Moody Blue

I thought I'd show you a few things I've done in between working on my latest torn-paper collage portrait. These are all digital pieces and I've been experimenting with different techniques.

These first two pieces, "Moody Blue" and "Threshold" were made using some of my CitraSolv backgrounds. I started to wonder what would happen if I took two or three of the backgrounds and merged them together. I used different blending modes, opacity levels and other techniques to make these new backgrounds. I don't know why I didn't think of it before! There are one or two favorite backgrounds that I've made that I just can't bring myself to use. I scanned them into Photoshop but I still don't want to glue or paint or tear on them until I have the perfect project. Here is "Threshold" :

I used my friend Kimmie's background, merged with two of my own for "Threshold". The flowers that you barely see were from her gorgeous Citrasolv background. I found that merging certain pages gives this misty look, almost like a misty watercolor. I really like that effect.

I've also been practicing my "painting" in Photoshop. I'm slowly making progress on shading, brush types and sizes, etc. in Photoshop. This is a big learning curve for me but it's fun. Here is a sketch I drew using a fashion magazine model as my inspiration. I call this one, "Cherish" :

Still working on finding the right combination for flesh tones. I find that if I don't use some of these Photoshop effects every day that I quickly forget how to do some things. I love this program and there's just so much it can do. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface.

I'm about 3/4 of the way finished with my next torn-paper collage portrait. It's on a 12" x 12" canvas panel that is 1 1/2" deep. I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out. I wanted to add more color to this one than I did with the Warhol piece. I'm finding I have a lot of different colors in my CitraSolv background stash to work with. Once again, this portrait will be made entirely from the CitraSolv papers that I have torn into strips and different shapes. I hope to have it finished within the next couple of days but I am taking my time with it. Stay tuned...

No Fear

I participated in a webinar Tuesday night that introduced Photoshop actions. Oh my... I never understood the actions feature and, frankly,didn't think I could figure it out. I still don't know how to create my own actions but I have a little better understanding of how to download and run them. There are tons of free Photoshop actions on the web available for download!

Basically they are a saved set of commands that produce some awesome effects on your images. For example, here I supplied the image of the dock going out into the water. The action took that image and created the water/sky background. I adjusted the ripples in the water and chose the time of day (dusk). The background colors were different, depending on the time of day you chose. I added the girl later.

Needless to say I spent the better part of the day hunting for these jewels and downloading them. Ooh, the possibilities! So no more fear of that particular unknown! I am trying to push myself to learn new techniques and try new media in my art. Now I have another tool to play with!

I just realized that the figure in the last image I posted is very similar to this one. Hmm... something about those outstretched hands and leaping into the unknown is weighing on my mind. I'm exploring that in my art journal too; no finished page to show yet. For now I'll go with this theme and see where else it leads me!

Magenta Muse

Still experimenting with the faces I'm drawing in Suzi Blu's Goddess and Poet workshop. I really liked this face but I couldn't draw any suitable hair for her. So I didn't give her any. She's been sitting in the sketchbook for awhile waiting for something to happen.

I just began another experiment in Photoshop: painting my sketches! Duh! The paint brushes are called that for a reason! You paint with them! I've never used them to paint my own art; only to "color" in images that I would use in a layer mask. I was in Barnes & Noble the other day browsing the digital art magazines and kept reading how the artists would scan in their art and paint it. It's not so easy with the mouse but I gave it a try.

This is why I love Photoshop: The photo below is what I started with (scanned from my sketchbook with a few adjustments so you can see it better).

The result at the top of the page is just my playing with painting her face, lips, etc. All of the elements in the finished product, except for the font, the face and the hair, come from the Somewhere Beyond collection at Scrap Artist.com. Love them for their cool elements!

I had this photo of these gorgeous flowers called love lies bleeding in my files. I thought how cool they would be as hair! Voila! Now I'm thinking I need one of those Wacom tablets to help me paint better (no pesky mouse to try to maneuver!). Hubby will have to be convinced first, though. He's already promised to get me the new version of Photoshop. A Wacom may be pushing it... ;)

As for the actual sketch, I think I'll adhere her to wood and work on her along with the other graphite face in next week's lesson, "The Portrait on Wood". Right now she's still in the sketchbook. And I'll always have her in the computer if I ever want to give her a new look. We'll see what happens.