FIRST MINI-CHALLENGE -or- NEW TO PHOTO-ART?
See below for "Information and Guidelines."

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PHOTO ART: Mini-challenge# 52 – Chicago Skyline

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

The image can be downloaded by clicking the link near the bottom of this lengthy introduction!

”Chicago, Chicago – My kind of town…” Great city. Among my favorite memories are having discovered “deep dish” pizza there, going to a Cubs game one afternoon and taking the El to games at Old (and new) Comisky Park.

This skyline shot was taken by RetouchPRO member Art Hill. Thanks for the memories, Art, and for letting me use this great shot.

~DannyR~

LEGAL VERBIAGE
Art retains the U.S. and international copyright © not only for the original image, but for any photo-art versions of it. Unauthorized distribution or use of this image without permission is prohibited.

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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 art form 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? Animated entries are definitely welcome. There have been some really funny ones submitted in the past. Fish jumping, leaves falling, wheels turning. You get the idea.
. * 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.

A special message to those who are new to Photo-art
… Who may be feeling a little uncomfortable about posting an entry.

If you’ve read this far, it means you’re at least curious. That’s a good sign. :)

But what if you’re feeling a little squeamish about posting your first image?

From time to time I hear from those who want to participate, but have considerable anxieties about posting their creations in these mini-challenge. “I’m just a beginner. My pictures don’t belong,” “I see the works of others and I know I’ll never get that good,” “How am I supposed to compete with those wonderful creations?” are typical expressions of concern.

To which I say: Put your fears to rest. This isn’t a competition. You will not be judged in the traditional “art critique” sense. Your honor isn’t on the line. This isn’t about who’s best.

Don’t hold back from participating and posting your creation because your initial attempts don’t measure up (in your own mind) to images generated by folks with more experience than you.

This is a no-fault, all-fun way to jump in the pool. Everyone started the same place: The beginning. Everyone who is more skilled and experienced than you got to that point by practicing, experimenting, asking questions, learning from others, and participating.

Can one learn without interacting with others? Sure. Can one learn as fast? Absolutely not.

When you participate, others get to know you. That makes it easier to ask them questions. Asking questions leads to learning from those with more experience than you. It just keeps getting better and better!

By all means give it a go. You’ll be glad you did.

The pep talk cheerfully brought to you by:

Danny Raphael
Photo-based Art Forum Moderator

But I liked the sky on Art Hill's other picture of Chicago, also in his gallery, so I used that one instead. Here is a night scene.

Phyllis

I did a sketch/illustration but couldn't make the file small enough and still keep the outlines visible, so I just cut a sliver out of it to show the effect.

I like the color of the water on Art's photo...such a bright green. Wonder what makes the water that color anyway? Slimy algae maybe...but from a distance it looks great! :)

Phyllis

I like 'em both. Could you email me the whole picture of the one you posted half of? art@WindyCityArt.com. thanks.

It doesn't matter to me but it was the other skyline picture that you said you were going to use for the photo art mini challenge.[I]

Art, I'm flattered that you want to see more. My mail program often messes up large files, so I have put it here for easy downloading:

http://www.innographx.com/chicago_drawing.jpg

Now everyone can see it in all its huge glory...haha.

Phyllis

Phyliss what a great rendition. I love it, and what a gret shoty of the skyline.

I can understand why Art wants some copies. Nice job Phyllis. :)

And now for something completely different.

Phyllis
Your night scene is great..but you know I am awed by the illustration just great..

Stepping out of character (by accident) while working on a sketch that maintained the detail of this skyline, I came up with this pastel version of the skyline..I thought it looked like a decorator piece.. Sorry it is to weird..

Sketch to follow later.

Jerry
:D

EDit..Trimoon you just posted while I was posting..That is really good Steve..Love it..

Stephen, city in a glass is a brilliant idea...and well done too!

Jerry, very soft look...like a fairyland, with a strawberry milkshake lake!

Phyllis

And here is the sketch..I had to reduce the size and jpeg quality to 1 so it would meet requirements..Hope the detail is not lost..

Jerry :D

Sorry about the size of that one..I tried to reload it and failed..
See if this is better..

Jerry

Jerry....All three were great, but the last one is my pick......

Jerry, that's a great sketch...such soft colors...great blending. I love how the buildings repeat the colors of the land and water.

Goldcoin, excellent simplification and great outline job...love the moody color and especially the paper texture.

These are two different moods, and both are wonderful. You guys are outdoing yourselves!
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Folks have given me some nice compliments on my colored sketch, so I think I owe it to you to "come clean" and tell you how reallllly easy it was! It's only two steps beyond the blur/dodge outline method.*

Keep original picture on bottom layer. *Dupe twice in b/w and outline with blur/dodge method (top b/w layer inverted set to color dodge then blurred very slightly and merged...levels if needed to increase contrast). Then merge these layers.

Now for the new steps:

1. Set the new b/w outline layer to LUMINOSITY.

2. Dupe original layer and place over the b/w layer and set mode to HARD LIGHT.

The outline ends up sandwiched between two originals. The hard light mode is what does the trick and puts back the bright colors. Just something I discovered trying different modes.

Phyllis

Goldcoin..thanks for the nice comments..Your entry has a dark stormy look that I can picuture at Chicago..Good job..I really like it.

Phyllis..you were reading my mind (????how did Phyllis do that one) Now I know... Thanks for the steps...Great Illustration..

Jerry :D

Chicago in clear pastel colors.

Phyllis

Same version but in sunset pastels.

Phyllis

Just playing around with regular PS7 filters. I think I used most of them. :)

Here's an attempt to color sketch in gimp.

lasm:

You did this in GIMP? Very impressive.

And welcome. Hope to see more of your creations in the future.

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LQQKER:

You got your money's worth out of the filter splurge! Very cool results.

What's up with the edging / frame? Special effects? Plugin? Your native creative talent?

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TRIMOON:

Late to the party. "Chi in a glass" is one of your BEST yet.


~Danny~

Hi Danny, glad you are recovering :)

As mentioned, everything was done with PS7 filters. The frame edge was just a selection that was copied to another layer then I added a shadow effect using layer styles. The slight border frame effect was done with another selection feathered to about 25 then inverted. I think it was glass filter.

Looker, that's awesome...like post-apocalyptic Chicago. I recognize craquelure filter and glass and...wow, you weren't kidding that you used all of them! LOL! Great results though. And your edging is just perfect for the scene you've created.

I think the real secret to photo art, like any art, is not in the technical knowledge of what to use for what purpose so much as to know when something looks good, regardless of how you got there. You have a good eye...no wonder your name is Looker. :)

Phyllis

Thank you Phillis, .................

Chicago Sky line once again..
A Filter - Custom..

__

vijayan

Vijayan--you fit an incredible amount of detail into this one.

I went with Virtual Painter layers again.

Bottom to top (sorry ellerton--I didn't save the settings)

Water color--normal
Pointillism--soft light
Pastel--lighten
Oil--color
gouache--soft light
impasto--lighten (either gouache or impasto got cut to 50%--I can't remember which one)
Topped with a couple of sketch layers and a texture.

I was born in Chicago but moved away when I was very young... but I can still remember the lights at night...

Here is my twisted little version. Art...you always have the best views man!

Chicago has probably never seen a finer sunset, Jeff.

Well done.

Here is a version obtained by using a bunch of edge techniques. :)

Catia

Oh, I almost forgot, a texture pattern layer as well.

This is my favorite version of this one so far Catia! Nice work here. Very nice.

Thanks Jeff. :blush: You are too kind. :)

Catia

I loved Jerry's skyline effect in pastels the best...as it paints Chicago prettier than it really is. I tried for something a tad more abstract.

I did a contrast inhancement, then VP gouache to bring out the vibrant colors, Then I did a PSP8 Color edges, and threw on a carpet texture for the heck of it and softened it up.

Yes I know the skyscraper is out of perspective, but after straightening it I went back to the toppling over version for playfullness. The whole thing is "over the top."

Amy Hutton

I found this to be quite a challenge. I started several weeks ago, put it aside for a while, worked some more tonight, and decided it was done. Despite being such a busy image, many of older interpretations did well capturing lots of detail (esp. several by PStewart). I wasn't up for this and greatly simplified the image instead.

Elements2 Layers:
BG
A: Copy BG. GBlur 3. Artistic>Watercolor
B: Copy A. PlasticWrap. Lighten mode, 35%
C: MergeVis (A,B). Distort>Ripple. BrushStrokes>AngledStrokes
D: Copy BG. Bandpass (4 - 2.5). LinearLight, 80%
E: Copy BG. Highpass 0.5. LinearLight, 68%. Layer mask in black painting with white in low opacity to bring back hints of some of the details: building windows, ship masts, flag, buses.
Finished with a Hue/Sat layer to slightly darken and greatly increase saturation.

-Mark

You got a great result for all your hard work. Phyllis Stewart has been my inspiration for years now, her work is outstanding. Her results here were clever and the detail is terrific, I agree.

http://www.pbase.com/pstewart

- Removed Excess scenery to create space on the water for a nice reflection using a mixture of clone and healing brush
- Added stormy sky
- Blended building skyline to sky layer for a better transition
- Flattened image and then applied a little smart blur for Pen and Ink effect
- Adjusted each colour channel for atmosphere
- Copied top portion of image, flippped vertically applied ripple ( adjusted settings ) and placed in position for reflection
- Flattened image
- Adjusted curves for enhanced colour
- Added to separate layers for the rain ( Fill layer with black, add noise, gausian blur, adjusted levels, motion blur, screen noise ), adjusted opacity

Axle, your manipulation skills coupled with your great imagination has generated some wonderful results, this image among them. I sure hope you can honor us with a tutoral or two some day (or share links to the ones you learned from.) It came fast, but you sure deserve your Sr. status. Keep up the great work.

-Mark

Axle, your manipulation skills coupled with your great
-Mark

Mark, thank you for you comments, its that kind of appreciation that gives me the motivation i need to keep pushing the boundries i set myself.

Tutorials ? Well i do have an idea for a couple, but setting time aside to document them, is difficult at present, but you have my word, you wont have to wait long.

I would be happy to share my links with you, however, most of the stuff I do is through my owns experimentation rather than following tutorials, but Bert Monroy and ALL of the Photoshop Dream Team are great resources.

You may find this one very useful:

Photoshop Support (http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials.html)

I have a lot of books on Photoshop and the various elements and use them as a constant source for both reference and inspiration, only today i bought 2 new ones ' Photoshop CS Studio Guide' and 'Creative Photoshop Lighting Techniques' both of which look like fascinating addition to my collection.

Axle, your manipulation skills coupled with your great imagination has generated some wonderful results, this image among them.

When i look at an image, i instantly get a rough idea of what i want to do, i try to create a new scene from what i have to work with, the hardest part is acheiving it.

My work flow needs to be improved as half the time i just get so involved that i dont keep track of what i am doing and before long, i lose myself completely, but that will improve with time.

Imagination is something i believe is a key part of the creativity process, and thats what makes us differ from each other.

Phyllis Stewart has been my inspiration for years now, her work is outstanding.[/url]

Totally agree. She's among the best.

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Axle:

Gotta leap on Mark's coattails. This is yet another terrific interpretation you've done. You continue to inspire all of us.

~Danny~

Original-Increase saturation, dup, photocopy, multiply-blend, merge, chalkoholic filter, aniso, usm, lighten blend with orig, dup orig and move to top of stack, softlight blend.

Decided to do a b/w this time on this image. Lots of artifact cleaning, so I might have missed some. :)

Impressionist and a lot of saturation/color adjustments. Hint of Paint Engine too. :)

hehe, you keep digging these up and i keep following you. nice b&w!

decided to try out some plugins i havent used much, or at least in a while. this is a combo of edgeworks and paint engine with some blending.

Craig

...decided to try out some plugins i havent used much, or at least in a while.I do that too, on occasion, and usually discover completely new applications.

This one came out especially well, Craig. Well done.

Here's a quickie I did using apply image and doing a partial layer of smudge brush

thanks danny :)

i had about a month a while ago where i was doing almost nothing but looking for plugins, textures, tubes and related downloads. i get nuts like that from time to time. i managed to collect quite an assortment, and even managed to install a few of them ;) so, was time to try some more of them out. edgeworks was actually surprising. i hadnt realized there was that much to it.

Craig

i like that, tk. gives it a nice soft look.

Craig

Very nice Craig, Ikroll, and twinkissed.

Cathy :)

Here my contribution to my 1st mini-challenge...

and Yes...it was fun..!

http://img425.imageshack.us/img425/5024/minichallenge52artschicagotigr.jpg

Not sure what i got here just kept messing around to much time on my hands (or to much bad tv)

Palms

p.s. especially liked the dark ones Axleuk and Craig

palms,
I really like that. I can picture the superhero going through it now. Just like a comic book. :happy:

thank you, cathy. you are a dear!

tigron,
welcome to RetouchPRO!
now that one reminds me of the last planet i lived on. very nice :)

thanks palms!
i like yours as well. how'd you get that streaked effect?

Craig

Here my contribution to my 1st mini-challenge...

and Yes...it was fun..!

http://img425.imageshack.us/img425/5024/minichallenge52artschicagotigr.jpgExceptional work, Tigron. Some might even say, "Far out"! :)

Welcome to RetouchPRO. Your creativity will be most welcome.

~Danny~

Thank you tk and Craig

Craig you asked how did i get the streaks well the simple answer is i dont know :confused:
they just appeared after putting a few filters together.

Palms

have been trying for a while now to retrace my steps but no luck as yet ! ! ! !

Bingo walk away and it comes to you ! graphic pen was one of the filters just not sure what order now

Nice work palms. I tried Danny's photobobbie action and then did some adjustments.

Cathy :cat:

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Steve

palms,

Craig you asked how did i get the streaks well the simple answer is i dont know
they just appeared after putting a few filters together. yes, i have that filter also :)

Craig

cathy,

very nice watercolor look! and if it's not meant to be a watercolor, why, great look!

steve,

simplified always seems to work. very nice!

Craig

Had another go this time a different crop with a different outcome because i messed the action up but i like the effect that happened,

Palms

Thanks Craig, kinda gimmicky but I like the rainbow effect you can get by playing with blends.

Steve