join me for a cuppa?

... and a little ah.artography

in celebration of kim klassen's texture tuesday cuppa cuppa challenge!

i was pretty excited about this, as you know how i love cups ...

this one's for you, anna ; )

{originals photos and textures}

kim's texture tuesday challenge this week is to apply any of her textures to a photo of a cuppa ... or two!

i began with setting the two sweet little cuppas

on the high ledge of the window 

to play in the sparkly sun

: )

here is what i did to add texture and soften the image, but keep the sparkle!

INGREDIENTS

:: join me for a cuppa original background image

:: kim klassen cool grunge texture

STEPS

:: apply pure photoshop actions pure pop action to background image

:: apply gaussian blur to background image - 16%

- add layer mask and soft brush 40% the cup area

- watercolour pattern overlay - soft light 100%

:: add kim klassen cool grunge texture layer - color blending - 100%

:: add another kim klassen cool grunge texture layer - lighten blending mode - 100%

- add layer mask and soft brush 100% the cup area 

this is where i normally would add my signature layer and call it a day, but ...

while i loved the clean softness, i wanted more to this ... 

more 'pretty'!

enter a fresh breath of air ~ a little something i was fiddling with to possibly put as my button on facebook  for the summer

a completely separate textured image!

do you see where this is going? here is the recipe ~

INGREDIENTS

:: original fresh breath of air background image

:: kim klassen sweettreat texture

STEPS

:: i cropped out a square area of background image to focus on flowers

:: adjust levels on background area - input 15 | 1.00 | 241

:: apply gaussian blur to background image - 16%

- add layer mask and soft brush 40% focal flower area

:: add kim klassen's sweettreat texture - soft light blending - 100% 

voila!

then, i simply slid the textured fresh breath of air image

over the textured join me for a cuppa image

applying soft light blending 100%

i took two textured images

to make my one, final ah.artography image

what d'ya say ~ join me for a cuppa?

: )

thanks kim for the fun challenge!

xo

.

ah.artography

the 30 in 30 test edition

bear with me on this post ...

it is a bit lengthy

but i think you may find it pretty interesting!

in previous ah.artography posts

i have shared before and after images

along with the steps or recipes i took to achieve the after look.

this time, i have taken three different images ~

tulipes dans la théière

 a colour photo with lots of light and soft colours

pears in a row

also colour, but much darker in general

gentle petals

black and white

i have used the same three 30 in 30 textures ~

A . B . C

with my three images

and have included my original image

at the end of each group.

30 in 30?

kim klassen is in the midst of creating 30 art textures in 30 days ...

makes me dizzy just thinking about it ~ she has been painting like a mad woman!

anyways, i am testing a few for her ...

giving her feedback as to how they work ...

and i would like to share them with you!

this time, there won't be any recipes ~ just images

i am thinking you will be amazed at the different outcomes ...

here we go!

.

tulipes dans la théière

texture A

texture B

texture C

original

.

pears in a row

texture A

texture B

texture C

original

.

gentle petals

texture A

texture B

texture C

original

the overview

adding art textures to photography

is a process that is full of surprises ...

the results are infinite ...

.

need a nap now?

i am playing a little harp

at the i.studio today ...

encouraging rest

and more

xo

.

ah.artography

please move your mouse back and forth over the above image for the before and after!

there are lots of cooks in the kitchen this week
at kim klassen's photoshop test kitchen
whipping up all sorts of
artography!

it is a challenge.

each member offers a sooc (straight out of camera) image
to the test kitchen flickr pool.

each member then choses one image, other than their own, to 'play' with
... to enchance, alter, make artful using texture and sometimes text!

.

as soon as i saw these happy little pansy faces,
submitted by jillsy girl,  i knew this was the image for me ...
but, it isn't all that easy to 'cook in someone else's kitchen'
pretty hard to improve on a dish like this!
i mean, look at how wonderfully vivid jill's image is!
remember to mouse over above image to see her original

i knew i wasn't going to be enhancing it in any way,
so i decided to soften and go with a watercolour feel ...
and a touch of music
because these pretties love to dance
in the slightest of breeze ... : )

let me share the recipe with you:

INGREDIENTS

:: jillsy girl's pretty pansy photo
:: kim klassen texture
this is one of kim's very first textures, before she was naming them!
:: an image i took of our son's piano sheet music
:: kim klassen's uncle clarence texture

STEPS

:: background image - perfect as is - no adjustments

:: add kim klassen texture - color blending - 100%
add layer mask - soft brush three focal point pansy faces
and very softly brush background pansy faces and greenery

:: add a portion of sheet music image - soft light - 100%
add layer mask - soft brush the same areas as with texture layer

:: add kim klassen uncle clarence texture - soft light - 100%
i chose to use only the top left corner of this texture, leaving it quite large
add layer mask - very lightly soft brush same areas as in previous layer masks
taking away a bit more in lower right hand of image
add watercolour pattern overlay - soft light - 100%
to add a gentle light

:: create new layer
take eyedropper and select a pleasing pink from center pansy face
select a round bristle brush and apply colour to edges
- soft light blending - 40%

.

too much fun!
thanks for the challenge, kim ...
thanks for sharing your image, jill!


oh! i almost forgot dessert ... the icing on the cake ...
please visit jillsygirl card studio
winter life collection ~ sweet.

xo

.

keeping my pencil sharpened
and continuing to thoroughly enjoy
gigi thibodeau's freewrite fridays ...
will share soon ...

.

first, you take an ice kissed leaf ...

then you add a layer of bokeh light ...

and a touch of uncle clarence love ...

ah.artography

INGREDIENTS

:: original background image

::  bokeh light image

:: kim klassen uncle clarence texture

from kim klassen's café

STEPS

this is quite a different process

as we are starting with the texture as the base image!

:: uncle clarence texture - soft light blending - 23% opacity

:: add bokeh light image layer - overlay blending - 100% opacity

add watercolor pattern overlay - soft light blending - 41% opacity

:: adjust levels - input 30 | 1.00 | 245

:: add the image of the ice kissed leaf

note: i slid the leaf to the left to allow the bokeh to shine more on the right

- overlay blending - 100% opacity

- add layer mask and soft brush away the hard edge of the leaf image

:: add text layer - letter gothic std - white

:: add signature layer

.

sunshine to you 
happy texture playing wherever you are!

xo

ah

exclamation, used to express a range of emotions

including surprise, pleasure, sympathy and realization

artography

combining 

traditional art 

 {drawing . painting . textures}

with

photography

{traditional recording of images with a camera}

...

have you ever taken a photo where

the composition is perfect ...

or not

the image ended up being grainy ...

or the colour is off

or the lighting isn't lending to it as you would have liked ...

{or }

you would just like to boost it somehow ... 

with something ...

like, make it more interesting ...

make it ...

artful

give it some

you know ...

texture.

i have to say, in the beginning, i was a bit shy of this 'new' art medium ...

i always thought the art of photography was to have super sharp, clear, concise imagery ...

using a full understanding of depth of field, shutter speeds and such to achieve said imagery!

{ i still very much love and appreciate the magic of 'straight up' photographic art  }

but, i realize now there is a lovely marriage between the two arts ...

traditional and photography

artography

layering textures and other photos can make your image burst in ways unimagined ...

making them artful : )

so,

from time to time

i would to like share with you

before and afters of images that i have given texture treatments to

as well as the steps taken to achieve various looks ...

to give you ideas ... 

perhaps maybe inspire you to play! 

an ah, artography series, if you will : )

 [ warning: can be completely addicting ]

let's go through some steps to give you a more clear idea of what i am talking about ...

let's start with this raw image ...

:: the hood of a rusty old, abandoned auto ::

while i love the blues of the chrome, i wanted to warm up the rust 

and give the whole image a rich feel ...

so 

:: i adjusted the curves a bit to deepen it ::

...

:: then, i added kim klassen's mustard seed texture, color blending, opacity 41% ::

which softened the blue hues and bumped the rusts

...

:: then, i added kim klassen's grunged texture, color blending, opacity 100% ::

as well as a layer with my signature ... and that's it ... 

ta da!

a person could play and play and play and make changes

but i think this is the warm, rich look i had envisioned ...

what do you think?

open for critiques ... : )

while i will sometimes use my own photos to create textures

such as in my leading ah, artography image,

i am especially fond of using kim's textures as her textures are created 

in the traditional art sense using brushes, paints, collages, etc, etc ...

her works do amazing things to an image ...

i love that her art is part of the creative process in creating my art!

...

it is timely that today i begin my ah, artography series

as today, i received my early subscriber copy of  ...

{drum roll please}

hot out of the oven!!

THE PHOTOSHOP RECIPE BOOK by KIM KLASSEN

a must see, must have e.book 

if you have the eensy weensiest desire to play with photos!

kim offers her textures, tutorials, photoshop e.courses

and even the kitchen sink (well, her test kitchen sink perhaps!)

at her CAFé 

where she continuously serves
a most generous helping of creativity!

thanks, kim for inspiring me and so, so many ~ *hugs*

...

and to take you out, another sample of crazy texture work ...

please roll your mouse back and forth over the image

to see the before and after

this will be the format i will use in future ah.artography posts

: )

looking forward to sharing more ah.artography with you soon ~

cheers to creativity

...

may your 'ah'tumn weekend be lovely ~

xo

he's of the colour of the nutmeg

and of the heat of the ginger

he is pure air and fire

and the dull elements of the earth

and water

never appear in him

but only in patient stillness

while his rider mounts him

he is indeed a horse

and all other jades

you may call beasts

william shakespeare, henry v

...

pears and horses?

...

the common thread here is nutmeg

the nutmeg texture i used to add richness, warmth and spice to this photo of pears

like the richness of nutmeg that william shakespeare 

uses to describe the beautiful horse

...

the art form of adding textures

to photographs

has really gripped me

so much so

that kim klassen 

has asked me to take position

of master chef in her texture test kitchen!

while i hardly deserve that kind of title

i do so love to play with her amazing textures

today, she will be taking my original pear image

and creating a number of variations of her own ...

she will have them up later today

do slip over to see!

...

next thursday

i will begin a weekly series

of posting before . after . and recipes

creating art from photos ...

artography, if you will ...

from the test kitchen!

...

today's spicy pear study

uses kim's nutmeg and wet tile textures

and a couple of other little twists ...

...

xo