Boerne, Beautiful Boerne

I just spent a lovely day in a sweet little town just north of San Antonio that I had been neglecting to visit since my move here from Houston 5 years ago. Boerne, Texas was founded by German "Free Thinkers" and still has that independent flavor.

The beautiful 1870 courthouse. I couldn't get a clear picture myself today,
so I cadged this one from the internet.

A street sign in Boerne ... duck crossing!

The Dodging Duck Restaurant,
where I had lunch with an old friend today.

Judy is one of my oldest friends ... she reminded me that it's been
over 40 years that we've known each other! (She gamely came
along, despite her broken shoulder. Happy Birthday, Judy!)

We spotted this tiny little well-house, and stopped to take a picture.
(This image is the result of quite a bit of Photoshopping, for clarity
and color. I may use it in a future art quilt.)

Boerne is gold-mine of photographic opportunities ... I'll be back!

Photoshopping for Fiber Art

I often use Photoshop Elements to manipulate my photos before using them in my fiber art. Here are some examples.

One of the few times I can get my cat to sit still for a picture.
Just a quick camera-phone shot.

This Photoshopped version brings out details of his fur,
as well as adding more vivid colors ... fun!

This was a small (2x3") 1913 photo of my maternal grandmother, working as a telephone operator.
I had already done some painstaking clean-up of surface dust motes, scratches, etc. at this point.

Here is the final Photoshopped version that I made to look as if
oil-painted. I then sent it off to be printed in enlarged form (18x24")
as a gift for my 92-year-old mother.

A dear friend whose beloved dog had passed away
gave me this photo to use as a basis for a thread painting.

Here is the finished piece. I chose to place him on a
background of Texas bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush
flowers before thread painting. He was such a
sweet little guy.

The 4 kids in my family, ca. 1957
(that's me on the right)

I wanted to see how would all have looked
as a family of cats! Just having fun. Each cat face
was chosen with a view for the personality of each child.

Fun with Photoshop

A friend sent me a picture of one of her granddaughters, enjoying for the first time the annual bluebonnets that are now gracing most of the Texas countryside.  The child is so adorable, and the picture so beautiful, that I couldn't help creating a little Impressionist-style "painting" of her in Photoshop.  Here are the two pictures ... the original plus the 'shopped one.  Everybody say, "Awwwwwww" ... and don't forget you can click on each picture to embiggen.

(original)

Impressionist "painting"

Some photoshopped fun

Just for fun ... hours and HOURS of fun ... some old black-and-white photos I have prettified with some "hand-tinting" techniques in Photoshop Elements.  These are some pictures from my parents' stash ... I don't think they are family; probably children of friends, back in the '40's and '50's.

Original photograph, ca 1940's.
I could have removed the crinkled fold-marks,
but decided that I like them in this case.

Colorized in Photoshop Elements -- "hand-tinted" look.

with my "crinkled paper" texture added.

Original photo, probably from the 1940's.

"Hand-tinted" look, via Photoshop Elements.

with "Golden" texture (by Kim Klassen) added.

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.)

Happy ... ???

I always want to wish my friends a Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, or Happy Hanukkah ... but how to do it all at once, or if you're not sure of what to wish?  I found this phrase a couple of years ago, and appreciated its combination of genuine good wishes and humorous take on political correctness.  So I created my own Holiday cards in Photoshop this year ...

Happy HanuKwanzaMas to All!