"How To: Forest Pathways Continued" PE5 Plus

Forest Pathways

I selected another Forest Pathways photograph for my Series of images of recent days. I like this one for the Trees and the less traveled path. I first opened in Paint.NET and applied the Artistic Ink Sketch tool. I had the color set high, and the Ink Medium. The trees looked great but the sky was washed out a bit. I increased the Saturation from 100 to 123 and this helped the sky colors. I saved the file.

Next I used Painter Essentials 5 from Corel (PE5.) I did an auto painting of the Pencil Drawing with the Pencils, Pens, and Markers, Dry Ink Brush. It was very light. I next switched to the Impressionistic Painting for more punch to the image. I selected a Digital Watercolor Dry Brush and auto painted again. Fantastic colors now embellished the image.

I hand painted some details back in using the Soft Cloner Brush to bring out the trees a bit more clearly. I saved that file.

In Corel's PhotoPaint I opened the Forest Digital Painting and the Ink Sketch I had done earlier in Paint.NET. I copied the Ink Sketch to the clipboard, closed it and layered it on the Painting. I adjusted the layer with Curves to lighten the colors a tad. Then I adjusted the Opacity about 75%. I merged the layers and applied Saturation increasing it also.

In Picasa, I tuned the image by increasing the Shadows. I added a Border and Matte and saved again. In Paint.NET, I Flipped the image Horizontally to have the Pathway Curve to the opposite way, as the other pathways images in the Series seem to go the same way. I added my signature layer and merged the layers. I saved again for the final large piece.

To resampled the file for display I used PhotoPaint. I resized it at 120dpi, 75 Compression, and Smoothing at 25 for a smaller footprint. I renamed the file and saved for display here.

Just a reminder that I am going to Introduce a New Song on CDBaby the beginning of February 2016. The Song is "I Still Remain." Simple format without much fuss in the mix. Vocals and my 12-String Seagull Guitar Played and sung live into the Line 6 Pod XT Live and recorded on my computer. Look for it's release!

Also a mention for Grammarly the Free Grammar program. I used it to write and correct this blog post in Blogger. It works well and has a Premium version that would enhance anyone's writing. I recommend it.

"How I Did This: Pathways Digital Watercolors" PE5 Plus

Pathways Digital Watercolors

Continuing with my Series of Pathway images I used this photograph of a Forest Pathway and applied Digital workings to it. I have not heard any comments about my Videos so I am going to use narrative discussions for the time being until I receive more feedback from you the viewer/reader of this blog.

I opened the color photograph in Corel PhotoPaint. Here I decided to start with a Grayscale image. I went to Color Mode and altered the photograph to grayscale. I then added back to the image RGB 24-bit color format. It remained grayscale, but now I could paint it in RGB colors. I saved the larger iteration.

Next step was to open the image in Painter Essentials 5 and Digitally Paint it. I selected the Watercolor Sketch set, with a small Digital Watercolor brush and auto-painted the image. I took that and saved it.

I then Hand Painted the image, with my Wacom Stylus and Tablet, using Digital Watercolor Brushes, I selected various brushes including a Broad Water brush. I selected to choose from the basic color palette multiple greens and browns to paint by hand. This gave a variety of depth to the piece. After I was done hand painting I saved the file with another name.

I had Picasa 3+ open and I went to Increase the Saturation tool and did just that, adding some punch to the hand painted image. I also selected the tool Warmify and applied that at a low setting. I saved again.

Back in PhotoPaint, I layered my signature with the property Add for transparency. I merged and saved again. I had found that I had older Filter Forge Filters to add to my PhotoPaint Plugins, so I did that using the Troubleshoot Compatibility on the setup files in Windows 10.

I applied Filter Forges Photo Effects Vibrance, more depth of color, and the Frames effects giving it a Film Frame. At that I looked at the image set to view large on my screen and was satisfied with the results. I saved the large file, then Resampled it to a 72dpi display size for this post. I used 75 compression, and 25 smoothing as I saved the display file.

"How to: Open Gate Pathway Through Woods" Picasa HDR PE5 Watercolor

Open Gate Pathway Through Woods

I tried out some “Video How to views,” for you and am now returning to written steps formatting. I hope you enjoyed the Videos. Comments about the videos as an expession of my work are welcome. Did You like them or find them tedious? Let me know if you will.

I am working on a Pathways motif and today I have one I really enjoyed creating. I used various programs and tools as you will read about here.

I opened the “Open Gate Pathway,” in Picasa and began by applying an HDR effect with the Radius set to Medium and the Strength set Low. I saved the image. Still in Picasa I adjusted the Highlights and Midtones of the piece, saving again. Then I increased the Saturation slightly, saved.

Next I opened the large image in Corel Painter Essentials 5 (PE5). Selecting the Watercolor Sketch set with clone colors from the image picked. I chose the Pencils, Pens, and Markers Grainy Cover Pencil Brush and Digitally painted the piece in this style. After this completed I picked the Soft Cloner Brush to hand paint back in some details on the Gate and Pathway and Trees/Brush. I saved this iteration with a different name.

I opened the piece in PhotoPaint and used the Curves to lighten the depth of color. Next I increased the Saturation of the color by 13 (from 0). I opened my signature file and copied to the clipboard, closed it, adding it as a layer to the main image. I used the property Add for transparency. And I merged all layers. I saved the large file then Resampled for display, using a differing file name.

I listened to a listing of Joe Bonamassa Vids in the background while I worked on this image. I just bring up YouTube and select a list of songs and play them one after another. I especially enjoy his Acoustic versions of Blues/Rock tunes as I work. Nice to have a desktop PC that allows that to take place.

I have a new song coming out in February 2016. It is an Acoustic 12-String with vocals tune. I used little special effects and tried a lead track, but I did not like the result. So it is just myself playing live into the microphone and recording. Keeping it simple, the song's name is “I Still Remain.” Look for it's release!

"Hoodie" Corel Painter

Hoodie

A short post for this evening. I selected another Homeless Man Portrait and digitally painted it. I opened in Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 using the Watercolor Sketch setting with a Dry Brush.

I saved the large grayscale image and opened in Corel Painter 11. There I painted using Digital Watercolor and Gouache brushes. I saved it as a TIFF file. I reopened in Corel PSP Pro X3, adjusting the Saturation Vibrancy by 18 for slightly brighter colors.

I also added my signature as a layer. I merged all layers and saved the file again with the same name and type. I then resized for display for this post, with a new name and as a JPG file format.

I was watching a HOA on Google+ at the same time I was going back and forth painting tonight. +Rebecca Perl was playing and singing songs and announcing her new album "Point of No Return." I did a capture of her holding her new CD up to the camera and posted that on G+ as well.

Rebecca Perl

Had a great time switching between tasks - painting and listening - watching and listening. Good music, it was a fun challenge. But, I wanted to post to the blog tonight as it has been a few days since my last one. So here it is! 1,300 plus posts.

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | Reckoning | CD Baby Music Store

Kirk Mathew Gatzka | Reckoning | CD Baby Music Store

Today I am finally releasing the day of "Reckoning!" You can listen to the Full song in Preview mode! The "Blind Guide," was warned in "Collision Warning," that with Pride comes the Fall. Now he pays for his indebtedness for his past behavior.



I have a BONUS track coming out after this series of three songs. The name of it is "Something Amazing." It is a positive song that has a good outlook and attitude in its lyrics. Watch for it!

"Teaser: New Song Coming Out on CDBaby Second in a Series"

After The Collision - A Wreck

This is Number Two in a series of three singles. "Blind Guide," was about an Attitude problem. This song: "Collision Warning,"  gives out the warning to the prideful.

"Collision Warning," is coming out in just a few days on CDBaby in Full Preview. Yes, the full song is presented for you to consider and enjoy.

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR THE RELEASE OF THIS ROCKING SONG!

Post to your Facebook Timeline and Invite your friends on Twitter or by email, Please.

"New Song Release Today 'Blind Guide' on CDBaby"

http://cdbaby.com/cd/kirkmathewgatzka6 Click here to listen to the Full Preview!

This is Number One in a series of tunes. This first tune talks about an Attitude Problem, a person with no natural affection, self-centered, and unconcerned about others. Thus a "Blind Guide."

"Blind Guide," is about the type of person we have all met. The one who wants to win and be on top all the time. It is a Classical Rock song with a great beat. Most of us have been victims of such an individual, not a pleasant experience. Reality is not in his or her outlook, only to win every time. A Bad Attitude to have. Don't follow him, you will only fall into a pit.

The next tune sounds a warning. Watch for the coming single after "Blind Guide!"