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Watercolors
Watercolors
cgino


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Camera: Nikon D80
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Nikon
Location: Seattle, WA
Galleries: Digital Art, Children
Date Uploaded: Dec 2, 2008

Viewed: 750
Comments: 20
Favorites: 5 (view)

 I decided to try something completely different...in fact, my goal for this challenge will be to try new processing techniques so I can get out of my same old processing rut. This was inspired by a tutorial I found here, though I only followed the first few steps of the tutorial. Using CS3, I cut the face and arm of the little girl out from the original image and put it on a textured canvas layer. I used levels to wash it out and desaturated a bit as per the tutorial, and applied the watercolor filter as directed. That's when I diverged from the instructions. I downloaded the watercolor brushes they suggested here, they are fantastic! Then I just randomly applied colors using different brushes to cover most of the canvas, leaving the layer with the girl on top. I duplicated the image and flattened it, then put that flattened layer back into the original image to work with, leaving all of the layers below untouched (so I can readjust later if necessary -- I never flatten my working images). I copied that layer, then applied the poster edges filter to the copy, which gave the nice 3D effect to the paintstrokes, and masked the girl out. The poster edges layer is overlay mode, about 60% opacity. I again made a copy to flatten and did a bw conversion using the tonal enhancement option in Color Efex Pro. This layer was also set to overlay mode about 60% opacity, and the background masked out. Hope this makes sense!
And here is the original snapshot, she was showing off her tatoo. I wish her hand was in a more graceful pose for the watercolor picture, but hey, you get what you get with a kid :-)

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AuthorThread
Nikon D7000
Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4
 01/12/2010 01:41:50 PM
Wow, That's crazy cool processing. Very artistic of you to even think of doing all that, and the result is impressive. The hand would look fine if you painted it holding something of interest.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital
 12/05/2008 09:11:05 PM
very cool! it's like an asian comic book drawing of a ballerina.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 12/04/2008 12:09:42 AM
WOW - this is amazing. I'm going to try this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO M.Zuiko Digital ED
 12/03/2008 09:07:26 PM
absolutely brilliant ...
a wonderful example of how an artist can transform their photograph into a work of art ...:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
 12/03/2008 05:30:57 PM
Absolutely brilliant Colleen - thanx for the links - might have a fiddle with these. fav...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-40D
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 12/03/2008 09:39:12 AM
This is a lovely effect! Thanks for the links and sharing your processing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 12/03/2008 08:59:36 AM
This is so creative and inspiring, I didn't realise at first that you had actually created this from a photo. Thanks for sharing!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-20D
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 12/03/2008 01:09:44 AM
Wicked!!! Love the textures and pastel tones! Off to explore those brushes..... thanks for the links Colleen!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 12/02/2008 11:33:43 PM
I love the painting effect and the beautiful face. Just a personal preference is not being too keen on all the pastels, but they so work here! Wish I could venture out into the unknown and see what it could bring to me :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM
 12/02/2008 11:21:45 PM
Wow, what a great way to trun a photo into an illustration. Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
 12/02/2008 11:02:49 PM
I can't believe you created that from the original - truly arty.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-D60
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 12/02/2008 02:35:23 PM
It's wonderful! A true work of art! She now looks like a ballet dancer with the filmy outfit flowing around her. The brush strokes are glorious!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus E-500 EVOLT
Olympus 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Zuiko Digital
 12/02/2008 02:11:19 PM
You are a genius! That is an amazing transformation. Thanks for the detailed instructions and links when I get brave enough I might have a go myself!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
 12/02/2008 01:43:41 PM
Oooh so awsome! I love how you blended her hair into therest of the composition.. Thank you for posting a link to the watercolor brushes.. I definatly want to try them out.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 II
 12/02/2008 12:58:22 PM
Thats very cool. Love the effect, really looks like a poster for an animated film.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM II
 12/02/2008 12:06:25 PM
O wow - I love this! Totally cool and compelling. Thanks for the detailed instructions, too. I'll have to come back to this and explore the method.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 5s
 12/02/2008 11:32:10 AM
This is fantastic and I salute you for your trying something new.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2008 11:01:51 AM
Well how cool is that? I can't process photos like this and I'm a bit jealous! Love those brush strokes.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro for Canon
 12/02/2008 10:59:52 AM
This is straight out of an Anime movie!! Very fun. I love it when people try new things!! ( I need a cat though.) :~P
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
 12/02/2008 10:33:44 AM
Cool :) I'm always impressed by your ingenuity and creativity.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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