Watercolor tutorial

[Chuck Snyder]

Ray, VERY nice! How do these people come up with them??

:-)

Chuck

[Raymond Robillard]

Chuck, if you mean creating the tutorials, I have no clue! I know I made most of my discoveries while trying to acheive something totally different! :)

Ray

[Jane Carter]

Thanks Ray, Janee has the most wonderful stuff! I love just looking thru her examples, and someday I will be able to attempt the tutorials, and come out with lovely results. You know how I love flowers.
My garden got pummeled with unexpected rain, but we do have our daylillies coming, so we wait,,,,,,,
Jane

[Jane Carter]

Thanks again Ray, I do have some bad news, all my roses got either eaten or trashed by the rain, so they are not blooming. The poor things are just struggling with the weather and the bugs. Today we got out of the monsoon, but everything is still unusually wet, mouldy, and cool. I even sprayed them with some rose-bug-spray, so all I can do is wait,,,,,,,,,
(Last year they were wonderful right here in late June. I should fetch some of last years photos off my ext. HD tomorrow.)
Jane

[Raymond Robillard]

Jane : I'm sorry to hear this. Flowers (and nature in general) are totally defenseless.. It's a shame when it's damaged or destroyed (we had icing rain a few years ago and trees around here are still showing signs of damages).

Susan : I'm on the laptop and, unfortunately, I don't have my english-french dictionnary ("put out a bud" and "pruning", I can't tell what's that meaning). For all I know, a Bud is a kind of beer :) I'll look tomorrow morning.

Ray

[Susan S.]

Ray - "pruning" - the process of cutting off the old stems in winter to make sure the roses have strong new growth next year

"put out a bud" - burgeon? (maybe? - that seems to come into my mind from distant French lessons!) - a rose bud is an immature rose flower, and they have just started to appear, despite the fact that it is mid-winter.

Susan S.

[Raymond Robillard]

I'm trading my Winters for yours Susan, anytime ! :)

Ray

[Leen Koper]

back to the original posting.
It really is a wonderful image and very well done. I envy people able to do things like this.

But: why trying to imitate other forms of art from photography, except for experimentation purposes? To produce watercolours you need paper, brushes, water and dyes.
IMHO, working in Photoshop is an artform in itself that doesnot need to imitate other techniques.

Or am I missing something?

Leen

[Barbara Brundage]

Well, Leen, if like me you can't draw worth beans, it's very helpful. I don't always want straight photographic illustrations for everything I do, and I can make a nice watercolor in PE much more easily than I can with paint.

EDIT After all, in the pre-photoshop world, I remember art directors getting paid big bucks to sit there and use pantographs and such to make line drawings out of photos, and it took ages to do it, too.

[RobertHJones]

Leen,

Let me answer your question by asking another question. There are artists
that produce photorealistic drawings by hand. Why would they want to
imitate a photograph? Shouldn't they just use a camera?

My comment is why should it matter! An artist communicates through choice
of media, subject, emphasis, technique, color and lighting.

There are ongoing debates as to whether photography is art (I feel it is)
and whether "photo art" is a valid artistic expression (I feel this is
also). I don't intend to carry on such a debate here.

To my way of thinking, a painterly rendition of a photographic subject is
just as valid an artistic statement as one rendered using classical
techniques and media.

No one who has ever seen a well done watercolor will confuse that with the
results of the "watercolor" photoshop techniques. But, the resultant look
and feel from the photoshop technique may have exactly what we want to
communicate our message and/or feelings. We're not creating a watercolor
with photoshop, we're creating a mood and expressing an emotion.

Bob

> But: why trying to imitate other forms of art from photography, except for

experimentation purposes? To produce watercolours you need paper, brushes,
water and dyes.

> IMHO, working in Photoshop is an artform in itself that doesnot need to

imitate other techniques.

>
> Or am I missing something?
>
> Leen

[Raymond Robillard]

Bob, I wouldn't have said it better myself! I agree with you 100%.

Besides, when I look at a piece of art, I rarely ask myself how it was done, on what canvas, etc. I consider the art piece for the message and I see it in its whole.

Granted, Photohop Elements may not be the best software to do painting. But, for applying paint (or paint effect) on a photo, I think it's a very good choice!

Ray

[Leen Koper]

I don't reject this way of imaging at all.
I just only wanted to start a discussion about what what we are doing.

I reject plastic flowers in a vase, I don't like like electric fake fire in the fireplace and I don't believe a Big Mac is a decent meal...;-))

How about an imitation watercolour? I don't know. Just wondering.

Leen

[Ray]

For me, all that expresses a message is a form of art, even a McDonald's
adv. However, I may not find it very equally appealing or mind challenging.

Certain form of Art are to be "digested" on the spot. Others require a more
slowly approach, one that requires the viewer to think back, sometimes
within himself or herself. The best work is one that goes deep inside me
and makes me realize what I am or what the Artist is. Many times, I've seen
this on The Challenge pages.

Now, to say that an imitation watercolor flower is different from that, I
don't think so. It may be viewed as an "instant Art form", granted. But
yet, the person that did it put a little (and sometimes a lot) of himself in
it. Picking up the picture, choosing the color, selecting the filters, etc.
Those are only tools to express a message. If you look at my drawings of
the boats, for this week, I used oil painting with Photoshop Elements. It's
a rendition, a fake if you like. What does that tell you about me?

My conclusion is that whatever the materials, the techniques, the tools,
every work done is still a form of Art. That it is done with finger
painting, on a LCD monitor, or with chalk on a wall, it's no different.

Ray
P.S. I don't reject your views neither, I'm only expressing mine :)

[Chuck Snyder]

Leen: I certainly agree with you on the plastic flowers and the electric
fireplace.....but Big Mac?? One of the basic food groups for sure!!

:-)

Chuck

[Jane Carter]

I don't have one whiff of artistic ability, but the rest of my family does, but I can really do something in PSE that makes me feel really great, and the family looks at my monitor and says, "Hey thats really neat, Granny!"

Music, another thing that the whole family does well, I stink at it, but I can sit down at the old piano and make some music that sounds OK to ME(and the dog).
That's what my retirement is all about, if we enjoy our own primative art, and have a good time doing it, and do a Challenge once in a while, keep going and have a good time. I call it FUN!

Jane

[Raymond Robillard]

That's the spirit Jane :)

Ray

[Leen Koper]

There is no right or wrong; there never is. This discussion is going the way I like it, because I love to hear peoples personal opinion, what motivates them to express themselves this way.
I just only don't agree on Chuck's opinion about the Big Mac. ;-)

Leen

[Paul L UK]

Leen

Having never considered myself, or been considered, an artist, I have found that sharing my 'doodlings' on the Challenge has given me more pleasure than I could ever have imagined. The praise and comments that come from all in the forum spur me on to try even harder to produce as good if not better entry the next time.
Sometimes I look at the Challenge picture and no matter what I do, I cannot visualise anything to do with it, other times an idea immediately comes to mind. Then I have to try to recreate on the screen what I see in my head, which is why I call it doodling. I have tried, but on my best efforts I cannot re-create exactly what I have done.

As for the burger debate, there is no other way I know of getting my recommended daily/monthly/yearly allowance of plastic'ky cheese, saturated fat, hollow fries and rubber bread with a bird seed coating, than from a Big Mac.
So I don't ;) (sorry Chuck, but you have got to try one over here, it WILL put you off for life)

Paul

[Chuck Snyder]

Leen and Paul: I will admit that I came to the defense of the Big Mac only
for the humor value. I subsisted on them on weekends in college when my
fraternity house dining room was closed; I can't stand the sight of them
some 35 years later...

:-)

Chuck

[Jodi Frye]

i've been following this thread with interest but haven't commented t'il now.

The tools available are just that; tools. You will never see 2 identical images from 2 seperate Artists who use the exact same tools. It is what you do with them that makes us individual creators. It is totally subjective. I hope to be able to create whatever I want without being judged on the process in which i created it. If it looks good...so what ??

Oh Whoppers are way better...flame broiled !!!