Putting Your Best Side Forward

This lovely Roseate Spoonbill is totally enjoying a beautiful morning. This type of bird always seems to have a happy expression on their face – totally a joy to watch them. This image was taken at my favorite bird place, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. Not much new with the painting workflow – just a painted background I did in Corel Painter and some Mixer brushes and Regular brushes in Photoshop. As you know I am a big fan of Fay Sirkis’s Photoshop Mixer brushes and this image used her Palette Knife Tap n Blend brush to get the fluffy effect on the body. The only place I know where her brushes are available is over at KelbyOne, and sometimes at Photoshop World when she is presenting. The light effect was created using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects’ Reflector filter set to Gold Right preset – gives a soft subtle light effect. Used Nik Viveza 2 to bring the face in focus. Totally enjoyed painting this beautiful bird!…..Digital Lady Syd