PHOTO ART: Mini-challenge #49 – Park Bench

[pstewart]

Art, that is magnificent! Really looks like a watercolor. Please tell me exactly what you did with the dry brush. When and how was it applied?

Anxiously awaiting answer from the master.

Phyllis

[GOLDCOIN]

We just keep getting better & better.....

lQQKER..... very different, great appeal.

[pstewart]

Oh, Goldcoin, that's gorgeous! It sparkles with gold! Was that just a coincidence? I also like how it's misty and soft, yet has sharp detail at the same time. Great.

Phyllis

[arthill]

Phyllis,
I'm no master - it's beginners luck
Here's the technique
Made a copy of the image
Used Dry Brush Brush Size 1
Brush Detail 8 Texture 1
Used Smart Blur
Radius 10 Threshold 50 Quality High
On the copy then
Remove Color
Smart Blur Edge Only Radius 25 Threshold 50
Invert
Past the color image into the BW Image
Blend Mode Multiply
Flatten Image
Adjust levels to taste
Boost Saturation to about 40
Texturizer with Texture set to Sandstone.

[pstewart]

Originally posted by arthill
Made a copy of the image
Used Dry Brush Brush Size 1
Brush Detail 8 Texture 1

Thanks for the steps...can't believe you are so organized that you keep track so well. Now I'm even more impressed!

Still have that same question though. What exactly did you DO with that brush? Did you paint with it? If so, what color/s and what blend setting? Was it a brush or the art history brush? Or some other tool with the dry brush setting? How exactly did you "use" it is what I don't understand. Could you elaborate? Thanks.

Phyllis

[arthill]

Sorry Phyllis. I didn't understand what you were asking. I've never tried using brushes. In Photoshop Elements 2 there is a menu choice called filters, then Artistic, then Dry Brush. It pops up a box for the settings which I mentioned above. You click okay and it applies it to the whole image.

[pstewart]

Originally posted by arthill
Sorry Phyllis. I didn't understand what you were asking. I've never tried using brushes. In Photoshop Elements 2 there is a menu choice called filters, then Artistic, then Dry Brush. It pops up a box for the settings which I mentioned above. You click okay and it applies it to the whole image.

Oooooohhh...that explains it! Here I thought you were using Photoshop, where dry brush is a brush type, not a filter. Gosh darnit...I want that filter! It's cool! I wonder if it would work on Photoshop. Could you send the filter file from your program perhaps?

Phyllis

[jeaniesa]

Phyllis, You're in luck. The Dry Brush filter is in Photoshop! Look under Filters->Artistic->Dry Brush. (At least it's in PS7.)
Jeanie

[pstewart]

Originally posted by jeaniesa
Phyllis, You're in luck. The Dry Brush filter is in Photoshop! Look under Filters->Artistic->Dry Brush. (At least it's in PS7.)
Jeanie

Duh. Of course it is. Thanks! It's been so long since I've used those "artistic" filters (since I've been playing with my new KPT toys) that I forgot they exist! Silly old lady with failing memory...that's me!

Phyllis

[omeyas]

Phylis, I can empathize with you, well at least with the failing memory bit.
How do you find the KPT filters? I'm not a huge fan of filters, normally get by with what's in PS. I have some others but very rarely use any of them. Are they worth the money? A lot of the free ones you see on the internet are of very little use, effects I would never use. Normally, if they are any good, they cost money.

Frank

[pstewart]

Frank, yes, you have to buy KPT filters.

I have five packages--KPT2.1 (no longer available I think) has a few things I use all the time, though you can do them in two or three steps without the KPT filters once you learn how.

The kaleidoscopes are in KPT3, so I am glad I have that one!

KPT5, though it is good stuff if you have a use for it, doesn't have much in it that I need very often.

KPT6 has a lot of great features I use a lot, including the awesome "equalizer" sharpener/soft blur filters, and the wonderful "materializer" which gives pics a 3D glassy or metallic look.

KPT Effects has some really great filters as well, including the very useful pyramid paint.

Keep an eye on the web for discount packages so you don't pay full price. I got the last four KPT's in a package and saved about 75%, but that offer from the andromeda.com site has expired. There will be others in the future, I'm sure.

Phyllis

[pjb]

ran color art action autocol 1 and 2 it put it on two different layers
turned opacity down on each layer and on middle layer put pencil2 filter.

[pstewart]

Looks just great, PJ...like a really old sketch from a hundred year old book.

Phyllis

[d_kendal]

That's beautiful PJB!! I really love that effect you got.

- David

[marina]

My first post, first challenge. Don't know how I arrived at this!

[pjb]

marina
Very nice. It looks like a spring day to me.

[pstewart]

Oh, wow, Marina! Wow, wow, wow! Great idea to crop it and concentrate on the bench. Love what you did with it! Please stick around and keep posting!

Phyllis

[LQQKER]

Thought I'd try another version of the park bench.

[jerry]

Looker

Very nice adaptation of the park bench..This has a very art like quality to it..I can see that hanging on a wall...Great job..

Jerry

Go Steelers (Get well Tommy)

[d_kendal]

ooh, I really like it, Looker. very effective. looks like a night time shot with a spotlight on the bench area.

- David

[pstewart]

Looker, wowee wow wow wowwwwwwww! You guys are wowin' me to death lately. How did you get that awesome effect, Looker? Diffusion in there somewhere? Render lighting effects? What/how? Please tell!

Phyllis

[LQQKER]

I enjoyed viewing all the pictures that were submitted. Having such a beautiful picture to start with obviously sparked a lot of creation in the minds of those people who played with this.

The filters and technique used to get this effect was somewhat extensive, but here is what I can recall. I used Photoshop 7, and a Wacom pad.

I started by adjusting the picture with levels.

Cropped to suit a preconceived idea.

Duplicated the image and applied a Nik Monday morning filter.

Applied the Nik skylight filter several times (forgot the settings), to bring back some of the color.

Used the oval selection tool on the center area of the bench and trees, set the feather to about 60.
Inverted the selection.

Applied the Nik Midnight filter (which darkened and blurred the edges, making a gradient to the center).

With the selection still applied, I inverted it again and enhanced the contrast of the center portion of the image.

Lightened the center (Nik filter), while selection was still applied.

Adjusted the opacitys on the layers involved.

Flattened the image.

Duplicated and again run the skylight filter (this enhanced the colors).

Created a mask and erased some of the effect on the bench and lower trees.

At this point the lighting effect was a natural result, but a little uneven. I used the burn tool on the edges at 30% opacity to finish the spotlight effect.

[pstewart]

Thanks for the info. I looked up Nik filters on their site and they aren't cheap (as if anything good is!). Which set/sets do you have? And what other filters are included in the box that you find useful? Their site doesn't list all the effects in each box, and I'd rather not buy pigs in pokes.

Is there a forum here that has reviewed the Nik filters? Anyone know?

Phyllis

[LQQKER]

Hi Phyllis,

The filter set that I have is the "nik Color Efex Pro! The Classic / Design Bundle". These work as regular filters or you can use them with PenPalette. If you go to the link I provided and then to "view each filter in this set", it will give you an idea what they are used for. Many of these filters perform functions similiar to those you'd use on a 35mm camera.

http://www.nikmultimedia.com/usa/pro...gnbundle.shtml

Filters that I use on a regular basis are the Sunshine filter, Skylight filter, and they also include a polarization filter which is great for bringing out sky detail. The Midnight and Monday morning filters are nice as well. All of these filters you can use with other filters in the set, which can give some unusual effects. That said, I should mention that the filters are not "drastic", that is, they are somewhat subtle.

I'll agree that many of the graduated filters can be reproduced on a manual basis, but having certain filters pre-configured with slide controls can be a time saver when looking for the right mood.

Below are the filters included in the Classic/Design bundle

> Brilliance/ Warmth

> Bicolor Filter: Green/Brown

> Bicolor Filter: Violet/Pink

> B/W Conversion

> Classical Blur

> Contrast Filter: Blue

> Contrast Filter: Cyan

> Contrast Filter: Green

> Contrast Filter: Magenta

> Contrast Filter: Red

> Contrast Filter: Yellow

> Contrast Only

> Darken Center

> Duplex

> Graduated 0h (Gray)

> Graduated 201h (Sky Blue)

> Graduated 213h (Dark Blue)

> Graduated 220h (Blue)

> Graduated 32h (Orange)

> Graduated 33h (Coffee)

> Graduated 354h (Blood)

> Graduated 38h (Warm Yellow)

> Graduated 94h (Moss)

> Graduated User Defined

> Lighten Center

> Midnight (blue)

> Midnight

> Monday Morning (blue)

> Monday Morning

> Old Photo

> Polarization

> Skylight Filter

> Sunshine

> Pastel

As mentioned earlier, the contrast filters are very similiar to screw on filters to enhance certain color ranges. For example the blue contrast filter would lighten blue colors, while enhancing yellow, orange or red colors and you control the blue color spectrum by specifying a color point to contol the contrast and light in the image. Of course this is done with sliders so you merely play until you see what you want. And to further elaborate, you can use this filter with the skylight, polarization, Brilliance/warmth, and sunshine filter if you so desire.
This bundle can be purchased from the Wacom site under "intuos privileges", if you recently purchased a Intuos2 tablet.

http://www.wacom.com/intuosprivileges/index.cfm

All of the filters are very simple to use and most can be used in conjunction with other filters. I think maybe I was too verbose

Hope you find this message helpful.

[GOLDCOIN]

Lqqker..
I love verbose...... lowers the learning curve for me. Gad, where do you store all of those filers?

[MoonFizz]

I thought I'd try a romantic evening scene.
It needed some lighting of course so I took a street lamp
from a nearby road

Soft lighting in "painter", softened lens flare in ps and a little
"light" cloning.

Must put the street lamp back now or they might miss it!

- Gary

[DannyRaphael]

Gary:

Very creative idea. Hope you're paying the light bill!

~Danny~

[GOLDCOIN]

MoonFizz.......

What a clever idea, it looks real. You did a great job on the lamp post detail, set off the beautiful whole scene.

[MoonFizz]

Well I stayed up all night just to get this shot!
Finally it's home to a nice warm bed
-Gary

[pstewart]

Gary, love the lamp post ...and the glow from the light. Very nice! Hmmm...don't squirrels usually sleep at night? I think he's up to something...

Phyllis