Having learned tons here, I'm working to redo some of the early simplistic (single filter) photoart I did on some vacation photos. Here's an interesting one of some leaves turning red, orange, and gold taken in late July near Lake Superior.

The original picture is extremely busy with leaf detail, but the CUTOUT filter (my original single filter art try), simplies the picture nicely. Using this as a staring point, I played some and got what I feel is a very nice result. I then spent another hour quickly recreating what I had just done for documentation. (I need to make it a habit to document what I'm doing when playing around; I almost lost this 'recipe' which, fortunately, I now have saved.)

The grouped layer stack enables separate treatment of the "Autumn" colors where, as the focal point, CUTOUT wasn't desirable. Like a layer mask, switching between painting & erasing on Layer 1 makes quick work cleaning up the boundaries between the two treatments.

The attached layer palette shows the steps. All layers are 100% opacity, Normal mode. Not shown are 1) the BG layer (original photo) at the bottom of the stack & 2) a Curves (to enhance contrast) and a Hue/Sat above & grouped with the Texturizer Redux layer. I used the Hue/Sat layer to shift the focal point colors towards red (-10) and increase saturation (+10). This made the colorful leaves stand out nicely.

-Mark

Mark:

Your efforts clearly illustrate your growth in skills. My compliments on your progress.

Question: On your layer progression descriptions. Does

* Noise 7, Gaus mono
* Cutout 5,2,2

mean you duplicated the Cutout 5,2,2 layer, then applied the Noise filter to the duplicate?

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re: "...redo of the early simplistic (single filter) photoart"

I would say there's a high probability that many of us who engage in this hobby/habit got bitten by the bug by trying a filter on a picture of grandma or a picture taken at the lake. I remember the first time I applied Photoshop's Colored Pencil filter. I was about the happiest camper on the planet.

Words of encouragement for rookies:
Everyone starts from the same spot: The beginning.

How far one goes is only limited by imagination, practice, experimenting and to a certain extent, the resources available. With all the free plugins, actions, PSP scripts, etc. available, just about any effect can be developed.

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Keep on having fun, Mark. Your efforts to craft this tutorial are sincerely appreciated. Many thanks.

~Danny~

Danny asked:

Does

* Noise 7, Gaus mono
* Cutout 5,2,2

mean you duplicated the Cutout 5,2,2 layer, then applied the Noise filter to the duplicate?


The answer is yes. I'm sorry I didn't make this clearer. Every layer (in the two groups) on the stack is a copy of the layer below it with additional treatment applied as indicated by the layer name.

-Mark