A Little Birdie Told Me So!
Just having some fun with this image – wanted to try out the technique I am seeing everywhere of taking an object and putting some kind of image inside it. This little bird I got from a Design Cuts deal with a shape from Nicky Laatz. These people have such good deals for creatives and graphics folks – I could spend all my time just doing this type of thing! What I did was use a Pattern Fill Adjustment Layer using a pretty watercolor pattern and just clipped it to the bird form (ALT+click between the layers to clip). Then you can drag around the pattern in your image to get the effect just the way you want it. Otherwise just using my Frostbo Grass Set 2 brush 009 to put in some grass and Aaron Blaise Water brushes to create the water. The background are some clouds I painted a long time ago in Painter. Through in some spatter brushes on a different layer. On top of the image 2 Lil’ Owls Workshop 5 – tex 2 (see sidebar for website link) overlay on top. Last step was a Canvas Vignette from John Derry. Just lots of fun!…..Digital Lady Syd
Full Moon Rising
This image was painted using some of Karen Bonaker’s Painter 2016 Holiday brushes that she is graciously giving away to us Corel Painter lovers! I have to be honest and say I had to tweak the brushes quite a bit to get the correct effect (in her downloaded brush she had the Damping set to 60%, not 33% like the default in the Options Bar) – mainly changed in the Liquid Ink panel the Ink Type to Ink Plus Color from Ink Only and tried different settings for the various slider like the Volume and Jitter sliders. Also unchecked Continuous Time Deposition box and set the Boost to 38%. Went into the Particles-Common panel and tried different settings for the Chaos, Smoothness and Damping sliders. Several brushes were created using different settings and I think I finally got some decent trees! A background I had created in Painter was added behind the image. The image was saved as a psd file and taken into Photoshop where I got this night effect – set an adjustment curve to the Negative (RGB) preset. The moon was stamped in using Fantasy Brushes Moon 2 brush. Did a lot of manipulation to get the moon to look correct. Some clone clean up and that was it. Lots of fun to do and I wish to thank Karen for always giving us the most fun brushes during the holidays!…..Digital Lady Syd
Red Fish Taking a Break from Universal Studios
Just another image taken at the Universal Studios-Orlando, this time featuring the Red Fish at one of the Seuss Landing rides. Got a little carried here but it was a lot of fun! Basically all I did was extract the fish from the original image and paint in some elements to make him look like he was swimming in the water. Actually there were several paint layers to get the effect and Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Simplify’s Cartoon preset was applied to just the fish. Also, when done painting, a stamped layer was placed on top and Topaz Lens Effects was opened. The Toy Camera Awesomeness II was applied with the Toy Camera Aberrations sliders turned off. Adjusted some of the other sliders a little. That was it! Love how happy this guy looks!…..Digital Lady Syd
Some Texturing Fun!
This image started out being what I thought would be just simple little layering image and instead turned into this rather complicated final image. I basically got the idea from reading one of my favorite blogs, First Night Design, where Sarah shared where she gets some of her images for doing her marvelous texturing – Ida Rubinstein as Istar by L. Bakst from 1924 and Kai Outsuki no hara from 1858. Basically cut out the lovely lady and put her in the oriental image. Used 2 Lil Owls (see sidebar for website link) Mosaic Sets Darcel Grunge texture twice – one set to Linear Light using the Blend If sliders to get the effect I wanted, and the second time set to Linear Burn at 67% layer opacity using Blend If sliders again. The elegant lady (extracted from her image using Topaz ReMask 5) was set on top. On a stamped layer Topaz Lens Effects (see sidebar for website link) Generous Diffusion preset was applied, and then Flaming Pear’s Flood plugin was applied to give the reflection. On a New Layer a speckle regular brush was used to create the painterly snow look on the image. That was the major work done on this image. I really liked the feel in the image……Digital Lady Syd
First Signs of Winter
Totally enjoyed myself painting this little wintry scene. I think the recent hot weather in Florida has gotten to me! Used a very textured paper in Corel Painter 15 and mainly an Oil Brush and Blender that smeared some of the edges. In Photoshop used some of Grut’s brushes (these are a fabulous collection of brushes) to fill in where the trees did not look quite right. A texture was applied with no color (used a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer clipped to it and set Saturation slider to -100) to get even more texture. Last step was to add Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReStyle Desaturated Warm III preset for the final color effect. It really is fun just to paint!…..Digital Lady Syd
A Victorian Visit
This is just a little composite of various elements that I put together for the fun of it. I love the little girl clip art that was from Mary Bailey, I believe as a magazine download – I could not find a link to her. Thought I would mention the use of Axeraider70 Edge Brushes to make the fence and tree trunk. Lots of splatters and one of my painted backgrounds were used. The butterfly shape was from Nicky Laatz and the wreath and London text were from Graphics Fairy. The bird was from the Old Design Shop. The flowers are from another one of my images. The foreground grass was from brushes by Aaron Blaise. Topaz (see sidebar for website info) Len Effects Toy Camera filter using the Memories preset with no vignette, than applying Polarization Filter set on High to brighten the image up. Nik Viveza 2 was used to direct focus to the girls. It was a lot of layers and step, but a lot of fun to do……Digital Lady Syd
London Back When????
Just having some fun here with a technique that I learned from Colin Smith (he is a regular on CreativeLive and Photoshop guru) at PhotoCAFE. He created Photoshop Secrets: Photographic Effects videos using CS5, but there are some very good techniques in them. This one is from his Toy Camera video where he teaches you how to add some very nice light leaks. Oh yes, these are free to watch. This image was taken in London Borough High Street – loved the images I took of this store – so British looking!
I added a bit of a vintage feel in Lightroom by applying 2 Lil’ Owls (see sidebar for website link) At the Vineyard 7 preset before going into Photoshop. Then just followed Colin’s instructions. This image used both reddish and light green light leaks. Used the Blur Gallery Tilt Shift filter in CC2014 (Blur set to 14 pixels, Distortion 100%, and Symmetry turned on) to get a more blurred effect on the top and in the foreground of the image. The layer was converted to a smart object and the Camera Raw filter was opened. Two Radial Filters were used to direct the eye more to the left side of the image and on the storefront as the primary focal point, and on the person as a secondary focal point. The signage was also blurred slightly using the Blur Tool at 75% Strength on a separate layer since text really draws the eye. A Blue Solid Color Fill Adjustment Layer set to Color blend mode and layer opacity of 25% – I decided it looked more vintage using the cooler tones. A Curves Adjustment Layer was added for contrast. I just did not like how these old buildings were standing so finally got the buildings straight using the Perspective Warp Command and then the Crop Tool to clean up edges. That was it. Loved the effect!…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
How To Create/Use a Light Leak
Topaz Lens Effects Plug-In
Digital Lady Syd Reviews Nik Analog Efex Pro
Taking Off From the Rookery Runway
I have photographed similar images to this one of a Great Egret, but I never get tired of it. These birds are just beautiful, and in flight, even grander. This time I used a new technique from one of my favorite texture people and nature photographer. Jai Johnson recently created a video called Peach Blush Texture Demonstration on her techniques for getting her exquisite images. The one caveat is that she uses Topaz (see sidebar for website link) photoFXeffects, which I love, but does not work with CC2014 – therefore you must use CC or CS6 to use the PS interface. She also does not use Photoshop, but does all her work in the stand-alone of this interface. In Jai’s case, it does not matter as she has figured out some incredible ways to get a painterly effect by using basically the photoFX’s mask feature. I had a lot of fun doing this, but it took a while to get this correct effect. The background was one I created in Painter, and the overall grainy effect was created by setting the FX plug-in layer to Dissolve at 64% – it really give the painterly look. I used Nik Viveza 2 and a Curves Adjustment Layer to do final adjustments. Totally love the results I got using her technique. Thank you Jai!…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Digital Lady Syd’s Review of Topaz photoFXlab v1.1
Springtime Wishes from Betsy
Was organizing the wonderful Photoshop Foliage Brushes from Aaron Blaise I recently purchased. I came up with this tree while checking out the different brushes and looked who popped up in the image! Why that is Betsy McCall of paper doll fame from 1958. She just looked like she belonged in this image. Basically just followed Aaron’s workflow and used his brushes to created the tree, reeds and flowers. Also added Frostbo Set 2 Grass (brush 010) for the front smaller grass. Used Kim Klassen’s December Collection Unexpected texture set to Multiply blend mode and 51% layer opacity. Used Bird Brushes II bylpdragonfly-brush bb114s2220.jpg and the was expression was included in a Design Cuts package (ldavi-sendingalittlehappinessyourway-wordarttitle1). Downloaded Betsy from the Betsy McCall website called Download and Print Vintage Betsy McCall Paper Dolls. Selected one of her dresses to pretty up the image. I am enjoying using these brushes so much!…..Digital Lady Syd
Wintry Scene
So how do you create this tree effect? About all I can say is by following Painter for Photographers videos from Melissa Gallo, a Corel Painter master who really knows how to paint. She supplies the brushes and and papers to get this result. It was a lot of fun to create this little image from scratch……Digital Lady Syd
Sunny Desert Day
Just went back and listenedd to Karen Bonaker’s wonderful Corel Webinar called Corel Painter Mixed Media Painting and thought I’d try some of her tips. Many of the steps and brushes used in her examples were used along with several brushes created by following Jason Moranto’s Brush Engine Essentials videos offered at Karen’s Digital Art Academy – this is a great way to learn Painter! Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReStyle’s Desert Dust preset set to Soft Light blend mode was applied and set to 50% layer opacity. Nik Viveza 2 to draw out the focal point a little bit. Need to try this one if you like a watercolor look. Creating this image was totally fun!…..Digital Lady Syd
On Being Nine
Great way to entertain myself on a very overcast wintry day. I have to honest and say I was watching on Creative Live a very good class called Advanced Digital Scrapbooking: Design Layouts in Photoshop by Traci Reed. I am not a scrapbooker, but I love to watch what they are teaching since it is a very good way to express yourself and your art. She was showing how to use templates and I remembered I had downloaded one a while back – that is how this little girl found a life of her own!
This image was started by adding the little girl that from Mary Bailey Vintage called Amelia. Next Anna Aspnes Inspired Edge Template 3-3 was added under the little girl – this acts as placeholders for the various items added in this image. 2 Lil’ Owls (see sidebar for website link) texture Vintique 42 was placed as the bottom layer and her Vintage Papers 20 was set on top using the Layer Style Blend If This Layer black tab split and set to 151/178 so some of the texture below showed through. I was unable to find download links for any of these scrapbook-like items. Paper was clipped to the different blocks in the template and clip art added to get all the elements into the image. The font is one I bought called Quilted Butterfly. The musical notes are from a brush I downloaded and set the size jitter and angle jitter to get the different directions. All in all it took several hours to finish this image, but it was so much fun to do something totally different……Digital Lady Syd
Merry Christmas from Digital Lady Syd
Happy Holidays to all my blog buddies! I so enjoy the people I have made friends with on the Internet and through blogging. I hope everyone is having a great time and is totally enjoying this time of year.
Just a few for those who wonder – how did I make this card? Well, this all started in Photoshop where I began with the cool Ink 3 png file that is in the Christmas Poster Freebies from Design Cuts (by Vintage Design Company). It was free transformed and flipped. A Solid Color Fill Layer using a brownish-beige color was clipped (ALT+click between the layers to clip) to the Ink 3 layer. The text was added. Then this file was taken into Corel Painter where the wonderful Karen Bonaker‘s Christmas brushes were used. The deer were added and the trees were added on separate layers. Then the file was brought back into Photoshop where a layer mask on the text layer was used to make the deer look like they are walking through the text. An Inner Shadow Layer Style was added to the tree layer (Distance 17, Choke 0, Size 17). On the deer layer a Stroke set to 5 pixels, inside, normal blend mode, and a light beige color was added. The Text used an Outer Glow set to the default yellow, but Size 17. The last step was my free Snow1-Overlay set to 43% layer opacity. Basically that was it. I so enjoy making cards!…..Digital Lady Syd
More Holiday Cheer!
Just another Merry Christmas Card – hope all are enjoying the season. I was just adding different filters to layers to see what happens and this is what I got! Hum….. Anyway, this is what I did. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Clarity was used to sharpen up the original tree ornament image. On a duplicate layer above, Topaz Glow’s Fur & Feather I preset was applied. Next Topaz Impression’s Abstract I preset was applied and I adjusted a couple sliders. In Photoshop the layer was set to Soft Light. Then the layer was duplicated and set to Normal blend mode at 77% layer opacity. A layer mask was added and some of the ornaments was painted back. I painted the text in Painter and placed it in as a layer with an Inner Glow layer style. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) was created and taken into Smart Photo Editor. (Photo-art at a click 050; Changed Master fade to left just a little; Hue -0.298; and 2nd Hue 0.369. When brought into PS, it turned the color scheme very different but workable. Used Selective Color Adjustment Layers to get the color tweaked to where I wanted it.) The last step involved adding Nik’s Viveza 2 and adding focus on the ornaments. Just a lot of fun……Digital Lady Syd
Season’s Greetings!
Really enjoying creating holiday items this year. This flower was painted in Corel Painter. Then brought into Photoshop where Painted Textures Winter Storm texture was added and set to Saturation blend mode. I am not sure I have ever used this one before, but by setting the Blend If Underlying Layer split black tab to 48/114 (ALT+click on tab and drag), some of the color came back – the blues and oranges mainly. A Selective Color Adjustment Layer was added. Next Nik Viveza 2 was used to pop the center where my focal point and reduce the background which pulls the eye a lot. Some clean up was done and my free Snow1-Overlay was applied and set to 14% layer opacity. Next my Merry Christmas PNG Overlay-01 (in same download link as above) was added. A Pattern Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to the PNG layer (ALT+click between the layers to clip) and set to a beige colored pattern. Then in the layer style of the PNG layer, Bevel & Emboss effect was checked; an Inner Shadow was set to Blend Mode Normal and a deep gold color, and an Outer Glow set to Blend Mode Normal, Opacity 63%, black color, Spread 4 and Size 21 was set. I had to fiddle around with these settings to get a look I liked. But that was it. Have a Happy Holiday Season!…..Digital Lady Syd
Just Playing!
Just having some fun here. Did a wonderful tutorial by the great brush guru Obsidian Dawn called Multiple Colors (and Removing Transparency) with Photoshop Brushes Tutorial that explained how to colorize the brushes that she offers for free, I might add. I just sort of took the tutorial to a different level and ended up with this colorful final image. She included some very interesting info on selecting and adding the paint to the brushes so I would recommend checking it out if you like to use different types of brushes. I used Brush 19 in her Paisley Sketches Brush set. Since this required using several layers for the colors, they were put in a Group. Two textures, both by one of my very favorite texture sites, Painted Textures were used to finish up. Under the group the May Garden texture was applied and in the layer style, the Blend If This Layer black tab was split (ALT+click and drag on tab) and set to 189/196 and the split white tab set to 198/216. This gave the layer a lighter feel. A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer was added to give the texture more purple and pink colors. Added the Winter Storm texture set to Lighter Color blend mode and once again the layer style was opened and the Blend If Underlying Layer black tab was split and set to 84/139. Three Text layers were applied using the Catalina fonts that were bought in a Design Cuts package I bought recently. Love this font! The layer style for the longer lines of text once again used the Blend If Underlying Layers black tab split and set to 37/85. Also an Outer Glow was applied by setting the Opacity to Blend Mode Normal, Opacity 100%, White color swatch, Spread 67% and Size 10 px. This way the letters stood out but you could still see the design a little bit behind the lettering. For the larger top lettering, the layer style was opened and Blend If Underlying Layer white tab split and set to 242/255 and an Inner Shadow set to Normal Blend Mode using a sampled color from the green in the paisley brush, Opacity 100%, Distance 21 px., and Size 18 px. Just experimented to get the right look. But you can see some of the beautiful texture coming through the lettering by using the Blend If sliders. The last step was to add a Curves Adjustment Layer to pop the contrast and color. This was so much fun!…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
How to Use Those Handy Blend-If Sliders!
How to Get Blend If Slider Settings to Apply to a Layer
Happy Halloween!
It seems like I always have to do a Halloween image every year – they are so much fun to do! This year was no exception. The background on this image was a totally blown image taken on one of the rides at Epcot but the colors were so striking, I kept it. Perfect for a Halloween creation! I just listened to Terry White’s video called Check Out 3 New Filters in Adobe Photoshop CC and applied a couple of his clever techniques. That is why there is a Tree in the image and some flames around my type layer of lettering – had to rasterize the lettering to get it line up right though, then added the Pen Path and Flames. I started my Halloween theme starting with my friend Carol at Graphix1’s Halloween Clipart PSD – these are really nice objects that can be moved into your document (check out her blog too – lots of nice free goodies there!) Lots of layer styles and some painting were added to image along with French Kiss’s (see sidebar for website link) Spatter 4-14 brush and 2 Lil’ Owls (see sidebar for website link) Texture called Sweet Musing 11 set to Color Dodge blend mode. The frame is from a new Photoshop plug-in I just got called Smart Photo Editor that does some very interesting things to an image beside making great borders! Happy Halloween everybody!…..Digital Lady Syd
Venetian Dreaming…..
Just another Corel Painter image created following Melissa Gallo’s terrific Painter for Photographers instructions. Not exactly like Melissa’s beautiful images, but I think I am starting to get a style. Since I have not been to Venice in a long time, a free image from Free Images (used to be Stock.Xchng and image is linked) was selected to paint. The original colors were totally different to what is shown, but that is half the fun of painting! While in Painter I actually used Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReStyle’s Cool and Clear preset with a few changes to get a different color scheme before painting the image. I will say that there were 13 iterative saves before I got to this final image. I am finding the Iterative saves are actually handy to have since I needed to go back to one due to some painting mistakes. The Painter image was saved as a psd file and taken into Photoshop where another Topaz ReStyle preset – my favorite Cream and Plum (you can really see the tones in this image) – was used along with Nik Viveza 2 to emphasize the boat a little more to finish up. Anyway, totally fun but it did take a little time to get it right.
Check out my Fun Photoshop blog this weekend for the same image but done totally with Topaz plug-ins in Photoshop…..Digital Lady Syd
Leaking Some Light on Calton Hall in Scotland
Not sure how I missed processing this image in my Scotland shots, but I really like the light leak effect on Calton Hall as taken from Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. First used Seim’s Power 4 Workflow (see sidebar for website link) Lightroom preset Harsh Sun Fixer. In Photoshop applied both Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3 and Topaz DeNoise before adding the light leak. Learned a little technique this week from a very nice website called FX-Ray -there are some wonderful light leak jpg’s that can be downloaded for free (this image used Light Leak 03) along with a short video tutorial that explains how to use them. Really loved the results!…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
How to Create/Use a Light Leak
A Little Layer Style Fun
These are some of the rocking chairs that Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, offers students to use for resting or studying on the campus. I really liked the way they have them located throughout this small beautiful campus. One effect I did use on this image was the Blur Gallery in Photoshop so that the end of the walkway was definitely not too clear but the rockers up front are seen clearly. The other was to use Jack Davis’ Layer Styles called Stucco which adds a Pattern Overlay using one of his patterns to give a very textured surface. I changed the opacity from 25% to 19% and the scale to 203% from 61% which gave a very different look. Try playing around with this layer style using one of your favorite textured patterns and see what you get. Lots of fun!…..Digital Lady Syd
Dainty Little Violet
Just playing in Photoshop. This was a photo I took of my blooming violets a while back. Mainly just a little mixer brushing and the Texturizer Filter in Photoshop. The font is Batik Regular. This is just too much fun!…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Learning to Paint in Photoshop
Four Picture Triptych with Topaz ReStyle
Well everyone probably knows by now that I love this little Photoshop plug-in from Topaz (see sidebar for website link). The original image was a low resolution Shutterstock stock photo (I could not find it on the website anymore) from Advanced Photoshop Magazine No. 25 CD from many years ago (not one to use stock photos but I loved this pitcher and flowers image). I actually did quite a bit to the original image – expanded it using Content-Aware Scale so there was more space on the left side, added my little tree I created in Corel Painter (it is getting a lot of use this season) and set it to Darken so the white background did not show up, added Shadowhouse Creations Tree Brushes Set #2 deer, and added Kim Klassen‘s beautiful Maybe and Peace Textures both set to Soft Light. My free SJ Snow 2 Overlay slight blur was applied at 79% opacity to just the pitcher to give it a ceramic dotted look. Next Kim’s Overlay 1 brush was used so it could be seen only in the window panes by using a layer mask. The font was Tramyad set to 40% layer opacity with an Inner Glow layer style added. Next a Levels Adjustment Layer was added to bring back contrast to the image and a High Pass Filter was used to add localized sharpening to the flowers only in a black layer mask. That was when the upper left green image was saved. The next three images all used different presets in Topaz ReStyle with some minor changes. I would list the presets, but two of them are from presets I used on other images. The frame texture is one I created in Corel Painter and added a Hue/Sat Adjustment Layer to it for the soft tan color. I love all four image effects! This is the biggest problem I have with ReStyle! Decisions, decisions! If you have not tried out this wonderful plug-in, download the trial and see what you think! Lots of fun!…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Digital Lady Syd Reviews Topaz ReStyle
Using a Tych Panel to Show Off Your Images
Snowmen Passing Through!
I guess I just like to make holiday cards – they are so much fun to do. These three snowmen are one of my favorite holiday brushes from Christmas Brushes by Flina. I actually painted the background in Corel Painter using various Karen Bonaker brushes (her Painter brushes are some of the best and she gives many away) – just playing around and it turned out nice and wintry. In Photoshop Painted Textures Thanksgiving Winter Marsh texture was added and set to Linear Light at 55% layer opacity. My free SJ Holiday Greeting PNG Overlay was used for the greetings and set to a darkish turquoise color. The snowmen were added and then on a layer underneath, I painted in the color. On separate layers footsteps were created and snow was stacked. The lights on the tree were from Dirt2 Fantasy Light brushes. My SJ Snow2 Overlay slight blur (in with Overlay set above) was added and set to 30% opacity. This is way too much fun! Happy Holidays!…..Digital Lady Syd
Some Floral Holiday Cheer!
Happy Holidays to everyone! Had to post my beautiful gerberas that look so Christmasy (is that a word?). This was so easy to do. Started with my flowers in Lightroom – just the basic slider changes were done. In Photoshop the first step was to add Isabelle Lafrance‘s Fairytale Winter 2 overlay (apparently this overlay is no longer available which is a shame since it is so pretty) – she makes some of the best overlays available. A layer mask was added and the flowers were gently painted back. A stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) was created on top and desaturated (CTRL+SHIFT+U). To sharpen the image the layer was changed to Overlay blend mode and the Filter -> Other -> High Pass was opened using a setting of 7, just until I started seeing a little crispness without haloing. Now the Aaron Nace trick is to add a black layer mask and just paint back where the sharpening should be applied – just the parts of the flowers closest to the viewer. On a new layer Kim Klassen’s free Mini Sampler Holiday Brush holiday 10 was applied – I love everything Kim creates – textures, brushes, videos. I added my own text layer using the Bambino font. Then I remember I had been playing around in Corel Painter and created this little fur tree that looks like it was blowing in the wind on a white canvas. Therefore I added to my image and set it to Linear Burn blend mode at 61% – loved the final look. I am still loving Painter! Hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season!…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Trying Out Some Aaron Nace Techniques
