Back to Getting My Hands Dirty

I really enjoyed my two weeks of Photoshop but I'm finally getting back to art with the paintbrush. I love faces and so I plan on doing a series because I really need the practice. For this one I tried D. J. Pettit's technique. I'd sure love to take a class from her. I guess Suzi Blu does a great online class too. Jennifer just finished her class. Hop on over to her blog to see her fantastic results!! I'm somewhat intimidated by faces and can never seem to get the eyes right, at least to please me.....

Final Three Days

I'm sad to come to the end of the Jessica Sprague class.

These three pictures are the final three lessons. Summer

at the Beach was a lesson in creating

a storyboard. Then lesson 12 and 13 were

creating the montage and selection of one square for color.

I loved the class so much I signed up for another class -- this one

on photo editing. She also has a class

coming up in the fall (I believe it's actually happening now as well, but

too late to get into the current class) on digital

photography. I will probably take that as well. Now I think it's time

to get back to getting my fingers into glue

and my hands on paint brushes. It's been fun learning some

basics in Photoshop that I can apply to my art as well as photos.

Just working with brushes is really exciting. Someone

in one of my groups told us about The Fifth Muse for

brushes. They are truly beautiful.

Wishing you all a beautiful, creative day!

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

Day 11

A really fun and "easy" technique (well, easier than Day 10). I love this effect!!!

Day 10 - The Killer Class

This class was a killer - I had to do it five or six times because I would get so frustrated and tired. It involved textures and edge burn and text. I kept getting my layers in the wrong order. But after all those tries, I finally got it.

Day 8 Edge Burn

Today I learned how to add an adjustment layer to make the edges appear darker and leaving the subject lighter. We worked on both b/w and color photos. I'm realizing that it makes a big difference the order in which I add layers.

Day 7 - Text

Today we just added a texture and some text.

Day 6 Project

Continuing on with my freebie Photoshop class, this is Day 6 where we pull out all the tricks we have learned so far. Originally my photo looked like the photo on top. It still takes me a while to figure things out, but at least I'm feeling some sense of accomplishment. I also have to thank Cindy Powell for being so generous to post digital tutorials and challenges on the group I joined The Latest Trends in Mixed Media. She has taken a lot of her time to contribute these tuts to the group. Eventually I need to get my hands dirty and do some real hands-on art, but this is so much fun, and I have no glue or paint on my hands!!!

I Can't Believe I Did That!!

I can't believe I actually deleted my list of links to blogs I like. I was trying to edit Roben-Marie's link since she has changed blogs. It was an accident and I'm so upset. I don't know if I can retrieve that information some way. Does anyone in Bloggerland know if it's possible? X@##$$XXX!!%

Day 5 Projects

For those of you who have been following, I am finally having FUN with Photoshop. This was the Day 5 Lesson using textures, word art, blending modes, adding a frame to the picture above. I cropped the photo of my granddaughter below. It was a picture of her making cookies at Christmas, but I liked the look of emphasizing her headband and cropping her face. I added a grunge texture from the "Subtle Grunge" collection on Lost and Taken. I also added a "film" texture from the same website. Another texture from Jessica Sprague was the brown paper bag texture. Each layer was then blended with "soft light" blend mode. I'm really pleased with the way these turned out. I am definitely going to sign up for more classes from Jessica Sprague. I'm like a kid in a candy store with all the brushes and textures. To think I've only scratched the surface with the photo editing. Now a new camera is on my wish list. I just dont know which one I want. I think I want a really good point and shoot. My current camera works fine but is so outdated (3 mpx).

Third Life

I certainly did not want to leave any of you hanging waiting for the third life of my collage. As you recall, I posted my collage (which I really did not like - you can scroll down to see it), worked on it some more and posted the "Second Life". I did not like it either. Today my friend, Jacki, came over and we played with Photoshop most of the day. She is so talented. This Photoshop version is the third life , thanks to Jacki, and the final life of this collage(I think). It's time to put it to bed.

What I've Been Doing

I've been taking a two week free class on Photoshop from Jessica Sprague. This is probably one of the best sites for online classes for Photoshop, at least the kind of classes I want. Though I am not a scrapbooker, these classes are very basic. I can use the basic principles with mixed media art. At first I was really frustrated because Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac looks so different from the edition I was using on my PC -- and I was not very good at that as I had just begun those classes. Finally I'm beginning to relax a bit and now that I've done a few basics, I'm feeling more confident. This photo below was my first for the class.

More Photoshop

and then this.

and this.....
and finally this. This is Lesson 3. It's supposed to look like one of the old hand-tinted photos.

Swirl Girl

After visiting Susie's blog I came across a technique I had learned a while back. I wanted to see if it would work with my inkjet printer because the inks are pigment inks. That attempt failed, but I went ahead and used the technique with a magazine image as she did. I also tried it on a magazine image of a garden, but it did not come out so well because the background was so dark. It really did not look transparent because there was no white space. You can visit Susie's blogs and look at her instructions. She has lots of valuable instruction for art techniques and for blogging on her various blogs. Be sure to check them all out. Have a happy day!

How to Spend Hours and Hours!!!

Try to learn a new blog trick like adding a signature. I went to The Cutest Blog on the Block and though their instructions are for almost idiots, it took me absolutely forever to figure out how to find the HTML code for the signature. I thought I could upload to Flickr but found I needed to upload to Photobucket (had to join another photo site) to find the actual HTML code. Perhaps there is a way to find it on Flickr but if there is, I could not figure it out. I have now spent two hours being frustrated but hopefully I'm not going to be so frustrated when I get started on my first day of Jessica Sprague's free two week Photoshop class. It took me quite a while to get my signature made up in Photoshop so each step is a baby step. Hallelujah!!!!

Now that I have it, I need to find a more interesting font and add some type of flourish or something to make it a bit more interesting.

Second Life

Here it is in its second life. I decided I would like yellow instead of the turquoise, added some images and a gel transfer of my contemplative woman. I still don't like it. It doesn't have any life. Images are too disparate. It's back to the think tank for some more R & D. Generally my collages take on a life of their own, so I'm waiting for this one to go in some direction. Stay tuned for Third Life.