Lighthouse and Sailboat in Abstract Sunset

With the post from last week, I used a desert sunset with saguaro cacti that I created using the same technique that I used originally with these two art prints. Using a few of the filters on Photoshop, I originally created a background where the top half of the picture was sky and the bottom half of the picture was ocean. I used the gradient filter to take the sky and the ocean from light to dark at the horizon line. I then drew the lighthouse and sailboat and filled them with black to look like a silhouette against the background. The look is very abstract and the simplicity with the colors creates a unique look.

Guardian Lighthouse

Sailing Into The Sunset

Thoughts?

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Hot Air Balloons – Bright Colorful Fun

Over the years, I have featured a number of prints from my Hot Air Balloons Gallery. I love hot air balloons and especially love to create prints that are not typical for them. You usually see pictures of the balloons floating in the sky, but I like a different approach. I find the process of preparing these big, bright, beautiful balloons fascinating. Watching them get unpacked, stretched out and then inflated creates an interesting visual experience which I have tried to capture. Over the years I have used a variety of techniques in my presentations. Today, I am using a technique that creates a slightly abstract approach, using bold ink pen strokes to outline the balloons and then filling in with bright colors and strong brush strokes.

“Triplets”

“Stand It Up”

“The Blue Balloon”

Thoughts?

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Soft Abstract Roses – Featured Art Prints

I love taking macro photographic shots of rose buds and blooms. The colors, texture, etc. create such beautiful visual imagery. Today, I wanted to feature a softer take on rose blooms and then explain how I created them by taking a step back through the process I use to create this type of digital art. I have used Adobe Photoshop for years….probably since it first came out. I remember taking classes from the University of San Diego on how to get the most out of it from an artist perspective. Trust me, it was many years and many versions ago. What I love about the program is the ability to do layers for each of the steps I go through. These roses are a great example of the process, so I will walk you through a simplified version of it.

I start with my macro photography of the rose bloom as the background layer. I then open an empty layer on top of it and using an ink stroke tool (Photoshop), draw the edges and shapes I want to highlight in black. Then I create another layer and pick a digital brush style I like (the brush style I picked here creates an almost air brush look..soft edges). On the blank layer I paint larger areas of colors by painting over the photograph if you will. The large areas of similar colors create the abstract look. I then move the “ink stroke layer” to the top of the layers, eliminate the bottom photograph, merge the layers and the end result is what you are looking at (simplified version as I actually open many laters typically for each color tone).

I also would like to mention that for the painting layer, there are numerous programs out there that can take your photograph and turn it into just about any style of painting. I use these programs in cases where I want to keep the detail of the photograph and am looking for more 3-D brush strokes as you would see in oil paintings. Even in that scenario, I come back in and work the resulting art print with some of the detail I described here.

This is a quick and simple walk through of my process that in actuality is very tedious and for every print I publish, five to seven are trashed by me for not liking the end result.

Orange Rose Bud In Abstract Watercolor

Pink and Orange Rose In Abstract Watercolor

Soft Red Rose Bloom In Abstract Watercolor

Subtle Red Rose In Abstract Watercolor

Yellow Rose In Abstract Watercolor

Thoughts?

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Bright Colors – Abstract Watercolor – Hot Air Balloons

This week I’m featuring three of my hot air balloons. The technique I used creating these three art prints was an abstract approach. I used the sketching to define the subject matter of the balloons and then filled them with bright colors. Not being one who every stayed in the lines when it came to art, I let the bright colors bleed into each other, creating an abstract look.

 

“Inflated”

We are all attracted to hot air balloons rising and floating in the air. The serenity of the scene as one looks skyward and sees these bright colored balloons quietly drifting through the sky. What drew my eye when my wife and I did the adventure in San Diego, was the prep work of getting them inflated and launched. To me there was an incredible beauty watching these large bags of color transformed into what we see drifting across the sky.

 

“Bright Colored Balloons”

As the balloons slowly fill with hot air, they go from laying flat on the ground to slowly rising and when you see the different stages of inflation with a group of balloons together…it really is a beautiful sight.

 

“Three Balloons”

Thoughts?

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Barren Branches Go Colorful – Featured Art Prints

In keeping with the theme from last weeks post, I am featuring two art prints where the subject matter is pretty simplistic, barren branches. These are shots of trees along the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids, Iowa during winter. I took this simple subject matter and started giving the branches a subtle abstract look to create images with more geometric patterns. As part of that process, I also changed the background to larger abstract shapes to keeping the focus on the barren tree branches. I created the Purple Barren Branches first and then wanted to use some of the same elements in the second one. I liked the power of purple and pulled it into the branches on the second one and notice the hint of green on the first one. I used it as the background on the second one, creating a different look altogether.

Purple Barren Branches

Barren Branches in Green

Thoughts?

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Simple Items to Vivid Abstracts: Featured Art Prints

The two art prints I am featuring today are simple items – three decorative balls. These are the typical kind you would find in a large decorative bowl to add a design element to a room. I took these three balls and did my usual photo shoot with various positions and arrangement changes to give me some choices to work with.  Narrowing it down to a couple of shots, I then proceeded to do my magic utilizing an abstract technique to create the drawn elements and then started to play with colors. The final piece of the process was to take the resulting colorful “flat” prints and give them a final element of texture which is the impasto technique I employ on a number of my pieces creating large bold brush strokes. From simple decorative balls to bold and colorful abstract art prints.

Three Balls

The Purple Balls

Thoughts?

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The Sun Porch – Featured Art Print

“Sun Porch”

Cold or cool (depending on where you live) winter days invite me to settle down with a good book in a setting like the featured art print. I love the type of sun porch you find in old Victorian homes, which is the basis for the art print I created. While touring this old mansion, I grabbed a shot of this room and wanted to create a print that relayed the feeling I expressed above. Using a fauvism technique I wanted to create a unique look for this room, but still keep the same inviting feeling. I liked the composition of the french doors, one open and one closed to highlight the entry into the room. I love color and abstract interpretations of common scenes, so using a fauvism technique, what was a typical common entry into a sun porch became a little bit more inviting and interesting. Thoughts?

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