October Fall Challenge

Over at Creativesouls in the Digital Creative Soul group, Kym has posted a new challenge.  Using Fall as our inspiration and all that comes with it.  She supplied the images to choose from and I used a photo I took over the weekend. 

New Halloween Challenge

Over at CreativeSouls I am participating in a new challenge hosted by MoonlightJourney a couple of digital artist friends who create some amazing digital collage sheets.  The woman in this layout is one of their single images that they sell.
I really liked the way she was asking us to be quiet by "Shhhsssing" us.  She also reminded me of the story of "Lizzy Borden".  I've had the wonderful, fun experience of staying in the infamous bed and breakfast in Falls River, Mass.  I was a guest in the maids attic bedroom.  A fun adventure for a Halloween night! 

Moon Shadows-Digital Art

Here is a new piece I worked on yesterday, creating light & shadows.  I wanted to do something in regards to the feet being off the ground.  A Mary Poppins sort of thing happened with the umbrellas, but I'm happy with the final version. 
Credits are:
Lady in Black     
Sky   
Moon Background from-Fairy Godmother
The quote is from William Robert Spencer

Happy Halloween-2011

Digital Abstract Painting

Digital software makes creating art like this piece, so easy!  If I was actually painting this, it would take me days, but with digital software, it took me less than 2 hours and only because I was making it up as I went along.  I started following a tutorial, but quickly lost interest in that and decided to experiment with masking.  Something I am not very familiar with.  I loved the final effect.  The original image was downloaded from deviantart and generously shared by: clickypenpixiexstock. 
Over at Digitalwhisper there are lots of fabulous digital art challenges posted.  This is for Challenge #108
Over at DMStudio you will find monthly digital challenges plus more photography links to explore.  Come join us!

Digital Art Wonderland

My book order arrived yesterday and I have to say, I am thrilled to own a copy of this new digital art book (see sidebar on the left).  If you have some experience with digital software or you have taken some of my workshops, you can take your digital art, a step further with the tutorials found in this book.  If you are new to digital art and want to learn with easy step by step, fully supported workshops (I'm available to assist you!), click on any of the workshop links in the right sidebar.  Collaged Illusions workshop goes hand in hand with this new book: "Digital Art Wonderland".  Order your copy today-just click the Amazon link!  Thank you!

Watercolor and Digital

I decided to try my hand at watercolor painting again and on the left is the original doorway.  I struggled with this but learned a lot about controlling the amount of water and having the patience to let it dry, naturally.  (I do need to hunt up another hair dryer to speed up this process!)  I also want to try using different brushes for better control of the paint as well.  When I taught the Chinese Brushwork workshop a couple of years ago, I was amazed at the control the Chinese brushes allowed me with the inks, so I will give them a try next time.  Anyway, when I removed the painters tape, one whole side of the painting tore away.  I wasn't sure how to respond other than to gasp!  Oh no!   But the more I look at it, the more I liked it.
So-I  decided to scan in the painting and see what I could do with it digitally.  The new version is on the right and I have to admit, I really like the adjustments I made to this.  By brightening up the colors, it really popped.  Since this was just a play session, I didn't print this out, nor will it be for sale, but eventually, when I get much better at this, I hope to have prints available for purchase on another blog.  I will be offering some of my digital prints for sale soon.  :-D

Taking a Short Break

For the next week or so, I've decided to take a break from working on the new hands-on mixed media workshop and do some serious silk screening, along with a few fun digital artworks.  This would make an awesome watercolor painting.  The image I altered, is one of the weekly challenges shared in the yahoo group called "Digitalnuts".  I really like the vignette of this violin-it certainly is not in a setting that you would normally find a musical instrument. 

Another Fun Challenge

This is the first layout I did for this weeks challenge over at DigitalWhisper but I wasn't satisfied with it.  I left it alone for a few days and came back to work on it some more today.


Here is the final version.  I like several things in both layouts so maybe a third version is in order, combining the elements I like about each, but I am finally happy with this second version.

Digital Challenge-Yahoo Group

Sherre has started a new digital yahoo group for those of you who didn't know this yet.  If you enjoy creating art using digital software, Sherre posts a couple of challenges for you every Sunday.  An image and a tool to use.  The lady is the image from this week, the background from last week and I used a commercial filter to achieve the poster edges-tool for this week.  Here are a few other challenge groups for those of you who enjoy testing your skills:
Think Monday, Think ATC
Digital Whisper
The Three Muses
Theme Thursday
DMStudioChallenge which is a monthly challenge for both photography and digital.  There are more blogs and nings than I listed here, but these will definitely get you started.  Join us for some digital adventures and fun!

Umbrella Bench-Reflecting on being Thankful

As I was working on the new challenge from Digital Whisper
this morning-I was thinking about something I read yesterday about taking the time to reflect on what we have to be thankful for this year, as it draws to a close.  I have a long list of things I am grateful for, but one of the biggest things I am truly Thankful for is being able to do what I love.  Work is not work when it is your passion and it keeps you happily motivated to do more.  Finding the world of digital software and all that it allows me to do, is a pleasure I enjoy mastering and thus-this challenge collage.
I overlaid a background from "fairiegoodmother" at deviantart with a photo that I took yesterday morning of the fresh fallen snow.  Added the bench that was the challenge element and threw in some whimsy, by adding the umbrellas to keep the snow off of the bench.  The moon is really not a moon, but the effect of using a gradient layer.

Order Today for 25% off!

I have added this image (without the watermark) to my shop at Imagekind and for the next few days they are offering 25% off on all orders.  I recently placed an order for an 11" x 15" of this image and it shipped the same day!  I was amazed at the quality and speedy shipping.  I also ordered this image for my Christmas Cards this year and they shipped the next day.  The cards are blank inside so I can write or stamp a saying on the inside.  Envelopes are included!
I picked up an ornate oval frame for the poster print at Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon.  Fabulous wall art for around $20!  Makes a great gift too!   To purchase this image in various sizes or as card(s), visit my SHOP  Thank you!

Please note that this image has lots of yellow in it and that it has been digitally manipulated.  It would be beautiful in a pre-made, purchased Cherry or Dark Wood frame as well as an Antiqued Gold rectangle or oval.

Just Playing Today

While I am waiting for some fabric sheets to dry, I've been playing on the computer with my software.  I created this montage, looks pretty busy actually, but I still really like it.  It has an old world feel to it for me.  I altered the image several times over and finally hit it with the burn tool to darken the edges and doorway a tad.  I believe the photo came from sxc.hu, the inner frame from Dover and the exterior frame from one of Deb's brush sets at scrappincop.  I'm off to work on a canvas project now while there is still some daylight.

September Digital Challenge

Today everybody who was signed up to play in this week's digital challenge over at the Latest Trends yahoo group, got a new background from Linda to play with.  I added a new texture, blending mode, custom filter and threw on some brushes.  It reminded me of a painting that might have been done outdoors, thus the title.
Starting in January 2011 I will be again hosting the ATC digital challenges but this time, exclusively at my regular hang-out at Digiscrapstations Forum.  If you haven't been over there, go get signed up-there are a few other fun things happening in the forum right now and be sure to sign up to receive their newsletter so you can be reminded of the upcoming digital challenges.

Tribute to a Beautiful Woman!

One of the students who is taking our digital workshops, offered us the use of a vintage image of her Grandmother.  I wanted to pay tribute to this woman who has gone before us in a very respected way, so I used the image to create several layouts using an upcoming technique written by my co-instructor, Sherre Hulbert.  (There is a link to her blog in my sidebar. Look for:  Altered Heart Designs) 

This second layout used a commercial filter to alter the image, then I added a handwriting script brush along the right side.  I couldn't decide which one I liked the best, so here are both of them Marisa!  I hope you like the effects!  Your Grandmother has now been to Utah!  Where will her journey take her next?

If you would like to join us in these workshops, you can find more information at: Digital Montage Studio

June Digital Round Robin

During the month of June we have been exploring the fun of creating digital round robins.  Each person adds a new layer to the collage and this was yet another good challenge.  Being the 5th and last person to receive this layout-I wasn't sure what I could do to add a layer-it looked pretty busy to me already.  Then the photo of the woman in the middle came to me-I remembered I had downloaded it just the other day and she would be the perfect addition to the other two images.  Being a black and white image, I painted her lips, altered the opacity, layered a mask behind the woman, changed the layout of the rickrack and added the text-"3 Faces of Eve" a wonderful classic movie about a woman who had three personalities.  Perfect for this layout.
(I also used some wonderful techniques that you could learn in our new Digital Montage Workshops-see post below.)
We will be starting another round robin next week-if you aren't a member yet but want to join us-the link to our Latest Trends yahoo group is in my sidebar.

We're still at it!

Over on The Latest Trends yahoo group (link is in the sidebar)-we have continued playing around with the digital round robins.  Here is the latest one we created which is the most amazing one we have done so far.  I really like this one because it reminds me of the Alice in Wonderland movie, of course.  I also did several mega digital kits based on this theme that are still available over at Digiscrapstation.   The photo on the left is the background that I made to get this collage started.  The final collage is so totally different than what we started with and I love how everyone added some truely amazing effects to this.  Enjoy!

Playing around

My DH saw me working on this layout and asked if I could make this into a screensaver for him-Of course! I really enjoyed creating this and adding multiple blended layers to get this fabulous green patina on the horses. I believe they really are a stone statue-but now they look like a metal statue. The image is from .sxc.com

More Playing

Filters can add so much to a simple photo and here is a good example of that. Light switches do not hold much charm, but throw some filters at them and look what you can accomplish. I would make this into a digital postcard or even an ATC! this photo is also from .sxc.com

Newest Digital Round Robin

This is such an awesome collaborative effort that I just had to share this with the world. It seems to say so much! Enjoy!