Add your comments, questions or general discussion about the June Contest entries as well as the contest itself here. This is also a great place to share your techniques or ask others about theirs.

T Paul -- are there any restrictions as to methodology for this month's contest?

My question is wide-open, but let me throw in a couple of specific questions to start it off.

May we use parts of the image rather than the whole for the illustration?

May we use any filter effect that we choose, any brushstroke technique we choose, etc. to create our chosen result?

Photo Art: taking a photo and turning it into art.

I thought long and hard, but Photo Art just isn’t easy to develop guidelines for. So the main restriction is that your entry should not be the sole result of running a single filter…i.e. just push a button and voila instant results!! Now I’m not saying you can’t use filters, just make sure that your steps are not just one step of applied such and such filter, end of story.

So… cut, paste, combine filters, add layers, experiment with brushes, textures and so on. The goal is to create a Children’s Book Illustration. Maybe it’s a graphic, pen and ink, watercolor, marker, color pencil, or a combination of medium...there are so many options! This is where you can really create your own style!! Need some inspiration, do a Google search, check out your local bookstore, etc.

I’m hoping that this contest produces some very creative results!

Now for the question of do you have to use the whole image...no you don't. You can use parts of the image.

I also have a question. Is this to be illustrated as if it were, say, one page, or part of a story in a children's book?

Cathy

You can design your entry as a single page such as the Front Cover Design, or as a scene from within the book. You can add other characters, backgrounds and so on. This is where that creativity comes in. :)

Almost totally off the subject but not quite:

Does anyone out there remember a series of cute "Ladybird" children's stories from about 20 years ago? I used to have several of them as educational materials for my young children. The books are long gone from my home; and this thread has reminded me how adorable they were.

Janet

Not sure if they are the same thing, but Amazon.com has several children's book by Ladybird Books.

Boy, voting for this is going to be much harder than for the previous contests!!
All the entries I've seen are simply terrific!!! :bow:

i totally agree, flora. i think the contest is 'easier', technically, this time, but the voting is going to be far more difficult. the level of creativity around here is incredibly good. i already find myself wanting to see the entire books :)

K.

I am still having problems with the quality of my pictures when I upload them. I create them in sRGB and the colors are bright and crisp, but when I save them to the web I am still loosing some of that color crispness. Could it be my monitor settings and every one else sees the rich colors that I see in my CS program? Everyone else's posted pictures are beautiful color!

Ms Bay !

I loved your scene, it is so nice ! I am preparing something too but I think yours is a winner !

Rgds - Martha :) :wavey:


Haven't noticed the other entries, one prettier than the other, all winners IMHO :blush: :pleased:

How sweet, thank you for the compliment!

What fun watching all these great entries roll in. ALL GREAT! Have a question for Cazubi or anyone else who might know. I just invested in Painter 9 and am looking for some tutorials on it. I see a couple of good books on it, but only available in July. Any ideas would be welcome.
Margaret.

Ms. Bay... I used to have the same color problems as you're having. I design graphics for video and web and would always get the color shift thing happening. It looked great in Photoshop, but wasn't the same when it got to video or on the web. Then I read the following in the Photoshop help file:

Color Management Off

Does not turn the Photoshop color management system off (the color management system cannot be turned off entirely). Instead, this option tells the color management system to use passive color management techniques to emulate the behavior of applications that do not support color management. Although working space profiles are considered when converting colors between color spaces, Color Management Off does not tag documents with profiles. You can use this option for content that will be output on video or as on-screen presentations. Do not use this option if you work mostly with documents that are tagged with color profiles.

Turning off color management is not a good idea when printing is the goal, but if you're just going to the computer screen (or to video) then turning it off and creating images with it off will save you a lot of headaches. I know it sounds crazy, but it works.

--Racc

Thanks Racc for your help. I uploaded again using your suggestion, but it still looks the same (it looked good in save for web). Are the key words here "when creating", because mine was already done? I'll try it on the next photo project.

Margaret, I have been useing the "Painter 8, and Painter IX Wow books by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis. I like these books because there are step-by-step instructions on how to get the effect that you see in the examples. Brushes and technique are also covered, as well as the different filters and styles. The books also include CDs that are packed with goodies like brushes, textures, patterns,and paper. There are some older Wow books on Amazon that are selling for as little as $3.00., as well as other Painter books.

Cathy :D

Cathy - thanks for the tip. I just picked up the Painter 9 book with CD that you suggested and will work with it. "Packed with goodies" is always a good thing!
Margaret.

Ms Bay...

You're right, the color management has to be off when you create the image. If you turn it off after creating the image, it will have the same color shift. Also, make sure you don't embed a color profile when you save the image.

--Racc

I have already upto now choose my winner, i think that this person can do illustrations for wallpapers, i shown my neice and she said it be lovely on her son's bedroom, so you being the one i am not going to name yet, do great work!!!

Infact i find this quite hard to choose from.

I just invested in Painter 9 and am looking for some tutorials on it. I see a couple of good books on it, but only available in July. Any ideas would be welcome.
Margaret.
You might try this link, it has some pretty good tutorials on it.
http://div.dyndns.org/EK/tutorial/

Pictureman33 - thanks for the link. These look quite good. I find the Painter layout deceptively simple, compared to Photoshop but the depth is there.
Margaret.

Margaret, I also have found Painter difficult, and when I can't figure something out I just switch back to Photoshop. Since I have been working on pieces from this site, I have really been having fun with Painter and I have been taking more time with the tutorials. Now it's not so confusing.

Cathy

Racc, thanks again for the great advise. I just experimented with it to see if creating would do the job and it worked! Since I have time, I may (or may not) create my picture again using those settings.

Thank you. You're quite welcome. Glad I could help.

--Racc

margaret,

How on earth did you manage to incorporate so many bugs into the picture so quickly. Did you draw them all using a template or freehand ??? Marvelous.

I can see where some entries are based on photographs, and a fewa re done from scratck, but i can't tell what yours is based on?

My own was from scratch and based on the Dune series (Giant worms, blue eyes and desolation - the escape from WHAT :-).

I would truly like to know how you approached and made your piece- FANTASTIC!!

Sean :wavey:

So many excellent entries...keep them coming! Just a friendly reminder that there are only a few more days left to get your entries in!

Deadline for entries is 5pm EDT, Wednesday 22 June 2005.

Sean2: Thanks so much for your comments. I wasn't going to submit to this contest since the ladybug left me totally uninspired. But started a folder and threw in some bug and leaf images I have in a royalty free collection. The inspiration came when I found the grasshopper playing the violin. Then I looked for a suitable background picture with a focal "stage" in a natural setting. Found the attached photo in a freebie collection, did some cloning to remove distracting items and resized, then used the ink outline filter in Brushstrokes to do away with the photo effect. Each bug was cleaned up, given poster edges and some noise added, for a cohesive effect with the background. Then arranged leaves for a frame, so the viewer would feel they were peering in, and added the bugs. I was shooting for a rich colorful picture with plenty of details to amuse children. So glad you like it.
Margaret.

Hi Margaret,

Lovely!. Thank you for responding. You did a truly mavelous job.

Sean

Hi everyone,

I've just joined, and the first thread I open is the Contest Entries for June!!

I think this is going to be a wonderful place to hang about and learn stuff, I don't know that I'm going to be able to offer much in the way of teaching to start with ...

I downloaded the ladybird photo and then laughed in my own face, there's only hours to go until it closes!!

Cheers,
Cathie

[QUOTE]Hi everyone,

I've just joined, and the first thread I open is the Contest Entries for June!!QUOTE]
Hi CathieT and welcome. You are right that this is a great place for learning and enjoying. Look forward to seeing your entry. (Sometimes the best work is done under pressure.)
Margaret.

As MargaretM said this is a wonderful place to learn and enjoy. The members are all great people and well... you can see for yourself. Hope you can enter your rendering on time !

BTW seen all the submissions so far. It would really be quite some job to pick the best five ! Congratulations to all ! :wavey:

DEFINITELY unique and original!!!!
Referring to the Raniday entry.

Tick Tock...Tick Tock. This contest is almost up!!!

Deadline for entries is 5pm EDT 22 June 2005.

For all of you that have entered so far, give yourselves a big pat on the back for a job well done!!! There are so many lovely and creative entries. I have really enjoyed viewing them.

~T

Welcome CathyT, and I hope that you make the contest deadline. This is going to be so hard to pick from all of the wonderful entries. Great job everyone.

Cathy :thumbsup:

It is 10.36pm here when is it closing date on this contest as i have to go offline for a couple of weeks tomorrow.

When is it 5pm there?

I really need to add my selections has i won't be online from afternoon tomorrow, so can i add it soon?

Hello Everyone,

I just registered today with Retouch Pro. It looks like a wonderful place to meet new people and learn a lot!

I'm struggling a little to get around, though. How do you view the contest submissions? I wanted to see the Ladybird entries, but can't figure it out.

I would love to see more contests. Currently, I've been spending a lot of time at the "Worth1000" site, entering Photoshop and Photography contests.

I hope you post another contest soon, and that someone can help me see the entries! :lol: Thanks very much.

Jean

Hello Everyone,
I'm struggling a little to get around, though. How do you view the contest submissions? I wanted to see the Ladybird entries, but can't figure it out.
Jean

It gets easier to find your way around after you've been here a while! :)
For now, click on this link and hopefully it will take you to the thread with the images submitted for this month's contest. http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10715

Now that the contest is over...those of you that entered feel free to share your techniques/steps! There were so many creative entries and different approaches, I am sure many are wondering how they were done.

For those of you that didn't enter, but would like to vote/comment on an entry, please add your comments to this thread.

For future contests just click on Forums, Studio and Contests or click here (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=170). They start at the beginning of each month.

~T :)

Steps in generating the "Dune" piece:

1)sketched worm and filled with various intestinal elements
2) removed white sections within the sketch and proceeded to create transparency of the worm
3) colored intestinal track with blues/ greens as with the eye color in the movies
4) created a blasted or sand background by generating tan fill, duplicating the layer and adding significant noise and then added a mask to reveal a contoured line of flight

5) generated light using lights in Photoshop, as background, removing intensity byu use of a mask - difficult to see the highlights in the upload
6) transformed and skewed various worms for length and direction and generated a contour of low, rolling dunes. Unfirunately two in thye middle did not drop down enough to provide the perspective -live and learn
7) duplicated bugs, altering color in eyes, blush on cheeks, eye rings, antennae and rounded feet - effort to make colors realistic??? to the environment while still making them sharp and eye-catching
8) sharpened worm riders and worms and dropped a drop shadow to tie them into the ground
9) fell asleep with laptop on knees till following morning :-)

May I pass on my presumptive congratulations to Cazubi who did a trememdous job, and so obviously has struck the right balance of childlike reverie and color attraction that children seem so drawn to and was pointed out by one of the othr contestants. I have a long way to go to be comfortable with the brightness of the colors, but a path worth traveling and one which will hopefully be made shorter by the talent and sharing on this list.

Well done everyone, they were all excellent pieces.

Sean

i'm truly glad to see a wide range of folks getting votes on this contest. so many great entries, so few choices allowed.

Craig

Just like to post my congratulations to all who entered the June contest, a great deal of talent and imagination shown by all competitors. Glad I don't have to vote on this one.

In case anyone is interested, I used Photoshop.

- For the background I used a fragment of a free copyright photo, applied many filters, among them paint daubs, angled strokes and cross hatch, duplicated the background, set the top layer to screen and then merged both layers.
- I drew the little birds first with just the pencil tool and used the lasso tool to outline the drawing and then gradient filled it (radial), the finishing touches were made with the burn and dodge tools.
- The vines for the "swing" are parts of a photo which I deformed with the warp effect to give them a flowing aspect.
- The ladybug in the swing is the original one from the photo but with the colors completely redone using masks.
- The little ones were drawn and added just the face of the original ladybug, reduced the sizes with the perspective and warp effect options.
- Finally the little butterflies were made with a special effect brush and the larger one is from a set of shapes downloaded from a free dwlds site.

Hope I have not forgotten anything and if you would like more information, please let me know :)

Again, congratulations to all for such excellent posts. :bigthmb:

Regards - Martha :wavey:

Great jobs Kraellin, Marthig and Sean2 and everyone. So hard to pick just 5. Everyone belongs on one page of this book. Thanks for the descriptions - what's a contest if there is no learning involved. Missed you, Gary Richardson.
A very positive contest, this one was!
Margaret M

MargaretM,

that's actually an interesting idea, a book from everyone's entry. it could be a sort of pinochiio story with the original image of the lawn decoration as 'pinochio' before his first transformation. the rest could be of his journeys as he grows and learns :)

Craig

Thanks Margaret,

Had a touch of writer's block on this one, so didn't enter, but have really enjoyed seeing what everyone else has done.

Like so many others, don't really have a favourite, or if I do, it changes on a daily basis.

Hey MargaretM and Kraellin !

That would be fun, so if there is no literary forum in RetouchPro, "our" story book maybe the founder of one! :grin:

Thank you Margaret for your nice comment, that is one of the reasons I love these contests it is just fantastic all the great ideas and approaches to one subject that can come out (up ?) when a group of creative and talented people get together :dizzy: :idea:

Greetings and regards to all - Martha :wavey:

This is going to be a close one...down to the final votes!!!

~T

RyanM - really liked your entry - very cute and nicely done!
MargaretM

Thanks Margret.

I took a bit of a different slant on it than most, don't think I'll ever grow up!

I normally just work on photographs so it was fun to do something more illustration based.

Maybe I'll have more luck in next months competition! :thumbsup:

Pictureman33 -- Congratulations for your win, and kudos for your creation!

There were a number of excellent entries that deserve attention for their creativity and the excellence of their execution -- congratulations on all your hard work!!

Congratulations Pictureman33. You did a great job on your illustration.

I would like to thank everyone for all of the votes and input. This contest was so much fun to participate in, and I always looked forward to seeing new entries.

I will try to give you step-by-step details of how I created my illustration. I made this picture from scratch, which I normally don’t do, but I found the end result rewarding.

I first decided to have an age level for my picture, and I thought that the ladybug looked like what a pre-school child might like to play on. With that age in mind, I chose very bright colors, and used simplified, cartoon-like images.

Background:
I started with a yellow background and added a gradient to it.
New layer>made circle selections and filled with white for clouds>lighten mode>30% opacity.
New layer>painted green hills>darken mode>60% opacity.
I created some of the flowers by making a petal, air brushing it, and then duplicating them and arranging them in a circle. Another circle filled with color and transformed made the middle. Making a shape and air brushing simple shadows over them created the leaves. Flowers and leaves were then arranged on background.

Bugs:
I air brushed the ladybug to give it a painted look, and I also enhanced the colors so that it would fit into the colorful background. Painting took a long time because each area had to be selected before I could air brush.
I gathered up some bug pictures and airbrushed each one so that they would have the same look as the ladybug. I also copied the eyes and legs from the ladybug and put them one the other bugs so that they would all have a similar look. Each bug was done separately and added later to the background.

After all of the characters were arranged in a pleasing way, I started adding shadows, dodging and burning, and adjusting saturation.

I am sure that I forgotten some of the steps, but these are all of the basics. Congratulations to all of the participants in this contest. Every entry put a smile on my face.

Cathy






:bigthmb:

well done pictureman33. Just goes to show one never knows until the votes are all in. i thought Kathy had it for sure, but regardless, they are both excellent pieces. Kathy has let us know how she did hers, how about you :bigthmb: hint - hint :-) :-)

Sean

Congratulations to Pictureman33 !! and all the authors of such interesting and entertaining entries.

Like Cathy I also kept looking at this thread to see what new interpretation was made out of that simple garden decoration, and every time I left with a smile.

I would like to say thanks to those of you who voted for my "Ladybug on a swing" allowing me to be among the finalists and most of all for the great input received. I am most proud of that 5th place and on top of that sharing it with Doug Calwell (or Doug sharing it with me? :ditsy: :happy: )

regards and hope to see you all in the July 5th contest !

Martha - :wavey:

Yes, Congratulations to Pictureman 33. Nicely, nicely done. And to everyone else as well!! :bigthmb: I continue to be amazed at all the imaginative entries.

Also, thanks to those of you that had kind words for my entry. I had a lot of fun with it.

Annabel

I would like to thank everyone for their vote, THANKS EVERYONE!!! :pleased: , it was a close contest. I guess that's how it goes when you have so many talented people in one place.
Sorry I have not responded sooner, but I had to go out of town on business just when the contest ended and I just got back tonight.
Even though I have not been a member here for very long, I really enjoy visiting this site and seeing all the great work that everyone sends in. You never realize how many different techniques and approaches to a photo one can have until you see them here with your own eyes. One can learn a lot just by seeing how other people approach the same problems.
There are a lot of talented and friendly people here and I hope to get to know each and everyone of you better as time goes on.
I wish I had more time to chat with everyone, but I am trying to work 2 jobs and write a book at the same time so I am staying very busy these days. It’s hard enough just getting time to do a few contests, but I will try to enter as many as time allows.

Once again……..THANKS EVERYONE!!!!! :bigthmb: ..........and keep up the good work.

Your friend,
Wayne Anders
“Pictureman33”