This man can speak about days gone by with all the clarity and recall as if it were yesterday. He made music with Gene Autrey and others. He lived with his grandparents growing up and can tell stories about the area he lives in from its very early history. In fact, he still lives on the same land his family has owned since before the Civil War. Today, he just takes care of his cows, who love him, the birds, stray cats, ducks, and a couple of deer. He won't remember tomorrow that I talked with him today...but I will. He possesses a gentle, loving spirit, wouldn't harm a fly, and loves to visit. If you happen to see him on the roadside, wave and say howdy. He will always wave back.

Janet

Fantastic capture Janet. Thanks for allow us to play. After Pixel Trash, I used @Wetter2 preset for Paint Engine. I then applied canvas. 3 minute job, but I like the result.

Equally fast, the second one was creating using GIMP's Retinex filter (my Metallic b/w process but kept in color) and then duplicated and ran Harry's Atmospherizer filter set to Value. I then ran a Clothify Script-fu for the background texture.

The final submission is a b/w conversion (my other hobby). I duplicated and ran an Invert Color Script-fu set to screen. Selective color dodge burn to enhance the contrast, and then ran BSSS (Blur Subtract Screen Sharpening) to sharpen the piece. :)

An excellent character study! Lot's of possibilities here.

Steve

Another try at man with hay.

Steve

Hard working man...deep in thought.

Steve

Good one for Van Gogh treatment too.

Steve

Janet, these are great images. I enjoyed working on them.

But I especially liked the story that you posted with them. I hope you write professionally, or at least jot down your thoughts from time to time for others to read as you did here.

Steve


This man can speak about days gone by with all the clarity and recall as if it were yesterday. He made music with Gene Autrey and others. He lived with his grandparents growing up and can tell stories about the area he lives in from its very early history. In fact, he still lives on the same land his family has owned since before the Civil War. Today, he just takes care of his cows, who love him, the birds, stray cats, ducks, and a couple of deer. He won't remember tomorrow that I talked with him today...but I will. He possesses a gentle, loving spirit, wouldn't harm a fly, and loves to visit. If you happen to see him on the roadside, wave and say howdy. He will always wave back.

Janet

Thank you Steve. You made my day.

I'm so glad you are having fun with his pictures. I filled nearly an entire 2 gb card with his images and plan to again.

Janet

I look forward to seeing more. And I can understand your shooting as many as you did....great stuff.

Steve

Thank you Steve. You made my day.

I'm go glad you are having fun with his pictures. I filled nearly an entire 2 gb card with his images and plan to again.

Janet

Fun photo to play with, thank you.
~Nancy~

this one is particularly poignant to me as i have a friend just across the street who has alzheimers(sp?), but who is one of those same, 'salt of the earth type folks.

craig

I'm pleased Mr. Plumlee's image evokes strong emotion in everyone else as it did me.

Here is my first one.

Janet, the day you posted this I learned the old caretaker for this property had been hospitalized. His name is Louie and he's a retired Fla. cowboy. Drove himself to the hospital at midnight (about 30 miles), xrays showed inoperable bad things, and proceeded to leave. The nurse told him he should stay in the hospital. Louie's reply, " I just stopped by for an x-ray. Gonna go to Walmart, pick up some dog food and go home."

Luckily the nurse knew his family,called them, and got reinforcements. And how I regret never taking any photos of him.

Not sure if this technically counts as photo-based-art but I wanted to create an image that evoked the same kind of response and your story... not sure I quite got there but this is what I ended up with

Some people have a different perspective on life and that other part of life we call death than the rest of us. I'd been wanting to take pictures of this man for years and would drive by him and think. But that's all I'd do. Think.

Once I saw him dragging a whole bale of hay across the pasture. The cows were all following in a line behind him. It reminded me of a mother duck with all of her ducklings right behind. I thought then too. Those cows loved him. He's wasn't just the dinner bringer. That was proved the day I stopped. The cows came to the fence and wanted me to scratch foreheads. Now, how many cows in this day and age of raise 'em, sell 'em, butcher 'em will do that?

Kiska, you can still take pictures of him. Don't miss the chance. Take pictures of his work worn hands, close-ups of his weathered face. They will be treasured long after he is gone. The memories stored in minds will be freed and given life when people see those pictures. It isn't too late.

HUGZ
Janet

Here's my try. Various layers with buzz, xero lineart drawing, impressionist and VP oil.

Full size version at http://bigbluebird.com/oldman.jpg

Amy

Wonderful photos, Janet, and you've inspired some beautiful paintings. I've downloaded them to play with later. I think your words have stirred in all of us the feelings of "shoulda" taken those pictures.

Mr. Plumlee #2.

Delightful Kiska

Mr. Plumlee #2.

Very nice O/C Kiska. :)

Hey Craig: I am a PSPx user like yourself. I really would like to know how to make the frame you put around the Old Man image (well done btw, as were all in this series). Anyway, can you point me towards a script or suggest some steps (might take more time than you want to devote). Nonetheless, I would appreciate any suggestions or specifics.

Boy, would I like to have that frame recipe.

Thanks,

Ken

Thanks guys...........O/C?

Oil/Canvas?

I don't mean to leave anyone out in the praise department because everyone has done well. There are a couple that really strike me. Kiska that last one is a masterpiece!!! And NancyJ, WOW!

Janet

ken45140,

the 'frame' is not a frame at all, really. i made 3 borders at varying thicknesses. i then made a selection of just the picture itself and not any of the borders. i applied the drop shadow tool and then the chisel tool. and that was pretty much it.

i suppose you could make a script of this but it's almost just as easy to do by hand, with the advantage that you can alter things more easily when it's all in your work history. i tested several frames and border combinations and because Paint Shop Pro 10 now allows you to add and remove individual steps in the history, regardless of sequence, this makes creating 'frames' like this very easy.

craig

Craig: got it!! Pretty simple and pretty effective. Scripting one's favorites is a snap also. Thanks for the instruction.

Ken

Once I saw him dragging a whole bale of hay across the pasture. The cows were all following in a line behind him. It reminded me of a mother duck with all of her ducklings right behind. I thought then too. Those cows loved him. He's wasn't just the dinner bringer. That was proved the day I stopped. The cows came to the fence and wanted me to scratch foreheads. Now, how many cows in this day and age of raise 'em, sell 'em, butcher 'em will do that?Janet

I love the stories you have shared with us about this gentle man, but even more than that, I love that you are a person who is touched by these events and these images. It takes a gentle lady to recognize a gentle man.

One of my favorite aunts lost her ability to remember all but her early life, but she loved to talk to me (even tho she didn't know who I was) and she would sometimes re-tell the same story twice in a row without knowing it -- but she was fun to talk to and enjoyed the conversation, as did I.

Wonderful photos, Janet, and you've inspired some beautiful paintings.... I think your words have stirred in all of us the feelings of "shoulda" taken those pictures.

Well said, and I agree. Lovely work by all, and lovely inspiration by Janet.

They're all turning out to be masterpieces, ladies & gents!
I intended to do one in Gertrudis, and I ended up doing all 3 there. On the third one, I experimented with a crackle texture, probably overdone, using Xenofex.

Janet, I also posted these (higher res) on PBase and gave you credit, top left. Thanks for a wonderful set of images to play with.
http://www.pbase.com/catbounds/old_man_paintings

DJR muckup
Pattern stamp
A couple runs through Impressionist
Match color against a Rembrandt
Curves & hue/sat
Texturizer - canvas

Hope I did the old fellow justice.

dc

Another shot at Mr. Plumlee...

Muckup
Caravaggio
Pattern stamp
Impressionist

dc

Catherine: thanks to your post I found and investigated Gertrudis, and also found Dogwaffle (and downloaded the Dogwaffle freebie). These programs are tantalizing for what they seem to be able to let you do. Your impressions were really great, and it is good work like yours and others that draws me from image enhancement to image impressions.....but I digress.

My question is: does Gertrudis require or depend on the Dogwaffle "engine" or program to be loaded on one's system? I saw the phrase "standalone" but I am still unclear about what the requirements are and whether Gertrudis Photoshop is sufficient or whether the Pro version adds significant additional functionality.

Can you take a minute (or anyone) and supply a few more words about Gertrudis, which version, other program requirements, etc.

I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Ken

Hi, Ken. I'm just getting acquainted w/ Gertrudis Pro. I bought it after Christmas, and each time I open it (which hasn't been often), I like it a little better. I decided to get the stand alone version, and so that's all I know about. I don't have Dogwaffle, but a lot of folks like it. I made my decision to get the Pro version based on the website info. I hope that answers your questions, if not, let me know.

Ms. Janet asked me in a PM about the texture, so I'll just go ahead and answer you here, dear girl. I've also been wanting that Crackle plugin from AutoFX, but I can't make myself turn loose of $50 right now. Anyway, I remembered the Baked Earth filter in an old Xenofex plugin, played with it for a while and got a reasonably acceptable crackle. Maybe with more time I can do better.

Catherine: thanks for sharing the information. I've visited your website and marvel and the work you have done. What software have you been using before you got Gertrudis, if I may ask?

Ken

janet,

we all comment on each others' work, but sometimes we forget that someone took the picture. you did a nice job. thank you :)

had to give this one another go.

craig

Interesting interpretation, Craig.
but sometimes we forget that someone took the pictureHere! Here! Janet's a great photographer, and one o' these days I'm going to make the trek half a state away and join her for a photograhy outing :nod:

What software have you been using before you got Gertrudis, if I may ask? Thanks for your encouraging words, Ken. PhotoShop is my homebase. I began using Painter about 6 months ago, and it's fascinating. And I have PaintShop Pro. Some pictures visit all 3 programs, more than once :)
My favorite tool in PhotoShop is Art History, which is often the beginning of a "brush stroke" type painting. Jeremy Suttons's brushes and Captured Bristle are my fav brushes in Painter, and my most used tool in Paint Shop Pro is Digital Camera Noise Remover.

Tried a b&w sketch just to see how that would work.

Hard even for me to really mess up too badly with nice images like these.

Steve

Great photos. Thought I'd give one a go too.

Catherine: you're welcome, and thanks for sharing which programs you use. I am really still in the newbie category (perhaps in sophomore or junior class of newbies :happy: ), but still learning lots and lots of basics of..... PSPx and I have PS7 but have been concentrating on PSPx. Along comes this Photo-Based Art Forum along with some of the software mentioned in this thread and others, and I have been hooked; I am simultaneously "trying" the Dogwaffle as well as Deep Paint programs. If I had two more hands, I could get them all running at the same time.

The attached is my first attempt thru Deep Paint, barely reading the Help files. This is a discontinued program (so not a lot of help available), but it also seems to have a lot of controls/features. The attached is literally my first attempt with Deep Paint and I realize that there are even incomplete "spots", but it is really an interesting program, and the result is not half bad.

Ken

Photoshop: are there any Deep Paint users here? If yes, where do you go for help/tips?

to echo what has already been said great photographer, great subject/ great gentleman

Palms

Great photo Janet.
Kiska I love what you did!!
I used usm, smudge & texture.

Yes, Ken, I've got Deep Paint, and there's a thread somewhere (do a search) where some of us were going to delve into the program, but like you, most of us only have 2 hands, :grin: and so there just isn't time enough to play with all our toys. It's a fascinating program, though. Your Deep Paint version is very interesting. You might want to post a link to it in the Deep Paint thread and maybe rekindle some interest.

What a wonderful face. Thanks Janet for sharing these great pictures.
I started in Painter and ended in Photoshop for final touches. I find skin tones in Painter really touchy and often too saturated, so work with really low saturation. If anyone has some tips I would appreciate it.
MargaretM

WOW folks. You are all posting some amazing pieces. You shouldn't be thanking me. I should be thanking you for the inspiration I'm getting in return. In any case, I can do without the big head. :) Just joking. For real...Thank you for the honors.

Janet

and yet another :)

craig

and another.
MargaretM

it is addictive, isnt it :)

craig

Yes it is - Photoshop addiction, a new "malady". Better than other addictive options though! :nod:
MargaretM

Couldn't keep on looking at your lovely submissions without wanting to do one myself -- using art history brush, a crop, and selective coloring...

:wavey: Hello everyone and congratulations on such a great variety of posts!!!

What marvellous photos Janet and a wonderful story to match them. Thank you.

I did this in Painter with just two brushes.
i.e. Oil Pastels/Variable Oil Pastel 30 and Soft Pastel.

I haven't ventured into Oil Pastels until now so thoroughly enjoyed the exercise.

Cheers
Pauline

I downloaded this image ages ago and finally got round to playing with it today. I started this in Gertrudis then cloned in Painter, finished off in Photoshop.

You can view a larger version here: Old Man (http://www.pbase.com/pamsav/image/59140564/original)

Here I go again. Hard to pass up images like these.

Steve

He sure looks excellent! I just love these old faces.

I couldn't resist "painting" the 2nd picture.
Sylvia

I finally dare to post my first submission here.

Seizing the occasion I would like to thank you all for the great tutorials and things I've learned here!

Necati

Good one for Van Gogh treatment too.

Steve
Hey Steve, how did you get that look?

What a fun picture to work with, great work Kiska.

Great photo to play with

What an interesting character.

I mostly did a selective cutout (only on the darker parts) after adjusting contrast/colors.

-Jeff

I'm getting too forgetful to remember specific posts and mention each name individually. I'm just going to say, "I'm so glad you are enjoying, creating, and working on Mr. Plumlee's snapshot. Great work everyone."

I haven't seen Mr. Plumlee lately. I guess I'm going to have to go check on him. He's 77 nowadays and lives without electricity or running water at a little place in the country. I hope he's ok.

Bye for now. Keep up the good work.

Janet

OK, now I see the image you were referring to.

On the Van Gogh treatment image I used Ikroll's Impressionist preset. Probably painted in some detail etc. also.

Steve


Hey Steve, how did you get that look?

thanks man

Been searching through some old threads and found this one. The interpritations already on here are amazing, I can see the fascination. Just couldn't leave this "old gadgie" alone.
Janet:- what great images you've captured here. Thanks for the upload, I really enjoyed this last night. (was at it for ages) Hope you like my smudge......John

Old thread...new interpretation.

Steve

Just one more on a very nice image.

Steve

Great Steve...lookin good....must have missed this thread when i was inSpain earlier in the year....

Great photo Janet of a man with lots of stories to tell and a great character...sad that our kids wont have as interesting adventures to tell...

Love all that has been done with the phto,,,you talented people...

Patricia.... :dizzy:

Britsdad, great job smudging. When I first saw it, all I could say was WOW.

Steve, mind sharing the very interesting technique? And do you think the steps could be modified for photoshop?

Janet

Thankyou Janet, it's all down to the original pic you took. I'm trying a few things on the other images now, if I get anything worthwhile (take some doing to live up to the standard in this thread) I'll post it later......John :o:

Not sure about this one, but I'll post it anyway. Done with Trimoons watercolour ahb

John....Just been having another look at this page and i must say your smudge is amazing...really well done... and i like your Trimoon painting too.....one good thing about dark nights and rainy days is more computer painting time....

Patricia... :wavey:

My humble thanks Patricia :blush: I must admit though I like it too.
As for the dark and wet nights you're right. (and I've done my knee in, so no work for a few days aswell....shame ;) ).......John

Oh GOD, these pics are addictive, Here's another ahb watercolour. Tried a black background for a change....John

Great photo, Janet.

Impressionist+Smudge+blendings

(and I've done my knee in, so no work for a few days aswell....shame ;) ).......John

Ahh noooo, not you too. From one gimp to another...here's hoping you return to 100% soon.

Janet

My technique, as on many of my images, was my Bible method. You know "seek and ye shall find."

There is some Buzz Pro in there someplace, some layering and blending, and maybe some Gertrudis Pro. I tried a lot of stuff to get what I wanted, so can't really tell you the steps. Photoshop would have everything you would need if you have the plugins.

Thanks much for your interest.

Steve



Steve, mind sharing the very interesting technique? And do you think the steps could be modified for photoshop?

Janet

Painter with final touches in Photoshop.
In my rendering he looks younger...

John...another great image...smudge is still number 1 for me...

Alexmeta...like yours too...its a great photo to play with...

Pavel...Oh yes he looks younger...the magic of Photoshop!!!!

I did a sketch first in Photoshop CS2 and then using the art history water color brush...got this pastel effect...

Patricia.... :square:

.....
craig

Tried one more photo. Painter with some additional work in Photoshop.


Pavel...Oh yes he looks younger...the magic of Photoshop!!!!


Patricia... What makes it magical is the basic fact that at being new to the game I usually end up with something totally unexpected... which makes the whole process more intersting

Marvelous work on this gentle man. Thank you all folks.

Janet

Here is one of mine.

nice photos. my try on one of them;

Here is mine done with Photoshop CS2.

Whilst probably not particularly 'arty', this look sort of grabbed me with this photo

Maybe Painter is starting to make a little sense to me after all

all hello...
smudge + smat blur + etc....
my second image :pleased:
potoshop CS2 + Mouse

have a good time!!

Mini Homepage (http://www.cyworld.com/shw0)

very nicely done

hanwoo seo, (i think i have that right. your name isnt showing through on my browser. i think i may need a language pack for my browser), again, very nice effect.

craig

Did two versions of this 1st one just in Photoshop 2nd in Getrudis then copied to Photoshop and tweaked and some different blend modes.

Started in Photoshop, doing a watercolor, using an action...didn't care for the results. Ran the Impressionist plug in, then off to Painter 7, for the finish.

http://www.pbase.com/goldcoin/image/67542185/original

very nice, goldcoin :)

could you post a 100k version here, for posterity? i know you lose a lot doing that, but we love having at least that much here on RetouchPRO.

craig

Very nice Goldcoin, love the texture, I agree with Kraellin though, post a 100k one, it does get anoying when you're looking thru' links only to find they've been lost in the mist of time.
John

Nice post by all.

Seems I'm a bit late to the party. This has been quite a popular post and the fact that Janet has a way of articulating so well, makes it even more interesting.

Nice study Janet.

Nice post by all.

Seems I'm a bit late to the party.

Nice study Janet.

Technically you can not be late... and you absolutely can not be late with a rendering like yours.

Regards.
Pavel

Superb, LQQKER. This is second you've posted (that I've seen) with the redundant shadow in the background. I like it!

Just too many interesting things to do with this man's image.

Steve

WOW Wow Wow some really nice posts since I commented last.

I'm so impressed!!! Ya'll make me want to keep taking pictures and adding them here to artify. Keep up the great work.

Janet

lqqker, i'm running out of superlatives. very lovely! :)

steve, another good sketch! what technique are you using for those?

craig

Reminds me of my own rough times.

nice, jimjam :)

craig

Thanks Kraellin,there have been a lot of very nice works created with this image.Good work everyone!

Thanks Craig.

Greyscaled image and used angled strokes, and blends. Played with stroke length and width. I have a script which helps to bring out the edges also.

Steve


steve, another good sketch! what technique are you using for those?

craig

Hi all---been looking in on this wonderful thread for quite a while now, it just keeps getting better! Well done everyone.
Patricia sent me some "starry night" brushes for Painter and I've been playing.....had about 6 layers on the go on this one and then decided to turn all of them off to see better what I was doing on the top layer, and came up with this. Well I liked it, hope some of you do.
John

Ok so where did the image come from it wasnt there before. Honest

Britsdad looks a bit "transparent" to me

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

glad i am not the only one who forgets to attach there image

Palms

Hi John,

That was quick!!!! I am still playing with the ones i downloaded today!!!

I like the effect of that one, real good paint strokes....think all those brushes will be useful...

They are Davinci Brushes for Painter IX if any one wants them just PM to me...I can zip them to you!

Patricia..... :wavey:

palms1... It's not that I forgot to post image, (although I've doe it before..hehe) it's that when I had a look at the one I did post it was too big to see it all without scrolling up and down, so I re-sized it (twice :lmao: )
John :bigthmb:
Palms1....You must have looked as I was editing the post.....lol

thanks, steve.

britsdad, i like that. nice feathery strokes.

craig

Hiya Pat...Like the "starry night" ones, but not too fussed at the "Da-Vinci" type though. One of starries throws up an error in Painter but it seems to work ok. Have you tried enlarging the brushes? it's not long before the laptop tells me "there is not enough memory" and it's got 1 gig ddr2 ram in it.
John

Thankyou Kraellin...and congrats on the "Moderator" thing....It's all in the brushes you know :D
John

Britsdad thanks for the explanation was just going to turn everything off and go to bed and rest my overworked brain :nod: :lol:

nice work in painter, not going there for a while

Palms

Some one cue Don McLean's song "Vincent(Starry,Starry Night)". That is a very nice rendition Britsdad.

thanks, britsdad :)

craig

This thread is over a year old now; and every time I travel down the road Mr. Plumlee lives on, I look to see if he is still watching over his cows. Another year older, and he is thin as a rail. I sometimes take him a plate of this or that but often wonder if he remembers to eat it. His memory and personality are failing, yet twice a day I can find him in the pasture with his four-legged friends. I'll know when his time has come when the cows are no longer tended and the hay on the side of the road isn't getting used.

Here is a chalked portrait of him carrying hay.

Janet

Wonderful photo. Every town has a "local character" beloved by all

This is a more recent picture. It was taken in January of 2007.

Enjoy.

Janet

Janet thanks for this update I've given it a go with this effort.

Peter

I tried my Filter Forge plugin (Cartoonizer) on this one, and it seemed to work nicely. This is also my first post on this forum section. :)

nice, janet, peter; i like both of those.

and zekeode, glad to see another FF user here :)

and thanks for the update, janet :) had a go at it. this is entirely 'belevel screeening', a filter forge filter, which i revised for more versatility. the original author is juan paolo kutianski.

Just a note to everyone --

I haven't worked on this yet, but I wanted to congratulate all of you who have done so. The story of the man is very heartwarming and all of your work is too.

Lorraine

I just found this thread and had to make a contribution.

very nice, gerry! :)

Thanks to all the wonderful RetouchPRO people here. Without your inspiration, I would not be able to toot my own horn.

Not to brag...uh hum....yeah right! :wink: :wink:

After processing this picture I recently took Grand Champion at the district fair held in our area. Chester would be proud.

Congratulations, Janet! It is a great retouch!