. For example on Trees and Mountains I used a Wet on Wet Watercolor then applied the Color Pencil feature.

Corel's Painter Photo Essentials 4 is a fun program to create painted scenes from your favorite photographs.

Listening --- JJ Cale and Eric Clapton --- Danger

"Red Doors" Enhanced Photograph - Corel PSP Pro X3

"Red Doors"

I selected a simple photograph of "Red Doors," for today's image. I was browsing in Picasa 3 and found this older photograph of the screen doors. I opened with Corel's PSP Pro X3 and I applied the Vibrancy tool to it.

I was not satisfied with the saturation so I upped it in Hue and Saturation for more punch to the colors. I added the mat and frame using the Picture Frame feature. Saving the large file I opened with PhotoPaint.

There I added my signature and resampled the photograph for display.

Listening --- The Doors --- I'm Gonna Love You

"Flower Boy Steampunk" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint - Filter Forge - Corel PSP Pro X3

"Flower Boy Steampunk"

I began this image with a texture of peeled paint and superimposed a photograph of Guitars. I was using Picasa 3 to browse my folders and found both of these photographs. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and I applied the Guitars overlaying them on the white peeled paint.

I went back to Picasa and browsed my Dover Publications sampler folder for some Steampunk like images. I selected the Locomotive and Car, placing them end to end. I added the Boy standing on the fuel bin of the Locomotive and placed a Flower graphic in his raised hand. I found the Robed Lady and added her. Then I added the Man and Woman. I added the Watch in two places. Finding a pre-made Steampunk image I cut out the Smoke for the Locomotive. I doubled it and flipped the gears image and placed them together.

I had used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance on the background and added a Grunge frame to it, prior to placing the other pieces. I merged all the pieces into the one image.

I saved the large file and opened with PSP Pro X3 to add another classic frame. I also resized the image after saving the large file, having already added my signature.

Listening --- Amanda Marshall --- Birmingham

"Brain Drain" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint Plus

Brain Drain

Hectic times mean less time for blogging and It's been hectic here lately. Before running some errands today (printer needed ink as usual) I opened up Picasa 3 and browsed to my Mayang's Textures folder and found one to begin a piece.

I opened in Corel's PhotoPaint and upped the color saturation and used the Tone Curve for depth on the texture background. In Picasa I went to my Dover Publications folder and selected some clipart for this image.

I choose the head shot of the brain, A clock mechanism, and a measuring tool. I also found an Art Nouveau banner.

I used various methods of placing these into a digital collage onto the textured background. I had to cut and paste and erase according to each piece. I used the property Add for the banner and typed in the words for some humor to the image. "Brain Drain."

After I did my play on words, I saved the large file and opened that with Corel's PSP Pro X3 and added the stained glass frame. I resized the image and saved for display with my signature added.

I placed a QR Code in the image as well, for some fun. It really directs you to me and my blog and a bit more information.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Blind Guide

"Steampunk David" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint Plus

Steampunk David

"Steampunk David" is the title of this Digital Collage. I opened the photograph of David from Picasa 3 with Paint.NET and played around with the threshold and color. I ended up with a black and white representation of him.

I browsed in my Dover Publications Sampler folder using Picasa 3 and found an example of  a Steampunk image that I opened in PhotoPaint. I increased the resolution to 128 dpi and enlarged the image.

Back in Paint.NET I selected all and copied the modified David image and then pasted it into the Steampunk image.

I found other Steampunk images and did some copy, paste, erase on them and added each one to the David image. I used the property of Multiply on two of the scraps and also Replace Color on the man with the crane and clock.

I merged all the pieces together in PhotoPaint, then used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance to give some punch to the colors. I added my signature and saved the large file.

I opened that with Corel's PSP Pro X3 and applied the Image Picture frame, using one of my favorites, the ornate frame. I then resized there for display and saved that file.

Listening --- David Bowie --- Changes

123AAA Video - Digital Visual Art and Blues Music - Picasa 3

This video no longer exists! Sorry!

"The Calculus Lesson" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint - Picasa 3

The Calculus Lesson

Today I continue with Digital Collaging for this image, "The Calculus Lesson."

Opening PhotoPaint, I scanned in a print of a painting for the colorful background. I then used KPT Collection's Equalizer feature on it for a Gaussian like blur. I then applied PhotoPaint's Effects, Distort, Wet Paint to the background for the dripping paint illusion.

Browsing with Picasa 3 in my Dover Publications Sampler folder I found the Owls with what looked like a master and his students. I applied the property Subtract to add transparency, keeping some of the color.

I added a few flying creatures, the bird, dragonfly, butterfly, and fly for an outdoorsy appearance. Using the property Multiply for transparency on each and resizing them for this collage.

I then added the final touch, the Calculus equation page, using Multiply, for the Lesson theme.  This also came from Dover Publications.

I saved the large file after adding my signature, and resampled for display.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- The Empire of Fame

"Series 66 #7" Digital Collage - Last in Series - Corel PhotoPaint

Series 66 #7

"Series 66 #7," is the last in this series of Digital Collages about collaged Faces. I used Corel PhotoPaint, CorelDRAW, Painter 8, and Picasa 3 to create today's image.

I began with a freehand trace of a face from an old photograph done in Painter 8 before I had gotten Painter 11. I then browsed in Picasa 3 folders for faces to select features from. I found a group of black and white scanned in portraits and selected the eyes, ears and mouth from disparate images. I then placed them accordingly.

I used the magic wand to select parts of the face and image and filled with radial gradients the hair and face and neck. I then selected the background and filled it with a space photograph.

Browsing again in Picasa 3 I found 2 color palettes and copied and pasted them into the image using the property Multiply to add transparency. I opened CorelDRAW and typed in the "66," and "#7," at a large size using the fonts Basketcase and 321Impact. I copied and pasted them into the collage.

I added my signature, saved the large file, and resampled for display.

I have enjoyed creating this series of Digital Collage Faces and learned some new techniques, especially erasing sections of pasted in pieces of the image. I hope you have enjoyed the series as well.

Listening --- Jethro Tull --- Part of the Machine

"Series 66 #6" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint

Series 66 #6

I found time today to create another in the "Series 66 #6," I may create one more of these for a total of "7,". Again I used Corel PhotoPaint, CorelDRAW, Corel Painter 11 and Picasa 3 for the making of this image.

I scanned in the background and opened it in Painter 11 to warp the color swatches and to add a paper texture to it. I saved the large file and opened with PhotoPaint and used Picasa 3 to locate sources to use to create the face. I selected for the eyes and nose a digital painting I did in Painter 8 sometime ago. I opened another digital painting for the mouth, also done in Painter 8. I used the Tone Curve on the cut and pasted pieces to boost the color depth.

I browsed to my Dover Publications folder and found the swirling frame and added that. I also located the woman playing the violin and added her playing right into the ear of the face. I had selected the hair, ears, chin for the face from a photograph taken by me with my Canon Rebel XTi.

I did not scan in as much from other sources as I had on others of this series. I used what sources I already had on my Hard Drive. I finally added my signature and saved the large file then resampled for display and sharing here on the blog.

Yesterday I uploaded the first 5 in the series to my Fine Art America (see the link below) account to allow them to be available for sale. I will also add this one as well.

Listening --- 3 Doors Down --- Duck and Run

"Series 66 #5" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint

Series 66 #5

"Series 66 #5," image was created with the same programs and hardware I used in the previous images in this group. This all Digital Collage was done using Corel Products.

I am keeping this post short as it is later than I usually post and evening time is quickly running away.

If you want to review techniques please refer to the other "Series 66," posts for details.

Listening --- Joe Cocker --- Feeling Alright

"Series 66 #1" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint

Series 66 #1

"Series 66 #1," is a Digital Collage done using scanning with my Canon MP495 and a number of different sources. I created this face using the disparate parts from these sources. It is much like regular collage work only you cut and paste on the computer. I used Corel's PhotoPaint and Canon's scanning software.

I have a man's nose and mouth, drawn woman's eyes that I duplicated and flipped, a man's hair and ears and a woman's eyebrows. The jaw line was taken from another source and carefully trimmed and sized for the image.

I added the distinctive type of DaVinci for some texture at the bottom of the image, with a drink and a symbol on top of the writing.I saved the large file and resampled for display after adding my signature.

Listening --- Bob Dylan --- Series of Dreams