Photo-Based Art - - Help Turning Clouds into Objects...

mhkitty8880 · #1 08-31-2006, 10:10 AM

Hi Everybody! I'm writing a kids' book about a girl who sees objects in the clouds, in a nutshell.

I want to illustrate it myself. Does anyone on here know any wonderful ideas on how to make clouds look like objects?? Like, a flower made out of clouds, basically. Last night I tried to come up with stuff, but it all looked too artistic. Like, I airbrushed a white cloud on a blue background and applied a brush stroke effect to it. That part, I liked. But, I didn't know how to make that look like an bject. I tried adding a new raster layer, hard light, 50% opacity, and layering the object on top, but it looked too fancy. I want it to look fun and playful. Any ideas?? Or, does anyone know of any sites that can help me achieve my ideas?? I'd love to hear anything you can come up with. And, as always, I don't want anybody to this this project for me. I want to do it all by myself. I just need help figuring out how I can!

<--- Ha! I had to add a weird robot. I love it! Thanks for any help/ideas, in advance!! -Meg

philbach · #2 08-31-2006, 10:52 AM

Well one approach may be to open the object in question in photoshop and then select the object and use that to make a layer mask.

On another layer place a cloud photo or make one yourself and use the previously created mask to make the clouds conform to the object.

You can blur the mask of the clouds to soften the edges.

mhkitty8880 · #3 08-31-2006, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philbach

Well one approach may be to open the object in question in photoshop and then select the object and use that to make a layer mask.

On another layer place a cloud photo or make one yourself and use the previously created mask to make the clouds conform to the object.

You can blur the mask of the clouds to soften the edges.

i! Thank you so much for the idea. It sounds great! Now... If only I knew how to do that...

I'll check through the utorials and see if I can find anything... Unless you feel like telling me how.

I've never used masks before. I like your idea, though, and would love to attempt it! Thank you!!! -Meg

philbach · #4 08-31-2006, 02:07 PM

Well Masks are a very important part of digital photography. Once you learn the concept you will use it all the time. A layer mask controls what is visible in the layer. In the enclosed picture I made some clouds by having white as the forground color (in photoshop) and blue as the background. I then used the Filter/Render/Clouds to make these clouds.

I then made a new layer and filled it with red. To this new layer (layer 1) I added a layer mask by clicking the layer mask button. The layer mask button is where the arrow is pointing. I placed a white star into the black mask so that the only part of the layer that is shown is the part that is white in the mask.

Try photoshop help and search for layer masks and experiment. And good luck.

mhkitty8880 · #5 08-31-2006, 03:26 PM

Phil! Thank you so much for taking time out to explain a little more to me! That was super sweet!

I searched and found a website that explained it using PS7. That's the one I have. It's all starting to make basic sense. Just need some practice working with masks now. Thank you!!! -Meg

Gary Richardson · #6 09-01-2006, 03:02 AM

Hi Meg,

This is a cloudman made using techniques similar to those suggested by Phil.

Clouds could probably do with being a bit more distinct, but I was using a BG I'd already created as a basis for the clouds, so its not ideal.

Daviskw · #7 09-01-2006, 07:38 AM

As a person with no artistic talent please forgive this attempt. BUT this may give you a few ideas.

I used me...lol... an owl and a bear to insert in some clouds. I used the Bas Relief filter then inverted the result. Removed any color with a hue/saturation adjustment layer. Then some gaussian blur.

Once copied and pasted into your clouds experiment with blend modes. I found soft light works OK.

If needed attach a mask and blend the edges in.

Butch

mhkitty8880 · #8 09-01-2006, 05:59 PM

OMG! You guys are so wonderful! I just love you all!

Thank you for taking the time to help me out! Man, I have so much yet to learn! Have you guys ever heard of vector drawing? I just found out about it the night before last. I found this little website:

http://www.ronstoons.com/basic.htm

I don't know if that will help me make cloud objects, but it'll sure help me illustrate future books. Woohoo! So, I heard that vector drawing is ideal for publishing because when you resize your image, it retains it's clarity, etc... I will absolutely have to resize my images when publishing. So... Should I figure something out with these vector node thingies? <-----Technical term. I wonder... Well, thanks everybody who's throwing ideas and even images my way! Wow. what a great site this is. Yay!! Thanks again!! -Meg

Racc Iria · #9 09-01-2006, 06:18 PM

If you're going to be doing a lot of vector work, you might want to look into Adobe Illustrator.

--Racc

mhkitty8880 · #10 09-01-2006, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Racc Iria

If you're going to be doing a lot of vector work, you might want to look into Adobe Illustrator.

--Racc

Thanks Racc. I will thoroughly investigate my options.

Thanks for the tip.
-Meg