FIRST MINI-CHALLENGE?
See below for "Information and Guidelines."

Here’s another “mini-challenge” to play with in the Photo-based Art category until the next offical challenge is posted here (http://www.retouchpro.com/challenge/index.html).

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PHOTO ART: Mini-Challenge #26 - George's Hummingbird

I know it's only Wednesday but just a little while ago I ran across this stunning photo taken and copyrighted (c) by George Bolton. George has graciously granted permission to use it as the subject for a mini and, quite frankly, I couldn't wait until next week to post it.

A hi-res version of the image can be found here (http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geebolt/img00000.jpg). A downsized version is attached.

There ought to be some dandy interpretations of this one. Really looking forward to seeing them.

Good luck and have fun.

~DannyR~

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INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES

Unlike “official challenges” for this forum which can be found here (http://www.retouchpro.com/challenge/index.html), this one will be self-contained within this thread. It is intended as an opportunity to engage in this artform until the next official challenge is posted.

The rules are more-or-less the same:
* It’s a challenge, not a contest -- intended to provide opportunities to experiment, share methods and/or techniques and, most importantly, have FUN.
* Everyone who participates is a winner.
* There’s no expiration date.

GUIDELINES:
1. Use any method, application(s), style(s) you like:
. * Convert to sketch, grayscale, abstract, watercolor, oil painting, pen-and-ink, Conte crayon, impasto, van Gogh or any style of your choosing
. * Add elements from other images (collage) or replace the background
. * Hand painting? Tracing? Freehand? You bet. Always appreciate entries of this nature.
. * Apply filters from your favorite application(s) or tweak it with 3rd party plug-ins
. * Feeling animated? Wings flapping at 10,000 RPM?
. * Any or all of the above

Bottom line:
How you create this masterpiece makes no difference. Whatever floats your boat as long as you follow guideline #4 in the process.

2. When done, reply to this thread and attach your work (don’t forget the 100kb size limit).

Note: Multiple entries OK if you’re so inspired.

3. By all means include some verbiage on how you achieved your masterpiece so others will benefit from your skills and experience. Make it as descriptive as you like. Grammar and spelling will not be graded. Priority given to content, not how it is written.

4. Have fun.

In a word - BEAUTIFUL.

[QUOTE]"WIll all of my art now be affected in this way?"

Just follow your heart. ;)

Tony:)

awww...wonderful image Phil. You now have a muse! It's ok if your art is affected this way...my wife turns up in some of my work from time to time...I don't think she minds.. ;)

Phil:

Concept + technical execution = Just plain awesome. IMHO one of the most outstanding images ever posted in this forum.

- - - - - -

This mosaic-like technique I've been toying with lately pales by comparison. But it was fun to do.

~Danny~

Click http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~mikefinn/action.html to download the action used to create this version.

Note: There are separate PS6, PS7 versions available.

Though written for PS/Windows these actions will work under PS for Mac with a minor change to the Texturizer step in the last action: The path to the texture file has to be updated to reflect the correction loccation on the Mac.

Be aware, ye Mac users, that the filename as it downloads has the suffix .at - SHOULD BE .atn. I removed his name from the action, which allowed me to add the final N.
:wavey:

Black and white hummingbird with watercolored flowers. Added drop shadow on the bird.

TONY:

This looks great. Nice combination of color/no color + your usual nice touch on the watercolor effect.

PHIL:

I need a Mac lesson.
a. Maximum length of a Mac filename is what: 31? 32 characters?
b. Does MAC/PS require action files to have the .atn suffix (hence the need to add the trailing "n")?

===========
Follow-up on the Mac questions:
a. Though Mac OS9 and OSX "support" 255 character filenames, many Mac applications, including Photoshop 7, do not. Bottom line: It's a good idea for the time being to limit filenames to 31 characters if you want to not make enemies of our Mac friends!

b. Though most Macintosh applications could care less about the .xxx suffix on filenames generated by Windows applications, in the case of Actions, the .atn is required, otherwise PS7 will not load the action file into the Actions palette.

Thanks to Blacknight for testing and confirming the above.

~DannyR~

Everybodys work is outstanding.
Black Knight, how did you do the background of yours, it is superb to say the least, what is water paper, or what program did you use, plug ins? I would love more details if possible.

Originally posted by platscha@cs.com
Everybodys work is outstanding.
Black Knight, how did you do the background of yours, it is superb to say the least, what is water paper, or what program did you use, plug ins? I would love more details if possible.
Sorry - my very first posting here I went into great detail as to where every little filter and such was located, and then finally realized that MOST here know Photoshop extremely well, so I have gotten a bit lazy in my descriptions of late.

The filters I used are found under FILTER/SKETCH/WATER PAPER and FILTER/ARTISTIC/DRY BRUSH. The background was selected with SELECT/COLOR RANGE and then clicking on the background. I had to add to the selection, and take away from it some around the flowers. The lasso tool is what I used - pressing shift lets you add to a selection, and (on the MAC) the option key lets you subtract (the more current versions of PS show you a little plus or minus sign after the "cursor" so if you didn't want to look it up in your book you could just press some of the keys like ALT or whatever you have if you don't have a MAC!):)

Maybe more information that you were asking for, but it's there if you want it.
:wavey:

Originally posted by DannyRaphael
PHIL:

I need a Mac lesson.
a. Maximum length of a Mac filename is what: 31? 32 characters?
b. Does MAC/PS require action files to have the .atn suffix (hence the need to add the trailing "n")?
Well, take that filename as it appears in its default mode upon download and whatever that is is apparently the maximum (minus the final n at the end if YOU can see it). As for whether or not MACs can recognize it without the final n I don't really know, but I could experiment, I guess. I usually try to keep all extension names the same because if I want to do a search for all actions, for instance, I can do the .atn thing and get them all. Probably just anal of me (I do tend toward that - not altogether a BAD trait in a graphic artist!) to add it in its entirety.

AND I run OS 9.1 - this could very well have changed in the new OSX, but lots of MAC users are still running the "older" OS's, I know (like some people haven't gone to PS7 - ha!) and might like to know there is a filename limit in those versions. I think the REALLY older versions of the OS had an even shorter filename limit.

Hows THIS for way more than you asked for? :)
:wavey:

Thank you for the information, never to detailed for me.

George’s Hummingbird

This is just like looking out of my kitchen window … Hummingbirds are beautiful and I spend a lot of time watching them ….

Duplicate

Select a wing and put it in own layer > New > layer Via Copy … Select that wing two more times … labeling the selection upper and lower wing … go to edit > Free Transform and select the wing and position it either above or below the initial wing … you have to adjust the layers so that the wings are in their proper position, either above or below.

Select Filter > Blur > Blur Motion and blur the top and lower wings to indicate motion. You may also adjust opacity to get the effect you want. Do the same for the other wing.

Select the body of the bird and put it into it’s own layer … select Filter > Artistic > Dry Brush, Brush size - 2, Brush Detail - 8 and Texture - 2.

Select the Flowers and select Filter > Artistic > Paint Daubs, Brush Size - 5, Sharpness - 7 and Brush Type - Simple.

Select Filter > Render > Lighting Effects, Style - Soft Spotlight and Light Type- Spot Light.

Flatten

Don

I put the flowers, hummingbird, and backround on separate layers. Added a little drop shadow to the hbird and flowers. Put a little weavy texture in the backround and added a white beveled frame.

Wow, so many beautiful interpretations to this image! Nice work everyone.

For mine, I:
1. added sunset background (actually a sunrise, but who's gonna know ;) ).
2. Knocked out the bird and flower from the background; placed the bird on a separate layer and resized and repositioned it into the flower.
3. Did some edge enhancement and posterizing to get the drawn effect, then desaturated the result. Placed a copy of the non-posterized bird and flower over the posterized layer and set to color blending mode, then cranked up the saturation on that color layer. Added one more copy of the non-posterized layer on top and set to soft light blending mode.
4. Merged and added lens flare

VisualEyes, great effect!

Here is my attempt. I selected the background and brought out the variations in color with cutout filter, then spun it with radial blur filter, adjusted color a bit, then merged and spun it again lightly to move some of the flower/bird edges onto the background as well.

Phyllis
www.innographx.com

VisualEyes, I am NOW going to be hard pressed to decide whose versions of art I select to view first - yours or pstewart's. Very nicely done. I wish I had thought of that in addition to what I did. hmmm - perhaps a moonrise...

To be fair, I think I'll just view them in order posted.:)
:wavey:

There's so much talent here, it's a shame we can't harness it to do good for all mankind. But since that's impossible, we can go and create our own utopia here where there is nothing we can't adjust, solve, or fix.

This my version of the humming bird. I find this one pleasing. I started out with the original and removed the flower and the bird from the backround. Then I applied an art filter-I don't remember which one. And then adjusted the saturation and created several layers with different colors as if they were a glaze. I removed the excess glaze slowly until I got the effect I wanted. I then applied the high pass filter. And then I created one last layer, giving it a slight gray and pink wash, and finally adjusting the opacity until it was pleasing. I will also upload gray scale version in a little while. It has an interesting pencil drawing feel to it. Thank you all.
Steve

Ha! I'd actually logged in to post a message saying that I'd really like to see what Trimoon would do with this image. And here it is!

Great image - and I'm sure that all of us who've tried following your mini-tutorial will know that it is NOT easy to achieve results that are even in the same ballpark as yours. You really produce inspiring work, in every sense of the term.

This version of the hummingbird is a cross between a burning effect and tortoise shell. It’s quite easy to do. All I did was take my previous color hummer and, using the channel mixer, I gray scaled it. I then created a new layer, Fill with white and set the layer blend mode to screen and, using the burn tool set at opacity 20%, I slowly brushed in the effect that you see in the attachment. I thought it was cool.


Note: I’m working all the bugs out, don’t use this yet

One More "Pencil"

Stephen, your painting is just beautiful! As usual. :)

Phyllis

heeeerrrrreeee's mine

High quality pictures are so much easier to work with. :)

Lots of wonderful images!

chiquitita- I love the colors on the bird...very vibrant!

Trimoon - they are all excellent but my favorite is the pencil...it has a wondeful soft effect.




Here is mine...these guys are way off course!:D Used Terragen for the background

I didn't do very much with this but I like what came out. Used the lighting effects hint found in another thread. (forgot where I found it, sorry) Then I decided to play with the ps7 layer styles. Added frosted glass, outer bevel and sprayed stencil.
Debbie

Wow Greg. That is really stunning. Beautiful work.
Debbie

This is a great photo to play with, here's my submission.

Ken

Great work everyone. Heres my submission. Iput a pencil sketch on top of a blurred version of the original, and messed around with the colors a bit.

Darkstar, what a great way to add soft color to a sketch. Did you tell Lisa about this? She asked about doing that very thing on another forum recently.

Phyllis

Again, as usual everyone has done a first rate job:) It's down right wonderful having all this talent in one place:) Where do I start. Well, first I changed the bk/grnd to a cream and white. I then did a filter Render clouds, mask took off with a wet media brush. I've been trying to figure out what Trimoon does, but I got lost. This is what I ended up with. Oh, I applied, Filter, Dry Brush, adjusted opacity. Then applied Filter, watercolor, adjusted opacity, before I added the other layers of color. This is difficult!! I don't know how Trimoon does it:( Again thanks guys for all your wonderful submissions! Thanks, Danny

Wanda

Wanda, what a beautiful watercolour effect. It really does look like it was hand painted on paper. It's lovely and subtle and alive.
Very nice.
:classic:

I just love what Wanda did in her post, good one Wanda.

One more try

Mama Alligator, thank you so much:) I love Hummingbirds, so I spent some enjoyable moments on this one. Thanks again, kind comments sometimes is the only thing that keeps us going when were down:)

Trimoon, thank you!!! Coming from the master, and my inspiration:) I have been trying to figure out what you do, but I'm not even close I'm afraid! I REALLY love your last entry, but you never have a bad one do you:D Thanks

Wanda

here's my attempt at this one. all I did was use curves and experiment with lots of different filters.

- David :)

David this is just, well....breathtaking:) Just beautiful, really a work of art!! Keep up the wonderful work:)

Wanda

thanks Wanda!

- David :)

David, I love the 3D effect you achieved. The flowers seem to pop right out of the picture...I wanted to pick one! Great use of filters and curves.

Phyllis

Everyone does such great work here! I enjoyed working on this mini-challenge and I'm pleased with the results I ended up with.

I tried Trimoon's way of doing things, but got lost in the process and ended up on a different path. You have really beautiful work!

So here's kinda some stuff I did:

(I'll try and be short)
Extracted the flowers and bird and then created the background using filter>render>clouds.
Applied crosshatch strokes filter to bird and flowers.
Merged some layers and created mask and painted away!
Used smudge tool to blend background and bird and flowers.
Filter>stylize>emboss with soft light
Filter>texturizer>sandstone.

I know there is more I did, but I can't remember it all- sorry.

Sorry, no attachment last time. I was dorking around too much with the upload!
Here it is:

JLC:
Dorking away at things is what many of us do best around here! Another very nice rendition & plentiful detail.

David:
These mini's are getting to be a habit with you! It's great to see you're having fun with these.

Steve:
Breathtaking.

Chiquitita:
You could turn a horrible image into a great work of art with your skills! Glad this one was among the better ones to work with.

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Ya wanna do something fun sometime? Go back and look through some of the minis from a month or so back. You guys and girls just keep getting BETTER!

~Danny~

Originally posted by DannyRaphael
David:
These mini's are getting to be a habit with you! It's great to see you're having fun with these.
~Danny~

The mini challenges are a great idea Danny, and loads of fun. I'm getting really into photo art now, and I'm having a great time playing around with it.

- David :)

JLC, really nice entry:) Great job getting rid of the original background!! I love your bk/grnd colors, they're perfect. Keep up the great work:)

Wanda

Thanks, Wanda! I'm learning so much from this forum. I'm hooked and can't stop trying new stuff!

I hope one day I can create art that's worthy enough of posting in the gallery section.

Jennifer

Jennifer:

The gallery isn't sacred ground nor reserved for anyone. It's a great way to share your works with a group of folks not as likely to find them in this forum. Gallery postings frequently garner additional feedback and ideas.

Believe me: The gallery is a friendly place and your works are definitely worthy. And if I may take a moment to put on my 'moderator of this forum' hat: I know of what I speak.

Go for it.

~DannyR~

What a great shot! These little guys aren't easy to photograph.

Don--interesting abstract. I'm going to have to stick a note on my monitor reminding me to finish the edges on my pics. The framing effects you've been using really add a very nice touch.

I went with the impressionist filter on this one. You'll need 7 dups of the background. Each number represents a layer working from the bottom to the top. On this filter I usually change the paper color to image. If the brushes don't offer multiple size, up it to 4-5 and reduce the smallest size to 4-5%. Choose family of brushes whenever offered. If parts of the image are dark, increase the brightness before applying the filter. I also usually increase the blur slightly.

1. watercolor--watery spatter
2. watercolor--damp translucent (70%)
3. watercolor--soft water sketch (50%)
4. watercolor--soft daubs on fine paper (33%)
5. filter--stylize--find edges (overlay 25%)
6. gaussian blur soft sketch (soft light 30%)
7. choose a light and dark color from the bird (I used brown tones). Filter--sketch photocopy (lower detail and darkness) (color burn 25%)
8. Add a pattern fill layer in soft light at 70% for texture.

Cheryl,

You are right. Very nice shot. I have been trying to get one of these guys for weeks.

Anyway, nice work on your version. The paper texture really "sells" the watercolor effect.

I wanted to also do a watercolor. I also wanted to maintain some detail (I love the little feet :) ). First, I cropped it a little tighter and ran the edge preserving smooth at 30 in PSP8. Saved and opened in PS7. I played around with a lot of stuff in PSP8 and PS7 after the smooth; but, I couldn't get anything that I really liked. So, I added a layer and filled it with 50% gray. Then ran a texture filter on that layer (loaded a custom art paper texture that I got somewhere). Set the blend mode to soft light and opacity to 35%. Flatten, etc.

Catia

Fed, cropped and framed him.

This is one of the nicer interpretations I've seen on this one.

~Danny~

I haven't been through this whole thread yet but what I've looked at so far is lovely.

Blacknight I especially like what you did to the photo and can't wait to give it a try. Thanks for the details.

Danny I get a page not found when trying to get to the action you used. I like it..I want it.

Blu

Blu:

Thx for the link heads up. I fixed it.

You'll discover that Mike Finn has GOBS of free photo-art actions on his site. The one I used for this manip was "Oil Painting" in the "Free art actions" set (left side of screen).

Try his others. They are very impressive.

~Danny~

Thanks Danny..I downloaded the effects and will have a look later.

Blacknight Your rendering is so special. I will be working on this technique also.

Everyone is inspiring! I'm into watercolor at the moment so I have to say a special thanks to Wanda, Steve and Cheryl. Thanks for the details. I will be trying them out today.
Loved the pencil drawing, Cheryl I'm looking forward to the steps.

I just want to say a special thanks to everyone... I had been strugging along by myself, getting mostly frustration for my efforts. Since joining the forum a couple of days ago I have already learned so much more than I would have working alone.

Blu:kisses:

Blu--thanks for the thumbs up. :) If you play with the impressionist plugin, I've got a ton of custom papers and presets that I'd be happy to share. Just PM me your email address and I'll send them off to you.

I looked at all the pictures , all I can say is wow ,what wonderful job you all did ! I hope I can do as well.
~Diane

PSP, using Xero filters.

Adobe Photoshop, using history brush to give it a watercolor look
texture is japanese paper.

Buzz Pro , Oscar's watercolor in Photobrush, buzzed again
texture from Filters Unlimited.

I opted for a Mystical lighting effect - Vine Shadow
I don't get the opportunity to use these effects often but sometimes just the right photo comes along. This was one of them.


Blu

http://whynotme.free.fr/LidoBlu/hummingbird-copy.jpg

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best.

I set out with this one to show the vibrations generated by this little guy, in the air and it's effect on the flowers. So I applied Paint Engine's Artic filter (one of my favorites) and when I looked at it I couldn't think of any way I could go to show the vibrations more. One filter.

AmyHutton

Happy New Year, everyone!

I copied and transformed and dressed a couple of these little jewels --

Very nice image, and very nice renditions by so many folks!

OOOOhhh pretty, CJ. Those colors are perfect.

Amy

Amy - thanks! :)

It's fun to see which colors will show up on a hummer when they're dancing around - depends on how the sunlight hits their feathers, so I thought I could get away with some "artistic license". ;)

As for the methods, I was inspired by VisualEyes transformation in the earlier part of this thread, so I separated out the different elements. Using Select ->Color Range to isolate the green background, I selected the green and used Hue/Sat layer adjustment to change it to a blue. Did another Color Range selection and eliminated the green background to leave the hummer and the blooms - then made a copy of that layer so that I could eliminate the blooms from one layer = Hummer by itself, and eliminate the hummer from the copy = blooms by themselves. Once the elements were isolated on separate layers, I was free to play!

Selected and saved bird and flower masks. Next increased saturation of the entire image, then changed backgr to white. Next, blank layer, filter -render-clouds effect using pink and yellow for fore and backgr colors . I erased the section of the bird and flower using the masks. Put back some pale pink overlay blend on bird and flower. Ran thro an impr plug-in filter (modified) with a brush that was created with the same (desaturated and blurred) image.

Just Lovely, Jaykita!

AmyHutton

Attached with first attempt is the layers palette. I then copied image,duped bg and changed mode to difference.

I really have to pay attention to what i am doing, again i lost myself in this one. However took this image and started to add a few minor adjustments to give the eye main focus on the larger hummingbird.

Extraction
Some colour adjustment
Selective Hipass
Layer Blending
Sneaky eraser work on a low opacity to remove slight overcasting of colour

I did try a few Hipass additions to the main hummingbird which in turn did result in more detail, however i felt it took away too much from the overall effect i was attempting to acheive, so decided to remove them.

As i stated, my main focus wanted to be the main hummingbird and its detail.

I feel i have acheived what i aimed for, but the critique lays with you folk.

I really have to pay attention to what i am doing, again i lost myself in this one. However took this image and started to add a few minor adjustments to give the eye main focus on the larger hummingbird.

Extraction
Some colour adjustment
Selective Hipass
Layer Blending
Sneaky eraser work on a low opacity to remove slight overcasting of colour

I did try a few Hipass additions to the main hummingbird which in turn did result in more detail, however i felt it took away too much from the overall effect i was attempting to acheive, so decided to remove them.

As i stated, my main focus wanted to be the main hummingbird and its detail.

I feel i have acheived what i aimed for, but the critique lays with you folk.

As a general rule not a whole lot of critiquing happens in this forum... Most of us just enjoy the works and creativity of our fellow artists. That said, this is one of my favorite pics and I'd say you've achieved your goal (emphasis on bird) with flying colors.

Glad to see your second creation.

~Danny~

Beautiful image....

PSP8.01

Duped bottom layer twice
L3 (Top) Overlay mode 80%
L2 - GB 6.0
Merge top two layers.
Top Layer - Luminance (L)
Auto Contrast to Lighten
Merge all layers.
Select background - Noise Mono. 17%
Deselect.
Brushtrokes....Settings...
Softness=11/Length=5/Density=27/Bristles=56
Width=1/Opacity=28/Angle=214/Col Dk. Gray

I wasn't getting very far with this image, then I stumbled on Difference mode for a key layer...

BG: A Painter8 clone of the image using Crayons>BasicCrayons
A: Copy BG. Distort>Glass>Blocks (50% size)
B: Copy BG. UnsharpMask. 20% Opacity
C: Copy BG. Artistic>DryBrush. Difference Mode (29%). This made the pic
D: Copy of the original image. Overlay Mode (48%).

Finished by cropping the image (taking out a lot of the empty background I hadn't bothered to clone in Painter).

-Mark

I wasn't getting very far with this image, then I stumbled on Difference mode for a key layer...

BG: A Painter8 clone of the image using Crayons>BasicCrayons
A: Copy BG. Distort>Glass>Blocks (50% size)
B: Copy BG. UnsharpMask. 20% Opacity
C: Copy BG. Artistic>DryBrush. Difference Mode (29%). This made the pic
D: Copy of the original image. Overlay Mode (48%).

Finished by cropping the image (taking out a lot of the empty background I hadn't bothered to clone in Painter).

-Mark
Now that is a creative combination of steps, Mark! Well done. :bow:

wonderful stuff you're doing, people :bow:



---
i kinda like how the flowers turned out, but poor birdie got it full-strength :( ... ;)

JustChecking,
I like the way the flowers turned out, and the hummingbird fits right in also!

There are a number of different looks to the images submitted so far, from Jaykita's, Kiska's and Axleuk's light/bright and colorful variations, to the more subdued renditions of some others. My personal tastes generally run towards the light/bright/colorful, but that's what's wonderful about this forum -- you get to see other people's ideas of something that you would never have thought about yourself.

Think I'll work on this one again -- haven't done it in over a year.
Thanks, folks, for bringing it back up to the top! :) :nod:

Another one of Danny's little "nudges" (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9775).

Rô

Ohhh, how nice Ro. Printed and framed in your new home I hope?

Janet

Another one of Danny's little "nudges" (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9775).

Rô

Very, very cool, Rô.

I'll take 1% of the credit; the rest goes to you.

Excellent vision and execution. :bow:

Another one of Danny's little "nudges" (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9775).

Rô
W-O-W!! Brilliant idea. Great tutorials too. Thanks.

I got around the problem by taking a screenshot of the image(command-shift-4 then drag mouse across image), then dropped the PDF into PS7. worked fine.

I will be back later if I can do something worth showing to others.

alfredo

I just love that effect. I like all of the images, but yours hit something in me. Sparking emotions is what it is all about.

I am humbled by all of you guys and gals.

This is far different than I started out to make it, but when all is said and done, it appealed to me. It certainly isn't the soft look I started out thinking about. In fact, it's rather hard edged which may not appeal to many due to the subject matter.

I changed the color of a layer of the original, embossed and embossed some more with the flowers, added a pattern, accented the edges, added a diffused glow, plastic wrapped, and smudged.

Over that I layered a copy of the original altered to a sepia coloration, greatly faded it, altered the saturation, added another paint effect, smart blur, and an over all bluish hue.

This is far different than I started out to make it, but when all is said and done, it appealed to me. It certainly isn't the soft look I started out thinking about. In fact, it's rather hard edged which may not appeal to many due to the subject matter.

I changed the color of a layer of the original, embossed and embossed some more with the flowers, added a pattern, accented the edges, added a diffused glow, plastic wrapped, and smudged.

Over that I layered a copy of the original altered to a sepia coloration, greatly faded it, altered the saturation, added another paint effect, smart blur, and an over all bluish hue.
Welcome, JKK...

Glad you found the Photo-art forum and jumped right in.

re: Ended up far different that it originally started
Happens all the time to me. It's nice to not be locked into a particular destination, isn't it?

Regarding style appeal, the focus around here is to appeal to yourself first. If you like it, that's the vote that counts most. For artistic feedback, you can specificially ask for it (in your description) or start a thread in the Critiques forum (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/), where that type of commentary is the norm.

From your location description and avitar, I'm thinking the "Tucson area." Am I close? :)

Again, welcome aboard. Look forward to seeing more of your handiwork.

~Danny~

Hey, Danny. Thanks for the really warm welcome. I usually jump right in and walk around with wet feet all the time. :)

Tucson is close, but close is only good in horse shoes and hand grenades. I am in the Valley (Phoenix area).

My avitar is actually a little red imp which is how I visualize myself from the inside out, btw.

Let's have some more action!

PhotoShop CS

1. Duplicated bacground layer and, from this, isolated the bird to a layer of its own
2. Made a selection of the bird and copied that six times (total 7 bird layers)
3. Moved sucessive layers of the bird to the right leaving the original bird in place on top and arranging the moved layers behind each other.
4. Merged the 6 "motion" layers, deleted the bird's beak "motion" (at the front part of the head) duplicated this layer and again moved the duplicate to the right and behind the first motion layer. Merged the motion layers together.
5. Added a gradient mask to fade the motion layer off to the right. Set the opacity to 79% blending mode, Normal
6. Duplicated the motion layer (and Mask) and placed below the first motion layer and set blending mode for Luminosity to beef up the highlights.

Fun project!

Nice work, byRo!! Great balance in your rendering!

I just love that effect. I like all of the images, but yours hit something in me. Sparking emotions is what it is all about.

I am humbled by all of you guys and gals.
Thank you so much, Alfredo. And sorry to have taken so long to respond, i only just opened this thread. You are SO RIGHT. Eventually, thats what it's all about..sparking emotions. Isnt life wonderful?

Thank you so much, Alfredo. And sorry to have taken so long to respond, i only just opened this thread. You are SO RIGHT. Eventually, thats what it's all about..sparking emotions. Isnt life wonderful?


Njinski caused riots with his interpretation of "Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Fawn." US diplomats refused to be photographed/filmed in front of Picasso's "Guernica " because it was a reminder of the horrors of war.
Just the mention of Maplethorpe causes some to break out in hives.


If they hadn't caused some discussion, some emotion, either positive or negative they would have failed as works of art.

Yep, life is wonderful.

dee dee, i think it was your image that inspired me to do another animation. i was going to do more with this one, but it's a LOT of work and since no one is paying me.... now, if someone wants to pay me :)

the original was twice as big in frame size, but to get the file size smaller and to get the wings to flap faster, i had to cut it down. i'm afraid paint shop pro's animation shop will only allow down to 100th's of a second as opposed to 1/1000th's like i'd want, so the wings dont flap nearly as fast as a true hummingbird's, but it's not too bad.

Craig

edit: oh good lord. the wings are ponderously slow when posted here :( well, maybe it you download it and have an animation browser you can see it faster.

edit: i uploaded this to my remote site to see if when linking to it here it would display the wing motion faster. http://mizus.com/kraellin/hummingbird-1a.gif

Craig

Glad to be of inspiration! :-) That is really a great animation, Craig! wonderful stuff. I've never tried moving pixels like that, I just push 'em around in 2D on flat paper

thank you, dee dee :)

i just want to jump into my monitor and make those wings go faster, but alas...

like i say, i was going to move the whole bird and change his angle so he'd dip into the flower and move back out, but once i ran the first test and saw how slow the wings move, i got discouraged and there's just no way i can make em move faster with what i have to work with currently.

i have found a pretty good deal on macromedia studio mx 2004, so maybe...

Craig

I clipped out the background and inserted some clouds. I tightened things up a bit by moving the hummer closer to the flowers. I used the smudge tool a lot to give it a brush stroke effect. Messed around some with the colors.

Nice Screenie! I really like the lighter background than the original green. It really makes the flower and bird pop.

Nice Screenie! I really like the lighter background than the original green. It really makes the flower and bird pop.Ditto what Swampy said. The smudge texturing is supurb.

Well done.

inspired by the surrealists.

inspired by the surrealists.A brilliant breath of fresh air!

Well done, pixulz. :bow:

very nice, screenfx.

and pixulz, surreal is right :) nice work.

Craig

Wow,
I didn't get mine in anytime to soon! You all are fast!
My 7 year old girl sat with me and we enjoyed everyones art work!

I extracted that cute lil humming bird out and put him in one of my recent favorite photos that I took while at a friends house.

I added a few layers behind the humming bird to make the wings look like they were moving and changed the opacity on each. Then I found a bee and lady bug to add to the photo.

I did my normal sharpening and bumped up the saturation for the web.

Loverly

very nice Loverly! Good job on the wings.

Thanks Swampy! :ditsy:

Here's my rendition. Steps I took:

-duplicated layer and added Chome effect
-played with hue/saturation
-copied original background again and masked out the green background
-changed style to multiply at 40%
-used history brush to bring back the brightness and sharpness of original bird's head
-played with hue/saturation again
-duplicated the background again and added neon glow
-set that layer to color burn

interested in hearing feedback.

photob, welcome to RP.

i like the background. i like the bird and i like what you did with the flowers, especially against that background. my only curiosity is with a slight 'echo' sort of effect you have along the right edges of the flowers, where there is a faint duplication of the flowers seemingly. was that intentional? i think i'd like it a touch better without it. there's a little bit of this sort of smudging around parts of the bird too. it sort of looks like a smudge that wasnt quite blended in very well. again, maybe that's intentional, so ok if it is. the thing is, though, you've got well defined edges for the most part and this 'echo' or gradient or smudging looks like it doesnt really belong. but, if it's intentional, why ok.

it's a very nice piece regardless!

Craig

that "echo" was probablt from the chrome effect I added. I liked the way it looked originally, but then I added layers and layers upon it, and now that you point it out, I agree- it is a bit diistracting. perhaps I'll play with it a bit more and see if I can clone them out.

thanks for the critique!

photob,

you're welcome.

and mind you, i'm not saying it's wrong. if that's what you intended to express, then it's perfect. in fact, you could even enhance it or do a whole gradient with it with two or three or more added concentric areas. so, i'm just talking preferences here. with the strong flower and bird color and detail it just seemed sort of out of place to me and not really needed.

Craig

(i hate being a critic; i just cant keep my mouth closed) :)

This thread continues to bring forth innovative and lovely images -- in motion, animated, smudged, surreal, new backgrounds -- really fun to look at all the variety!

I added an Arizona sky near sunset, a window sill, and an admirer...

Everyone loves hummers!

cj,

interesting technique. the sill and 'visitor' are inspired :)

Craig

dannyraphael and kraellin,

thanks

you're welcome :)

Craig

I used PS to change background and also to add lighting effects, Buzzed it, added Wow watercolor papers and Photoframe to add watercolor border.

Cathy :cat:

Man this is good stuff. Looking at a lot of the submissions that others entered, I can't seem to come up with an idea that even comes close to what I'm see, so I won't even try. :)

This is a fascinating thread. I've got to give it a try, but I just wanted to comment on the previous page. Pixulz, that's totally unexpected and fun.
PhotoB, the "echo" part that Craig is having trouble with is the best part of your painting to me. I think it gives the whole piece movement.
Loverly, very fun and well done.
Cathy, I love this. It has an aged feel to it, very painterly. And CJ's caught my eye. That's a Wow!

Thanks Raniday!
Glad you liked it.

Loverly

Thanks Ikroll and Catherine.

Ikroll, give it a shot. You are getting some fabulous results with your techniques.

Cathy :happy:

What a beautiful photo, and sooo many wonderful intepretations... hard to pick a favorite. I simplified, find edges, did som layer adjustments, fooled around with the history brush... and decided to quit while I was ahead, so to speak! lol
~Nancy~

Cathy, sooo nice. What are "wow watercolor papaers?"
Thanks,
Nancy
I used PS to change background and also to add lighting effects, Buzzed it, added Wow watercolor papers and Photoframe to add watercolor border.

Cathy :cat:

Nancy, I have a book called Photoshop 7 1 click Wow book (or something like that) and it comes with a CD that is loaded with all kinds of goodies like paper textures, styles, actions etc. When you look through the book and you like an effect, you just follow the instrutions on how to do it. A new Wow book for Photoshop CS/CS2 is coming out soon, but the PS7 has plenty of good stuff on it.

Here is a sample of the watercolor paper the I used on the hummingbird.

Cathy :classic:

I have that book, and I use that paper pattern fairly often. I like the PS Wow books much better than the Painter Wow books. Nancy your hummingbird painting is just elegant!

cathy,

james audubon would be proud of you!

Craig

After some color/saturation enhancements, I mainly used Impressionist (KentC's Cezanne preset and a few other brush blends) to create this pastel. Some selective sharpening and smudging/cloning as well. Not my best work, but I'm a little lazy tonight. :)

I have that book, and I use that paper pattern fairly often. I like the PS Wow books much better than the Painter Wow books. Nancy your hummingbird painting is just elegant!
Thank you for the very nice comment: coming from you that means a lot. I have been inspired by the beautiful images both Catherines with sister's named Nancy (sounds like something from the Twilight zone), and many more members here. I had the ps wow book back sometime, I think it was PS 3 or 4 and just ordered the Painter Wow book, but now will check out the current PS one too..
Thanks you guys... this really is a great place to learn and relearn.
~Nancy~

Thanks Craig. Nancy, very nice work.
Ikroll, nice touch...it look like chalk was used.

Cathy :pleased:

Great picture, and over 40 great renditions ! Liked Visual Eyes in particular along with Trimoon's five of course. Still waiting for raniday to check in with her rendition, since lkroll finally did.

Here's mine, watercolor all in Painter 9.

Don't know how I missed this one.
Had to change the background colour though.

Peter

Great capture!

Lots of nice effects work, here is mine. Vector rough traced the bird, took out the background. Did a contour trace and colorized very strongly. Applied a dimensional center effect and a four pixel border.

Just a tweak here and there.