View Full Version : PHOTO ART: Mini-challenge #58 – Tropical Fish


DannyRaphael
12-02-2002, 02:30 PM
FIRST MINI-CHALLENGE -or- NEW TO PHOTO-ART?
See below for "Information and Guidelines."

- - - - - - - - - - -

PHOTO ART: Mini-challenge #58 – Tropical Fish

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

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

NOTE: There are multiple images for this mini-challenge!


= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

A few weeks ago Alan Smallbone (Snoleoprd) send me the image attached to this post in e-mail. Since I know Alan is an avid outdoor photographer, I naturally assumed he'd taken these pictures underwater somewhere off the coast of California, where he lives.

Imagine my surprise when came back with a LOL and reported this school of fish images were taken at the local tropical fish store. What do I know.

Anyway there are half dozen from which to choose. Mix, match, duplicate, collage with other images, collage with your own background... Just keep that important Guideline #4 in mind. HAVE FUN! If you're curious the name of each fish is embedded in the filename.

Thanks, Alan, for the pics and the laugh.

~DannyR~

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

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

- - - - - - - - - - -
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 major 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

DannyRaphael
12-02-2002, 02:33 PM
Fish 2 of 6...

DannyRaphael
12-02-2002, 02:33 PM
Fish 3 of 6...

DannyRaphael
12-02-2002, 02:34 PM
Fish 4 of 6...

DannyRaphael
12-02-2002, 02:35 PM
Fish 5 of 6...

DannyRaphael
12-02-2002, 02:36 PM
Fish 6 of 6.

Want more fish? By all means add some from your own collection! :)

Snoleoprd
12-02-2002, 03:05 PM
Chuck,

That is very cool looking, sort of pop art. I like it.

Alan

omeyas
12-02-2002, 03:36 PM
Just had a quick look at the fish, definitely seems a shame to mess around with these. But if we have to......
Frank

omeyas
12-03-2002, 09:21 AM
A shoal.

pstewart
12-03-2002, 11:54 AM
Chuck, make his skin tones bluish...he's underwater after all. But not too blue...don't want him running out of oxygen. :)

Frank, that is excellent. Great composition...looks real!

Phyllis <--too lazy to cut out fish

Blacknight
12-03-2002, 02:20 PM
Some diffuse and ocean ripple and sharpen and levels and overlay blend mode.
:wavey:

Blacknight
12-03-2002, 02:59 PM
I don't remember what all I did, but I kinda like how it turned out...
:wavey:

pstewart
12-04-2002, 03:27 AM
Originally posted by Blacknight
Some diffuse and ocean ripple and sharpen and levels and overlay blend mode.

I love this effect...just perfect for this subject! And your second pic reminds me of those special lights they use to make things in fish tanks glow.

Wanna write down the steps and settings for that first effect? If you can reproduce it and can take the time?

Phyllis (hope hope hope...)

Blacknight
12-04-2002, 04:42 PM
Originally posted by pstewart
Wanna write down the steps and settings for that first effect? If you can reproduce it and can take the time?

Phyllis (hope hope hope...)
Umm..yes, I wanna. Can I? Yes, I can. Will it be correct? Probably not. HOWEVER, I know BASICALLY what I did, and I will try to duplicate it again, taking care to document each step - just for you, Phyllis! (well, because I'd like to know too, and maybe somebody else would as well, but it sounded better the other way, huh!)
:wavey:

Blacknight
12-04-2002, 05:18 PM
Ok - near as I am able to duplicate:

Pick a blue and fill a new layer with it. Noise about 7, gaussian, monochromatic. Ocean Ripple, about15 and 9. Diffuse, ansotropic. Sharpen edges 3 or 4 times. Ripple, 100, large. KPT bounded sharpen, bith sliders all the way over. Adjust hue/sat or levels or both to suit. Blend mode to overlay (with original fishy underneath, auto levels).

:wavey:

pstewart
12-04-2002, 11:35 PM
Thanks, Phil. I tried your steps and it worked fine...thanks a bunch. :)

I tried flaming pear's lacquer filter on fish #1 and raised detail, bulge, gradient, and sparkle above 80% and got a molded foil effect...then softened it partially with aniso-diffuse.

Phyllis

pstewart
12-06-2002, 07:13 PM
I like my previous foil fish effect better, but this one seems more appropriate for a fish. I call it sparkle fish. Done with KPT5 intensity filter.

Phyllis

omeyas
12-10-2002, 04:30 AM
Jigsaw effect.

omeyas
12-10-2002, 04:32 AM
See if you can spot the "deliberate" mistake in the previous photo!
Frank
:bawling:

Snoleoprd
12-10-2002, 06:19 AM
Frank,

Real nice, I like it. The mistake is you mirrored the eye of the angel fish.

Alan

omeyas
12-10-2002, 09:58 AM
Nope! At least, I don't think so. :(
No, I never touched that. More glaring than that. Or it was to me as soon as I checked it after posting.
Frank

Snoleoprd
12-10-2002, 10:15 AM
Frank,

I must be really dense and it must be real obvious.... cause I don't see it.

Alan

omeyas
12-10-2002, 11:00 AM
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Snoleoprd
[B]Frank,

I must be really dense and it must be real obvious.... cause I don't see it.

Perhaps it's just obvious to me because I know it should be there! Where I have cut out the pieces I have applied a drop shadow and emboss to them. Howver, I didn't apply either to the white gaps left behind. They should have been done also! :( Perhaps I should have said nothing. :tongue:
Frank

pstewart
12-10-2002, 11:01 AM
I'm with you, Alan. Guess we'll both be bumped from Retouchpro. :bawling:

Phyllis

Snoleoprd
12-10-2002, 03:07 PM
Hi,

Phyllis maybe they will just send me back to Retouchamateur instead of letting me stay at RetouchPro. :eek:

Frank well that was waaaaaaaay toooooo subtle for me, Inever would have gotten that one. :blank:

Alan

T Paul
12-10-2002, 06:46 PM
Chuck,

I really like your colored foil filter look. It's very bright and festive!

~T

T Paul
12-10-2002, 06:59 PM
Great entries everyone!!!

Frank,
Great manipulation work combining all those little fishies! It really looks like an original photo. Great job!

Blacknight,
I really like the texture on your first entry. The second entry is very vibrant. Almost looks like an 3D art piece for some Japanese Restaurant. I really love the intense colors. Great job!

Phyllis,
Lacquer fish turned out great. Looks like you were able to duplicate Blacknight's texture. Very neat affect. I also like sparkle fish...especially the intense blues and greens!

Chuck,
Great job on your entry. Looks like a poster for an aquarium. I like the extruded boxes with the individual fish. Nicely done.

Frank,
Great looking jigsaw puzzle! As for the missing drop shadow and emboss...I didn't notice till you pointed it out.

~T

pstewart
12-12-2002, 11:19 AM
This is a new discovery that I really like. I also tried it on minis #62 and #63 (flowers and produce) if you want to see how it works on another picture...quite different, actually. In this one it looks more outlined.

The steps are given in the other two challenges...no point in repeating.

Phyllis

pstewart
12-12-2002, 11:39 AM
Here's another. A really plain boring background on this pic gains some interest with this same technique, overlaid onto a second plain blocky cutout version of the original at low opacity, to bring in some background shadow areas.

Phyllis

Pam
02-04-2003, 10:43 PM
Every challenge here at Retouch seems to be loaded with great entries. There are some extremely talented folks here...

Frank, very impressive manipulation. Excellent work.

Phyllis, I love your sparkle fish! It's bright and shimmering, just like a coral reef under a bright sun.

BK, very nice effect on "Fishy".

Chuck, I like the colors and gradations on your colored foil fish. It almost looks like the 3-d ceramic tiles with the metallic finishes that are becoming popular lately.

Here's my tropical fish attempt. Funny how most of us chose this "fishy".

Pam

pstewart
02-05-2003, 01:09 AM
Beautiful, Pam...love the colors and simplicity of form.

It's great that so many folks are dragging old minis out of mothballs and working on them! The more we learn, the more we can do with the dozens of pics we already have. This trend is so successful that I won't upload a mid-week mini and will just wait till the weekend to post another pair. Meanwhile, dig deep into the treasure chest that's here, thanks to Danny.

Phyllis

DannyRaphael
02-05-2003, 02:31 PM
Phyllis:

I agree... fun to dredge up these older mini's and see what we can do with them several months later.

- - - - - - -

Pam:

Another terrific effort. You're inspiring me to try new methods or in this case dust off an old tool.

- - - - - - -

Started by applying Hue / Saturation and Levels adjustment layers to bring out some color. Merged the three layers into a base layer, took a snapshot and set the history source.

Created a new layer which was to become the background. Opacity = 100, blend = normal.

Art History Brush tool setttings: Opacity = 15%, Area = 3 pixels, Blend = Normal, Fidelity = 100, Tolerance = 0, Tight Short strokes.

Selected a wide, scatter brush and painted in the BG. Since the brush opacity was 60%, I was able to give the illusion of "strokes on top of strokes." Although the opacity of this layer is 100% and blend is normal, enough of the original base layer shows through to fill in any areas missed with the AHB.

When BG was complete, a new layer added, blend = normal, opacity = 100. Changed opacity of AHB to 85 and selected a 10 pixel scatter brush. Began to paint the "fish layer." Higher opacity on the AHB resulted in "thicker looking paint" for the fish, the effect I was looking for.

After Mr. (Ms.?) Fish painted, I erased a few areas of overpaint near the edges of the fish. Then oversharpened this layer (amount=400%, radius=8 to bring out some detail and color.

Oops...Noticed the left (when looking at the pic) eye had lost too much detail when rendered with AHB. Copied the base layer and drug it to the top of the layer stack. Applied a layer mask and inverted it (CTRL + I) to make the top layer appear to disappear.

Selected air brush from Tools palette, flow / pressure about 25%, forground color = white and "airbrushed" some detail back into that eye.

Flattened and cloned over a couple goobers; applied frame effects and saved for the web.

Surf's up!
Danny

DannyRaphael
02-05-2003, 02:40 PM
Similar technique as the previous entry with the addition of a layer Buzzed (Edges mono) and set blend = multiply.

pstewart
02-06-2003, 02:05 AM
Danny, excellent! I love the shimmer and the brush strokes on the first one, and the second one is a nice rough sketch look.

Phyllis

Snoleoprd
08-11-2003, 08:45 PM
Wow really cool textures, great job.

Alan

Snoleoprd
08-12-2003, 04:53 PM
Don,

I checked out your site, great stuff. I noticed you had some pics of African cichlids, nice stuff. Here are some more fish shots, the conspicullatus angel pic is on this page. The pics were taken for a local fish store for their web pages. Enjoy
Fish Pics (http://www.snoleopard.com/fish/)

Alan

P.S. I like all of the paint engine pics you have been posting. Great stuff.

Snoleoprd
08-13-2003, 05:58 PM
Don,

Beautiful work, it does look very much like a painting. Wow. Thanks.

Alan

lkroll
12-11-2005, 07:45 PM
Some more Impressionist play; I believe I could play for months and still not perfect the amazing possibilities of this little gem. One of the few times that I can say "Thanks Bill" and actually mean thanks (Bill Gates that is). LOL

thana
01-24-2006, 08:20 AM
helllo again! :D

who said that fish can't have some wings? noone! sooo, here it is! ;)

Swampy
01-24-2006, 11:40 AM
Another Fun Project! Thanks Danny!

More manipulation than art. The layers really started piling up on this one. Six fish, many with shadow layers, the background was extracted from one of the fish pictures and where the fish used to be the rocks were cloned back in from a different photo.

Difficult to deal with light sources with so many shots taken under different lighting so I tried to cast shadows in some appropriate places if the light was in front high right.

Used a color fill layer with a gradient mask to lend the overall background a deep blue tone.

Added a touch of texture to the rocks.

I'd love to play more, but I gotta go back to work... LOL

SWEngineer
01-27-2006, 10:50 PM
I haven't been doing much photoart lately. But here's a random walk with lots of layers, blending modes, & masks which turn out ok.
-Mark

TwoLaidBack
01-28-2006, 03:58 AM
Ok last image for tonight. I found this one fish I just had to give it a shot to see what I could do with it.

Steps:
Opened the original image and dup. On the top layer I started using my smudge brush set pretty soft and smudged over the whole image. Once I had this done I applied a pencil effect added the texture at this point I dropped the opacity of the top layer leaving it set too normal. I next added a new layer and made the selection for the blurred frame I then inverted the selection and applied the blur and added a inter bevel merged all and this is what I ended up with.

TwoLaidBack

Peter S
02-15-2007, 10:04 AM
Ok I know it another Art history Brush one from him again.

Well I got a tip for you as well this time as well.

If you do your Art History on a new layer, with a blending mode i.e. Hard light, and a colour layer between this and the background layer.
Have you ever decided that the colour layer is the wrong colour or shade of that colour?
Well if you place a Hue and Saturation adjustment layer above the colour layer, you can change the colour, lightness, saturation etc while pre-viewing the changes you want to make. Also it is very easy to change again layer if needs be.


BTW if you already new this, then why didn't you tell me before then? :dizzy:

Peter

palms1
02-15-2007, 01:02 PM
Ok I know it another Art history Brush one from him again.

Well I got a tip for you as well this time as well.

If you do your Art History on a new layer, with a blending mode i.e. Hard light, and a colour layer between this and the background layer.
Have you ever decided that the colour layer is the wrong colour or shade of that colour?
Well if you place a Hue and Saturation adjustment layer above the colour layer, you can change the colour, lightness, saturation etc while pre-viewing the changes you want to make. Also it is very easy to change again layer if needs be.


BTW if you already new this, then why didn't you tell me before then? :dizzy:

Peter


Cmon Peter you had to earn your money somehow ! ! ! ! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Palms

palms1
02-15-2007, 02:56 PM
As i was here had a smudge

Palms

Peter S
02-16-2007, 04:14 AM
Glad you did.
I really got to get to grips with smudging I think - very nice that.

Peter

palms1
02-16-2007, 06:49 AM
Glad you did.
I really got to get to grips with smudging I think - very nice that.

Peter

Now i wont say that one is easy it is a case of one step forward and one back. but when it works it is enjoyable

Palms