In Portland Oregon, in the process of getting lost, I came across the Japanese Gardens Park (adjacent to the Int'l Rose Test Gardens and near the Zoo.

The Japanese Gardens have 5 distinct gardens in over 5 acres.

This foot bridge drew my attention.

The first image is without any correction - rather dull in color.

The second image has a curves adjustment layer to correct the color (using a temporary threshold correction to find the light and dark areas)

I also tried a selection and layer mask of the bridge planks - trying to get more detail in that area - but that had little effect.


Enjoy playing with this image - I have 2 intrepretations I'll post shortly.

After doing the color correction as shown in the 2nd image above, I applied Filter>Brush Strokes>Accented Edges (using small values), save the image.

I then opened it in Microsoft Picture It ver 6 (It creates effect "similar" to MS Impressionist - but with many fewer options)

Since the scene was oriental I thought a woodblock effect would be appropriate and a watercolor one as well.

For the woodblock effect:
Photo & Color Effects>Illusions>Arts&Crafts>Stamp
Adjusted Transparency to 70's; Light/Dark values to under 10 and Smoothness to under 5

For the watercolor effect I took the woodblock results into another Picture It filter - Watercolor -Wash

I adjusted the settings for Transparency (60); Brush Size (smallest 25); Coverage (80%); Pressure (120) and changed the Brush to Cardboard.

I believe that the woodblock attempt could be viewed as a woodblock or a penand colored ink effect - and I thought the watercolor effect came out fairly satisfying too.

In both tries the detail of the wood planks of the bridge were blown out. I'd appreciate any suggestions to help the definition of that area.

I'd also appreciate any comments about the quality of the results from MS Picture It software.

Regards,

Thx Bob for image!
With Photoshop Art history brush, Toadies>picasso's last word

Manju

Thanks for the picture Bob. It is a very nice one. I'm going to work on it today.

And to both Manju and Bob, nice art work.

Janet

Thx Bob for image!
With Photoshop Art history brush, Toadies>picasso's last word

Manju

Whats a Toadies?

What's a Toadies? Toadies are fun filters.

This link is thanks to Danny. He found it for us. http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showpost.php?p=73108

Also see the Halftone challenge in the photo art thread. There is a nice discussion about Toadies.

Janet

Janet, I love your garden photo. I didn't realize until my painting was finished that it looked like snow on the bridge. I guess it was a cold spring :)
http://www.pbase.com/image/43840559

Thanks for the photo and well done everyone with such varied results. I know many of you definitely don't want to see snow :cold: again but this was purely accidental....honest!!!

Dupe Bottom Layer
L2 – Flaming Pear/Pixel Trash/Black and White/Normal
Coarseness=0/Range=45/Sharpen=25/Radius=30
Layer Mode – Dodge
Merge both layers.
For thicker snow….dupe bottom layer
L2 – Impressionist Plugin/Charcoal Default
Reduce Opacity to suit.
Merged both layers.

I tried it on other images...doesn't work with any sky in the photo at all so plenty greenery just like this works well.

What a cool effect Neve ! (no pun intended :) )

Neve....BRrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Great Effect

Janet

In both tries the detail of the wood planks of the bridge were blown out. I'd appreciate any suggestions to help the definition of that area.My vast (couple of weeks) experience with Painter, has taught me that there is a lot of work to be done on a photo before applying the "arty" stuff. So in this case you have to adjust the luminosity and colours first, so that the details you want will later hit the programs "sweet spot", and not just get lost.

What a lovely photo! :thumbsup: I tweaked it in Photoshop and didn't even want to paint - so nice it was.
After painting, while sharpening the brush strokes (back in CS2) I aimed for <Unsharp Mask> and accidentally hit <Smart Sharpen>, just loved the result! :D

Rô

Here's my take on the picture :)

Unfortunately I don't remember the steps since I got interrupted several times and the history was way too small, but it's made of 3 layers, each with a different color..

Edit: I think it's oil painting, sumi-e and aquarell with oilpainting being the top layer and sumi-e the mid layer where I deleted several tree parts..

Manip 1.

Steve

Manip 2.

Steve

This thread was before my join time so thought i would have a go with the history brushes

Palms

Still trying various methods to oilify my oil simulation. I using Photoshop's Glass filter to help. I'm also using GIMP's GREYCstoration to smooth out some extraneous noise. Not 100% happy (no actual brush strokes which I'm still trying to find a replacement for Photoshop's Angled Strokes), but I hope the result is presentable anyway. :)

played with vary settings to simulate a watercolor effect,
this is little other than till now, and as I see now - is there on some branches
accidentally a buzz-simplifier-like effect ? on small bright tree in center..
(I dont know, I dont have buzz..)
Very nice picture to play with.

I used Gimp :happy:

Lovely interpretaion Barbra and yes i can see what you mean about the simplified effect

Palms

Lovely paintings from all of you....this reminds me of Monet...yes i know he was French and this is a Japanese garden.....ah well... :ditsy: Would like to thank Bob for the nice picture... :nod:

Here is mine...done in Painter IX with watercolors and a sketch effect on top..

Patricia... :wavey:

patricia,

i like that. not so much the color choices, but certainly how you've highlighted the details. very nice!

craig

Thanks Craig...I agree about the colors but i also liked the highlighting and didnt want to mess it all up...so i left it at that...

Patricia... :dizzy:

patricia,

understood.

actually, i like the colors in the foreground. they work just fine. it's mostly those reds in the background that dont seem quite right. but the bridge and greens in the trees are excellent.

craig

I changed it just a little bit.