"The Lone Street Musician" PE5 Plus

The Lone Street Musician

Another photograph of "The Lone Street Musician." I liked the image from the beginning. A Street Guitarist, possibly a singer as well, presenting himself in a corner of a plaza.

I opened the file in Corel Painter Essentials 5 (PE5.) I began by applying the Pen and Ink Drawing settings. I tried one brush but it was not very clear, and I wanted a clean, bright Pen and Ink look. So I set the Brush to the Dry Ink and painted again. This gave me a better drawing.

To add to the Ink Drawing, I selected the Detailed Watercolor setting. A soft light brush was chosen the New Simple Water Brush. I digitally painted again. This gave me a Pen and Ink Watercolor image.

The next step was to increase color depth of the piece. I selected Equalize from the Effects. There I set the Black Point to 21.2% and left the White Point at 100%. I altered the Gamma to 60%, and this punched up the color. I saved this large file with a new name.

Next, I opened the file in Paint.NET. I selected the Line Brush at 3 points, with a Backwards slash setting. I hand painted a light border with the brush. I opened my signature file, copied it, and added it as a new layer. Using the property Multiply, I then merged the layers. I saved this file at 100% compression.

I now only needed to Resize the piece for display. I adjusted it to 72dpi, 1220 X 1049, with 75 as the compression. I saved this file with a new name.

"How to: Vintage Rusted Truck In The Forest" PE5 Plus

Vintage Rusted Truck In The Forest

Another great photograph of a "Vintage Rusted Truck In The Forest." I like these honorable old vehicles that have seen better days of service. Here we see that it was labeled a "Resort Beach," service truck.

I opened it in Corel Painter Essentials 5 (PE5) and used the Effects: Equalize then upped the Saturation Uniform Color to 71%. I saved the large file. Next, I used that image to digitally paint. I chose a Pastel Drawing set for this. I selected a Chalk, Pastel and Crayons Brush the Scratchy Jitter Smooth Brush. After the digital painting I used the Soft Cloner Brush to add back in some details of Rust, and color to the Forest. I saved this iteration.

Opening in Paint.NET, I applied the Effects, Artistic, Ink Sketch lightly. I added my signature layer and merged down the layers, saving with a new name.

In Corel PhotoPaint, I adjusted the Saturation to 23 and used the Tone Curves to add depth. I quickly used Picasa 3+  and applied the Warmify filter to the full-color image. Saving that I used PhotoPaint to resample for display an Optimized JPG, 150dpi, 1220 X 810 pixels, Anti-aliased, Maintaining the aspect Ratio.

I have been using the free program Grammarly while I type my workflow. It is very helpful in Blogger to make corrections on the fly to my descriptions of each step I take to create an image. You can even Ignore a recommendation if it does not fit your narrative style. I recommend it.

"2016 Time to Re-String Your Guitar" Hand Painted Painter Essentials 5 Plus

2016 Time to Re-String Your Guitar

“2016 Time to Re-String Your Guitar,” began as a free to edit photograph I selected from my Guitar and Music Folder this morning. I began by using Paint.NET's Effects, Artistic, Ink tool and created a digital Pen and Ink image to work with. I saved the large file.

Next I opened the file in Painter Essentials 5 and using varying Digital Watercolor Brushes, I hand painted this piece. I varied from brush to brush changing sizes and strokes. I did not take notes today I just wanted to paint by hand without interruptions. I have an older Wacom Tablet that I use to paint digitally. Hand eye coordination is very important, plus a bit of artistic abandon is freeing.

I selected the colors from the basic palette from Essentials 5, and tried to make the image colorful but consistent. I did later pick a Dry Ink Brush for some details I wanted to add, with a distinctive color of my choice. I saved the large file again.

Then I opened the file in PhotoPaint and adjusted the Tone Curve and Saturation for punch and depth. I brought up my Signature file for 2015 and cloned out the copyright symbol and the date. I used an Arial font for the new copyright symbol and new 2016 date. I did this on my Black and White signature file, I still need to alter the inverted signature file.

I added the signature layer to the piece and sized and placed it, using the Property Add for transparency I merged the layers. I saved once again.

Picasa 3+ was opened so I used the Warmify tool for additional depth to the colors. I added a Black and Brown Border here as well. I uploaded the image from Picasa to my online Picasa Albums.

Back in PhotoPaint I Resampled the file at 120dpi with 75 compression and 25 smoothing, I saved that file for display with a new name.

I have a Seagull S12 Cedar 12-String Guitar, so it takes much time to re-string it when I do that. I love the full-bodied sound of the 12-String and really enjoy playing it. It was built in 1990 and is still going strong. It needs a bit of fret work to freshen the sound. We will see what the budget allows soon for that.

We also have a used Violin for my wife that needs work to bring it up to playing worthiness. That is in the new budget for this year as well.

"Textured Grunge Guitar Player" Paint.NET - Picasa

Textured Grunge Guitar Player

I have done another "Textured Grunge Guitar Player," for today's post. Last post of 2015, is Music Themed. It was simply done.

I opened the screen capture in Paint.NET. Here I applied the Effects, Artistic, Pen and Ink as a black and white image. I saved this iteration.

Since Picasa was open, I cropped and added a black border to the piece. I saved again with a different name. I switched back to Paint.NET and opened that file.

Next I located a Grunge Texture and opened it in Paint.NET. I selected all and copied to the clipboard the Texture. I closed the texture file. I then Pasted as a New Layer onto the Ink Guitar Player image layer. I moved around the Texture until I found the most color in it. Using the property Multiply I added the now transparent texture to the Guitar Player merging the layers down.

I upped the Saturation by 115 in Paint.NET's Adjustments. I opened and selected, copied to the clipboard my signature file. I closed that file. I Pasted the signature as a new layer, resizing and placing it onto the image, deselected it and merged down all layers. I saved that iteration as the final image.

I don't have a Retrospective look at some of your favorite images of mine for 2015, but you are always invited to come here and look through the Label Cloud, or search for images to view again. Or to Listen to my Music Previews and buy what you would like to own.

Thank you for your Patronage of gatzkART! during the year! I look forward to additional Music and Digital Visual Artwork to share in 2016!

"Violin Close Up" Painter Essentials 5 Plus

Violin Close Up

Continuing in a Musical frame of mind, a free to edit photograph of a "Violin Close Up," was used. As you can tell from my last couple of posts I like Musical themed images, and I like Digital Watercolor with variations of Brushes used.

I opened the photograph in Painter Essentials 5, selecting the Watercolor Sketch set. I picked from the Acrylic and Oils Brushes the Wet Oily Brush and Digitally Painted the piece. I added back in details of the strings, bridge, and sound hole using the Photo Painting Brush Soft Cloner, painting by hand.

I hand painted the surrounding background using first the Digital Watercolors Brush - Wash Brush. I continued to paint using the following: the Spatter Water Brush, the Pencils, Pens and Markers Brush Dry Ink, for the Ocher-like hatching. I also used the Photo Painting Brush - New Simple Water to tone down the Blue watercolor a tad. As you can see a Paper Texture was used during the entire process.

Saving that large file, I opened in Paint.NET and added my signature layer with the property Multiply for transparency, and merged the layers. I saved that iteration to Post.

My notes here are incomplete, but I am certain I used Irfanview to Resize/Resample the piece for posting size at 72.dpi JPG.

As always I encourage you to click on the Image for the Larger view to see the details and textures clearly.

If you haven't listened to any of my songs listed in the CDBaby Kiosks below they are Full song Previews for you to have a listen. Just scroll to the Kiosks below and select a song you haven't listened to yet and sample my Independent Alternative Folk/Rock Music.

"How To: Hills, Mountains, Cloudy Skies Oils Plus" Corel

Hills, Mountains, Cloudy Skies

These are the Programs and settings I used to create today's image. I am still experimenting with the outline format. Please let me know if you prefer this format or a Narrative Style format explaining how to use the stated Programs. Comments welcome!

• Corel Painter Essentials 5
  • Landscape – Hills, Mountains, Cloudy Skies
    • Effects
      • Tonal Control
        • Increased Saturation
    • Select Oil Painting
      • Acrylics and Oils
        • Real Wet Brush
        • Size 25
        • Opacity 100%
        • Freehand Brush setting
        • Artists Rough Paper
        • Paint with these settings
    • Select Detailed Watercolor
      • Still using Real Wet Brush
        • Size 10.2
        • Opacity 82%
        • Straight Brush
        • Same Paper setting
        • Paint with these settings
        • Stop before complete for just light effect
    • Select Colored Pencil Drawing
      • Pencils, Pens and Markers
        • Dry Ink Brush
        • Freehand Strokes
        • Size 31.5
        • Opacity 24%
        • Grain 100%
        • Same Paper setting
        • Paint with these settings
        • Stop before complete for just light effect
• Corel PSP Pro X3
  • Adjust
    • Smart Photo Fix
      • Brighter 32
      • Shadows -10
      • Highlights -5
      • Saturation 50
      • Focus- Original 47
    • Opened Signature
      • Placed as new layer
      • Sized to fit
      • Merged all Layers; Added 10 pixel Black Border

This photograph was from the Morguefile Free Photos. I truly appreciate their sharing some very good compositions for Digitally Painting and adjusting.

"10 Minute Digital Collage - Textured Young Lady" Corel

Textured Young Lady Portrait

Another 10 minute Digital Collage is the subject today. I opened a Texture from Stockvault Friday Freebies of Yellow Painted Concrete in Corel PSP Pro X3. I also opened a portrait of a Young Lady from the Morguefile Free Photos in Paint.NET. In Paint.NET I changed the image to a Black and White photo, I applied the Artistic Ink Sketch, Coarse pen to that.

Saving that I opened it in PSP Pro X3 and placed it as a layer on the Texture. I adjusted the size of the Young Lady to fit the large Texture. Using the property Multiply I added transparency to the portrait. I added my signature and then upped the Saturation Vibrancy. I merged the layers and removed EXIF information from the image. I then simply resized for display. I adjusted the Curves to add depth to the piece and saved it.

All in all it took around 10 minutes and a tad to complete this Textured Digital Collage of the Young Lady.

"Full Beard, Long Hair" Corel

Full Beard, Long Hair

I made the time to do this Digital Painting this afternoon and evening. Using another Mans Portrait from Morguefile I painted the image in Corel Painter 11. "Full Beard, Long Hair," began in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 as a Watercolor Sketch in grayscale.

I saved the large file and opened it in Corel Painter 11. There I used the Digital Watercolor Brushes on the face and beard. I switched to another layer for Liquid Ink Brushes to add details to his hair and beard. I also used the Inks for the background and added some more Digital Watercolor for dark contrasts.

I saved the large image after layering in my signature and merging Layers. I opened in Corel PSP Pro X3 for Saturation Vibrancy set at 33. I saved the image and resized for display here.

I have been working on two new songs for placing on CDBaby. I am completing the mixing now on one. The other is over eight minutes long and needs some thought and revising to make it practical for selling. Right now, I am enjoying working on it and don't mind its length.

Watch this blog for a posting about the new song soon! Per usual I will have it set for Full Preview for your consideration.

"Pen and Ink Watercolor Distressed Man" Corel Painter

Painting of Pen and Ink Watercolor Distressed Man

As it takes CDBaby 24-48 hours to release a single for publication as I am waiting for the "ready," signal from them for "Reckoning." I decided to take the image I used to announce my new song and Digitally Paint it in Corel Painter 11.

I opened the Pen and Ink image in Painter and selected the Digital Watercolors Broad Brushstroke to begin painting. I did the brick and windows background first with a light brown. I then selected some Flesh tone colors for the face and hand. I mixed some grays with the flesh tones for the hair.

I painted the 'STOP,' sign red and added some red tones throughout the piece. I now switched to a Gouache Brush to paint on the black hoodie he is wearing. I used a light enough blue to show the brush strokes. I added a touch of blue to the rest of the piece to consolidate my color scheme.

I saved the Painting and opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 to adjust it a bit. Increased the Saturation with Vibrancy and Brightened the overall image.

I am anxiously awaiting the go-ahead from CDBaby so I can give to you my new song in the series of "Blind Guide," "Collision Warning," and NEXT: "Reckoning." I will again allow listening to the Full Song in Preview mode for you to consider. Watch for it!

I have another tune coming soon, it is very upbeat, I have a back catalog of tunes, not all of them good enough to share as a purchasable copy. So after the series I especially chose the next one. It is a positive and uplifting song lyrically and I can't wait to share it with you.

"Pen and Ink Watercolor Textured Portrait" Corel

"Pen and Ink Watercolor Textured Portrait" Corel

I began this Portrait of a Blonde Young Woman in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4. I Auto-painted it using the Detailed Watercolor settings, I left them at the defaults. On top of that I added an Auto-painted Pen and Ink layer. I saved this large iteration.

Opening in Corel PSP Pro X3 I applied the Saturation Vibrancy to it for color, as the watercolor was very soft and light. I then searched for a suitable Stone Texture to add to it. This I did. Both the original photographs were from StockVault's and MorgueFile's Free images.

I added my signature layer and resized it and placed it. Then I added a 50 pixel black border and a thin black picture frame in PSP Pro X3. I saved after adding the Image Information, Title, Copyright, etc. I then resized for display here on "gatzkART!"

Though I don't know any of the women depicted in my recent work I appreciate StockVault and MorgueFile's Sharing of the photographs and Textures for my (or anyone's) use.

"Freehand Woman Portrait with Jewelry" Corel

Freehand Woman Portrait with Jewelry

I scanned a Traditionally done Freehand Fictional Woman's Portrait with my Canon MP495. This was a Colored Pencil and Pastel piece I did a while ago. I had also done some Jewelry Drawings in Pen and Ink. I scanned in these as well. I was open in Corel PhotoPaint.

Here was where I added the digitally cut out Jewelry pieces, Earrings, Necklace, and Decorative Hair Bauble to the Portrait. I had used the Tone Curve on the Portrait to add color depth. I also used the Tune Blur Soften a couple of times to smooth out the blending of colored pencils and pastels.

I added my signature to the large iteration and merged the image layers together, saved it. I then resampled the image for display saving that iteration..

I purposely used contrasting colors, as it was not my intent to match all the Jewelry with the Portrait. I wanted the Jewelry to stand out with the bright colors I had used when designing them on paper. This made for a very colorful image to share with you.

"12-String Seagull C12 Guitar on Chair" Paint.NET - Corel Painter

12-String Seagull C12 Guitar on Chair

I selected a photograph from my Guitars and Stuff CD of my 12-String Seagull C12 Guitar. I opened it in Paint.NET and applied the Artistic Pen and Ink Sketch tool to it, without color, for a Black and White Ink Sketch. I saved the large image.

I reopened with Corel Painter 11 and painted it with the Digital Watercolors Brushes, varying the brush and sizes. If you look closely you can see, in the left hand corner the tail of our Cat Linus, who was sneaking out of the photograph as I originally took it. A fun balance of color with the browns of the Guitar and the Plant Basket.

I used three Brushes for the Guitar body, the last being Salt, giving a blended appearance to that. I saved that iteration and opened in Corel PSP Pro X3.

Here I added a layer of my signature and placed that. I also placed a Black border around the image. Using the Image Information tool, I gave it a Title, Copyright, Artist information, along with the programs used to create this piece. I saved the large iteration and then resized it for display here.

"Burgundy Takamine Guitar on Chair" Paint.NET - Corel Painter

Burgundy Takamine Guitar on Chair

After visiting on "Let's Talk About It Hangout on Air" earlier today I searched for another Guitar photograph. I discovered this one on a CD with the written title Guitars and Stuff. I had to sift through a lot of stuff to find some photographs taken when I owned this Burgundy Takamine.

I opened the photograph in Paint.NET and created a black and white Pen and Ink Sketch. Saving that I reopened in Corel Painter 11 and using a variety of Watercolor Brushes I digitally painted the Pen and Ink image. I varied the sizes and brushes according to need and whim. I saved that iteration, opened it in Corel PSP Pro X3. 

There I added Image Information: Title Copyright, Programs used, etc. I also added, copied and pasted as new layer Inverted Signature with Copyright on it. Adding a border, I saved the large file and resized for display here at 1220 pixels wide. Click on the file for the larger view.

The Topic for Let's Talk About it was Regroup: How do you do it? 

re·group

verb \(ˌ)rē-ˈgrüp\

: to form into a group again

: to stop for a short time and prepare yourself before you continue doing something that is difficult : to stop and think, reorganize, etc., before continuing

Visit the Event Page on Google+ and listen in on our discussion, which included Cider and Doughnuts and Kiwi fruit.

"Inverted Snow and Trees - 2" Paint.NET Large

Inverted Snow and Trees - 2

Another Paint.NET image, I used the Ink Sketch Tool then Inverted the results. Very simple workflow. There are so many Snow images on the Interweb these days! I thought the Inverted would be a different way to share among the many, many pictures.

I added a Title and Copyright in Image Information with Corel PSP Pro X3. This was taken at the beginning of the great Polar Vortex Winter of 2013-2014.

Hope you all are warm and safe!

"Inverted Snow and Trees" Paint.NET - Corel

Inverted Snow - Trees

I have these snow photographs and was discussing black and white versions of them with my oldest, my Daughter. We talked about taking one of the photographs opening it in Paint.NET and sketching it with the Ink Sketch Tool.

I downloaded the latest version of Paint.NET and did just that. As my Daughter is working on black paper with a White curved bridge, I suggested that I would send her White Trees for background work. I used Invert Tool in Paint.NET and altered it for White Trees and Seedum.

Her response was "Cool!" when I sent her a copy of the large file. I suggested she print out the image on Matte Photo Paper and cut it to fit her Bridge image. (Or I may print it out for her.)

I did open the image in Corel PSP Pro X3 and added Image Information: Title, Copyright, etc. I then saved the large file and resized it for display here.

We will see if she uses my suggestion.

"Black Haired Beauty Woman Portrait" Canon, Corel Painter

Black Haired Beauty

I had time today for digital painting of the last of the three women Pencil, Freehand Drawings. I opened my Canon MP495 scan of the last one in Corel Painter 11. I wanted to keep the image cleaner and simpler. I selected various Liquid Ink Brushes to outline and paint this image. I used the Fine Point, and Camel Ink brushes. I varied the sizes as appropriate. I outlined the Woman in Yellow to brighten the painting, after giving her Raven Black Hair. I chose two Blue hues for her dress.

After I saved the large iteration I opened with Corel PhotoPaint and added my signature. Then I saved and reopened in Corel PSP Pro X3 to add a Border and a Ice Matte. It was here I added a Title, Artist, and Copyright information with Image Information. I saved the large image. Then I resized and saved for display here.

I was contacted by an old friend, Jerry Sprague, who's band is going to perform at the Ann Arbor, Michigan "The Ark". The concert will be January 21, 2014  http://theark.org/3772.html.

They are also having a Kickstarter campaign to fund their new CD:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/61826127/live-performance-recording-at-the-ark-ann-arbor-mi.

For more Information and Photos and Videos of Jerry go to his site:  http://www.jerrysprague.com/#!contact/c21nl, you will be glad you did. +Jerry Sprague

"Pucker 1 - Freehand Young Woman" Corel, Canon

Pucker 1

Found images are so much fun sometimes! Here is a "Young Woman With Puckered Lips," ready to give a kiss to someone. Who? I don't know, he is not the subject of the image. I did this circa 1990's and scanned it in with my Canon MP495 into Corel PhotoPaint. I adjusted the Tone Curve for depth and added my signature and saved the large iteration.

I opened in Corel PSP Pro X3, using Saturation Vibrancy on it for a boost to the colors. I saved with Image Information that iteration. Then I resized it for display.

This was a fictional gal, done freehand with Pencil, Pen and Ink and Pastel Pencil. I am glad I ran across her sitting loosely in my files and not still in a Journal. A delightful subject.

"Angle Knight" Corel - Rust Texture

Angle Knight with Paint Peeled Rust

A Pen and Ink Drawing from my Journals coupled with a Paint Peeling Rust Texture. I entitled it. "Angle Knight."

I used Corel PhotoPaint to layer these two images, one of a freehand fictional Knight with a rust texture. I applied the Knight over the rust texture and cropped to fit. I used the property Multiply for the Knight. I also used PhotoPaint's Tone Curve for depth to the color.

I saved the iteration after adding my signature in white. I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3 and used the Saturation Vibrancy for more punch to the color. I added some Image Information, title Artist, Copyright information, etc. I saved that iteration. The largest I worked upon was the size needed to display so I saved it and posted here for today.

"Simply Orchid - Rust Textured" Corel - Textured

Simply Orchid - Rust Textured

"Simply Orchid - Rust Textured," is a Journal entry of an Orchid done freehand out of my imagination. I opened the file with Corel PhotoPaint and cropped it a tad. I used the Tone Curve on it to boost the depth and colors of this floral.

I searched my external drive Rust Textures folder and found a yellow paint and rust texture. I layered this onto the Orchid image. I applied the property Multiply, and adjusted the Opacity to 80. I merged both the layers and added my signature in white saving the larger iteration. I then resampled for display.

"Brown Haired, Green and Violet Eyed Young Woman" Corel - Mayang's Textures

Brown Haired Green and Violet Eyed  Young Woman

Yet another Pen and Ink and Pastel image of a Brown Haired, Green and Violet Eyed Young Woman. I am sharing these from my Journals of freehand drawings and poetry.

I used this scanned in drawing and layered it with one of Mayang's Textures, a eucalyptus tree bark texture, very mild and it adds to the overall image.

I used Corel PhotoPaint to layer the texture adjusting it's property to Multiply and it's opacity as well. The drawing I had applied the Tone Curve for a punch to the color and some depth.

Musically I have been having trouble with my Line 6 Toneport UX1 and my Fisher receiver/amp for recording. Last night I found the song "Killing the Blues," known by it's recording by Robert Plant and Allison Krauss. I attempted to record it and got a fair take. I set my Gearbox software for the microphone to "Warm and Clean," so it was a little bassy for me. Next try I will use "Bright and Clean," to see if that makes a difference.

I exported it as an MP3 and it sounded a bit muddy. I am having a lot of trouble with the Gain on the Toneport, too low and nothing to record, too high and I get distortion in the background. It is so touchy since a power surge zapped my equipment. I still can get it to work though, I tried plugging the microphone directly into the computer's motherboard sound card and it was absolutely terrible! So I began to play with the Toneport, Gain, Volume, Gearbox settings, etc., again. I will find that balance some place in the settings!

I also am getting familiar with Win 7 32-bit's setting for recording and playback. It too is very touchy, but I hope it proves up to the task so I can record some Covers and possibly some new original songs.

Doing the recording helps me practice and see how I am doing in singing and guitar playing, Practice!