Skyline

I tried yesterday and day before to do a "mouseover" for this image.  No such luck!  I have done them previously, but for some reason I just can't get it to work.  So I gave up and you'll just have to know that this final image is vastly different from the original.  I was inspired by Cathy Bueti's spread in the autumn Somerset's Digital Studio.

I was intrigued with the way she got the black/white look with the coppery color in the foreground.  I did my best to imitate even though she did not indicate how she got the look.  I used a grungy, scratchy texture and I like the result.  The fun of all this is the experimentation, and I can spend hours trying different textures, blend modes and filters.  Before I know it two hours have passed.  As I always say, art in any form, is my meditation.  I get lost in the process.

~ calm ~

The Sea

Labor Day week-end has come and vanished.  It was a quiet one for us, riding our bikes to Starbucks and not doing much of anything else.

Here I am at 11:25pm madly trying to get this post done for Kim's Texture Tuesday.  I kept it really simple here.  I used one layer of Kim's "Beached" and one layer of her "Waterstained Frame".

The ocean has been amazing this last week - huge surf with waves of up to 15 feet.  The lifeguards were kept hopping….too many people who are not strong swimmers.  For some reason these people think they can handle the heavy surf and then they get in trouble.  I'm sad to see summer winding down.  Even though I love fall, I like the long days.  Fall signals the daylight is waning.

Check out the other work here at Kim's new site.  It's beautiful!

Face #12

Taking a day off yesterday really was just what I needed. I actually got quite a lot done.  I painted on my new piece, worked in my journal and drew another face below for my 100-face challenge.  I also tried out some new art supplies….Golden's high flow acrylics.  I bought fluorescent colors for the first time and they are really neon, in-your-face colors.  Then I spent some time in Photoshop and in Kim Klassen's Lightroom class.  So all in all, it was a very productive day.

Inspiration came from Pinterest.  Only 88 more to go!!

~ calm ~

Art District Grunge

Today I skipped the gym and gave myself permission to just play around on the computer.  I first did a black and white adjustment.

  I had the urge play with split toning, but instead I added a texture from Pixel Dust Photo Art…Bonnie calls it "Oh the Joy of Being".  Since it is two different colors, it gave me the look I wanted.  I always play around with blend modes and filters and I did that here as well.  I finished it off with a film strip border.

I don't feel the least bit guilty for skipping the gym!  Doesn't take a lot to make me happy!

~ calm ~

Water Lily

Do you ever have to search through your images to find one you think would make a good Texture Tuesday?  Sometimes I do.  This week I navigated through Lightroom to find this water lily.  The image was rather ordinary.  I snapped it with my iPhone when I went to the Flower Fields in Carlsbad.  With a little texture help and some Photoshop manipulation, I even impressed myself!

I applied two layers of Kim's "Pumpkin Grunge" to lose the background and applied a layer mask to brush the texture off the flower.  Then it looked like the perfect vehicle for a little fantasy.  So I wrote a mini story about it.

See much more ….. just click on the TT button below.

Links in Time

Snapped this image at the Latin American Museum of Art in Long Beach.

My friend, Jacki, taught me to take photos of small details in the main image.  And so I did.

and then I played with it.  I did a levels and saturation adjustment, added a layer of Kim's "Subtly Yours" on color burn at 83%, then a layer of Kim's "Cool Grunge" on difference at 100%.  Finally did a brightness/contrast adjustment.

It reminds me of those towers of champagne glasses spilling out champagne like a waterfall, the ones they have on cruises and at elegant hotel events.

Be sure to check out all the wonderful entries for this week's Texture Tuesday.

Going for 100 Faces

I love faces so much and have been playing around with them for some time.  I've taken several online classes….Jane Davenport, Sharon Tomlinson, Dina Wakley and Julie Fei_Fan Balzer.  I've decided the only way I'll get really good at it is to take Dina's challenge to do 100 faces.
So here are a few more

Right now I'm enjoying playing with backgrounds in my journal and drawing over them with a Stabilo All pencil.  I won't bore you with the really "bad" ones.  As Dina says, "If you draw a face and it's not good, just turn the page and do another one - you are the boss of your art!" Rest assured I have turned a few pages.  That's the nice thing about working in a journal.  It's there for practice.  I can show it or not.   Now if I can just get control of these spray inks.  I seem to get them everywhere but where I want them…mainly my hands.   

~ calm ~

Garden Girl

I've had this piece of garden art for almost 20 years.  
She is beginning to crumble, as am I.

I would really like to find something similar or in this vein. I've been to all kinds of websites and garden shops, but everything just looks junky or cutesy.  Every year I continue to look with no luck.  Ahhh, I guess there is not a substitute, so
she'll just keep crumbling.

For Texture Tuesday, I added Kim's "Leaf" texture and a layer mask which I played with until I got something I liked.  And then a brush for the postmark.  I like how Kim's texture shows the leaf in the upper left corner and the script over my garden pot.

~ Calm ~

Three Hearts

Art journal play is the best form of therapy I can think of.  When I am playing in my journal or even when I'm creating something in Photoshop, I am truly in the moment.  It's a wonderful form of meditation.  I admire the way dogs, and all animals for that matter, live in the "now".  They seem to be perennially happy.  They just takes what comes.  I could use a lesson from my dogs.  I can just hear them saying to me "Don't sweat the small stuff….or any stuff!"

~ calm ~

Are You One of Those?

Before I get to "Are you One of Those"….

  I decided to play with a sketch I did in my journal.  It wasn't really intended but I always thought she resembled Drew Barrymore.

I first changed the image to black and white and worked with some filters and text….a quote from Ms. B of course.

I did a different take by keeping the color and adding filters and a fun vector.

…and finally for Texture Tuesday.  I used two copies of Kim's Antiques Texture over sepia.

Okay, on to my topic for today.

I see them everyday walking through a parking lot or across the street transfixed on their smartphones.  The other night hubby and I were at a restaurant waiting for a table, standing in the lobby with many others.  Almost everyone of them was on his smartphone. A couple sat on a bench each playing with his/her phone.  Didn't they come together???

So here's what I have to say for that….

I totally cracked up when I saw this!

~ calm ~