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Goldfinch on winter jasmin (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Dave mac
- Start date
timwootton
Well-known member
Well, it looks like you manged to get your tablet working, Dave!!!!! and with incredible results - well done.
Just what have you done to get this superb effect - I assume you have used the shrub directly as a photograph (? - sorry if this is not the case) and is the bird all hand-generated (for want of a better expression). Lovely result in any case - looks like you have found a medium which suits you down to the ground.
Just what have you done to get this superb effect - I assume you have used the shrub directly as a photograph (? - sorry if this is not the case) and is the bird all hand-generated (for want of a better expression). Lovely result in any case - looks like you have found a medium which suits you down to the ground.
Strandman
Well-known member
No need for trepidation- that is nicely done. I'm guessing the opposite of Tim and that you did digidraw the jasmin..
Painter-Lynne
Active member
Hi Dave - seems you've got everyone fascinated and the superb quality of it will I'm sure be inspiring plenty of people, as well as making them envious of your evident ability. It's a very lovely image and I wonder... what is it about it made you cautious about showing it?
I'm also interested, like the others, in how you've tackled this - have you layered it up so you can play with it? For example - the background if it's on it's own layer... you could try some of the filters, er, ooo, so many to choose from, like the lighting ones for example; or overlay another layer between the background and the bird/flora, with a graduated fill filling it set to.. er, off the top of my head 'soft light'. One of the great things about imagery in digital form is that you can play with it... exciting stuff, Dave. Thanks for sharing.
I'm also interested, like the others, in how you've tackled this - have you layered it up so you can play with it? For example - the background if it's on it's own layer... you could try some of the filters, er, ooo, so many to choose from, like the lighting ones for example; or overlay another layer between the background and the bird/flora, with a graduated fill filling it set to.. er, off the top of my head 'soft light'. One of the great things about imagery in digital form is that you can play with it... exciting stuff, Dave. Thanks for sharing.
Woody
Well-known member
Really nicely done Dave. I'm with Ed, on the digidraw.
Hope you don't mind me pointing out just one tiny thing: I can see a few repeats in the flower shapes and, if it were me, I'd alter them just slightly to give each flower its own identity. Only a minor gripe and not something most people will notice.
That said, it's really an excellent piece of work and I certainly want to see more, a series of garden birds would look a treat all together.
Mike
Hope you don't mind me pointing out just one tiny thing: I can see a few repeats in the flower shapes and, if it were me, I'd alter them just slightly to give each flower its own identity. Only a minor gripe and not something most people will notice.
That said, it's really an excellent piece of work and I certainly want to see more, a series of garden birds would look a treat all together.
Mike
Many thanks for the kind words. There are no photos in the picture its all been done using the tablet.
For anyone who wants to do something similar I used the following method although there was a lot of trial and error arriving at this technique and there are probably better ways of doing it.
Start by choosing the colour for the background as this can effect the colours and tonal values used on the rest of the picture. To create the "out of focus" look on mine, I started with the "clouds" filter, on this I put some large patches of darker colour using the airbrush and made the whole area softer using the blur filter.
I chose a photo of a goldfinch that had a characteristic pose (jizz?) I do not worry if the colours exposure etc are not correct its just the position that's of interest. On the PC the pic was put on one layer and on the layer above using a fine brush I drew around the outline. This is then outputted on a printer in a light grey colour. The idea of this is not that its a "feather map" but its simply an outline to get the proportions correct. On this print using a pencil I work over the bird, exaggerating some parts and changing others until it looks OK
The sketch is scanned back in and on the layer above this I start work on the head. Using a largish hard edged brush the darkest tones of the colour in the area I'm working on, e.g. the red around the eyes are painted in. These are followed by the next darkest tones etc etc. As the tones get lighter the brush size is decreased to get more detail but using a hard edged brush all the time. (the brush strokes can be seen on the pic) I also use the "smear" tool to blend the colours together when required.
After the head the other parts are done using a similar method. All the parts are painted on separate layers until the bird is 90% complete then the image is flattened and the parts are blended together.
The Jasmin was done in the same way from a couple sprigs I photographed (next time I will use more sprigs to avoid the repetition Woody spotted). Each sprig is on a separate layer as is the goldfinch so that I can play around with the composition. Some of the branches are put on the lowest layers and blurred slightly to make them recede into the background
This is a rather garbled explanation but if anyone wants any more details I will be happy to provide them. Similarly if you know of a better way of doing things I would also like to hear about that................Dave
For anyone who wants to do something similar I used the following method although there was a lot of trial and error arriving at this technique and there are probably better ways of doing it.
Start by choosing the colour for the background as this can effect the colours and tonal values used on the rest of the picture. To create the "out of focus" look on mine, I started with the "clouds" filter, on this I put some large patches of darker colour using the airbrush and made the whole area softer using the blur filter.
I chose a photo of a goldfinch that had a characteristic pose (jizz?) I do not worry if the colours exposure etc are not correct its just the position that's of interest. On the PC the pic was put on one layer and on the layer above using a fine brush I drew around the outline. This is then outputted on a printer in a light grey colour. The idea of this is not that its a "feather map" but its simply an outline to get the proportions correct. On this print using a pencil I work over the bird, exaggerating some parts and changing others until it looks OK
The sketch is scanned back in and on the layer above this I start work on the head. Using a largish hard edged brush the darkest tones of the colour in the area I'm working on, e.g. the red around the eyes are painted in. These are followed by the next darkest tones etc etc. As the tones get lighter the brush size is decreased to get more detail but using a hard edged brush all the time. (the brush strokes can be seen on the pic) I also use the "smear" tool to blend the colours together when required.
After the head the other parts are done using a similar method. All the parts are painted on separate layers until the bird is 90% complete then the image is flattened and the parts are blended together.
The Jasmin was done in the same way from a couple sprigs I photographed (next time I will use more sprigs to avoid the repetition Woody spotted). Each sprig is on a separate layer as is the goldfinch so that I can play around with the composition. Some of the branches are put on the lowest layers and blurred slightly to make them recede into the background
This is a rather garbled explanation but if anyone wants any more details I will be happy to provide them. Similarly if you know of a better way of doing things I would also like to hear about that................Dave
Woody
Well-known member
Nice explanation Dave, it doesn't sound garbled to me.
I just wanted to emphasise that the repetition thing is just me being picky. I work as a retoucher and things that nobody else would notice tend to jar slightly with me.
I really do like this pic, it reminds me of a Basil Ede painting.
Mike
I just wanted to emphasise that the repetition thing is just me being picky. I work as a retoucher and things that nobody else would notice tend to jar slightly with me.
I really do like this pic, it reminds me of a Basil Ede painting.
Mike
kittykat23uk
Well-known member
Love this pic Dave!
Woody, you are spot on, I've been a Basel Eady fan ever since I had a book of his paintings given to me years ago. I got the idea of picking up one of the colours on the birds plumage and matching it to a flower or blossom in the painting directly from him. As for you being a retoucher, I'm not sure if we are talking about the same kind of retouching but I had a job in a printing studio with exactly the same job description.............Dave
PWG
Well-known member
Dave, thanks for the explanation seems nice and clear to me. I'll have to dust off my digipad and have a go using your method.
I just googled Basil Ede's website and he has an incredible story of having to relearn to paint with his other hand. I wish I was as good as that with just one of my hands.
I just googled Basil Ede's website and he has an incredible story of having to relearn to paint with his other hand. I wish I was as good as that with just one of my hands.
