P-shoppin' with Cindy

... Photoshoppin', that is.  Cynthia (Cindy) Powell, of Digital Montage Studio, offers not only live-on-line workshops, but also downloadable versions of her earlier workshops.  Just yesterday I purchased her Workshop #4, and played with it most of the afternoon.


Here's the first piece I've created from this workshop, which includes stamping, painting, and many, many layers in Photoshop:

This involves a "stamp" made from a public-domain Erte drawing, with
a VanGogh background, imported images, and specialty brushes.

I had so much fun with this, and can't wait to get "back to the drawing board" for some more.

Photoshoppin'

I've been taking another on-line class with Cynthia (Cindy) Powell, and learned so much from it.  Here are a couple of images that I played with, to create some Photoshopped collages:

"I Remember Mama"
This was for playing with Layers and drop-shadows.

"Musical Baby"
This was a quickie, done just for learning a different method of creating a shadow.

"Mystery Girl"
This was my most complex collage in the class, made up of
two different faces, changing colors, adding layers and brushes, and
creating a complex background.  It's my favorite, of course!

If you think you might be interested, check it out.  (No affiliation, just a happy student.)  Called "Collaged Illusions", it is supposed to be for beginners, but even having been self-taught in Photoshop Elements and used it for years, I couldn't believe how much I learned from it.

Now I can't wait to find time to play with what I've learned so far!

Digital Montage Studio

I've signed up for another short Photoshop workshop with Cynthia Powell, called "Collaged Illusions".  Even though it's for beginners and I've been using Photoshop Elements for several years, I find that I always learn something invaluable in Cindy's workshops, and they are always lots of fun.

Having been self-taught in Photoshop, I often find that I have leaped ahead into some more advanced techniques, while having bypassed some of the basics.  It's such a relief to find easier, faster ways to do some of the things that I've been unnecessarily struggling with.

The link to her Studio is here, and in my sidebar.  It starts Feb. 15 ... come join me!  (No affiliation, just a happy student.)

A photoshop challenge

Thanks to Cynthia Powell  for her first official Challenge in playing with Photoshop.  Even though I'm supposed to be getting packed for Quilt Festival, I couldn't resist playing with the picture she provided, of a beautiful old door:

And here's my answer to the challenge.  I used some filters and added the critters, plus their shadows.  Not nearly as detailed and beautiful as Cindy's example on her website, but then I only spent about a half hour on this ... because I couldn't stand not to!

More Photoshopping

Cynthia (Cindy) Powell has created a new blog, Digital Montage Studio Challenge, for Photoshop challenges.  I couldn't resist trying out the first one, even though it doesn't "officially" start until November 1.  Having taken an on-line class from her last month, I enjoyed it so much and it opened so many doors for me, that I'm really looking forward to her challenges, tips and tricks.

Here's the first one, "Adding a Gradient Layer".  Of course, I had to play a bit and add 3 different gradients to this black-and-white photo I had of a street in San Miguel de Allende (my favorite city in Mexico), plus a Multiply blending mode.

The original black-and-white, which I had already played around with a bit in Photoshop.

And above is the altered photo, with 3 different gradients added, plus Multiply Mode.  I think it looks kind of like some of those old hand-tinted photographs.

What do you think?  Isn't this fun?  I can see lots of ways of using this one little trick in my fiber art.