Here are some more examples of photo images transformed into works of art by one of my students, Judy Yao. They each start out as very nice photos. But then Judy uses a popular technique combining a watercolor and pen/ink drawing to transform them into something entirely different.

Here is a classic view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

In this conversion Judy wanted to maintain some of the cable details during the conversion to a drawing.

In this next example of the Aquatic Park in San Francisco, Judy simplified the the structure supporting the Ghiradelli sign in the final simulated painting.

In this final example, Judy starts with a nice photo of the King’s village in Waikiki that might be similar to that taken by many tourists.

But she adds a lot of interest to the shot by converting it to a combined pen/ink and watercolor drawing.

Well, there you have a few more examples of just how one relatively simple technique can be used to add new life to a photograph using Photoshop Elements. Given the number of filters, brushes and related tools that are provided in the program, there is no limit to what can be done when you add your own imagination and interpretation to a scene you have captured with your camera.

Until next time,

Don

Much of our class time is spent making good photo images significantly better or saving those that did not quite come out right when we took them. This week, I thought I would share some images from a student, Judy Yao, who converted some photos into artwork. The techniques she used were based on the general techniques she had learned in class.

I the first pair, Judy used Clone Stamp tool to remove the three people in photo taken at the Alamo. Then she applied pen-ink and watercolor combination effect technique without using any texture effect.

The Original

Final result:

For the picture of the grass, Judy started with a pen and ink rendering then adjusted the hue/saturation and then solarized the photo.

The Original:

Her final image.

For following image, Judy used pen and ink rendering and also applied a light fresco texture.

The Original

The Final Result.

This time, Judy started with a nice photo below of some daisies. This time she used the pen and ink technique but didn’t add any texture and then adjust the color and hue.

To end up in with the following image.

And for her final photo of a kettle shown below, Judy applied the basic pen-ink approach we learned in class.

The final image.

Starting with the basic techniques we learned in class, Judy has taken her already nice photographs to and entirely new level by converting them to works of art. The technique is relatively easy to apply, it just takes some creativity on the part of the photographer, as Judy’s images show to do this.

One of the key features of Photoshop Elements has been its assortment of selection tools. With each version, these tools have been expanded and improved. My favorite selection tool is the Selection Brush. Regardless of what tool I make my initial selection with I almost always fine tune it with the Selection Brush. The student picture below was actually a team effort being photographed by Judy Raffel and refined in Photoshop Elements 6 by Len Lipman. I’ll let Len explain how the final image came about.

Judy took this photo because she liked the pattern of the tea leaves in the glass, but the background of the shirts was very distracting. I used the Quick Select Tool of PSE 6, plus fine tuning with the Selection Brush to select out the background, which I then blurred with Gaussian blur. Note that I first tried to do this with PSE 4 on my Mac (PSE 6 for Mac will be released this weekend) and it was just about impossible to do a good selection because of the strongly curved cup handle and fingers. But Quick Select Tool was almost a miracle, making an almost perfect selection. This tool alone makes PSE 6 worthwhile. For Mac users like myself PSE 6 will have another huge advantage. PSE 4 is not stable with the new Mac Leopard Operating System and can abruptly fail, but PSE 6 (Mac) is written for Leopard.

Here is the original photo.

The final result.

Blurring the background really draws your eye to the glass and its leaf pattern.

Until next time,

Don

Well, I decided it was time to post a few more examples of work my students have done using a few of the techniques we cover in class. They all are examples that made use of the Clone Stamp Tool, Layers, and/or Selections. All of these students have attended classes at the Torrance Griffith Adult Center.

The first two are from Bill Clarkson.

The Original

Using layers, selections and a linear gradient makes for a more pleasing photo that is now ready for eBay.

Bill also submitted the following two pictures of his dog, Gus.

The original is shown above.

Again, Bill has used selection and a color fill to eliminate the distracting background.

The Clone Stamp is one of the most useful tools in Photoshop Elements. Although new versions have added additional semi-automatic selection tools like the Magic Selection Brush, the basic Clone Stamp tool is still quite useful as shown in Mary White’s work below.

Mary’s Original

Here Mary used the Clone Stamp Tool to remove the unsightly drain pipe.

Here are two more examples from Laurel Woodley. In the first she uses a combination of selection tools, including the Selection Brush to make a good selection around the bird’s feathers before placing it on a less distracting background.

Even with the tools provided by Photoshop Elements, it takes patience and some practice to select more difficult subjects.

In this final example, Laurel changes pace a bit by turning a photographic image into a colored pencil sketch. This transformation was done using a combination of layer blending modes.

The Original Photo

The Resulting Pencil Sketch

Well, that’s all for this installment. Don’t forget, if you are a current or former student of one of my classes, you are more than welcome to email me before and after examples of your pictures. I will periodically post them here. It’s a good way to let others see what you have done and what you have learned.

Until next time,

Don 

I was trying to think what I should have for my first post on my new blog. I decided to show off a sample of before and after photos from one of my students. Besides breaking the ice around my blog, it will also teach me how to go about adding photos to it.

During my classes, I encourage students to send me before/after pictures where they have used techniques we have covered in class. In the past, I have collected several of these, and then posted them on my web site. I will probably continue to do that, but it often takes some time to collect the photos and then get around to adding them to the site. Maybe this blog is a way to help me get them online quicker. We’ll see.

The first couple of pictures are from Laurel Woodley. She used the the mask on the Level Adjustment Layer of Photoshop Elements to correct a lighting problem we all have encountered. As Laurel put it,

“I found this really “overexposed” background and followed today’s lesson to improve on it.  After getting this image in Venezuela I learned to use the fill-in flash the hard way.”

Above is the origianl

The above photo resulted after using the mask on the Levels Adjustment Layer. Similar results are possibe using the Shadows/Highlights command.

Here are a couple of additional photos from Laurel. We were working on selections in class, and this was her first attempt on her own.

                                    Original

                  After Replacing the Background

Ok, see you next time.