"Yellow and Purple Lilies Texture." Corel - Mayang's Textures

Yellow and Purple Lilies Texture

One more Journal image, a freehand Drawing in Pen and Ink and Oil Pastels. "Yellow and Purple Lilies Texture."

I used a Mayang's Texture of glass cubes much like ice cubes strewn about, to add the texture to this image. I used Picasa 3.9 to open with Corel PhotoPaint and cropped the floral there. I Then used the layer property multiply with an opacity of 50% for the Textured Glass fragments.

I added my signature and saved that iteration. I opened with Corel PSP Pro X3. Here I used the Saturation Vibrancy to add punch to the colors. I added Image information: Title, Artist, Copyright, etc. I then resized for display here.

I will be searching some of my other Journals for additional inspiration to share here. I am going to talk with my son, the experimental photographer, to take some photographs of my guitar for future guitar based images, soon.

"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!

"Textured Blue Eyed Young Man Portrait" Corel - Mayang's Textures

Blue Eyed Young Man

Another of my Journal entries updated with Mayang's Textures. I am continuing to seek these freehand images, done in Pen and Ink and Pastels and adding texture to them. I have a few really nice ones as I have been displaying in my most recent posts.

I select the Journal scanned in image, then search for an appropriate texture from Mayang's Textures and layer them. I first boosted the color of the Young Man's Portrait using Corel PhotoPaint's Tone Curve. I then selected the texture, this time a stony texture that I rotated and layered over the scan. I used the property Multiply and reduced the opacity a touch for the texture, to allow details show through.

I merged the layers, saved the large iteration with my signature and resampled for display here.

For the middle of my day I participated in an HOA "Let's Talk About It." hosted by +George Miller. We talked a bit about art and music and how being creative can help those experiencing depression. We differed in a discussion about which guitar was harder to play the 12-String or a 6-String guitar. I feel that the 6-string is harder as you must be very accurate in finger placement. But On a 12-string you have other strings as a "backup" if you happen to play a slightly sloppy chord. Two others disagreed with me.

It was stated that the 12-String Guitars strengthen your hand as you are playing twice as many strings. I could not disagree with that.

Practice is what is very important with any musical instrument or the creating of art works, traditional or digital. So practice was agreed upon.