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# 42 – Judy's Hibiscus

This gorgeous hibiscus picture was taken Judy Howle, a new RetouchPRO member, who graciously donated it it for a mini-challenge. I’m sure many of you will be as inspired as I was when I saw this one.

Judy, of course, retains the copyright © not only for the original image, but for any photo-art versions of it. Unauthorized distribution or use without her permission is prohibited.

By all means check out her site: http://myweb.cableone.net/howle/page/digital_photography.htm

Many thanks, Judy, for such a great image.


~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? How about blooming on the fly?
. * 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.

I guess I'm going first.

I created a new layer with just the flower and leaves then applied the BuzzPro Watercolor stack.

Although not much of the background shows, I inverted it, applied the BuzzPro Watercolor stack and then used gaussian blur.

On top of everything is a layer filled with a paper texture to which was applied a layer mask. Then I revealed the picture beneath ala Trimoon's sketch technique.

Jim

Jim..Really nice affect..Very artlike .

Here is my try..(Kind of looks like a valentine..Oh well.. accident)

cut out flower and leaves
applied paint engine arctic..
created white background..

sampled pink from flower..created layer above flower and filled with pink.

added noise..and applied layer mask to uncover flower..
adjusted levels..

thanks
Jerry :D

KPT Fraxplorer for background, opacity dropped and hue/sat to suit - ran spatter filter - made three copies of original - darkened one with levels, the other with curves - ran trace contour and set fill to 43% - history brush for red flower. Blend modes luminosity and overlay.
:wavey:

Here's what you get by duplicating the BG layer, applying the Glowing Edges filter (1,20,3) and setting the blend mode to Luminosity.

~Danny~

Lovely treatments, everyone-- Jim (love the papery effect), Phil (that background is gorgeous), Jerry ( Valentines in October are special), Danny (strikingly lovely), Chuck (she gave you the idea, but had to execute it - lovely) -- you all are showing me something new each week.

I used Rough Pastels and Find Edges and used overlay blend on original. The background then seemed too dark and featureless, so I used levels and Hue/Sat to reduce saturation and lighten it. Added butterfly using custom brush.

Chuck, this is just lovely...softness and texture both work. I think Trine will approve. :)

Danny, wow! Just about knocked me off my chair! It was really too big to fit on my browser window though so I (fortunately) missed some of the effect-- which no doubt saved my life! :) Seriously though, really daring and striking...I especially like how the leaves are bordered by the bright green "lights."

CJ, that's a great "paint" effect with a creative use of filters. I will have to remember that combination...thanks!

Here's my version, done with a lot of layer blending (difference mode was in there somewhere), color adjustments, and finished off with Andromeda Techtures.

Phyllis

I used Ink Outlines then on a layer above that I applied Smart Blur Edge Only set that to Soft Light and 50% transparency.

I miss you guys:( Other obligations. Everyone, just lovely, wonderful, beautiful and any other adjective that applies.
I used photoshop, and painted the flower in Painter Classic, the frame, PhotoImpact. Thanks everyone for such a learning opportunity. Thanks, Danny. My small contribution.

Wanda

I always enjoy looking at the early creations. Such fabulous talent.
Added my 2-bits worth, done with art history brush and trimoon's impr chalk sketch filter..

Saw this one earlier and just had to have a go at it. I love flowers :)

Started off by extracting the flower and leaves from the background. Buzzed slightly, duplicated and used smart blur, edges only to get the outline.

Took a snapshot of image (select all, copy merged, paste into new layer) and applied watercolour filter. Copied buzzed layer and brought to top, set blend mode to lighten. Took another snapshot.

Used Impressionist (jch Van Gogh) on new plain beige layer for background, used gaussian blur to blend and applied a gradient mask to soften the edges.

Duplicated outline layer and moved to top of stack, blend mode multiply, 11%.

New layer filled with plain beige. Applied mid grey mask to flower and leaves to partially reveal them, set fill to 36%

b/w clouds layer set to overlay, 34%

Phew ! I think that's everything ......

Pam

Result looks absolutely stunning. Glad you like flowers, because this one is a beauty.

T

Thanks Tyler :classic: I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Please be gentle. I started off in PS7. I made a copy which was converted to gray scale. I used the erasure and lasso to remove the background from the RGB original. I selected and copied the remaining image of the flower and leaves. I opened a new like size transparent background file. I pasted it onto the transparent file. I then copied it and pasted it onto the gray scale image. Cleaned it up, saved, then opened it in GIMP2.2. In there I applied the cartoon filter, and the fractal filter. Later I did minor tweaks in PS7.

It will take me a bit to learn the 100k dance. I'm willing to practice.

alfredo

Great result Alfredo. I look forward to seeing more of your work :)

Thanks.

I love playing with photos. It's time to start working on improving my skills. There's some great work here.

Please be gentle...
Welcome, Alfredo. Nice to have you. We're always gentle here! :) It will take me a bit to learn the 100k dance. I'm willing to practice. With Photoshop the trick is to use File > Save for Web... then adjust the Quality sider until you get the file size you want. Works like a charm!

Keep 'em coming.

~Danny~

I never used the save for web. I never felt the need, or wanted to do anything to lower resolution, even though it doesn't matter that much online.

I hope to learn something, and maybe someday, pass on what I have learned.

I never used the save for web. I never felt the need, or wanted to do anything to lower resolution, even though it doesn't matter that much online.
I prefer SFW over File > Save as (.jpg). The file size displayed in the SFW dialog is accurate, whereas in the .jpg Options dialog, the file size value is generally low by 5-6 K.

Alfredo

Interesting work! :classic:

Welcome!

T

Here is my post..do not know what you were all looking for but tried to play . Might call this Free Art or something like that ! Neb :nod:

i did a bunch of things that ended up getting an effect that i am not really too thrilled with, but i am going to go at it again tomorrow. it is late now, and i would explain all that i did, but it was just a lot of upsetting experimentation with a sub par result....but hey, my first post~! (oh yeah....talk about new to this!)....and i probably posted a picture that has a low res, so we'll see here.

another one that's well worth re-visiting! I used Trimoon's watercolor tutorial for this one. And now, I need to quit for the night and get some sleep, this stuff is waaaay to addictive!

Here is my post..do not know what you were all looking for but tried to play . Might call this Free Art or something like that ! Neb :nod:
Neb:

Considering what I had to pay for Photoshop, Painter, my replacement monitor, etc., I sure wouldn't call this hobby "free" anything! :lmao: But I sure like how yours came out!

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Shivan:

For a first time at bat, you done *GREAT*! (I especially like the BW background.) Don't worry about the low-res attachment. They gotta be that way in order to make it under the 100KB size limit.

Welcome aboard.

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P:

Absolutely lovely. Wonderful application of Trimoon's tutorial (www.Trimoon.com - "Artistic Expressions"). The color choices really make it.

~Danny~

Shivan:

For a first time at bat, you done *GREAT*! (I especially like the BW background.) Don't worry about the low-res attachment. They gotta be that way in order to make it under the 100KB size limit.

Welcome aboard.


~Danny~

gosh Danny, this type of thing really makes me feel good about attempting some stuff! i am definitely going to be doing more now, because you guys are just so dag-on accepting to newbies like me!

Thanks!! :D :D

Got ya on the FREE Danny. Understand totally. I also see I neglected to pay attention to the layer my font was on. I am just learning some techniques . I just did not pay attention to that little ?? detail. My first try at something like this. Thanks for the compliment!! Neb

Free@LOL

I have to say i must be luckier than some then cos most of my programs i have was given to me.

Apart from the computer, printer, camera i paid for them, but the programs all free.

Great renditions here everyone, keep up the good work!!!

Danny i think your the bestest moderator on the whole forum!!!

I like yours Neb. Told you it was fun. Here's mine, and I have absolutely no idea how I got to this because I started it late at night and finished it today and I was in and out of all of my programs. :lol: i do remember starting off by inverting it. If anyone asks me specifics, I might be able to remember some. :D

Hey Fizz: I like it! Really colorful! You are really going to town Girl!! I am proud of you and your excitement of learning the programs and their functions. Thanks and :rainbow: Blessings Neb

Thanks for the very good picture.

This one I selected the Bg and applied mition blur-radial and in the image I did some play with levels and diffuse aniso....

thanks

vijayan

Well, I have finally found my way to the art challenges. What fun. Everyone is so creative and there are so many ways to see a subject. I may do another because I had such a good time with it.

Cathy

Well, I have finally found my way to the art challenges. What fun. Everyone is so creative and there are so many ways to see a subject. I may do another because I had such a good time with it.

CathyVery nice, Cathy. You've definitely earned your stripes in the dept. of creativity yourself. One of the things I like about the arty side of things is more creatove leeway and tolerance for "imperfection" -- (also known as artists' discretion!

Keep playing and having fun. It's good for the soul. :)

Cathy, I think of all the renditions of this flower, yours is among my favorite.

Very nice work.

Janet

Thanks Danny and Janet. I really had fun with it.

Cathy

select out and repair the main stem and flower.
black background layer
splotchy white layer
hand painting on the flower

Craig

alright, another animation. sadly, with the 100k limit, this comes out pretty poor here. and, on looking back on it, i shld have animated some of the leaves and parts at different degrees in the same frarme and maybe shld have bent some of the parts for more variety. nonetheless, a fun little animation.

if anyone wishes to see the full size, uncut version, i can post it on my shared space on another site.

oh, the technique here was to select out all the parts i wanted to use individually as new images. then, clean each of those up.

pull the background out and build in the now missing parts of it.

using the new background, make 5 more duplicate layers, giving 6 layers in all with this background.

taking the part that is most in the background in the original, place that in layer 1. rotate the image part 1 degree left and place it in the next layer, linig it up as closely as possible to the first layer. repeat for all other layers.

once all layers have all the parts i wanted, copy each layer out as a new image, giving me 6 new images, each of which has the parts one degree off from the last one.

load all 6 new images into animation shop in sequence in a new animation. add in some extra duplicate frames to give the back and forth.

save and optimize to get it down to 100k.

Craig

Here's my version. Basically just played around - first did glowing edges, then blended with soft light. Then messed with saturation and emboss.
Loved all the variations of this image.
Margaret.

marvelous, margaret. love the shades of green, the soft, darker light effect, and the dark reds of the flower itself. and that touch of blue just above the flower is perfect; just enough to distract the eye just a bit and add a bit of contrast.

Craig

Thank you for reviving this, it's one of those I never did see... :dizzy:

Impressionist/Conte

Nice work Margaret and Neve. I love all of the ways that the simple flower can be interpreted.

Cathy :)

Thanks Kraellin and Cazubi. Your animations are a lot of fun Kraellin and everyone's renditions are so great and yet so different.
Margaret.

thanks, margaret :) they're fun to do.

besides working on my skills and learning all these programs, i find i have to work on my discipline also. one of the hardest things for me currently, is to do these things to the level i know they could be done. the hibiscus animation is a perfect example. i know it could have been better.

in fact, here's a question for anyone and everyone: when is good, good enough? when and where do you draw the line and say, 'ok, that's good enough.'?

Craig

in fact, here's a question for anyone and everyone: when is good, good enough? when and where do you draw the line and say, 'ok, that's good enough.'?
That's a tough one. It is possible to tweak an image over and over for months and still see many imperfections. I guess I feel I have to work to a certain level of efficiency as well as technical and sometimes artistic standards. In Photo restoration, if all technical steps have been taken(cloning, sharpening, level etc) and the image is pleasing to the eye it might be time to declare it done. For Photo art, if image is techically well executed and conveys the message intended might be time to walk away. In both cases, one could go on forever. However for me after a while an image loses its freshness and thus its interest for me, so I need to get them "done" and move on.
I wonder though how the great artists like Renoir, Picasso etc. decided that a particular work was done? If one was vastly talented, with an artistic temperament it would be doubly tough to say "done"!
Interesting question Kraellin.

Margaret M

This is a good question. I tend to never feel it is "perfect" and if time permitted I would keep going back and and re-work over and over. When I say "done" is when I am tired of working on it, or like Margaret says it loses its "freshness" and I move on. I still go back and look at pieces and think that I could have improved the work in some area. I guess it is good to have deadlines.

Cathy :normal:

:) ok, i can see i'm surrounded by other compulsive folks here (other than myself).

i raised this issue again because when doing that animation i was more concerned with getting it out the door than with the quality of it. i knew i could have spent a lot more time doing things like bending the leaves and stems to make it more natural looking and adding more frames for a smoother animation, but i basically just wanted to communicate the animation of it and not so much the art of it. so, i suppose i'm answering my own question here a bit, but it would seem to me that purpose or purpose of the communication would also play a part. i wasnt going to try to sell this, or post it on an art gallery or anything; my purpose was more just to show off a little bit with a little animation. so, i guess i've achieved my purpose ;) i may still go back and redo this a bit.

and that raises another question i've been wondering about lately. i can save a file like this one in .psd and it will save all the layers and command history and so on, which is great, but one thing i cant do in paint shop pro 7.xx is insert and extract commands from the command history. i can undo X number of commands, but let's say i wanted to JUST remove one command in the middle of the history and not everything else leading back to that one command. can Photoshop do this?

Craig

Here is my watercolor version. I used the extract tool to get rid of the background and applied some brush strokes filters while playing with the blending modes and opacity. I added a sandstone texture and then blended the original photo at the end to help sharpen up some details.

JLC,

very nice!

i couldnt help wondering how that might look with a royal or dark blue background where the white is in the background currently.

Craig

Thanks!

Here's another version I did using the art history brush. I think I like this one better than the first.

I really wanted to make this hibicus "pop" color wise.

Can't remember all the steps, but I first isolated the hibiscus, On a new layer below using a dark and light shade of blue, I ran the clouds filter and then I used the Facet filter and the Spherize filter several times. I noticed with each application of the Spherize filter a nice oval "cameo" beginning to form. Using the circular marquis, I isolated the oval and added some noise, G bulr and a Render Lighting filter with the blue chanel set to produce the mountain textures on the oval only.

I made a duplicate of the flower layer and filled the flower with black, moved it down and right then ran a substancial G Blur to soften and create a shadow.

Did both levels and curves adjustments to make the flower a little darker. Also added a touch of bevel/emboss to accent the top edges of the leaf edges and bud.

ah, there's my blue background! thank you, dee dee. lovely!

JLC, i think i liked the first one better. the background on the latter doesnt give as much contrast to the red.

Craig

Craig..

i can undo X number of commands, but let's say i wanted to JUST remove one command in the middle of the history and not everything else leading back to that one command. can Photoshop do this?

I haven't found a way, but it sure would be a great feature!

indeed. i find myself starting whole new 'threads' when working in a long image edit. my original image with all its layers just has to be started in a new image from time to time because there isnt a great way to remove a certain effect or even add one at a given spot. sure, you can turn off a layer or reduce its opacity, but sometimes i just want to cut or paste a given command.

i also wish i could save the command history with the pic.

Craig

Sometimes I'll save everything into a "Set" and start new with the original image.

A rose is a rose is a.......manip.

Steve

Here's another version - the first time I have used Corel Painter. Used the woodcut filter there, then added gradient and texture and the lettering. Hope its not a cuss word.

Terriffic, Margaret!

The simple ink lines are just lovely. Also love the addition of the Asian characters. It fills up some empty space and adds a second point of focus without being distracting.

interesting texture on the background too.

Craig

Too many steps to give, but I will say that no smudging at all was involved. I used Impressionist on to different layers (one gross and one a little detailed for the flower stemins) and some selective erasing. I then flattened, duplicated and ran Photoshop's Chrome filter and set to overlay reducing opacity to taste. Saved, and opened in GIMP for texture bumpmapping and Saved; also used Xero's Supersmooth at the very end to slicken the oil a bit more. :)

Impressionist djroil24 tweaked here and there.
Alan

Alcar, that came out very nice..especially the background.

Rô

alcar,

i'm with Ro; that's definitely a keeper! nicely done!

Craig

A big response to this one, and what results.
Err I just put this here and hope......

Peter

Just had to try this one too...

I had a try also

Palms

I changed the background, paint brushed around a bit and put in a real sky.