Mobile Art Monday 8-13-18

This is a lengthy edit, as it took me several days to work through the process. Hope you'll be inspired to create something beautiful.

The original photo, shot in the Cortex Cam app.

1st edit, done in Repix to paint up the background. I used the chalk brush. (Tip: your brush gets smaller when you zoom in and larger when you zoom out.) (Tip 2: use the undo brush to ‘erase paint’ from petals that may have gotten hit.)
2nd edit, using TouchRetouch to clone out stems in upper left.

3rd edit, Brushstroke using S3 preset.

4th edit, with the original photo in iColorama, I chose Style/Edges no. 7 and lowered the size.

5th edit,  a layer stack in Leonardo consisting of first layer original, second layer was the Brushstroke layer opacity reduced to 78%. Third layer, line drawing from iColorama multiply opacity at 75%.

6th edit, Stackables cropped to square and a custom formula added.

7th edit, Procreate app to enlarge and add hand drawn lines and 2 more masked layers of the iColorama line drawing which also lightened it a bit.

8th edit,  back to Repix to paint the background again with Chalk and some of the petals with Van Gogh and the flower center with Drips.

9th edit, Back into Stackables for a border.

10th edit, I used Superimpose to create colored overlays using my image and black and white overlays.

11th edit, opened this in Leonardo and began adding layers of texts and patterns, masking areas of each layer and duplicating as needed.

12th edit, opened this in Formulas and applied Ethereal at 86%.

13th edit, into Snapseed for a bit of Structure and an 8x10 crop for printing.

This list doesn’t include the rabbit trail edits that didn’t make the cut!
After printing this today I've decided to go back and add a curves layer to increase the light areas.

Have a great Mobile Art Monday!

Mobile Art Monday Poppy Pods

It's time for a mobile edit tutorial of sorts. Life threw me a curve the past 12 months but perhaps I can get back on a more creative track. 

I like using 'real paint' and making 'gelli' prints on paper. I take photos of these and sometimes they will find a place in my photo edits. These are the two images I worked on in Leonardo on my iPhone.

After a little experimenting with blend modes on the two prints, I ended up duplicating the red layer and set the blend mode to hard light on the second copy and shifted its position. Then I turned the yellow/green layer into black and white (Under Fx-Threshold), moved it to the top and set the blend mode to multiply. Shown in this screen shot of the Leonardo app.

 I opened it in Snapseed to crop and save for future use.

While playing around with this image of poppy pods in Snapseed,,,

I discovered the app now did double exposure. That basically means you can add an image layer and change the blend mode to get a new look. So I imported my edited gelli print and played with the blend modes til I found one I liked.

I wanted to ‘outline’ the pods a bit for more definition, so I opened the original in iColorama. Style>Edges>#8 Apply. Adjust>Levels adjusted the Gamma and Max Input to lighten any gray areas. Saved to camera roll.

In Procreate I layered the Snapseed double exposure and the iColorama ‘sketch’, setting that layer to multiply causing the white to disappear. I reduced the opacity some and on a new layer drew in additional lines and erased what I didn't want.  I also did my version of cloning which was cut and paste on areas that should have been cloned out before editing.

I found a quote that I wanted to add so in the app Over, I added the text layer.

Not quite satisfied, I imported that image back into Procreate and moved the whole thing to the left. Then duplicated it and moved the left to the right side and flipped part of it horizontally. After many more duplications and moving pieces around (including the text), I ended up with this.

A couple days later I decided to add the falling seeds in Procreate using the stipple brush. (I felt it was quite appropriate for the quote and I love their little seeds.) Then I added the extra piece in the lower right corner which was also made from several gelli prints.

Next time I'll show you some editing tricks with gelli prints. Can't wait!

Have a great Mobile Art Monday!

Expensive Equipment

As I once again click "order" at the bottom of the Dick Blick page, I'm reminded of the fact in photography that it's not the equipment that you use but the 'eye' that you have or your ability to turn it into something afterward.
Oh well, too late, I've already clicked the button.
I've been collecting art supplies for a couple years now. Have I done much with them? No. But I have made an attempt this year to play. As long as I can follow along in a class or watch a video I can produce some work. Most of these find their way into digital work because they're not good enough for anything else except maybe a journal page but then when do I ever do that?
I have a nice stack of papers now that I'd love to make into a book. But I'll probably wait till I have more of a variety and it'll be a someday thing.
I signed up for an abstract flower class on Ivy Newport's site awhile back and figured I'd better review the supply list. Oh my, it was watercolor and I was thinking acrylic... Since I just made a few bucks at my last show, I'm determined to spend it on more supplies for my collection. Besides watercolors, I ordered some pan pastels that have been on my list forever. Some inks and a few encaustic paints also found their way into the shopping cart.
It will arrive just 2 days before class so in the mean time I will play a bit with the few watercolors that I do have. I ordered Golden's Qor because a teacher friend says she like those best and I love Golden's others paints.
Now back to that 'equipment' issue. I passed on the Daniel Smith and Holbein paints that were on the supply list although those were tempting but oh so pricy. That at least made me feel somewhat good about my purchase. Now to just use what I have and not let it sit in the closet.

Created in the Figurescapes class by Tricia Dewey on IvyNewport.com.

Mobile Art Monday No. 49

A Digital Mixed Media Piece

Today's purpose: Mostly to inspire with a tidbit of instruction here and there.

This piece was created using three photos(sunflower, bird and an oil can label for texture) and two vintage papers(the butterflies and text.)

My original photo was shot with the Hipstamatic app using two of my favorites, Tejas lens and Ina's 1982 film. (I cropped off the border.)

In Leonardo I layered the other images on top and began changing blend modes and masking away areas.

I inverted the text paper and set it to screen so the text would be white. I duplicated most of the layers and used two different blending modes to achieve desired results.

When happy, I saved to camera roll and opened it in Picfx.

Under the PFX Film Set I chose PFX10 and reduced the opacity. (Touch on the right side to pull up the opacity slider. You can also rotate the filters on the left.) Be sure to touch the 'layer+' icon to add additional layers.

Under the Scratches Set I added Scratches One at a very low opacity and Olden Texture also at a low opacity. 

At this point I opened it in Procreate to outline the bird slightly and add a few sublte touches to the butterflies.

For an experiment I thought I'd run it through Brushstroke and saved three of the edits. 

Another play with the three in Leonardo using different blend modes for a unique painterly effect.

I hope this inspires you to try some layering in your edits.

Mobile Art Monday No. 48

I received some exciting news last week. I entered 2 mobile art competitions and got selected for both. Woohoo! (one has not gone public yet) Greenwich Workshop held an Instagram contest and I must say after reading the 'info' I wasn't sure I wanted to participate. Then the last day came and since there was not an entry fee I decided to tag a few images. Well, 'The Shovel' made it to the top 25. However to get to the top 10 the public gets to vote. (yee-haa) So I guess it comes down to how big a social media following you have or perhaps relatives. LOL Anyway if you'd be so inclined to vote for The Shovel go to this link. I surely appreciate it.

Sometimes I feel like I'm spending too much time on an edit if I don't think it'll get printed for sale. Then on the other hand I get a real kick out of seeing what all I can do with it. I have so many 'styles' that I like it's hard to stick with just one and not experiment. Besides, I've found myself a little bored lately so I need to get out of my comfort zone.

This was created using just one photo.  

But it was manipulated many different ways, then layered together in Leonardo and painted and drawn on in Procreate. Then later added textures in Stackables and I couldn't resist all the versions I'll show you at the end of this post.

I cloned out a few buds in Retouch, then 'painted' the background in Repix with the chalk brush.

I made a few different edits in iColorama saving each one. This was the first. 

I layered it in Leonardo with the previous edit to bring back in a little more color for the flowers.

Two more edits in iColorama...Style>Edges with the blend mode changed.

I decided to have a play with the brushes on the previous edit.  (Don't even ask what I did, I can't seem to repeat it.)

And on the above I pushed it one step further with Style>Triangle Preset 1.

These were all taken into Leonardo and masked, duplicated, blend modes changed, duplicated and enlarged individual flowers.... Then last of all into Procreate to add some ink lines to achieve my final result.

But wait, I always seem to have to try and add some textures in Stackables to see what happens.

The first is using the early version with just the Repix-ed background. I have to say this one is a favorite.

I love the softness of this one. It's a little more my taste than the brighter version.

This one reminded me of newsprint. So I added some.

 And I think I may try to 'color' this one in Procreate later.

This was not meant to be a step by step tutorial but I hope it inspires you to get creative with your iPhone photography. Have a great Mobile Art Monday!

Mobile At Monday No. 45

I'm not sure where May went but I didn't get much posted on my blog. I may have to make up for lost time. I know I took a record number of photos last month and have yet to process most of them (including grandkid pics in the poppy gardens).

I've been wanting to create illustrative type works and I think I've finally achieved one way to do this.

The original.

I held a white foam core board as a background out in my garden while capturing this shot.

Well, I say this is the original but if you look toward the lower left corner you can see a few light dots where I attempted some cloning (healing) in Snapseed. It wouldn't cooperate so I quit knowing I would need to take out the other stem and was thinking about moving the lower right bud up into the photo more. At this point I got distracted so later when I started my editing I forgot and just jumped right in to Stackables.

Here's a TIP... When planning on applying textures, don't increase the exposure such that your background is white. A light tan or grey works so much better with adding textures and changing blend modes.

Here are a few edits I came up with as I played.

I loved them all but decided to play with the middle one.

I loaded my original in iColorama to make a black and white sketch. Choose Style> Edges> Preset 9/19 set on overlay to give its touch of color and reduced the edge size to 50%.

Next I loaded the 'yellow' version into Leonardo and the drawing version from iColorama. I set the blend mode to color burn.

I saved this and loaded it into Retouch. I cloned out the stem on the left and the whole bud on the right and saved it. 

I then loaded it into Leonardo so I could 'move' the bud higher. I did this by duplicating my layer, masking out all but the bud, then moving it to line up higher on the stem.

Since there appears to be some 'missing' lines, I open it in Procreate to add more. While I'm there I decide to add some paint and a little texture. 

Another TIP...

I pulled a 'photoshop' move which is lightening or darkening an area by painting white or black with the layer blend mode set to overlay or soft light. Your brush opacity needs to be very low. I really liked the look and will probably use that for future edits. It's especially nice to have optional brushes to use and be able to better control the area effected.

Once more back to Stackables where I add one texture that brightens and makes it pop more.

Hope you're having a great Mobile Art Monday!