The Lemonade Cart
I have been wanting to use this image of a Lemonade Cart taken a couple years ago at the Annual Turkey Run in Daytona Beach, Florida, but it was too hard to select all the “stuff” around it. That was until Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReMask 4/5 was released. This time, it took a little effort, but overall it came out pretty fast. Once I had the cart on its own layer, it was opened in Topaz Impression and the Renoir II preset was selected with no changes. This blended the cart nicely into my Corel Painter background. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E), the layer was opened in Topaz ReStyle and the Native Dancer preset was once again applied (see my How to Use a Topaz ReStyle Trick for Improving Your Image blog.) Several layers of painting with both regular and mixer brushes were used to make sure it did not look like a “canned” painting – I am very sensitive to this so I always try to add some of my own strokes if I use Impression. The bird is from Midnightstouch Egret brushes – these are great for that little extra touch – just be sure to paint them some to blend them into the image……Digital Lady Syd
Feeling Spiffy!
The reason I like this photo is that it was really sharp out of camera even though this Cattle Egret was trying to stay a little hidden in a very green tree covered area. He just seemed to need a nice background, so here it is. It was painted Corel Painter and matched the color in his beautiful beak. Since I wanted some of the original background to show through around his feet, the texture was placed above the bird and the bird’s layer mask (from Topaz – see sidebar for website link – ReMask 5) was used so the bird appears. Then I could use a low opacity brush on the bottom of the bird layer mask to paint in some of the grass detail where he was standing. Several layers of painting before Topaz Texture Effect’s Soft Warm Breeze preset was applied on a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E). (I changed the Overlay color from orange to black and Diffusion Strength to 0.62.) The eyes and beak were sharpened and Nik Viveza 2 was used to finish up the overall effect. Really fun to paint!…..Digital Lady Syd
Living the Good Life
Just enjoyed painting this lovely pigeon, or if you prefer dove, from an image taken in Hawaii at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Hawaiian Island. Not much new here in the workflow, except that Nik Color Efex Pro was opened and the Detail Extractor, Bi-Color Filters, Sunlight, and Film Efex Nostalgic filters were used to get the color effect I liked. Otherwise several of Fay Sirkis’s Pet Photoshop Brushes were used to get the final result. Just love painting birds!…..Digital Lady Syd
Wading in the Water
These little guys were enjoying the tidal waters at Daytona Beach, Florida. I believe the bigger bird is a Laughing Gull and smaller one a Sanderling from the Sandpiper family. These birds were all over the place and seemed quite tame on the beach. These birds were painted in Photoshop. Added a solid color turquoise layer and in a layer mask painted back area to be seen. Used one of my Corel Painter textures that was a very smooth beige tone. Then used Fay Sirkis’s Photoshop Erodible Tip Pastels to paint the birds and reflections. Used Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects Reflector Filter to add some directed light and warm up the scene. The beaks and eyes were sharpened. A little Nik Viveza 2 to finish up so the focus is on the birds and less on the reflections. Very simple process but fun to do!…..Digital Lady Syd
Showing Off My New Hairdo
Just enjoying painting another beautiful bird. They are so much fun to do! This is a West African Crowned Crane taken a while ago at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and is one of the regular exhibits so he can be seen anytime. He just sort of match this Corel Painter texture I had made, so there he is. In his document Topaz (see website link in sidebar) Clarity, Detail, and ReMask were used to adjust the bird itself. Then the ReMask layer was moved into the texture to place it where I wanted him to be. After that just painted the bird on several different layers using the Mixer Brush. Used two different Exposure Adjustment Layers, one for the eye and one for the beak to bring out some sharpness. Then duplicated the original texture twice and set on top – set one to Color Burn at 46% layer opacity and the other to Soft Light at 32%. Created a stamped layer (CTLR+ALT+SHIFT+E) on top and added the Topaz Lens Effects’ Toy Camera filter set to Awesomeness I preset with changes. Back in Photoshop that was set to 39% layer opacity. The last step was to add Nik Viveza 2 to really drill in on the birds face and head feathers. Hope you enjoyed my little bird painting…..Digital Lady Syd
Flagler Beach in the Fall
Flagler Beach, Florida, is so beautiful all the time (see blog links below for more Flagler Beach images), but this week the waves and water were really impressive. There is a bit of a fall feel in the air. These Sea Oats are everywhere along the edge of the beach. They are important for preventing beach erosion during hurricanes. I did a lot of adjustment to this image – Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Glow and Topaz Impression before painting on top. One of my Corel Painter textures was added and Photoshop’s Lighting Effects Filter were also used. It took a long time to get this the way I wanted it to look, but overall this is how I see Flagler Beach……Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd’s Related Blogs:
How to Add a Little Retro to Your Shots
Trying Out Some New Techniques!
Using Pattern Overlay Layer Style to Get a Retro Feel
Hogwarts at Halloween
This image of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at Universal Studios-Orlando was used to show how to get a bit of an illustrative look to an image using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Adjust and Clarity and a Watercolor Texture for the sky. I actually just followed a really great tutorial by Leslie Nicole at French Kiss Textures (see sidebar for website link) that gave the exact steps and layers used. See her Before and After – Using a Watercolor Texture to see how it was done. (And check out her textures while visiting.) Both birds were by Midnights Touch – To the Bat Cave collection and Who Gives a Hoot collection to add a little holiday effect. I also added a watercolor border painted using my SJ WC Salt Brush set to 69 px to create. Lot of fun here and I really like the results!…..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
Beautiful Hole 4
So this is why I play golf. It’s not because I play well but the views are fabulous. This course is one of the most natural looking and it feels like you are walking in a park! This image taken just before the gold hour in late afternoon was first corrected in Lightroom by just adjusting the Basic sliders. It was taken into Photoshop where Topaz (see sidebar for website link) DeNoise 5 was applied just to the sky where most of the noise appeared. On a duplicate layer, Nik Color Efex Pro 4 was used to get this overall effect – filter effects used were: Darken/Lighten Center, Glamour Glow, Monday Morning, and Image Borders. A Curves Adjustment Layer and a Color Balance Adjustment Layer were added and the masks filled with black. With a soft low opacity brush, the clouds were painted back just the cloud areas that were too vivid with the Nik filters applied to them. That is about it. Hope you all are enjoying your Fall season!…..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
Hey Tiger!
This beautiful image of a Bengal Tiger is a stock image from FreeImages.com. Wish I had taken the image. This image had lots of green leaves behind him. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) DeNoise 5 was used to remove lots of grain and color noise in this image. I used a texture I had created in Corel Painter with oil brushes. It was Free Transformed to make it fit the way I wanted it to look. Topaz Adjust and several mixer brush layers were used to paint the image. Nik Viveza 2 was used on just his face to get the nice sharp effect. That was it. This took probably around 4 hours to complete. Good thing I like to paint!…..Digital Lady Syd
So What Are You Looking At!
This image is of a White Silkie Rooster was photographed at The Old Village of Ayaymku in Belarus some time ago. (See my Center Stage – Introducing the Wild Turkey Tidbits Blog for another unusual bird image from the same place.) Used my regular Photoshop painting workflow. Selected the bird using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReMask 5, then placing Jai Johnson’s Filly in the Field texture underneath the bird. The edges were blended with one of Fay Sirkis’s Pet Mixer Brushes on a New Layer above. (Can download at KelbyOne if you are a member.) This image used a Topaz Lens Effects Neutral Density filter applied (Brightness -0.19, Amount 0.13, Transition 0.11, Angle 180.0, and Effect Position: (1824,2687) ) to even out the bottom and give him a defined area for standing. I also added two Exposure Adjustments Layers, one for the eyes and one for beak area. A Curves Adjustment Layer was used to add a little contrast back into the image. The workflow is pretty consistent but the results are always a surprise. These birds all have such personality!…..Digital Lady Syd
Sharing the Good News!
This image was taken at The Old Village of Ayaymku in Belarus on her wedding day. This image was just a snap that I had forgotten I had taken. The scenery from the doorway was changed to more of a seaside effect using one of the texture I created in Corel Painter. The door was first selected using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReMask 5 in the duplicated image, and the texture was placed behind the image. The Subtract blend mode was selected on a stamped (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) layer at 51% layer opacity to get the nice light on her dress. A Gaussian Blur was applied to the layer and set to a Radius of 250 px – a layer mask was applied and the lighted edge of her dress was lightly painted back with a black brush. (See my How to Use the Subtract Blend Mode as a Spotlight). Topaz Lens Effects Toy Camera Memories preset was used to adjust the colors on duplicated layer. Then Topaz ReStyle’s Zambezi Zest preset was applied to get the overall warm tone. A little bit of a different look for me, but it is fun to try different effects……Digital Lady Syd
Singing for Her Adoring Fans
I just love painting birds and this Snowy Egret was once again a lot of fun to do. This bird was a bit of challenge as there were tree branches in front of her body and feathers. I was able to clean the image up pretty good with clone stamping and then separated the bird from the background using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReMask 5. It was not perfect but since I was painting the bird, I could smooth out the feathers and blend them into the background, which I did in Painter. Exposure Adjustment Layers were used for the eye, green around eye, and beak. The texture was duplicated twice and place on top, one set to Multiply blend mode at 23% layer opacity and the other Overlay blend mode at 51% layer opacity. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) on top, Topaz Lens Effect was opened and the Dual Tone filter was used to enhance the reddish fall colors on top and greenish-blue on the bottom. The the Graduated Color filter using the Graduated Green 1 preset as a start to emphasize the green color more in the bottom of the image. That was basically all that was done. Love these birds!…..Digital Lady Syd
Testing the Water
This is a sleepy Tricolored Heron reluctantly taking a step into the water on a beautiful hazy morning. Okay, he was really in a very cluttered background and I had to use Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReMask 5 to cut him out. Then he was placed on one of my Corel Painter textures whose colors were changed using Topaz ReStyle’s Ice Cool and Fresh preset to match the bird colors and Free Transformed (CTRL+T) to fit the bird perfectly. I then proceeded to paint the bird with a Mixer brush to smooth out the grainy feathers. A duplicated copy of the texture was added on top and set to Multiply blend mode at 50% layer opacity. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) on top, Topaz Lens Effects Fog (Fog Ground Fog IV preset – Amount 0.20, Region Size 0.10, Transition 0.20, Angle 138.1, and Diffusion 0.40) was added to give a sort of early morning mist in the water. Next the Reflector filter was applied (Golden Left, then Strength 0.20, Transition 0.40, Position 0.59, and Angle 76.63) before going back into PS. The eyes and beak were sharpened using the Exposure Adjustment Layer. On another stamped layer, Topaz Adjust’s Brilliant Warm preset was applied to get the nice gray color back on the bird. A little Curves Adjustment Layer was added and he was done! Still loving my birds!…..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
Summertime!
These are just some flowers I started painting in Corel Painter 2015. This used the Basic Paper with the default settings. Only an oil paint brush and a blender were used. Just a lot of fun to paint. I then brought the image into Photoshop and duplicated the background. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Glow was opened and my SJ Mysterious II Water preset was applied. This mainly made the image more vivid. Once out of the plug-in, Grut’s O Rooster Suit brush was used in PS to smooth out uneven lines and do general clean up. Nik Viveza 2 was used to make sure the red flower was the focal point. I really enjoyed doing a little free-style painting……Digital Lady Syd
Still Life Fun
This is just a still life image I took a while ago of some flowers. Added one of my painted textures underneath, then with a black mask added to the flower layer, painted back in the flowers. The texture was copied twice and placed on top – one was set to Multiply blend mode at 54% and the other set to Color blend mode at 76%. A table and shadow were added using Grut Oil Rooster Suit brush. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) Nik Viveza 2 was used to further bring out the color of the flowers. Several clean up layers were used and a few adjustment layers were added to create some contrast. I really love flowers….Digital Lady Syd
The Blushing Bride
This lovely Snowy Egret with her magnificent plumage was another bird shot taken at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm rookery a few months ago. She was placed above Jai Johnson’s Emerald Green Canvas free texture (all her textures are fabulous) and with a black mask, was painted into the texture. This texture was chosen since the bird had lots of dark green foliage around her – the thin feathers could be seen better. Next a Corel Painter texture I created showing some soft plant-life in the background was placed on top and set to Hard Light blend mode at 39%. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E), Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects was opened and two filters were applied: Reflector (Settings: Gold Top – Type Golden, Strength 0.65, Transition 0.37, Position 0.36, and Angle 176.4) and Add Vignette-Selective – Burnt Sienna (Settings: Placement Adjustments Focus Width 0.66, Focus Height 0.48 and Effect Center: (1751,806); Tonal Adjustment – used default sienna color, Vignette Strength 0.35, Transition 0.75, Contrast 1.63, Brightness 131.2, and Opacity 47.03). On a duplicate layer Nik Viveza 2 was used to bring out the sharpness of the eye a little more and the structure in the bird’s back. A black and white Adjustment Layer was used to adjust the focus just right and then set to Luminosity blend mode at 44% opacity. Then on another stamped layer, Topaz ReStyle’s Tuscany Memories was applied and set to Hard Light at 45% for the ReStyle section. That was it!…..Digital Lady Syd
Jumping Whales
These Killer Whales were performing a few years ago at SeaWorld Orlando. I decided to place them in a water texture created in Corel Painter. I wanted them to look like they are in their natural environment. The biggest problem I had with this image was getting the lighting to look natural on the sharper whales. First the whales were painted through a black mask on top of my SJ Stormy Weather at Sea texture. Several adjustments layers were used to even out the tonal contrast and color. Then Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects was used on a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) and the Vignette Selective using the Golden Halo preset was used. Nik Viveza 2 was used the get rid of the color cast and turn the spots on the whale white. The texture was copied twice and placed on top of the layers – first set to Multiply blend mode at 49% layer opacity, and then set to Hard Light at 21% layer opacity. Some water splatter layers were created to get the water splashing effect using Aaron Blaise Water Splatter Brushes (all his brushes are fabulous!). On yet another stamped layer, Topaz Lens Effects was opened up again and the Toy Camera effect was chosen – used the preset Awesomeness for starters and tweaked it to get the correct sunlight effect. The last step was a Levels Adjustment Layer to even out the contrast. This was really a lot of fun to do!…..Digital Lady Syd
A Face in the Crowd
This image was taken at The Lost Continent area of Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It is a rather interesting engraving in the mountain. The bokeh was actually on the image I took. Not a lot was done to time, just Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Glow (my SJ Inter Web Variation preset) set to Soft Light blend mode at 50% layer opacity and Nik Viveza 2 were used to emphasize the lines and the lighting in the image. On a New Layer set to Overlay, several of the face lines were painted over to darken so you could see them more clearly. It turned out rather painterly looking!…..Digital Lady Syd
Horses Checking Me Out
Created this image using a texture I painted in Corel Painter and a horse image from Belarus. This is basically just painting the horses into the texture by using a black layer mask on the horse image above. Then used Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects Toy Camera filter Awesomeness I preset as a start, then applied the Reflector filter to lighten up the whole image. On a stamped layer Topaz Restyle was used and just the bottom colors were changed to darker tones. Then mainly just some clean up – love the the results……Digital Lady Syd
Seashells on the Beach
These shells were actually inside the base of a lamp – just did a close up phone image. By adding one of my Corel Painter textures and painting back in the shells in a layer mask, the busy original background could be replaced. Now for a change up – Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Impression’s Oil Painting 1 preset was applied. Next on a New Layer, some image clean up and painting was done. Last step was applying on a stamped layer (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E) Topaz Restyle’s Soft Sienna Veil preset with a few adjustments in the color sliders. This was the final result and I loved the colors in it whole image……Digital Lady Syd
The East Clouds in a Sunset
Just a quick phone pix I took from the penthouse at the La Playa Resort in Daytona Beach, Florida. This was taken facing east over the Atlantic Ocean while the sun was setting on the west behind the Intracoastal Waterway. Not much done here – just Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Impression applied using the Watercolor IV preset with a little color adjustment, some Mixer brush clean up, and a Selective Color Adjustment Layer to reduce the overwhelming blue effect in the image. Loved how the sunset plays off the ocean clouds!…..Digital Lady Syd
