A photo taken in my garden of some vibrant red poppies...do have fun with them...look forward to seeing the results..

PatriciaKay

Not my best work :S
Trying to get that really wet watery look.

Hi Nancy,
You say its not your best but i like the watercolor look you gave my photo,did you actually paint it or did it with plugins...please dont be offended that i ask as i am relatively new to digital art...need to absorb as much knowledge as i can...thanks...

Patriciakay.

I really did a mix of techniques. A mixture of bluring and blending to get the washy look then I filled a layer with pink and black masked it. Then painted on in white where I wanted the colour to go (at varying opacities) Then added a bit of texture.
Thats all there was to it really.

Nancy, thanks for the reply...will have a go..as when i have time i am learning about layers and how to use them...
regards Patriciakay

Impressionist on the background; a little play on glow for the flowers. :)

Hi Ikroll,

Lovely, like what you have done and i can still see the little hairs on the flower stems... :thumbsup:

Patricia.

Nancy, you have that water color look down pat. :-)

I coppied the red channel and adjusted levels on that to create a mask and applied the mask to a copy of the background photo. Painted white on the mask to bring up the flower colors. Did a soft drop shadow on the flower layer.

Added splotchy background and border.

Hi Ikroll,

Lovely, like what you have done and i can still see the little hairs on the flower stems... :thumbsup:

Patricia.

Appreciate the feedback Patricia. :)

nancy, love your watercolor. like dee dee said, you've got it down.

lk, your poppies really pop. very nice.

and dee dee, great subtle look. makes one sort of reach in to get the image.

craig

Thanks, Craig. I don't know, maybe I can master this "artsy" stuff, but it is such a struggle for me. I have no background in art and have to guess about lighting and shadows and perspective sometimes. I really envy those who grew up with a paint brush in their hand.

I did debate about adding a drop shadow. I normally don't to a project like this, but for this subject it seemed to be okay.

...

lk, your poppies really pop. very nice...

...

craig

Glad you liked this one Craig. I used the glow method that I outlined on this thread (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13252). :)

Swampy,
Lovely picture....well after reading your comments in your post, i have to say i am surprised as i have seen a few of your digital art pictures and i thought you were a pro....I am just learning and there is so much...doing layers at the moment....with the help of tutorials....

Patricia kay

Patricia Kay,

If the definition of "Pro" is that you get paid for your work, then yes I am, but 99% of the work I do is prepress color correction, cropping, sharpening etc. and preparing files for magazine quality printing. Sometimes I get to manipulate (cut out backgrounds to highlight a product for advertising purposes).

Creating artsy versions of a photo is seldom called for in my work flow so I do enjoy the challenges here to "make it look like a painting". That being said, I can't draw a straight line with a ruler and graph paper, but the computer lets me hold down the shift key... LOL

Light and shadow situations as well as perspective are difficult aspects to master. In this regard, Bert Monnroy is my hero. If you've ever seen him on TV or seen his book(s) you know these things come naturally to him and that his foundation was in fine art. That he has mastered the translation between brush and Wacom and it is amazing to me.

Swampy,
Thanks for your reply....i have no artistic training whatsoever...but have always done craft work...sewing etc...In 1992 i became stepmother to 4 girls..ageing from 3 to 8...so i started painting and drawing with them..i continued and they grew into other things...then i got a computer and played around with plugins etc....next came the digital camera...lots of photos..learning how to enhance them etc and now i am progressing to painting in Painter,photoshop and Deep paint...i love colors,flowers and seashells...its truly addictive and a never ending learning curve...but its fun and i enjoy learning new things every day from the members of the forum...i did actually think the artwork was your job....

Patriciakay

Hi,
Had a little play around with filters...no painting involved..

PatriciaKay :happy: