Digital Art Creation

DIGITAL ART CR E ATION JULY 2012

W H AT ’ S I N S I D E : Marketing Buzz

Using the iPad for marketing your business

How to Capture Smoke images (videos)

Master Artist Thom Rouse reveals Photoshop secrets

Great Output

the Canon IPF 8300

TRULY SCENE

POSTWORKSHOP SOFTWARE

Tap & Hold the screen to show the top bar HOME Tap to return to the app home page

How to use this app?

Swipe Horizontally to go to the next page

Tap & Hold the screen to show the bottom bar Swipe Horizontally to quickly navigate pages Tap selected page to View

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the publisher’s corner

e m b racing

change W

elcome to Digital Art Creation magazine. This magazine represents a rebranding of Digital Paint Magazine which will celebrate its third anniversary in August. While Digital Paint Magazine was primarily a magazine dedicated to digital painters, Digital Art Creation signifies an expansion in our content.

I have thought for the last few years that we were too tight in our focus. My passion is creating, buying, selling and experiencing art so we will begin to cover more variety specific to digital art. We will include photography techniques, post capture software and techniques, post printing observations and an exploration of a variety of other techniques and platforms. The sections of Digital Art Creation will typically be; Capture, Image Processing, Marketing Buzz, Great Output, Post Print and a market place, a Readers Gallery will be added in the second issue. We are not abandoning our love and dedication to digital painting from photo reference we will simply add to it.

This magazine is free to distribute by any take over. You can print it, email it, upload it on your web server. You may however not edit any part of this PDF, copy the content, or split the pages. This PDF must remain whole at all times, the content of which belongs to Digital Art Creation. All art and trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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There are literally hundreds of magazines that represent photography.

Digital Art Creation will differ in that we will cover techniques from capture to post print. One can go to Rangefinder, Professional Photographer or several other high end publications for specifics regarding wedding and portrait photography. There are publications for wildlife photographers, landscape and nature photographers and publications for Photoshop. Digital Art Creation encompasses many different arenas in image capture and processing and distills that information with a focus on Fine Art.

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Digital Ar t Creation will be optimized for the iPad not the iPhone. The user experience on a smar t phone specific to magazines is not good in my opinion. On the other hand the user experience for a magazine on the iPad is incredible. I am ADD and dyslexic so I learn quite differently than most, having said that I realize that we all learn a bit differently.

Our job here is to curate and create relevant content specific to our market then present it in the manor best suited for our readership. I believe the iPad is an excellent tool to differentiate instruction. Those that learn best from videos can be accommodated, likewise we publish written text and smoking hot images for those retain information best from that style of learning; we can even use mp3 files for the folks who prefer to listen. All in all the iPad is an awesome tool to teach from and to learn with.

The changes we are embracing in the world of publishing, photography and fine art as a whole represent a great opportunity, however, with any opportunity there exists a very real risk of failure. No biggie, I fail daily and have failed in business many times, much like creating art it is simply part of the process. Without risk there is no growth. What if we are wrong? Well we regroup and try again but I believe that the content we create and curate mixed with the visual dexterity of an iPad is a winner.

Live well, Love much and Laugh often

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In This Issue 5 12 16

PHILOSOPHY

by Thom Rouse

Truly Scene

By John Stevenson

Production Textures

by Thom Rouse

tions and experiment with new materials so you can carve out your own new business niche.

Dozens of exciting possibilities exist once you start thinking of yourself not just as a creative photographer, but as a “creative problem-solver” for all types of visual communications. If you pay close attention to what today’s customers really want, you’ll discover dozens of di erent ways that your unique talents can help them do more with their images.

If you have some ideas, but aren’t quite sure how to make them work, contact a LexJet account specialist.

We’ve helped thousands of photographers develop new business opportunities for themselves. And we can help you, too!

Here Are Highlights from Some of the Success Stories Featured in In Focus In the In Focus Newsletter Archives on LexJet’s website (www.lexjet.com) and blog (blog.lexjet.com), you find hundreds of stories that show how LexJet customers are growing their businesses through diversification, differentiation, and innovation.

STAIRCASE ART

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Cover

“Symbol Tree”

Great Output

EXHIBIT

“Most pe somethin event,” n when ph create 19 at a local how they Ultimate LexJet’s them wit POPCO Gallow of photog the cloth

proved to importan from eve

By Lexjet

Photo: David A. Knudsen, www.dakshots.com

VCartoon

by Victor Lunn-Rockliffe

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IPAD in a Digital World

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Color Theory

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Smoke Vids

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Winter Digital Art Summit

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consists o that Knu

GIVING

by Sheryl Warwick

Fine-art photographer David Knudsen took the concept of one of his most wellknown photographic series, Reflections in Architecture, and translated it into a staircase at the headquarters of the Aston Marketing Group in Torrance, CA. “I was delivering and hanging some new canvases we selected for the walls of their o ces when we started talking about the possibility of decorating their semi-circular staircase with my artwork. in which reflections of clouds are captured in the glass grids of modern skyscrapers.” After shooting a new set of images specifically for the project, Knudsen used an Epson 9600 to print them onto

by Scott Naismith

by Phillip McCordall

Thom Rouse

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on the fil factory, t of an ultr

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Photogra printer to ent: “New when you and keep ence in y products book. He Cloth to (In Focus

PHILOSOPHY

By Thom Rouse

Judgment is one of many paradoxes in the creative process.

We all cast judgment, we all crave judgment, judgment is integral to our advancement as imagemakers, and yet it is the nemesis of creativity.

Body Electric by Thom Rouse

J u d gm e nt:

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udgment is one of many paradoxes in the creative process. We all cast judgment, we all crave judgment, judgment is integral to our advancement as image-makers, and yet it is the nemesis of creativity. To be creative we must suspend judgment and allow ourselves to fail. If we prejudge our work, we preclude the opportunity to be creative by foreclosing the option of ignoring the rules, overcoming the rules or utilizing old rules in a new way. I am of the belief that the creative experience is rare for a photographer. Most of our time is

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spent learning and mastering craft.

In the rare case where we are truly creative, we are only creative the first time, and then the techniques becomes just another in our bag of tricks. Evaluating our creativity is a matter of judgment, but we must not judge too soon, or we thwart those rare creative possibilities.

As a young man I was terribly judgmental about many things, including areas in which I had no expertise at all. I would cast judgment about music, literature, and film and make many pronouncements about what was good and bad. As a result, I

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was often embarrassed by these pronouncements years later when I finally “got it” - the genius in a work of art or music that had earlier eluded me with my limited experience.

I still make these errors in judgment (though most often privately and to myself) but I try to maintain a policy of being “descriptive” rather than “proscriptive”. In evaluating the work of myself and of others, I strive (not always successfully) to describe what I am judging rather than insist on proclaiming something good or bad based solely on my consideration.

It seems to me that I learn more, I

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by Thom Rouse

share more, and I avoid a good deal of embarrassment by adopting this policy.

That said, I do tend to get annoyed by those among us who proclaim an image good or bad based solely on his or her paradigm for image making. As an image-maker and as an organization member, I am enthusiastic about the vast range of image making styles and paradigms.

Nothing could be better for our organization and our businesses than that we are distinct and unique from each other. It is my hope and wish that we enable, rather than discourage, a diversity of style within our organizations. If all our images are alike, we become a commodity.

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D i scove ry:

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rom the lessons of art history I have come to the opinion that we are discoverers more than we are the creators of images, a concept implied by Michelangelo when he told his assistant that he would not carve David – David was already contained within the block of marble - he would simple remove the marble that was not David. Within any defined space, at any given resolution there are a finite number of possibilities. All possible images exist in potential.

It is our ambition as image-makers to recognize and harvest those images, among all the possible images, that most appropriately represent the ideas, concepts, experience and sensibility of the

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maker. I don’t mean to sound “artsy” or “new agey” about this notion. I suggest the idea simply as a mental attitude that I find a more practical approach to image making than taking on the tremendous burden of “creating” an image.

Vi s ual Lite racy:

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am a strong proponent of the notion that visual literacy is equal in importance to technical competence and craft in image making. Because photography is an equipment intensive media, we all to easily lose sight of the fact that no mater how well we know f stops and shutter speeds, cameras and software, if we are to create good images we must first know what they

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look like. I am a student (but not at all a scholar) of the history of art.

Since our earliest recorded history our species has been banging on logs to make music and drawing on cave walls to make images. And the same visual ideas and concepts seem to resonate, not only through the decades, but also through the centuries and millennia. There are no new ideas – we simply rediscover and redeploy the same ideas within the context of our selves and our cultures. Picasso took inspiration from drawings on the cave walls of Lescaux France made some 18,000 years before – Jackson Pollock and action painting must pay homage to the calligraphy of Chinese monks. Gustave Courbet decided to paint real people doing real things as opposed to the painting the aristocracy posed in elegant formality. (Much like many of our current brides who wish to have their weddings photographed as photojournalism and not in what they regard as the “posey wosey” formality of their parents wedding photographs). And what we consider classical posing was not invented by modern photographers, nor during the renaissance, but in ancient Greece with the statues of Hermes and Aphrodite. We are tiny cogs in a long history of art making.

We would do well to respect and study the traditions. Time will tell, but perhaps one of us will make a tiny but unique addition to the vast history of human art.

E q u i p m e nt:

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have done my best (and not always successfully) to avoid being seduced by the equipment of our craft. Although a late bloomer, I did enter the field early enough to gain experience with film and traditional methods. In those days, a Hassaleblad purchased in 1970 was nearly identical to one purchased in 1990. Chemistry, paper and emulsions changed periodically but remained fundamentally the same in principle. Learning our technical craft was difficult, and

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Symbol Tree by Thom Rouse

there was always something new to learn, but we could, for the most part, become proficient with our equipment and ignore it to be able to concentrate on the images. With the digital transition our equipment and software options expanded exponentially, and the current state of the art becomes old school in almost no time at all. We are in a constant state of flux and must expend a great deal of our attention just trying to keep up. As much as I have personally embraced the opportunities of the digital transition, I am concerned that it’s rapid progress deters us from concentrating on images. (It’s hard to remember you came to drain the swamp when you’re up to your butt in alligators) I am discouraged when a new version of Photoshop is announced.

I would have a lifetime of opportunity

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available if Photoshop had stopped with version .3. But I push myself to keep up, and three months after I adopt the latest version I can’t conceive of life without it. I continually remind myself that “it’s about the image” and that I want to maintain control of my images – I’m not ready to concede the creation of my image to the software. I feel a need for vigilance in not ceding the process to the equipment.

Proc e ss an d S t yle :

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t has been a recent project for me to contemplate the nature of style: what is it and how is it acquired. I feel that I have achieved a recognizable style but I’d never contemplated how style

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occurs. During my early years in photography, I was consumed by just learning the technical craft.

Although I’d considered the issue of style and was confused by it, I set the issue aside until recently.

In retrospect I think that style finds you – you do not seek out a style.

“Ready, Fire, Aim!” Looking for style is a little like looking for love - the more it is sought, the more elusive it becomes. It had concerned me that, while documenting artwork for students and faculty at a local university, I sensed that so much emphasis was placed on achieving a recognizable, individual style that, for many students, a gimmick was taking the place of genuine style.

I thought that faculty emphasis on style was an inhibition to student style development, but I had no idea of how one develops style.

I’ve come to the opinion that style

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occurs as the result of a number of factors and that these factors are all part of an individual’s “process”.

I define “process” as all the myriad elements that ultimately contribute to an individual’s way of making images. These would include not only equipment and subject choices, but also such things as musical taste, religious views, and cultural background. My thought is that an inventory of ones “process” might yield, not a style in itself, but a map and a guide towards style and an opportunity to identify elements that might be changed or be altered to influence style. I’d encourage all photographers to construct a “process inventory” for themselves.

Such issues (among many) might include “Do you prefer to shoot at f2.8 or f11?” “Do you use a tripod or do your prefer handheld?” “Do you spend 3 hours setting up the shot

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and take 3 exposures or spend 3 minutes to set up the shot and take 3,000 exposures?” “Do you love digital or do you miss film?” These along with many other personal questions about subject matter, personal insecurities i.e. (“I’m not technical enough” “I’m not creative enough”) musical taste, favorite colors etc. comprise a “Process Inventory”.

There are no correct answers, only an individual’s answers. Perhaps the only wrong answer is to answer “all of the above” to every question, in which case one might look a little harder at what ones true preference are.

And ultimately, more than any other factor, I’ve come to believe that style is the result of three things”: • Being true to one’s self • Passion • Perseverance

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RIGHT BRAIN – LEFT BRAIN

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igh on the list of overused and misunderstood concepts (in my opinion) is the notion that we are primarily right brained or left brained with an emphasis on becoming more right brained and hence more creative. Although we all certainly have a propensity to work from one side or the other we clearly need both halves of our brains to be successful imagemakers. In the original research of split brain patients by Gazzaniga and Sperry it was shown that individuals lacking communication between hemispheres of their brains exhibited serious cognitive deficits – deficits that would make it very

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difficult to navigate everyday life let alone to make successful images.

We clearly need both halves of our brains to succeed as image-makers, the logical, technical left as well as the intuitive, spatial right. I hope that the popular notions of right brain vs. left-brain functions return to the realization that we need both halves of our brains. The two halves are complementary to almost any task and the ability of an older individual to integrate the functions of both hemispheres may well be the neurological definition of wisdom.

Another catchphrase I believe it is time to retire due to overuse is “Thinking outside the box”. There is a danger in trying so hard to work outside the “box” that one is plastered so closely to its outside that the work remains defined by the box. On the other hand, it’s important to remember there is a whole lot of good stuff still inside the “box”. In either case, I’m personally ready to retire “The Box” as a metaphor for creative thinking – I fear it’s become an “inside the box” platitude.

VISUALIZATION – PRE AND POST:

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t one time, I felt that if I did not pre-visualize my entire image, than I was somehow cheating. I no longer feel that way.

For my images, and for the images of others my only concern is the image. I have great interest in the process, but I make no judgments in regard to the “rightness” or “wrongness” of how they were created. The matter of “process” is a personal one – but the proof is in the pudding and the pudding is the image. It is of no concern whether the maker took 3 exposures or culled just the right exposure from 3,000. The questions about

Mac or PC, Cannon or Nikon, pre vs. post visualization are all trivia.

The image, no matter how it was created, has the final word.

In terms of my own process, I create images in roughly equal proportions, in one of three ways. About a third of the time I have a very specific and detailed visualization about what the final image will be. About a third of the time I start with a specific visualization that evolves during the course of its development, sometimes in the camera room – sometimes in the computer. And, about a third of the time, I start with no visualization at all. Something occurs during shooting or, I’m simply fooling around on the computer and an image begins to take shape. I have no advice to others on what might be the best way. My only theory is that the most important rules are the ones we make for ourselves. Sometimes the pivot points in our careers seem to be overcoming something we learned years ago and have accepted as gospel ever since. It’s another paradox of creativity – we must work hard to learn our craft and then we must work hard to un-learn the aspects of our craft that hold us back. Assumptions about the “right way” sometimes need to be overcome in order to advance our creativity. Once we have found the first “right” answer it’s time to find the next “right” answer.

MEANING vs. Experience

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y images are often considered “non traditional” although I jump at the chance to point out the very traditional influences in my work.

I am often asked, “What does it mean?” My frivolous answer is that “meaning” is in the mind of the credit card holder. When I’m on the verge of a sale in a gallery –

the image means exactly what the buyer wants it to mean.

But more seriously, I think that meaning in itself is irrelevant to an image. We want to experience an image, not to know its meaning.

I perceive meaning in many of my images, and other viewers, I hope, will perceive entirely different meanings, but without the experience of the image, the meaning is irrelevant. Sometimes, it’s the very mystery and ambiguity of an image that conveys the experience.

No matter how significant the “meaning”, if an image is not well crafted to convey an “experience” to at least one other viewer, it fails as art. You can tell me about your grandmother, her silver hair and blue eyes, but an image gives me the “experience” of your grandmother.

“Meaning” is conveyed by words – images are to create an experience.

We create images because some concepts are ineffable – they can’t be conveyed by words. If we knew what it meant, we wouldn’t need to make the image.

In the few cases where I’ve constructed an image based on a meaning, they have failed miserably.

I perceive personal meaning in my own work, but it only comes to light after I’ve finished the image and I have the insight that “Oh, that’s what that was about”. I am reluctant to share those personal meanings for fear of diminishing the opportunity of others to perceive their own meanings. I hope that many of my images are sufficiently ambiguous to allow a variety of “meanings” to be perceived based on the individual life experience of a specific viewer.

But far more important, I hope that viewers will “experience” my work. As a culture, we are far more musically literate, than visually literate. No one asks what a melody means.

We appreciate the experience of a piece of music or we do not. We don’t ask what the melody means, or rarely even what the lyrics mean. http://www.thomrouse.com/

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TrulyScene A

C O L U M N

John Stevenson

It should be realized that as far as the critical word included above – i.e., transform – is concerned, Instagram is actually at the tip of an iceberg.

I ntro d ucti o n

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n last month’s column I took a digital imaging diversion in order to survey the photographic phenomenon which Instagram has become over just the past year-and-a-half. The key insight was that the many millions of users of this application have two tightly coupled interests: the open sharing of their photographic images within a networked community of viewers, plus, use of image processing tools which Instagram provides, to transform their photographs into reinterpreted versions of the original captures.

It should be realized that as far as the critical word included above – i.e., transform – is concerned, Instagram is actually at the tip of an iceberg. There is a large and everexpanding range of apps for phototransformation work which operate on the different mobile ‘phone platforms. If you are new to this field, then a good example to review is Hipstamatic.

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a muti-filtered, and multi-layered, output - from Photoshop and PostworkShop

a first photographic input - original image: © iMagine – Fotolia

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This, commercially, pre-dates Instagram – there is a small gallery here: http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Hipstamatic, and a brand-new magazine devoted to Hipstamatic, available online at the Apple iTunes newsstand: http://www.snapm. ag/. (One of the unique features of Hipstamatic is that it has already seen use in photojournalism.)

I do realize, given that the majority readership of this magazine is probably centered upon Corel’s Painter™ program as an application of choice, that not everyone is going to run out and immediately get started with iPhoneography upon viewing and perhaps reading this column. Nevertheless, my own interest is to see how to close the gap which could be perceived between the transformation of a photographic input image by manual means in Painter and the auto-filtering which is the cornerstone of apps like Hipstamatic and Instagram.

The first two images included here represent a sort of “bridging the gap” work-study example.

They are an input and an output – separated (in the true spirit of the quick re-visualization, which is the characteristic of “InstaHipstagramomatic”, by about fifteen minutes of work time). Please note that in the case of Instagram the user is offered (at least in its incarnation for the iPhone) the opportunity to pre-apply its filters – that is, the raw unfiltered photographic capture may never be recorded.

Th e Photosho p R e alit y

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s indicated in the caption of the second image here, my own demonstration work was done using Adobe® Photoshop® in concert with Xycod’s PostworkShop™ 3 plug-in.

This was actually a continuation of the work I set out in my last Digital Paint Magazine column. It did not, however, include any of the Filter capabilities which are native to Photoshop. Adobe has

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largely ignored these throughout the course of the upgrades within its Creative Suite (CS) editions of the program. Many are individual legacy items dating back fifteen years or more at this point in time. By my own reckoning the very newest edition of Photoshop (CS6) does include just one additional filter (Oil Paint) over and above its immediate predecessor. But in fact the same capability was actually “available” as an extension to CS5 (via a download of the free Pixel Bender plug-in).

Th e Tr u lyS c e n e O p ti o n

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gain as covered in my last column, it is quite straightforward to produce Instagram-like outputs using: Photoshop, for what it does best – namely, color alteration and chromatic effects, plus the introduction of Masks and also Layer Blending, and, some of the newest thirdparty plug-ins (including PostworkShop), for which Photoshop is simply a host, as alternative sources of highly customizable and high-definition image filters.

Obviously there is, with Photoshop (and also other high-end/ production-grade photo-editing software) the capability to produce the type of digital mixed-media effect which has been targeted in the demonstration image included above. By-and-large however, it would be necessary for the user to spend a small fortune in software licensing plus specialized tutorial content in order to reach that goal.

A good example is the current promotion offered by the Fotolia stock image company, as summarized here: http:// en.tenbyfotolia.com/, in which it seems the user is supposed to be impressed by the need to create .psd format files with “over 100 Layers”. Clearly many of these are needed in order to accomplish the complex montage assemblies. But, overall, this is very much the opposite of what yours truly considers to be the hallmark of the “InstaHipstagramomatic” protocol - to secure a range of alternatively subtle and dramatic transformations from just single filters in each case.

And, for sure, there are very few (if any) of the native Photoshop Filters which could be used within this type of framework.

Finally the, as a matter of comparison, the output .psd file which generated the street scene image above contains four Layers (two of which are identical, but are assigned different Blend Modes and Opacities).

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The way this breaks down is that Photoshop can provide useful outputs where the input image is color shifted, even on some localized basis, but where geometric and/or spatial redistributions or distortions within the image are not sought. Whereas, it is exactly the latter which are

a second photographic input - original image: © konradbak – Fotolia

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an initial output - in an Instagram-like style, via an Action

showed there that the filters which are native to Instagram’s software could be well-emulated through Actions recorded in Photoshop, these images were also produced via the very same procedure. Though Actions which utilize plug-ins are not entirely new – for example, there are some made available here: http://homepages.slingshot. co.nz/~mikefinn/action.html which involve the use of the Fo2PiX buZZ Pro filters – those that I developed for the work shown here are different from most others.

The TrulyScene Actions Actions are another feature of Photoshop which have been left largely alone through the development and release cycles of the Creative Suite. It may well be that the introduction of Lightroom® left them, and Scripts, with less utility. But it is possible to record Actions in a multi-stage form, and to have them execute very quickly on a currentgeneration Mac or PC.

The different stages incorporated in the Actions used to produce the output images included here are as follows: stage 1 – specific input image corrections and enhancements, stage 2 – separation of the background/periphery from the primary subject “zone” via one or more manually made Selections (it is also possible to make spatial sub-divisions of the input image according to ranges of tonality, so separating shadows from highlights, etc.),

a second, Instagram-like output - a more complex style, but also via an Action

The first two outputs derived from the classical portrait photograph input included above illustrate more ambitiously what was first demonstrated in the previous column.

However, just as I

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stage 3 – creation of the primary effect, inclusive of masking – this usually involves multiple uses of the plug-in, to create a set of Layers in Photoshop, and, a third Action-generated output additional, optional stage(s) ·

fine detailing,

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texturing (via secondary masks),

· borders, an alternative output in a drawing style - with a more careful treatment of tonalities

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supplementary coloration, and,

·

final color, and/or tonal and/ or contrast correction(s).

All six of the output images I have included in this column are illustrative of what can be done using this approach, incorporating drawing, sketched and painted effects. (The input image itself was used at a size of 2500 by 1667 pixels.)

easily run, almost autonomously, in Photoshop when using conventional digital photographs (from a DSLR) as the original source. At the very least the Actions can provide a pre-visualization for digital painting and rendering done in the classic manner. And there is also the possibility that the outputs themselves could become a transition point into conventional, already established, digital painting practices. I’d certainly welcome any thoughts, feedback or questions you have – please just send them along to: john.stevenson@photoscena.com Going forward: I plan to make the Actions available commercially, probably in small packs of four or six, within the next month. This initiative will also be the subject of an upcoming webinar, featuring the full series of TrulyScene Actions across a broader range of subjects. This will be a part of the current offering of Digital Paint Magazine online sessions – please look out for details of that shortly. john.stevenson@photoscena.com © John Stevenson – Photoscena LLC 2012

Wrap - u p

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hether you the reader find any of the images in this column appealing, intriguing, etc. is of course a purely personal choice. But, there can be no denying that in the overall context of digital image manipulation and transformation, the marketplace has now spoken.

Users who have direct access to the increasingly better cameras integrated into their mobile ‘phones and tablets like having the ability to create a custom look or finish for their own images.

Albeit, at present, with just a very few choices for that customization.

an alternative Action-generated output example - in a simple painted style

What I have explored is – at root – a similar set of customization routines, which can be very

an final ouput in a painted style - with a more careful treatment of definition

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PRODUCTION TEXTURES

By Thom Rouse

Texture layers and blending modes have become a standard method for post-production image enhancement. When you find yourself using a favorite texture over and over, it’s time to save time, and streamline the production.

Here’s a method for using textures as layer styles for speed and efficiency.

Fig.1 Step 1 - Find and open a texture you use regularly. Either select the entire image (command A) or select a portion of the texture with the rectangular marquee tool. Fig.1

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Step 2 – From the edit menu choose “define pattern” and name it descriptively so that you can identify it when you looking for it.

For instance “beige rock” or “green stucco wall”

Fig. 3

Step 3 Open a subject image and create a duplicate layer above the original. (Command J) Fig.2

Step 4 - Double click on the new layer to open the layer styles dialog box. Select “Pattern Overlay” and open the pattern file by clicking on the arrow next to the pattern thumbnail in the dialog box.

(The pattern you defined in step 2 will be the last pattern in the file) Fig. 3

Step 5 – With “Pattern Overlay” still selected change the blending mode at the top of the dialog box to you’re preferred blending mode. (In this example I’ve selected overlay) You can also scale the pattern using the slider just underneath the pattern thumbnail.

Fig. 2

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Fig. 4

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Step 6 - Apply a layer mask to the to the top layer and remove or diminish the texture where appropriate for your image. (In this example I’ve removed the texture from the subjects skin) Fig. 4

Step 7 – If you decide you like the effect and expect to use it again, double click on the top layer, and with pattern overlay selected, click on “New Style” in the upper right corner to save you layer style for future use. (Fig. 3) Name it something novel that you will recognize. Open any other image, copy the layer and select your new layer style from the style palette (it will be the last icon) and your texture and blending mode is instantly applied. Fig. 5

Additional steps: You may find that the new layer style works well for low key images but is not appropriate on high key images. You can open you layer style on a new image, modify the style and save it as a new layer style. Now you have the same texture available with two different settings. In this example I’ve used a high key image and in the layer styles dialog box with “pattern overlay” selected. I’ve change the scaling of the pattern and changed its blending mode to “vivid light”.

Fig. 6 & 7

In most of my work I treat each image individually with multiple textures and adjustment layers.

But when I want a continuity of texture across a number of images, for instance a single subject album, I’ve found this technique and incredibly useful time saver.

Fig. 5

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Great Output news

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INNOVATION IN FOCUS

Innovation In Focus CREATE YOUR OWN OPPORTUNITIES Create Your Own Opportunities USe yoUr printer to diverSiFy, diFFerentiAte, And innovAte In today’s economy, it’s no longer business as usual.

Companies and consumers are critically re-examining every purchasing decision they make. This slowdown in sales is forcing all types of businesses to ask: “What do we do now?”

The answer? Innovate. Think different. Instead of simply tweaking business models that met the needs of past generations of photo buyers, consider a more radical approach. Start being really creative not just in how you shoot and edit your images, but also in how you operate your business, educate your customers, and market new services.

One way to stay afloat financially is to diversify— to offer a wider range of products and services than you might have originally envisioned. Some photographers equate diversification with branching out into other fields of photography, such as wedding, portraits, events, or fine art. The problem with this approach is that it overlooks that each of these photography markets is dramatically changing too. photo: Gary Kellner, dimpled rock LLC

When Gary Kellner shows his prints to golf-course owners, some of them also buy the rights to use the images in their marketing materials. (www.dimpledrock.com)

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The underlying reality is that up-and-coming generations of customers have different notions about what types of photography products and services they want to buy, and how much they are willing to pay.

Easy access to high-powered cameras, editing software, desktop pigment-ink photo printers, and the Internet has changed everything. It’s time to adapt and innovate.

At LexJet, we believe that wide-format photo printers and our wide selection of printing materials can help photography pros diversify their businesses in ways that new generations of clients will value. Some LexJet customers now offer high-quality printmaking services for other photographers or artists. Others are creating custom décor prints, signs, graphics, and wall murals for businesses and facilities in their area.

Some entrepreneurial photographers aren’t waiting for assignments to come their way. Instead, they are using wide-format printers to create their own opportunities. For example, Gary Kellner, the creative director/photographer for Dimpled Rock, creates and sells wide-format landscape décor photographic prints to golf courses. Instead of trying to convince golf-course owners to hire him to shoot pictures to improve their marketing efforts, he takes the initiative to shoot beautiful images of the golf course himself.

When he shows his work as gallery-style prints (on LexJet Sunset materials), many golf-course owners are so impressed that they also buy the rights to use Kellner’s images for their ads, website, and collateral materials. Then, when golf-club members see the prints hanging in the clubhouse, many order prints for their homes.

You can read the full story about Gary Kellner and Dimpled Rock in Vol. 3, No. 6 of LexJet’s In Focus newsletter, which is available in the Newsletter Archives on LexJet’s website. In fact, every issue of In Focus includes case studies that show the many different ways LexJet customers are using their printers to develop new business for themselves.

Our goal in publishing customer success stories isn’t to suggest that you copy their business models.

Rather, we want to inspire you to be open to new op-

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tions and experiment with new materials so you can carve out your own new business niche.

Dozens of exciting possibilities exist once you start thinking of yourself not just as a creative photographer, but as a “creative problem-solver” for all types of visual communications. If you pay close attention to what today’s customers really want, you’ll discover dozens of di erent ways that your unique talents can help them do more with their images.

If you have some ideas, but aren’t quite sure how to make them work, contact a LexJet account specialist.

We’ve helped thousands of photographers develop new business opportunities for themselves. And we can help you, too!

Here Are Highlights from Some of the Success Stories Featured in In Focus In the In Focus Newsletter Archives on LexJet’s website (www.lexjet.com) and blog (blog.lexjet.com), you find hundreds of stories that show how LexJet customers are growing their businesses through diversification, differentiation, and innovation.

STAIRCASE ART

on the film provide a translucent e ect. At a glass factory, the prints were sandwiched between sheets of an ultra-clear laminating film and two sheets of consists of 18 panes of prints connected in a pattern that Knudsen created. (In Focus: Vol. 3, No. 8)

EXHIBITION PRINTS ON A BUDGET “Most people’s impression of banner material is something that you hang outside to advertise an event,” notes Janet Smith of Sterling Editions. But when photographer Dennis Galloway asked her to create 19 prints of panoramic images for an exhibit at a local library, they both were concerned about how they would manage the costs of the project.

Ultimately, they chose to output the images on LexJet’s Water-Resistant Satin Cloth and hang them with a simple, clear snap-frame system from POPCO. Galloway was not only impressed with the level of photographic detail that could be achieved on the cloth, but also with the overall a ordability of proved to be very easy to transport and hang. More importantly, says Smith, “We got a great response from everyone who saw it.” (In Focus: Vol. 3, No. 12)

GIVING CUSTOMERS FRESH IDEAS

Photo: David A. Knudsen, www.dakshots.com

Fine-art photographer David Knudsen took the concept of one of his most wellknown photographic series, Reflections in Architecture, and translated it into a staircase at the headquarters of the Aston Marketing Group in Torrance, CA. “I was delivering and hanging some new canvases we selected for the walls of their o ces when we started talking about the possibility of decorating their semi-circular staircase with my artwork. in which reflections of clouds are captured in the glass grids of modern skyscrapers.” After shooting a new set of images specifically for the project, Knudsen used an Epson 9600 to print them onto

Photo: Bryan Cox, www.brycox.com

Photographer Bryan Cox uses his wide-format printer to continually show clients something di erent: “New clients like to see something tangible, and when you have the ability to print something up new and keep your samples fresh, it makes a big di rence in your sales.” His showroom features dozens of products he can create, including a 24-in. tall photo book. He also uses LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth to print banners for bridal shows he attends.

(In Focus, Vol. 3, No. 10)

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A CREATIVE COLLABORATION

photo from Spectrum photo, www.spectrumfoto.com

Architectural photographer Laszlo Regos is partnering with Jim David to operate Spectrum Photo, a large-format graphics printing business in Detroit.

The synergy works well because many of the clients for Laszlo’s architectural photography are retailers (who also need store graphics) and facilities managers (who buy décor prints or images for health care rooms). Plus, many architects and designers like to decorate their office walls with large prints that showcase their best work.

“Our experience with photography has made a big difference in generating repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals,” says David, who serves as Spectrum Photo’s general manager. Because many printing companies seem satisfied delivering work that is “good enough,” David says, “The customer often doesn’t know how much their image can be improved, and what a difference it makes for the overall image and brand.” (In Focus: Vol. 3, No. 9)

WEDDING-PHOTO LAMPS

Wedding photographer Jay Hsiang takes wedding fashion photography to a whole new level by offering a package that not only offers engagement and wedding photos, but also makeup, hairstyling, and wedding gown design. As a special gift to each couple, Hsiang produces a lamp decorated with selected photos from their wedding. The images are printed on LexJet’s TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene and slide into a lamp housing, which produces a soft backlighting. Hsiang says the lamps help him connect with his clients. Clients often return to put other prints in the lamp, such as family portraits, photos of their children, and even landscape-type photos. (In Focus: Vol. 3, No. 5)

BOOTH SIGNAGE

photo: John otteson, www.ottesonphotography.com

Jon Otteson, owner of Jon Ivan Otteson Photography in Hutchinson, MN, also happens to be a partner in the shaved-ice stand at the Minnesota State Fair.

He used the Epson Stylus Pro 7800 printer in his photography studio, LexJet ToughCOAT AquaVinyl, and the expertise of his LexJet account specialist to create a total of 12 signs that would help attract more customers to the stand.

“I’ve printed a lot of fine art projects, but this was our first signage project so it was a little nervewracking. Fortunately, it worked out very well and

photo from Spectrum photo

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we learned a lot along the way. The printer and the material were both perfect, and compared to what we had before, the signage is 50 times nicer.”

(In Focus: Vol. 3, No. 11)

MATERIAL ADVICE Although photographer Don Jackson is still very active in shooting landscape, wildlife, and event photographs, he has channeled some of his visual-communications talents into providing large-format printing services. “I love printing, and I appreci- photo from don Jackson, www.donjackson.com ate clients who are looking for high-quality printing.” Jackson runs a 60-in. Canon iPF 9000 printer, which gives him advantage in getting jobs for prints wider than 44 in, In addition to the speed, width and print quality of the iPF 9000, Jackson likes LexJet’s range of printable materials and willingness to produce quality custom profiles. Whether he chooses Hahnemuhle Bamboo 290g for a unique environmental exhibition, a 3P fabric for a company exhibiting its line of natural clothing, or LexJet’s TOUGHcoat WaterResistant Polypropylene for an outdoor banner, Jackson says he enjoys helping the client choose the right material for the job. (In Focus: Vol. 3, No. 4)

fresh ways to market their work: “Sometimes, I’ll shoot a wedding in the morning, run back to the studio, find the best image from the wedding, print it on a 30 x 40 canvas, frame the print, and it will be on display at the reception that night for all the guests to see,” says Travis. He estimates that about 90% of the time, the client ends up buying the print. He adds that, “Even if they don’t, everyone who comes to the reception will see the quality of our work.”

Gugelman photography

EASY-TO-HANG PHOTO MURALS

SUPERIOR QUALITY AND SERVICE

photo: Gugelman photography, www.gugelmanphotography.com

When Travis and Jennie Gugelman established a high-end portrait studio in rural Rexburg, Idaho, they initially sent all their print work to a lab. But with the encouragement of another LexJet customer, Clark Marten, the Gugelmans decided to try printing in-house. With technical support from LexJet, they were up and running in no time.

Their ability to do fast turnaround printing has quickly paid off. For one thing, they now can provide the level of customer service their clients expect: “We can print a 30 x 40 canvas on Christmas Eve if we have to,” says Travis. In-house printing also provides

Custom-printed wall murals are becoming increasingly popular. When a customer of Advanced Signs & Graphics in Lancaster, PA wanted to bring the soothing photography of Linda Huddle Martin to a new health care facility, they wanted to know if the image could be printed on a wallpaper-like material that they could take down and re-install on a different wall in the future. Photo Tex PSA Fabric turned out to be the perfect choice. Although the fabric is also available for solvent-ink printers, Bill Felter of Advanced Signs chose to print the image through ImagePrint RIP on the Epson Stylus Pro 9800 printer. He explains that, “The photographer put her heart and soul into the images, and I wanted to make sure the final prints retained the fidelity of her images as closely as possible.” The final prints not only looked amazing, but were easy to install.

(In Focus: Vol. 3, No. 12)

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Look Beyond Standard Framing One way to set yourself apart as a photographer/ printmaker is to deliver your top-quality images in non-standard, but ready-to-hang frames. Here are just two examples.

RECYCLED WINDOW FRAMES: portrait photographer teresa nora in Los Gatos, CA is reusing old window frames from a home built in 1902 to create one-of-a-kind frames that accentuate the warmth and timelessness of her images. the frame shown here features twelve 8 x 8.5-in. canvas boards pressed tightly into the panes of a window that was artfully crafted to look weathered and distressed. nora has windows in all shapes and sizes that can be displayed either vertically or horizontally. the backs and sides of the windows are typically unfinished, but can be customized as each client prefers. For example, hanging hardware can be affixed to the back of the window or the client can choose to simply lean the piece against the wall on a mantel. “i like offering unique ways to display art aside from just framing,” says nora. (www.imagingbyt.com) visit the Great output blog to see the memory wall of beach photos nora and her art assistant virginie desigaux created for a beach house, using a custom-made fence. (http://greatoutput.blogspot.com)

FOTOFLOT: the innovative FotoFlot display system was created by three enthusiastic amateur photographers: Jim Alef, tom McAuliffe, and Jorgen reinold. Frustrated with existing alternatives for displaying enlargements of their photos, they devised a frameless display system that lets viewers enjoy the full beauty of each image.

“We prefer not to use conventional framing for photographs, because the glass immediately degrades the beautiful image by creating reflections and reducing contrast and color saturation,” says McAuliffe. in the FotoFlot display system, high-quality photo prints are mounted on panels of charcoal-gray acrylic and then laser-trimmed to sizes ranging from 5 x 15 in. to 15 x 30 in. the process fuses the print to the acrylic panel and produces a polished edge that complements the image. the panels are shipped with a self-leveling steel wall-mount unit that has magnets that are positioned to attach to the embedded magnets in the raised acrylic disks on the back of the photo panels. this system makes it very easy to change out pictures. the 5 x 15 in. panorama shots can be displayed either on the wall or on a desk. to make their distinctive display available to others, the three photographers have established a printing and finishing company called sentiam. photographers can upload their own files for output and mounting in a FotoFlot display system. or consumers can choose photographic images to display in their homes or offices. According to McAuliffe, sentiam offers a complimentary 10 x 15-in. FlotFlot system to professional photographers who want to make the display available to their customers. professional photographers are also eligible for special pricing on volume purchases. (www.sentiam.com)

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The Range of Inkjet Photo Finishing Options Is Quietly Expanding The growing use of pigment-ink photo printers for more diverse applications has sparked the development of new products for protecting photographic and art prints that will be handled, bound in books, or displayed in homes, commercial buildings, exhibitions, and museums.

For example, sometimes displaying a high-quality photo print behind glass isn’t practical. Glass is breakable and its reflective surface can distort the look of an image. It also can be heavy, making it expensive to ship large collections of exhibition or décor prints from one site to another. And while Plexiglas and other acrylics may not break as easily, they can scratch, yellow, or distort the look of your image.

Spray coatings can be difficult to apply evenly and uniformly and may not provide sufficient protection for longer-term display in high-traffic public areas.

Here are just some of the alternatives that have been developed for different volumes of photo-print production and display conditions.

Varnishes and Gels: Hahnemuhle’s Master Varnish is an environmentally friendly solvent-based product that is also designed to provide greater resistance against fading, water damage, and abrasion.

It can protect prints from ozone damage and the use of everyday household cleaners. Clearstar Coatings’ ClearShield® Type C is a high-performance, waterbased protective coating formulated for inkjet prints output on waterproof canvas.

Golden Digital Gel Topcoat w/UVLS is a water-based topcoat with ultraviolet light filters and stabilizers that can extend the lightfastness of a print when it’s used as a final layer (and not mixed with other Golden gels or acrylics for special artistic effects). If a print will be exhibited without glass, Golden recommends applying a removable Golden MSA Varnish on top of the Digital Gel Topcoat.

UV-Coaters: For photo studios and labs that output high volumes of wedding pictures, portraits, or photo-book pages, Drytac offers clearcoating machines that use the UV-curing process. In this process, a liquid film of material is hardened through exposure to ultraviolet light. It’s ideal for highvolume print protection because the coated prints are instantly dry. Drytac’s VersaCoater™ PhotoMate UV is a dual-path device that not only applies a protective coating but can also produce either a smooth, crystal, fine canvas, linen, or leather-textured finish on rigid or flexible materials up to ½ in. (13 mm) thick. Models are available for prints up to 17, 24, or

36 in. wide. Cost ranges from $30,000 to $57,000.

Drytac’s VersaCoater DocuMate can coat digitally printed documents and photos up to 12 in. wide.

With a 2 ft. x 2 ft. footprint, the DocuMate is one of the smallest UV coaters on the market, making it suitable for print shops where space is at a premium.

The VersaCoater DocuMate sells in the $15,000 to $17,000 range.

Laminating Film for Photo Prints: Photography studios already equipped with cold-roll laminators may be interested in a new, earth-friendly laminating film that has been specifically designed to preserve the look of digitally printed artwork and photography.

The film, which is being developed by LexJet specifically for the art and photo market, can protect prints output on photo papers and most light-textured art papers from damage caused by light, moisture, oxidation, fingerprints, spills, and airborne contaminants.

The film is designed not to change black densities in an image and to maintain every nuance of tone and gradation in your art.

Unlike traditional laminating films, this new product features a proprietary cast polyolefin polymer blend face stock and optically pure UV-inhibiting adhesive system that won’t fade or bleach inks. The film doesn’t require heat to apply and is suitable for all types of digitally output photos, including aqueous and solvent inkjet, Durst Lambda and Lightjet prints, Cibachromes, and HP Indigo digital-press prints.

The new laminating film is 100% recyclable, resistant to scratches, and can wrap around the edges of a print to keep moisture from seeping in. It doesn’t yellow, shrink, or become brittle over time.

Look for more details about the product in the next issue of Great Output. If you would be like to be among the first to try a sample of this new film, contact your LexJet Account Specialist at 800-453-9538 for more details.

photo: Michael & tina timmons, www.gallery143.com

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This cartoon celebrates a quote by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu which seems as apt today as when it was freshly minted over 2000 years ago.

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IPad use in a digital world Sheryl Warwick

IPads have and continue to redefine our computing experience. With Apples app store rolling out great apps every second there will never be shortage of new things that it can do.

M

y photography business hinges on the things my IPad can do that can’t be found on other platforms. One of my favorite things to do is pair it up with Apple TV. This is a killer combo for client presentations. Specifically I wanted to share my love of AirPlay.

I simply load my client’s pictures on my Ipad and wirelessly beam them over to my 42 inch TV. My clients and I sit face to face during picture presentations, while my IPad and TV mirror each other. I get to watch their facial expressions as I casually flip through their proofs. When I see their eyes light up I start pushing print sales. If I see no excitement its on to the next photo. This is a great way to make sales without leaning over your clients and breathing down their neck. Yet it provides me with more power to increase my sales. The IPad lets me win on both fronts. This App is not limited to just this use, the possibilities are endless with this type of technology. With a 10-hour battery life I just leave my IPad in the corner of the room

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and stream YouTube videos I have made regarding editing pictures to preparing to step in front of the lens. It replaces my CD player and starts and stops with a swipe of my finger. Now that I think of it, my wall mounted TV is essentially an IPad accessory. Even though the TV was supposed to be used as a standalone device, it only answers to my IPad.

In my studio I also have a small lingerie boutique that I use to enhance my clients pictures by providing the best possible wardrobe for their pictures. Here is where another one of my favorite apps comes in handy. This app is Square Up, a great way to collect credit card payments and more. Besides the obvious use of taking payments it has great features exclusive to the IPad that I simply love. The app lets me take pictures of my inventory and price it. When I stock my shelves I take pictures of my new inventory.

When I close a sale I simply touch all

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the products my client purchased and they have a total ready for check out. It makes my life totally easier.

Being in small business prohibits most owners from having access to the products big companies take for granted. The IPad bridges that gap for me and keeps me looking organized and professional at work and on the go. Simply put, it brings me resources that would have been out of my reach a few years ago.

Even when I had my first Ipad I did not think I would be using IPads the way I use it today. Which is another reason I can’t be without it. It grows with me and Apps conform to ever changing needs.

About Sheryl – Photographer Owner at Warwick Boudoir Sheryl Warwick is a Texas Boudoir Photographer. She shoots mostly in her 3,300ft studio and occasionally on location. Most of her work focuses on making everyday women to feel the glamour of stepping in front of a full-scale production shoot.

http://www.warwickboudoir.com/

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color theory Hue and s aturation

Color use is of massive importance in my paintings and it’s of massive importance to know the theory about color before you try and attempt to paint or design anything in color.

Scott Naismith

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i my name is Scott Naismith, I’m a landscape painter. This tutorial is about color. Now color use is of massive importance in my paintings and it’s of massive importance to know the theory about color before you try and attempt to paint or design anything in color. Every mark that you put on a design or you put onto canvas has three elements to the makeup of that color. It has a hue, it has a saturation, and it has a tonal value.

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So let’s take the first of those, hue.

Hues are all the basic primary and secondary colors that makeup the rainbow. They are the colors that make up light. They are just wave lengths of white light. The primaries, yellow, red, blue, make up into transitions of those primaries the secondary’s which are a mixture of two of the primaries. Secondary’s being orange, purple, and green.

Now this rainbow of color can be presented as a wheel. One series of color wave length, the end joined onto the beginning, creates a wheel.

Now what this wheel does is it allows us to understand the balance of color, so that we as artists and designers can use harmonious color derived from theories about this color wheel. The most important thing to know about the color wheel is what colors are opposite each other. These opposite colors contrast each other, and are also called complementary colors.

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Tertiary colors are made up of three primary colors. Tertiary colors are not represented on the outside of the color wheel. But what we must be able to do is identify where in the color wheel a tertiary color’s hue lies. For example, this form of dark brown here can be placed just between orange-red and red on the color wheel.

Saturation is how pure the hue is.

To understand saturation we must be able to understand how to desaturate a hue.

To desaturate a hue, you need to add a complementary color. You mustn’t think of desaturating a hue as adding gray. Even though we are graying out the color, we are not adding gray. I cannot stress enough how important this concept is. The main issue a lot of amateurs have with color use is the graying out of color, the deadening of the color. You have probably heard a million times

don’t to use black, but at the same time don’t use a gray that you’ve just used white and black to mix a gray. Try to be a little more creative with the use of color to create your unsaturated colors.

Got a quick demonstration of how two complementary colors can work. Often complementary colors side by side can jar together, they don’t really look right together. You have probably heard the term, “red and green should never be seen”.

Often, the two colors right side by side can be off putting, but to separate them somehow can work.

Now we can separate them by the absence of color, which is a gray, a neutral color. A gray, a black, or white.

If we look at the work of Matisse, you can do some research on the Matisse piece, the snail.

Towards the end of Matisse’s life, he produced some cut paper collages. And on the snail, he uses black and white combined with colors, saturated colors, from the color wheel. What he was trying to do was separate those colors with the use of black and white.

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If you’ve ever wondered why the saturated colors or really bright colors look great on a black background or look great on a white background, it’s because it’s being read with a balance to something that doesn’t have, that has the least saturation.

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So I’m going to use purple, and it’s a blue purple, and I’m going to compliment it with a slightly orangeyellow. Because now I can show you what happens when these two colors mix. So what’s happening here is that the two complementary colors, when mixed together, are giving us this gray, neutral color. Using the neutral color which is mixed from the two colors involved is very important to keep in mind. So when you have a blue that you want to calm down a little, and desaturate, you want to use a little bit of orange, or a color which is based on the orange part of the color wheel.

So what I’ve done there is just use two complementary colors and then

when they mix together, they create the gray. By surrounding those very saturated colors with gray, it gives me what is known as a contrast of saturations. If we go back to the work of Henri Matisse, Matisse was considered as being revolutionary in his color use. He was one of the founding artists of the movement of fauvism. Fauvism deriving from the word, wild beasts. They were wild beasts of their color use, and they used non literal color. But the color was all based on theories and balance.

They used very saturated color and the controlled use of saturated color is very important. You can’t just fire saturated color onto a canvas or design without consideration of what it’s being read next to. If you’ve ever wondered why the saturated colors or really bright colors look great on a black background or look great on a white background, it’s because it’s being read with a balance to something that doesn’t have, that has the least saturation.

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VIDE O

So saturated colors, combined with unsaturated colors, gives the saturated colors a little bit of a stage to perform on. Something is only hot when it’s compared to something that colder, and it’s the same with color, it’s the same with painting. And this is what Matisse taught us. Matisse was working with colors from all over the color wheel in high saturations. And as soon as he combined it with grays, blacks and whites, he was able to then stop bombarding the viewer with all this color information and give a balance of saturations.

The concept of complementary colors creating gray provides you with a way of creating those grays

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PL A C E H O LDE R

that break up your saturated colors.

I’ve got this painting here that I just finished recently and it’s all about this theory. This is all about the complementary colors of blue and orange. And those blue and oranges are separated a lot of the time. We don’t see the saturated blues right next to the saturated orange. The most saturated blues are in this section here, the most saturated oranges are here, but there is gray which stands in-between those.

So what’s quite important sometimes is that we understand that you can’t always put saturated complementary colors right next to each other. If you look at some of the work of Matisse, and others, including some

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influenced artists by Matisse. It’s not a case of creating a vibrancy through putting one complementary color right next to another. A lot of the time in Matisse’s painting, if you look closely, he’ll separate those polar opposite colors using a black, using a white, using a gray, and it creates a barrier between the two so that you can read them separately.

Thanks for watching the video.

There’s going to be more parts to the tutorial on color coming later.

You can get them by subscribing on twitter, facebook, or indeed subscribing to this channel.

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B I OG R AP HY

S

ince graduating Scott has been a full time artist, working from his studio in Glasgow.

Much of his time is spent travelling around the country looking for inspiration for another take on the Scottish landscape. The many lochs, glens and isles of the West coast are amongst his favourite subject matter for his vibrant and atmospheric oils.

Since 2003 Scott has also been a part time lecturer at the Creative Arts Department of Reid Kerr College, Paisley.

Scott uses vivid colours in a vigorous application to represent the fast changing light conditions of the west coast of Scotland. Colour use often becomes an entirely emotional

AR TI S T S TATE M ENT

A

fter 10 years of painting the Scottish landscape, my recent work now becomes more involved with cloudcover and its effect on light and colour through both its translucent and opaque properties. Clouds are visible masses of water droplets or frozen ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere . They have the ability to refract and reflect, creating an ever changing perception of light which inspires my use of colour.

I am constantly refering to the paradox of a cloud’s peceived weight and its fragility and the relationship between the cool and warm colours created by it. I have

response to the subject while tone can remain representational.

The love he has for his native Scottish countryside is portayed in his work through an ebullient energy with which he handles the colour with pallette knife and brush.

Scott’s recent work concentrates on transitional skies and the many colours involved when light breaks through cloud. These changing skies from dark to light are a metaphor for optimism and hope. After a miraculous recovery from cancer by his father, recent marriage and birth of his first child, Scott draws upon a great positivity and energy.

become increasingly interested in catching the moment when heavy overcast clears to reveal clear blue sky, a cool colour that complements the warmth it brings. While the most obvious manifestation of light refraction at this time would occur in the form of a rainbow, I will be concerned with accentuating the infinite, more subtle effects.

I find myself inspired increasingly by the works of Turner, who created ephemeral atmospheric effects using large washes of liquid paint. Other influences include Francis Cadell, Glasgow Boys: Guthrie Lavery, Henry... and Joan Eardley.

http://www.scottnaismith.co.uk/#!scottishlandscapepainting/mainPage

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smoke videos Phillip McCordall

VIDE O

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Phillip McCordall was born in London and has been taking pictures since he was eight years old. He is primarily known for his commercial photographer working for major European clients. Phillip is has now retired to a sunnier climate and spends some of his time giving away his photographic experience, through the media of YouTube and his websites. You can see some of his other educational content at http://www.itchyphoto.com/

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Artistic Impressions Post Print

Photoshop and Corel Painter is

We will delve into various

Series is a two day hands-on

required.

step-by-step techniques that will

intensive workshop designed for

No drawing skills required. Bring

show you how to create stunning

maximum educational discovery with

only your brain, body and

impressionistic paintings from

digital painting and the process

motivation...in addition to your

your photographic imagery.

of finishin with traditional media.

laptop and a few of your paintings.

Ok, here is the scoop. The cost

You will need your lap top that

We will have two days of digital

of the workshop is 377.00. There

has any version of Photoshop

painting discovery that will crush

are a ton of options for

and Corel Painter 9.5 or newer.

the intimidating “real paint�

accommodations in our community

questions about adding traditional

of North Platte, Nebraska.

A wacom tablet and stylus are

media to finishes your art.

strongly recommended but not

If you have interest in the

required. Basic understanding of

workshop, email tim at topimages@msn.com.

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