FIRST MINI-CHALLENGE -or- NEW TO PHOTO-ART?
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PHOTO ART: Mini-challenge #76 – Snowy Egret

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 below the photo description.


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Steve, alias Trimoon, shot this Snowy Egret at Cross Creek, Florida. (Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historical Site). It's almost too beautiful to "enhance" but it will be fun trying!

Phyllis

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LEGAL VERBIAGE
Trimoon 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 are prohibited.

I kept it simple.

Phyllis

This looks like the Great White Egret which occurs in Africa!

First off, the reflections on the bird bugged me, so I painted them out using neighbouring colors (cloning didn't work to successfully). I wasn't too worried about getting exact matches as the pic was going to be sent thru a filter.

I then duplicated the layer and ran a black pencil filter on that layer (PSP7). I decreased the opacity of the duplicated layer down to less than 40% to bring back the color from the background layer.

(It may still be a bit blown out for mac users :().

Nicely done, Al. Looks great on my Mac! Good idea to get rid of those ripple reflections.

Phyllis

Thanks Phyllis.

Here's a slightly more exaggerated version using the same technique that I used on mountain man, but with a smooth background, then letting the color come thru.

Phyllis,

Nice shot, I like the reflection, soooo here is my rendition of your image. I first turned it into black and white using one of the digi-daan channel mixture files, then dry brushed and added the frame.

Alan

Yummy! I was drooling over Trimoon's website images a couple of days ago, and now we're allowed to play with one -- wonderful!

Evening is descending, and a last ray of sunlight rim-lights our lovely egret -- with the help of a palette knife layer (LinLite) over a texture layer (ColDodg) with a layer mask over a glowing edges layer.

Phyllis -- simple, and lovely!

Al -- nice look to both versions!

Alan -- white egrets look great in black/white!

Or... if you don't like glowing bills, ;) here's one with similar lighting and color saturation, but more lifelike. Used Phyllis's recipe for an abstract look Abstract drawings (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4945) and then added a linear burn layer blend of the above layers over the original.

Great submissions!

Phyllis--I love the bold chunky strokes on this one. I'm a big fan of large and in charge, so I like this a lot!

BigAl--I love both of your versions, but am leaning more toward the first. Nice removal of the reflection and change of overall atmosphere.

Alan--I really like this! Sort of moody and dodgy...the frame sets it off very nicely. It's nice to see some work off of another submission, too.

CJ--I like both versions, even the with the glowing bill. It reminded me almost of a velvet black light poster. (I mean that in a good way, btw.!)

Chuck--such an adorbable baby! Good pic, too!

Amanda

I was trying for an oriental water color feeling, with the bird walking through mist.

I'm sure I didn't get it quite right...

Amanda

Tried a straightforward watercolor effect. BuzzPro Simplify, Paint daubs, Splatter, switched to Painter 7 to apply watercolor brush to water and reflection then added a water paper texture.

Jim

Originally posted by Snoleoprd
Phyllis,
Nice shot, I like the reflection, soooo here is my rendition of your image.


It's not my shot, unfortunately. This lovely photo was taken by Trimoon (Steve).

Al, that metallic sheen is great...really adds punch and depth.

Alan and CJ, love the boldness of all your renditions!

Wow, Amanda, that is awesome! Would you share the method with us?

Jim, great watercolor. Where did you find that texture...one of Painter's standard ones?

Phyllis

Originally posted by pstewart
It's not my shot, unfortunately. This lovely photo was taken by Trimoon (Steve).
Phyllis

Doh! Sorry Steve and Phyllis, I should learn to read more carefully. :)

Alan

Originally posted by pstewart
Where did you find that texture...one of Painter's standard ones?

In PS7, Filter/Sketch/Water Paper.

Jim

Originally posted by pstewart
Wow, Amanda, that is awesome! Would you share the method with us?


If I can remember how I did it...:D

I isolated the bird from the water, took out a few of the major reflections, and smudged the legs to make them look longer. Then I desaturated the bird through the channel mixer and upped the contrast a bit to bring out more of the outlines. Then I erased (roughly) most of the interior of the bird, leaving some of the gray where I felt it was appropriate.

I colorized the interior of the bird with yellow, pink, and blue, ran it through a gaussian blur and dropped the opacity waaaay down.

Then I painted in the background with a nice dun color using the charchol brush smear in photoshop. Used the same brush on a different layer for the mist. Dropped opacity on each.

Then I ran the entire image through a watercolor filter, faded that tremendously, then did another watercolor filter and faded that at as well.

After I posted, I thought that I should have applied a texture to the paper. After reading JB's last post, I think the water paper would be good!

Here's mine, I thought since he/she's a snowy egret, I might as well make it snowy.

Ken

Thanks, Amanda. You put a lot of work into it, and it certainly paid off!

Ken, nice job making it snow in Florida! Poor thing...brrrrr.

Since you made the snowy egret into a Canadian species, then I get to turn him into a black heron, right? We don't see snowy egrets in Illinois, but we do have a lot of herons of all varieties, and you often see them wading in swampy ponds, thus the green replacing the clear blue Florida waters. This is supposed to have an oriental flavor, as though it's painted on rough handmade paper...didn't quite get the paper texture I wanted though.

Phyllis

Many folks here have been adding interesting frames and borders, and I think it really enhances certain pics. This is one such pic, I think. This frame is the result of Flaming Pear silver filter with a hole cut out of the center to make it a frame, followed by pattern adj layer for embossing shadows. Soft light blend let the background water show through.

Can't recall how I got the pearly look on the pic...involved lots of blend modes, and screen was certainly one of them...but I am getting so old that I can't recall today what I did yesterday. Sigh.

Phyllis

Nice one on the Black-headed Heron Phyllis (that's what we call that guy down here!).

Mighty pretty birds - could use some of the feathers to tie flies!

Uses PhotoImpact natural painting - colored pen set at 65

Great image, Steve. Thanks for donating it for a great cause.

This is an actionized version. Mike Finn actions: Scratchy.atn, Scribble.atn followed by a run through my (still working on it) oil paint .atn.

~Danny~

Amanda:

Ditto the previous "Wow." Very unique approach and result. Thx for sharing the technique.

Question: If I smudge "my legs," will it make them thicker? (That's all I need!) :)

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Jim:

Buzz + Photoshop = some amazing stuff. You've done it again. The method doesn't have to be complex to achieve simply marvelous.

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David:

I can't get over how your creativity continues to skyrocket after such a relatively sort time dabbling in this stuff. Whatever yer eatin' for breakfast, keep eatin' it!

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Ken:

It never occurred to me that snow in Florida would be rare, perhaps since I live about 15 miles from a prime snow ski area that's in high gear at the moment. What caught my eye was the results you got. Very impressive.

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Do we have fun in this forum or what?

~Danny~

This was a lot of fun.

Played around with curves, and different blending modes with the two merged images.

To get the out line of the flower>used one of the syles button(double ring glow).

Used style also to create the border & lowered the opacity

Hydia - oops, I think yours is a lotus!

Bubba, nice neat outline and soft color combine for a great look.

Danny, it all works together beautifully...one of your recent best for sure!

Hydia, "bird in lotus"...very oriental...and very nice look!

Phyllis

Here is my first challenge picture. Even though it doesn't live up to the masters...I'm tryin

Modification of Phyllis's abstract method.

Lacto;

Lacto...WOW! That's awesome! I love the black underside, and the effect on the water is great. What did you do differently?

One thing is certain, you've no need to worry about "not living up to the masters." Go take your seat at the masters' table!

Phyllis

Thanks Phyllis;

I didn't invert the pic in the begining steps layer #3.

Lacto;

Here's a lame attempt on mosaic under Painter 6.
I got tired laying tiles so I cropped it and didn't bother to show the bird's reflection;)

Tony

Animated

Tony - that's definitely not a lame attempt!! that's actually one of the most realistic looking mosaic manipulations I've seen, great work.

- David :)

Tony, those are great! I have never had the courage to try the mosaic...was it hard to do?

Phyllis

David,
Thanks for the kind words.

Phyllis,
As I am a beginner in Painter, the hardest part is keeping the tile size and grout lines between rows of tiles consistent. Each row of tile represents a brush stroke. So literally, you have to lay every row with a stroke.

Tony:)

Tony - beautiful mosaic

bubba

Tony - that is really spectacular! Very realistic. I'm going to have to open up my Painter box just to try that technique! (Yes, I have Painter 7 sitting unopened on a shelf. I just haven't had time to delve into it - I can only learn so much at one time! :( )

Jeanie

Angue...That mosaic of the bird was impressive. Looked just like the Painter's can image.

Did mine with a layer of texture paper that I had made.....

I going to tell how, but right now I thought I’d post it. I have notes. :)

Goldcoin, that looks like hammered aluminum with metallic paint...nice!

Steve, lovely. Did you make the water spots with a layer maskl and brush set to scatter, size, and opacity variations...or something else?

Phyllis

Ahh... another picture for me to practice my infrared skills. Although I've pasted my attempt here, I don't quite like this version. Something is not right... but I just can't put my finger on it. Could anyone comment on it, please? Thanks.:)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid49/p38844c13f3b7adfadb85d82226b9b405/fcb385b4.jpg

Maybe it is the lack of definition in the water?

Lacto;

This is my version of our friend, the egret. It is quite dark, and I hope it looks good online.

For anyone interested, duplicate the combined picture. On this layer, Invert it, setting the mode to color Burn. It looks terrible at this point, but trust me and run Filter/Gaussen Blur (#20 worked for me).

Take a look at this same layer, in the mode of Color Dodge. It produces quite a different picture. I enjoyed this one! Bob

This is the daylight version of my effort at the egret.

Bob;

I love the night time version of the egret...:D


Lacto;

Bob, that's mean! Poor egret. :( I just hope the alligator isn't hungry and just wants to play. The night version is dark, but that's okay, because the darkness, contrast, and saturated colors are right for the mood...really intense...shudder.

Phyllis (averting my eyes)

Well, since I don't know what to say (again), I'll post the steps.

1. Remove reflection with Image Doctor and clone tool.

2. Using Virtual Painter I made three layers. Bottom to top they are gouache, color pencil, and oil painting. I reduced opacity of top two so all three layers were contributing to the look. Flatten.

3. In Painter, I used Selective Color Adjustment to pull it to the colors it has now. Then I added a raw silk paper texture.

4. Back in Photoshop for minor touch up.

That's gorgeous, Andrew. Simple, elegant and the colors are perfect. I've heard Painter was a difficult program to learn...looks like you're a master!

Pam

Awesome, Andrew! And thanks for the "how to" this time! :)

Phyllis

Hi Pam.

Thanks for the very nice reply. Especially since you described it as exactly what I was trying to reach for. I can't take credit for being a Painter expert, though. All I used Painter for was to get that background color exactly where I wanted it, using sliders. I'm a complete novice when it comes to Painter's primary tools.

Hi Phyllis.

Thanks for the compliment. Whenever I leave out the steps it's because I'm in such a rush to post I forget about them. I have a problem with going back and tinkering too much, so usually when I think something is done I try to post fast and without thinking too much. But I am happy to share any techniques from any of these pictures.

...Andrew

Using filters I selected Twirl Then glowing edges,& Brightnes & Contrast Then rectangular marquee & Smudge Tool.

KayakBob.....

Nice to see such outstanding creativity.....Wow, that background is so different. Bold & daring......

Wow, Bob, that's wild! I agree...the background is awesome! What a daring, and successful, approach to this gentle picture!

Phyllis

Egret with a texture

Peter

It works very well Peter it has a quilted look to it ( you know like the old satin eiderdowns )

Palms

It works very well Peter it has a quilted look to it ( you know like the old satin eiderdowns )

Palms


Be careful your showing my age there.


Peter

My three favorite writers - Hemingway, Neruda, Rawlings. Hope this meets the criteria. Thanks for the inspiration.

Evening foraging.

Steve

Steve that is astoundingly good :bow:

Peter