Escape and Scrap – https://www.e-scapeandscrap.net/boutique/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=113_319
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My LAYOUTS:
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Thank You very much for visiting!
Su
I thought I would tell about what I have been doing, lately, since, several important changes have taken place in my life with my art. For starters, I have joined 4 of Sebastian’s groups: Photoshop Artistry, AWAKE, Kaizen and 21 Days to Creative Abundance. Whereas the first and the last are more for individual help, the middle two are more about creating amazing art. There are some fabulous artists in these groups! I will tell about them at another time, though.
A while back, Teddi Rutschman, aka: FoxeySquirrel, who I have been friends with, online, for years, asked if I would be on her Creative Team. Well, she didn’t have to ask twice! I have so enjoyed playing with Teddi’s wonderful ‘ladies’ and textures and I love the ways in which she adorns her characters! Teddi is definitely one of a kind! I love her things! But, more than that, the time I spend playing with Teddi’s goodies, is more practice I get in. As it so turns out, too, many of my fellow artists use a lot of Teddi’s kits, as well as, other digi-scrapbooking kits and supplies. So, I see lots of different artist’s takes with Teddi’s things. Quite inspiring!
A few years ago, when I sort of resigned from scrapping, I was intent on creating artsy resources, which I did, but, more in a personal use way. I was leaving digi-scrapping behind! Then, I started to find digital scrapbooking folks who are getting in to an artsy-style of scrapbooking kits. I got to learn more techniques and practiced quite a bit this way! Like with Christine-Art’s hand-painted kits, as well. Putting together a set of specific elements and backgrounds, like what comes in a kit, can be quite challenging, but, fun! Great for practicing digital art!
Some of my favorite digi-scrap designers have moved to, or have added on, creating artsy kits. Magical Reality Designs has some fantastic artsy kits with Artistic Licensing available! I also noticed Kaklei Designs’ Karen Kleiman has been doing more and more artsy-style kits! Which is awesome because I won a place as a temporary Creative Team member in a contest of Karen’s recently! LOL
Karen invited me to participate in the challenge, so, I made my two layouts. There were 14 entrants, including me. This is the final layout of mine up for which everyone voted on.
I didn’t win First Place. In fact, there was a tie for First! I did place second, although, as with First, I placed in a tie for Second Place. I was extremely surprised! It is a 3-month Guest Designer position! I don’t particularly think of my art as dig-scrapping, but, it is very similar. I use an Envato Elements‘ photo and I am good to go! And, look at the beautiful colors and goodies in the kit from Karen, “Kindness”, now available.
The hardest thing for me to do is to post my art. I don’t know. I guess I don’t want to know what people think, so, I don’t go there. Lately, say, in the past 6 months, though, I have been somewhat more brave about it. I mostly post my images in my Behance Gallery. However, Brooke Shaden, of Promoting Passion, had an online “15 Day Creative Content Challenge”, back in August. For 15 days, following an exercise with Brooke each day, we were to create a layout. Brooke is noted for taking her own shots, mostly of herself, and using them in unusual ways for some of the greatest digital art online! It was necessary to post our daily layouts each day. Although, I did not snap any shots of myself to use, I did post each day’s image in my Behance Gallery for the Challenge. So, I got a little more used to putting my art ‘out there’. Since then, I have also posted more of my art in my groups, like AWAKE, Kaizen and Photoshop Artistry. The next step? Having my work published!
So, I create art and have joined some CT’s and get to practice! I just love art! And, that is me, lately!
Smile…
Su
This evening, I played in Photoshop with Teddi’s kits (aka: FoxeySquirrel). She just released 5 (that’s five!) new sets of goodies to her Scrapbook Graphics shop. (See note at bottom of page.)
I wanted to use a rather soft colorful background with a bold, dark ‘lady’. The lady is from “Wrinkly“, and the background from “Abstract Backgrounds”, both from FoxeySquirrel. The lady was too dark for the ‘Abstract Background’ I used. I thought about re-coloring the lady, but, that wouldn’t have looked right. Then, I recalled a technique in Photoshop, where you can take the colors from one photo and apply them to another. MATCH COLORS! Aha!
Here are the two images in Photoshop:
So, I opened the background and the lady in PS, each in their own doc (image above). They DO have to both be open in PS. The images DO NOT have to both be visible; they can be in different ‘Tabs’. You only have to see the one you wish to recolor. The two images also need to be close to the same size. I selected the lady image by clicking on it. Then, went to ‘Image’>’Adjustments’>’Match Color’. In the pop up box, look for the ‘Source’ image (2/3 way down the box) to ‘take’ the colors from. (See larger Color Match box image, below) In my case, I clicked on ‘Source’, then, from the list, selected the ‘other’ image, the background. It is in the little box now as, ‘FS_Abstract_Background_9’.
As soon as I clicked, and hit okay, the lady took on the coloring of my background! They look so much nicer together!
If you look at the ‘Color Match’ pop up box, there are adjustment sliders you can tweek the Intensity, Luminescence and Fade, so, fiddle with those to get the best color match you like!
Here is the layout I created using this technique:
Thank you!
NOTE: Other elements in my layout from “Tabitha”, by FoxeySquirrel.
One of the coolest things about digital art is that you can create anything you want! It’s your creation! Aside from usage rights, there is no end to what one can do artistically and digitally! I happen to like the ‘artsy’ look on my pieces. I want it to look like I spent time drawing, sketching, cutting and/or painting my works. Of course I do spend time on each piece, but, I can choose how involved I want to be. I decide if I want to paint with a Photoshop paint brush or find a suitable image or design kit that has the type of elements I want and like. Christine-Art‘s ‘Art Kits’ are just that for me.
I had all these ideas of creating artsy supplies to use in my pieces. I did create a bunch of stuff that I like to use myself. It was around that time, though, that I discovered other design folks were in to the same type of thing as I am – artsy-looking layouts or art works that have the look of having been done by hand. One of these design folks was Christine who is Christine-Art. In fact, I’m not sure, but, I believe she is among just a few who actually do sketch and color and cut and scan her own art to use as a ‘Art Kit’.
I have shared about Christine’s Art Kits before, but, I want to do so again, here. I am hooked on using her kits to come up with pieces that I like and enjoy creating.
Here is one of her most recent kits, ‘Doubt‘:
To accompany some of her kit designs Christine has ‘workshops’ on her blog, based on some aspect of our humanity, our feelings, our lives. ‘Doubt‘ was one of them. She gave ideas, prompts and suggestions to ponder. I created two pieces with the kit:
I Doubt It
and
Doubt & Fear
In addition to her own website/blog/shop, Christine-Art, Christine is Guest Designer right now at Digital Scrapbooking Studio (DSS). Check out her Art Kits and other goodies! There is even a ‘freebie’ section on her site, Christine-Art!
There is also a Facebook group for Christine-Art lovers, Fans de Les Idees de Christine.
Enjoy!
Hi, everyone! I have a couple of things I want to share with you today. They are a mish-mash of topics, but, all should come in handy. Shall we get started? M’kay!
First up is a series of posts, “31 Days of Coding Basics”, to help you with some of the simpler codes you can use on your own blog or on others, like in the comments section. This series is on This Bold Girl.com. Coding is all of the Greek, or Swahili, I’m not sure which, that allows you to create some cool stuff on your blog or website. It’s really ‘html’! LOL For instance, you can add a bold heading to each sub-section of a post if you are posting on several topics, as I often do (See Below). You can add a link to a comment you make on someone else’s blog. You can create lists, breaks, emphasis and italicization. The last two are useful for me since these attributes don’t exist as options on the ‘visual’ page I post on here at WP.
None of the posts/instructions are very long or tedious. Rather, you may just learn something quickly and easily. Gwen, the ‘Bold Girl’, writes a good tutorial! Give it a shot and see! I know I was envious of those folks who could place links in their comments on other folks’ blogs. Now, I can do it! There may be a trick in there that you can use!
Look at the sub-title just below. I used code to get it like that.
Next up, I want to show you something. It is kind of a keystroke, only different. LOL If you use Masks in Photoshop, this is a cool tip! Say, you are extracting an item from an image. I almost always apply a Mask to the image I am going to extract from. This gives me the ability to change things and clean things up more easily. It keeps your image ‘non-destructive. Then, I begin selecting the item with the Quick Selection Tool, getting up close to the edges as possible. When you are satisfied with the selecting, click on the ‘Add Layer Mask’ button at the bottom of the Layers Palette. This should isolate your item. If, instead, you’ve masked over the image in error, just switch the masking to the item by clicking on Select>Inverse, then, add the Mask. (Whichever area you Mask, either the background or the circle, the selected area will remain visible, while the remaining area ‘disappears’, when the Mask button is clicked.)
Here is the tip! If you would like to check the Mask to be sure there aren’t any places missing or ragged-looking, press ‘Alt(Options-Mac)’ and click on the Mask in the Layers Palette. The Mask will be completely visible. This is priceless on difficult images. You can brush over any areas that you need to, then, simple do the same keystroke to return your image mode. Or, just click somewhere on the mask’s Layer itself and the image reappears.
Here is a simple image I whipped up to show you how to do this. I want to isolate the circle to use elsewhere.
Select the circle with the Quick Selection Tool. Add the Mask. Then, press ‘Alt'(Options-Mac)’ and click on the Mask in the Layers Palette. You should see this:
Remember, White Reveals, Black Conceals. The Layers Palette looks like this:
When you get the Mask cleaned up, and you are satisfied, simply click the same Keystroke or click anywhere on the grey part of the Layer. This is the result:
(Though it is hard to see, the PS background pattern is showing all around the circle. I can now save it as a .PNG file.)
When I get the Mask work done, I can right-click on the Mask and select ‘Apply Layer Mask’.
And, here is my newly extracted circle!
Being able to tweek the Mask is a perfect way to see what you may have missed while selecting. My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be, so, this helps me bunches! Because Masks are editable, you can make changes by going over any areas with the opposite colors: black-conceals or white-reveals.
I think this will do for today. I have some more things to share, so, watch for them. Until then,
SMILE!
Hugs,
Su
a free spirit 