"A Rainy Day at Peggy's Cove" Corel Painter 11 - Paint.NET - Filter Forge

A Rainy Day at Peggy's Cove

A challenge photograph from the Painter Talk forum. I downloaded the photograph and opened it in Paint.NET. There I used the Effect Ink Sketch with the color set to zero for a black and white image. I saved that and opened it in Painter 11.

I selected various Watercolor Brushes native to Painter and painted away at differing sizes. I used a Bristle brush for the Rain - like sky adding the yellow highlights and the reflections in the water. Saving that iteration at display size I opened from Picasa 3.9 update to Corel PhotoPaint.

Here I added my signature and used Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance for punching up the colors. I saved that file to share here. Be sure to click on the image for the larger view. Thanks for your interest!

Listening to Eric Clapton Unplugged from YouTube.

"A Little Romance Never Hurt!" Digital Collage - Picasa - Corel

"A Little Romance Never Hurt!"

 gatzkART! has reached over 97,000 Pageviews and 1,070 posts today! I was using The Old Reader RSS reader to import my Google Reader content. I was reviewing the posts and found two old-fashioned love photographs from ART FREEBIES, a blog of Public Domain images and photographs.

I saved them to my folders in Picasa and created a collage with Picasa 3.9. I added the page of images of Old-Fashioned Love and Marriage from Dover Clip Art sampler folder.

Using Picasa I tinted the entire collage with blue and saved that. I used the setting for the size of my current desktop size, It saved a large iteration.

I opened it with Corel PhotoPaint and worked on adding the Nebula background to it. I saved that and added the title caption, in PhotoPaint adding my signature.

I also resampled it in Corel PSP Pro X3 to display size. I then saved that. Times have changed as you can see from these examples of Love in the old days.

"A Little Romance Never Hurt!"

Some things haven't changed a bit!

"The Celebratory Dance" Art Deco Digital Collage - Corel Plus

The Celebratory Dance

Browsing my Dover Publications Sampler folder in Picasa 3.9 I found a decorative floral with line. I also searched for a background for this and came up with an Art Deco Floral background.

In Picasa I lightened the Color Art Deco Floral a bit and brought them all into Corel PhotoPaint. I used the Wand tool to select the white and filled it with a sky image. I applied the decorative floral with lines, deepening the line coloration with the Tone Curve and using the Color Burn for transparency.

I searched a bit further and found an image of women in various stances. I selected the Dancer with Flowing Hair to add. I cut, erased and placed the Dancer onto the two backgrounds.

I added another image from the Dover Clip Art of a Couple Celebrating with Champagne, as if they were drinking to the Dancer. I increased their depth with the Tone Curve as well. This made for a Celebratory feel to the image.

I added my signature inverted to white and merged all together to one layer. I saved this iteration. I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the High-pass Sharpen tool on the image. And softened the background using the Digital Camera Noise Removal tool.

I liked the Ornate Frame so I applied that from Image, Picture Frame. It gives it a Museum quality I really like.

So goes the making of the "The Celebratory Dance."

"Vintage Young Girl Playing Violin" Corel PhotoPaint - Dover Clip Art

Vintage Young Girl Playing Violin

I am keeping with a music motif with some Dover Clip Art from my Dover Publications Sampler folder in Picasa 3.9. I selected the "Vintage Young Girl Playing the Violin," and a background of Butterflies in black and green, and some sheet music. I opened them in Corel PhotoPaint and did my cutting, erasing, placing of the Girl on a bed of leaves (also Dover Clip Art) with a Bird accompanying her playing.

I used the Tone Curve to give the Girl and Bird and leaves some depth. I copied and pasted them onto the Butterflies background. On the background I did use Color Replace White to Green for the pleasant coloring. I added the sheet music from the Free Vintage Digital Art folks. which I promptly placed behind the Girl and Bird. I used the property Multiply on the music score.

I did all the work for this Digital Collage in PhotoPaint. I resampled to display size, adding my signature in white (again Inverting the black signature.) I saved the medium size iteration for display.

Musically I have been researching Chordings for Double Drop D Tuning and have found a couple of references with PDF files. Which I downloaded but then lost my page I was on so I can't share the Links.

I may use this tuning for a new song I am working on. The meter of the lyric is very different to what I usually use. So I am going to have to be really creative with the chords and melody and the chorus and verses and bridge. I am excited about it!

Feels great to be thinking and feeling musical again.

"Self-Portrait Digital Collage" Corel - Plus - Logitech

gatzkART - Self-Portrait

Today I updated my Logitech C260 Camera's software and was playing around with it. I took a couple of hi-res photographs of myself. I decided to do a self-portrait collage with one of them.

I opened the photograph with Corel PSP Pro X3 and applied the workflow I use for digital camera photographs, Noise Removal and Smart Photo Fix. I also applied the Skin Softening tool to the photograph.

I saved that iteration. I opened both Corel PhotoPaint and CorelDRAW and also Picasa 3.9. I used Picasa to locate a Art Nouveau background and other clip art pieces, in my Dover Clip Art folder. I used the Local equalization on the background. Added another yellow based floral on it, adjusting the Opacity.

I opened the self-portrait and cut my self out of the image and copied that to the clipboard. I pasted it on the background and used Multiply and Opacity for transparency.

I used a drop cap "G" for the word "GatzkART," and used DRAW for the text. I also altered the Opacity of the word and the Tone Curve of the capital "G" changing it's depth (I also changed it to green to match the "atzkART" portion.

Using my Dover Clip Art Samplers I added the women and a couple of designs in black using the property Multiply and the Tone Curve to darken them.

I added a small green border in PhotoPaint using Papersize, and then my signature in black. I merged all layers (objects) to the background to finish.

"90,000+ Pageviews Milestone - Morning Dove" Corel Painter 11

Morning Dove

I wrote yesterday about some birds pictures from Dover Clip Art and today I have used the "Morning Dove," piece. I am following through on a motif of birds for a few images. This Dove image is Digital Watercolor done in Corel Painter 11. The inking is from the Clip Art and the painting is all done by myself. I chose to make the leaves variegated with white to add detail to the scene.

I selected a number of watercolor brushes, and textures for the piece. We have Doves living nearby so I tried to keep the colors close to reality. I used Corel PhotoPaint to apply Filter Forge's Photo Effects Vibrance to punch up the colors. I added the signature in PhotoPaint as well. Then I added the black border in Corel PSP Pro X3.

We have reached the Milestone of over 90,000 Pageviews for gatzkART! Thank you to all who have visited and viewed my digital artwork. 

"Casanovas' Flowers Lie!" Corel PhotoPaint - Plus

Casanovas' Flowers Lie!

I used Picasa 3.9 to browse to my Mayang's Textures folder and selected a painted rusty texture. I opened it with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and auto painted using Impressionistic Hatch Random brushstrokes set at 80% size and 40% Amount.

I saved that file and opened with Corel PhotoPaint, rotating it 90 degrees right. This gave me a portrait size texture to work with. I used Picasa again and went to my Dover Clip Art folder and searched for images there.

I found a floral for coloring and I copied and pasted it onto the texture. I resized it and applied the Tone Curve to darken it. Continuing to search in Picasa, Dover Clip Art I found a grouping of women and selected the one who looked sad and in despair. I changed the color with Image, Color Replace and placed it on the texture and floral.

I wanted to play upon the sadness shown and searched further in Dover Clip Art. I found the man's face that looked like a Casanova. I copied and pasted him onto the texture, used feather curves on him and altered his Opacity.

I finished off the piece with the Art Nouveau frame from Dover as well. Added the word's that "Casanova's Flowers Lie!" I adjusted the Opacity of the lettering.

I merged all layers and added my signature. I saved that large file. I reopened the file with Corel PSP Pro X3 and added the mat, which I cropped, then the black frame. I saved that file then resized for display here.

Listening --- Local TV News

"Two Watercolor Birds" Digital Painting Corel Painter 11 - Plus

Watercolor Birds

"Two Watercolor Birds," on a Impressionistic background makes for today's image. One of the birds is from Dover Clip Art and the other is from Free Vintage Digital Stamps.

I used a Mayang's Texture background auto painted Impressionistic in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I hand painted the bird clip art in Corel Painter 11 using Real Watercolor Camel brushes. I saved the texture and birds and opened Corel PhotoPaint to copy, paste onto the background the painted birds. I erased all the white space around the birds by hand and fit to size on the background.

I then merged them all, added my signature and saved the large file. I resampled for display here and posted this painting.

Listening to the TV News

"Two Birds Floral" Digital Collage - Dover Clip Art - Corel PhotoPaint - Plus

Two Birds Floral

I really enjoy the clipart from Dover Publication's Samplers. I browsed in Picasa 3.9 through my folders and found a Rusty background. I opened with Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 and applied the Impressionistic auto paint feature to it. This altered the colors adding the blue casts to the rust colors. I brightened the image using the Tonal Control, Brightness and saved the background.

I reopened it in Corel PhotoPaint and fit to size of my screen. I then returned to Picasa and browsed to my Dover Clip Art folder. I quickly found the Hummingbird and added that to the background with copy and paste. I used Image, Adjust, Replace Colors for the brownish tint and applied the property Multiply for transparency.

As I browsed some more I found many floral images and copied and pasted them onto the background. I used the same Replace Colors for an even basis for all subsequent images. I found the other Bird and flowers clip art and added that. Then I built a garden of flowers for the collage. I added my signature, saved the large file, and resampled for display.

Listening --- Emerson, Lake and Palmer --- From the Beginning

"Grunge Electric Guitar 2" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Grunge Electric Guitar 2

I used similar techniques on today's image as I did on yesterdays. I chose a photograph of an Electric Guitar and applied Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 auto paint features to it. I first used the Pastels Hatch brush, then I applied the Simple Watercolor feature. I selected the Pen and Ink feature and drew in, by hand, the ink outlines and hatching.

Saving that file I opened in Corel Painter 11 and used the Apply Surface Texture to the image using Luminance. Saving that iteration I opened in Corel PhotoPaint and using Filter Forge's Photo Effects Grunge I gave it a grungy look and feel. I added my signature in white.

I saved that and reopened in Corel PSP Pro X3 and added a white mat with ragged edges and a black frame using Picture Frame. I resaved and reopened in PhotoPaint and used the Wand tool to select the white mat and added a color gradient with the Fill tool. I resampled for display and finished.

Listening --- Essential Blues --- Old Cassette Tapes Compilation

"Pastel, Pen, Watercolor, Grunge Acoustic" Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 - Plus

Grunge Acoustic Guitar

Short post today, I am sharing a Grunge Acoustic Guitar image created using Corel PhotoPaint and Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I first enlarged the photograph to a working size. Then in PhotoPaint I applied the Local Equalization tool.

In Painter Photo Essentials I selected a Pastel drawing with a square chalk set at Hatch small brush with Random Strokes. I then used the Pen and Ink auto-paint for the black lines. I added to that image a Simple Watercolor with the color set to Saturate.

I saved the large image, opened in PhotoPaint and added my signature and resampled for display here.

Listening --- Kirk Mathew Gatzka --- Instrumentals

"Grunge Guitar Harp Treadplate" Corel PhotoPaint - Paint.NET - Filter Forge - Plus

Grunge Guitar Harp Treadplate

Doing some clean up on my Hard Drive I ran across this photograph of a Guitar Harp. I thought it would make a great image so I opened it with Corel PSP Pro X3 and resized it to 150 dpi. I used the Saturation Vibrancy on it for some color punch. I saved that iteration.

Next I looked for a grunge background for the piece and found a yellow Treadplate. I opened that with Corel PhotoPaint and resampled to a larger size. I took the Guitar Harp image and opened that with Paint.NET using the Ink Sketch tool on it for only the outlines of it. I resized it and selecting all copied it to the clipboard.

Returning to PhotoPaint I pasted the image into the Treadplate. I used some adjustment to size and then applied the property Color Burn for the grunge color and transparency to allow the Treadplate to show through.

I applied Filter Forge's Frames using a grunge frame. I saved that image. I reopened in PSP and added the Picture Frame. I saved the large file and reopened with Corel PhotoPaint. There I added my signature in white and resampled for display. I also added some dripping splatters to the frame for more grunge.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Help!

"Grunge Custom Coupe" Paint.NET - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

Grunge Custom Coupe

This photograph was taken by my Son, Keir M. Gatzka with our Canon Rebel XTi, at the 2012 AutoRama in Detroit, Michigan. I opened with Paint.NET and applied the Ink Sketch tool. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint a Mayang's Texture and cropped it. I copied and pasted the Custom Coupe into PhotoPaint.

I cropped it there and adjusted the Tone Curve for depth and increased the saturation. I used the font type WC Rhesus B Bta for paint splatters. I applied the Effects; Distort; Wet Paint to these and the title for the dripping paint effect. I saved the large file and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3.

There I added Vibrancy to the colors and added my signature using the Visible Watermark. In addition I added a Polaroid type frame and a 25 pixel black border. Then I saved and resized for display.

I recently finished another song that I have placed on My Page at Acoustic Guitar Community entitled "Play This Game." Recorded with my Shure PG58 mic through a Line 6 Toneport UX1 and lead guitar using an "Aerosmith 4" setting in Gearbox software. I used the open source program Audacity to record and mix the vocal and guitar playing then the voice overs and lead guitar. I saved this as an Audacity Project and exported as a MP3 for AGC.

If you want to visit My Page go to my links on the left and go to the Acoustic Guitar Community link. Select the song and have a listen. It was tricky production for me.

Listening --- Kenneth Brodie --- Open Secret

"Hummingbirds Watercolor" Digital Painting - Corel Painter 11 - Corel PSP Pro X3

Hummingbirds

I felt like doing some digital painting today, so I looked for another bird motif clip art image in my Dover Publications folder. Browsing in Picasa 3.9 I found some Hummingbirds with a nest and flowers. I used hue saturated colors to paint in Corel Painter 11. 

I used the Digital Watercolor brushes at differing sizes keeping the opacity high. I elected to leave the outlines of the original clip art for detail. After I painted the hummingbirds and flowers and leaves and nest I created another layer and used the property Multiply. I created the background and used the Salt brush on it for texture.

I had up-sized the image in Corel PSP Pro X3 to 4000+ pixels and 300dpi. So it was a large file that I used for this painting. I added my signature using the Visible Watermark and added a mat and frame in PSP. The file was so big that I ran out of RAM to resize it to a display size so I saved it and opened with Corel PhotoPaint and resampled it there instead. I also closed down Picasa 3.9 to free up RAM.

As you can see that worked in resampling this image.

Listening --- The Beatles --- Free As A Bird

"Sweet Guitars" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint

Sweet Guitars

I wanted to do another guitar based digital collage. I found this great sheet music with a light watercolor wash over it. I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and went to Picasa 3.9 to search for some guitar images. I located six of them at various angles and close ups as well as a full 12-string.

I resized them to fit as I wanted and used the property Exclusion on four of them for color and transparency. I applied Little Ink Pot's Thredgeholder, for the sketch appearance, to the other two guitar images and placed them with one near the center. I used the property Multiply on these for transparency.

I added my signature and saved the large file as well as resampled for display here.

Listening --- Madagascar's --- I Like To Move It

"Blue Study in Textures" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint - Filter Forge

"Blue Study in Textures"

Just a short post for today. This "Blue Study in Textures" is a combination of part of one of Mayang's Textures, A Dover Publication Cartoon, A view of a dilapidated barn, and a water-tower. And a grunge effect from Filter Forge's Photo Effects.

I have limited time for a more detailed explanation. I did construct this in Corel PhotoPaint using Little Ink Pot's Thredgeholder on the photographs of the barn and water-tower.

It is a piece that needs a closer look for searching out the details and textures. Click on it for the larger view, use F11 to enlarge your browser screen. Enjoy your searching out the details.

Listening --- Laura Marling --- The Muse

"Vintage Man and Woman" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint

I Don't Think I Can Make It . . .

I've been following a blog that has free vintage clip art to share recently. FREE ViNTaGE DiGiTaL STaMPS has a lot of really nice clip art, both backgrounds and other pieces of interest.

Using Picasa 3.9 I browsed to the newest pieces I garnered from them and opened the background with Corel PhotoPaint. I added the Lady and Gent on the phone, copying pasting, erasing around them and adjusting to fit. I then took a piece of Dover Clip Art of a stained glass window and used the property Multiply on it for transparency.

I used the font Brickley Script for the statement: "I Don't Think I Can Make It . . .," above the couple. I added a lavender border to the piece and my signature, saving the large image and resampling for display here.

Listening --- Primitive Radio Gods --- Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand

"A Waiting Lady" Digital Collage - Corel PhotoPaint - Corel PSP Pro X3

A Waiting Lady

Today I used some Vintage Clip Art I recently got from online along with Flaming Pear's textures. I opened Picasa 3.9 and browsed to my Flaming Pear folder and selected a texture called "branches." I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and increased the file size by increasing the dpi to 300. I then used the Unsharp Mask tool on it for a bit of sharpness.

I converted this bmp to an RGB image and used Replace Color giving it a blueish cast. I browsed to my Clip Art folder in Picasa 3.9 and found the Marie Antoinette like lady and copied and pasted her into the texture background. I erased much of the image leaving only the lady. I also added the dress making piece to the image.

I Replaced Color on both then added the globe and books and scrolls, copying, pasting erasing, coloring again. I searched for an appropriate corner symbol and did the same. I used the property Multiply on all the pieces of the collage. Saving this I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and where I applied the Saturation Vibrancy to boost the color and Curves for depth. I added the ornate frame to match the elegance of the lady.

I resized for display in PSP saving both sizes of the image.

Listening --- Little River Band --- Lady

"Grunge Guitar Trio" Corel PhotoPaint

Grunge Guitar Trio

Getting some advice on the song "Playing In A Vacuum," to highlight another verse, and drop one chorus. Perhaps a change in the Key as well, then back to the original Key.

With the song in mind I worked on a Digital Collage today. It has a grunge background and a trio of guitars. I added a snippet of the song's chords and lyrics using a Typewriter font. In keeping with the grunge theme I added wet paint drippings to the words and some paint splatters.

On the three guitars I applied Little Ink Pot's Thredgeholder for a rough sketch look and feel. I deliberately kept a balanced composition. I did apply the Tone Curve to the cracked concrete background to enhance the color depth.

I did all this in Corel PhotoPaint with Picasa 3.9 for browsing to the folders where I had the images of the background, and guitars.

Listening --- Bob Seger --- Night Moves

"Catch of The Day" Digital Collage in Corel PSP Pro X3

Catch of the Day

I wanted to start the month off with a digital collage using Corel PSP Pro X3. I browsed to my Dover Publications folder while in Picasa 3.9. There I opened a wallpaper background.

In PSP I resized to a larger file by increasing the dpi to 300. Then I used the Unsharp Mask tool to sharpen it.

Again in my Dover folder I found the Dandy with his attendant and copied, Pasted as New Layer into PSP. I used the layer property Multiply and also applied Curves to deepen the color, resizing to fit the large background.

I found the lobster in my Dover clip art and placed the same way. I skewered the lobster on the Dandy's cane. Naming the collage "Catch of the Day."

I decided I did not like the clip art in black so I used Adjust, Color, Red, Green, Blue, and made them a brown, which fits the beige background better.

I added my signature with the Watermark tool. Then added a mat and gold frame to complete the collage. I then flattened all layers to one. Saving the large file I then resized for display.

I was using Verse Perfect to write a song lyric the other night. It was suggested I use a theme of "Playing in a Vacuum." I am fairly isolated from other songwriters locally and write alone most of the time, so the theme was fitting. I now have verses, chorus and a bridge in writing. I need to add the chord progression and melody as of yet.

Pondering --- Playing in a Vacuum