Photoshop for Bird Artists (1 Viewer)

Photoshop is an amazingly powerful tool for fine artists. But it is a complicated program to learn. On this thread we can hopefully pool our knowledge and help each other. And over time it can be a place for new users to find help. My goal with PS is to do more actual painting than computer work, so I don't spend time doing a lot of learning, I try to use what I have learned and make that work. Over time by accident I find new things, but at least I haven't spent more time on the computer than my painting that way.

On another thread I was asked about layers. Here is the bit I know and some out of a book that I have that is only semi helpful. I've not been able to learn PS from a book very well, a class would be ideal.

"Layers, a Photoshop ( from now on I'm using PS) method for separating image components for easy access and editing. Layers follow the metaphor of clear acetate overlays that can be stacked and rearranged)

lets take a photo of No. Shovelers I see a crop that gives me the general look I want but the birds are not in the right place, I can draw and scan and then copy paste into the comp,( or use a tablet and pen) or I can just "lasso" the bird, or crop it out, select all, copy, and paste it on the original work. It is now on a separate layer that I can move all around until I get the comp I want. to see this, go to the menu at the top and pull down windows and check "layers" my addition is on a separate layer than the original and I can move things around by grabbing the crop and moving it in various places until I'm happy. The crop piece shows in the layers menu on the screen that came up when you checked layers. If I've added several birds each one will be on a different layer, and I have to find the layer it is on to move it, layers are numbered in the window according to the order you added them .....it takes longer to type this than to do it.

I use this for composing my prelim ideas, then I do a sketch from that, I sometimes put the sketch in PS and rework more. You can revert to an earlier version of your work by using the history tool, but I've never used that. In the last version I used the brush tool and sampled the color of the water and painted out the duck. Sometimes I use the clone tool to do this, but sometimes the layer is locked and it won't unlock.

It's agony to explain all this, the best way would be to have a friend who knows the program and watch them do it. Which is how I learned. People who are really good at PS move so fast it's hard to keep up, so that's why a class would be good....or maybe we can find some online tutorials.

Many thanks for starting this thread Colleen....i do appreciate the fact that it is a very difficult 'subject' on which to write....!!

It is my hope that some folks who have more knowledge might come forward and give us 'befuddled beings' the benefit of their 'photoshoppy' wisdom..

Like you say...the best way to learn useful techniques is to actually take a class or perhaps, if you're lucky, be in a position where one can look over a computer wizards shoulder whilst they work..!

I will, most certainly, attempt to 'get into' layers at some point when time allows....[and i dare say that when i do i will just jump 'straight in' and learn as i go along]....!

It is incredible what can be done these days 'on screen' so to speak...and is a constant delight...[to me anyway]...what effects transpire....!!

Thanks again Colleen....:t:

you're welcome, I too hope someone who likes to share who knows the ins and outs for artists finds us....must be somewhere on the net too. You can use my posts to start, they are just basic beginner stuff, like me, but maybe in a form you can use. However I assume some knowledge of the basic tools, otherwise I'd have to type too much more stuff.You can get this yourself just by playing around. I believe most of this can be done in Elements the cheap version of PS, but don't know for sure as I'm using CS3 the big graphics program that includes PS and 4 other programs.

here is another way I use PS. Before starting a painting, I make my sketch or photo ref in greyscale by desaturating it ( Under the Adjustments in the Image menu) I sample value scales, by using the paint brush. select the brush tool, go to the work photo or sketch, and press option, this selects the pixels at that area, and on a new doc place the sample, it's a mindblower as it will be very different than you think as the eye is always adjusting the contrast of whatever you look at
( the reason for black shadows in a photo that you see as much lighter.)

Since I have a real challenge with value this is a useful exercise, to see the "lightest" is usually deeper grey than I think, so I can look for a lower value and save the whites for the real highlight.

Here is a sample from my current Brants goose painting.
from the left to right all the lightest values, in the middle mid range and all the darkest ones, and on the right the lightest light and darkest dark. I do this just for info, I don't paint from it.

username said:

Many thanks for starting this thread Colleen....i do appreciate the fact that it is a very difficult 'subject' on which to write....!!

It is my hope that some folks who have more knowledge might come forward and give us 'befuddled beings' the benefit of their 'photoshoppy' wisdom..

Like you say...the best way to learn useful techniques is to actually take a class or perhaps, if you're lucky, be in a position where one can look over a computer wizards shoulder whilst they work..!

I will, most certainly, attempt to 'get into' layers at some point when time allows....[and i dare say that when i do i will just jump 'straight in' and learn as i go along]....!

It is incredible what can be done these days 'on screen' so to speak...and is a constant delight...[to me anyway]...what effects transpire....!!

Thanks again Colleen....:t:

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Layers are not too bad- just jump right in as you say. The thing you can do with them is duplicate your original in a layer above, do crazy stuff, then if you like bits of it, lower it onto the original selectively. Masks are a bit tougher, slightly less intuitive, but can be jolly useful too. There's lot of very good on-line tutorials where photographers do that kind of stuff. Don't waste money on Photoshop books..

For what its worth (if only the Nobel prize for presumptuousness) there's a bit of a tutorial here on the digi-illustration front: a how to digi-draw this here Hawfinch in layers. Of course this sort of nonsense was before Wootton and the gang on here got me scrubbing about with bristly brushes, for which I will ever be in their debt (seriously).

http://edkeeble.smugmug.com/Photosh...tutorial-2-Digi/2389321_vNrFD#125259585_Jgdkv

In my day job I am a 'digital image manager', basically a retoucher, illustrator and creator of all manner of bits and bobs. I've been a photoshop user for years, (Sounds like an AA meeting!), if anyone has specific questions I'll be glad to help if I can. PS is huge and intricate and it has nooks and crannies that even I've not explored but I've always thought the way to learn it is to set yourself a task and work towards acheiving it. And, much like painting, there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to acheive something as long as it works for you.

Layers are a fundemental part of PS, if you don't use them you will limit yourself a great deal. They can be grouped, dragged and dropped from one document to another, they can have effects put on them or they can be told to interact with the layers below in different ways.

If you want to have fun explore the filter menu as User does, you can push stuff about and distort it in a myriad of ways.

First tip if you're having difficulty remembering which layer is which, don't forget to name them as you create them. Also if you have too many layers to keep track of tick the auto select box that appears when the move tool is selected. When you click on an object the layer that it's on will be selected automatically. (The clue is in the name!)

Have fun and don't forget to save your work as you go!

Mike

hooray the experts are emerging!B

I'm lost already :-C

mark richards said:

I'm lost already :-C

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That's my state of consciousness, I'm happy to say.
G'night!

If you have absolutely no experience with PS these comments will be gobblygook, but to one like me who has some knowledge, but not skill, it is useful. I've already learned several things

Computer aided sketching may not be for everyone, I for one have no desire to do digital art work, but IMHO the time I've put in to learn some basics is well spent and saving me a lot of time in prelim work. Depends on your nature, probably.

As a secondary benefit, I can do all my own marketing materials with the same skill. ie brochures, biz cards, signage etc. but some word programs will do that too, tho not as nice and easy.

It's not that, Colleen - I was a graphic designer for twenty years and had my own agency with five studio designers working for me - we had the latest G Macs and Photoshop, CorelDraw and Illustrator were my chums from dawn til dusk and way into the night. It's just I left a certain type of life behind and computer programs just remind me of that and they have no place in my art - I won't let them in.
But I do see their relevance when applied intelligently and I'll be a lurker on this thread to see what you discover en route.

timwootton said:

It's not that, Colleen - I was a graphic designer for twenty years and had my own agency with five studio designers working for me - we had the latest G Macs and Photoshop, CorelDraw and Illustrator were my chums from dawn til dusk and way into the night. It's just I left a certain type of life behind and computer programs just remind me of that and they have no place in my art - I won't let them in.
But I do see their relevance when applied intelligently and I'll be a lurker on this thread to see what you discover en route.

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I still spend most of my day at a computer, programming rather than doing any type of art work, but I'm a bit similar: my art is completely separate from the computer. I know that there's stuff that could be useful. But I just prefer to keep art and computers very separate.

The one place of course where they're not separate is here: a free gallery, meeting place, critique central, etc!!

I do see how many people can find a computer very useful and this thread and others have shown plenty of evidence of that. But I'll also be reading about it as a lurker. I hope that's not as bad as it sounds. Good luck to those of you who are taking PS on.

timwootton said:

It's not that, Colleen - I was a graphic designer for twenty years and had my own agency with five studio designers working for me - we had the latest G Macs and Photoshop, CorelDraw and Illustrator were my chums from dawn til dusk and way into the night. It's just I left a certain type of life behind and computer programs just remind me of that and they have no place in my art - I won't let them in.
But I do see their relevance when applied intelligently and I'll be a lurker on this thread to see what you discover en route.

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Well completely understandable you want to leave it out. I never had to spend all day every day with them, if I had done, I think I'd feel the same. Hard to imagine you in that situation, as I know you you through your beautiful art. For ten years I was a high-limit blackjack dealer in the Casinos in Nevada( the only legal gambling place then, not like now where it's everywhere) and I can't stand going in even to eat at a restaurant just the sound of the place sets me off. And I hate card games.

Still if you asked me, I'd not want to give up the part of computer aids that is now part of my art work.

i like to use it for getting rid of the paper grain on scanned pieces... I also find sometimes I have to tweak it to get it to look like the original...sometimes scans are washed out.

Cheers!

Russ

Edit: Oh and through PS I always add a larger sig to reduced images for the web, the originals have a smaller signature that is unreadable on a web photo

Fascinating thread.
Since computers are my day job, I too resist photoshop for anything other than tweaks of my photo's which I have mentioned elsewhere. Someone once told me to get myself a tablet.......but so far I have resisted the temptation. I use a laptop at home anyway and I don't think my old lappy would be quick enough to work well with one.
Although it currently keeps falling over and I may be forced to rethink what is next....

Russ, how do you get rid of the paper grain?

colleenc said:

Russ, how do you get rid of the paper grain?

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One option is to select 'Blur' option (under 'Filter' pull down) and go to 'Gausian Blur' (or other options are available ) - keep an eye on your subject image though - or lasoo/mask to preserve.
Or whatever the chaps that know what they're talking about suggest.