On to Week 3 at the Edit Me Challenge, a tremendously fun edit! I have read tutorials on turning a photo into a painting, and this was a perfect time to try! The Venetian style boat and the lush waterway reminded of an exotic type place that Claude Monet would visit and capture on canvas. I'm no Monet, nor do I get to exotic places, but I sure had fun "painting". Here's the original photo, provided by Marilyn at The Artsy Girl Connection for the Edit Me Challenge:
- First, I decided on the crop, and sharpened the photo.
- Then I went to work on the painting effect. (Click here for a specific tutorial.) In a nut shell: Copy the bottom layer three times. On the first layer, apply a cut out filter; then apply luminosity blend mode. Next layer, apply a dry brush filter; put in screen blend mode. The top layer, apply a median noise filter; soft light blend mode. I tested different values to adjust the effect I wanted.
- The background was simplified by cloning out unwanted items, and then cloning in extra foliage to compensate. (I should have done this before working on the painting effect, but it still worked with a little effort.)
- Made curves and levels adjustments
- Colorized the ship's front awning sail because it was too washed out. Brushed in several colors and blended in, and roughed the edges.
- After stamping the layers, I added a new layer, then rendered clouds to get back sky reflection. I was happy with the haze it added to the overall photo, just masking some out over the ship. This gave it a softened Monet look.
- A slightly darkened vignette was added around edges.
- I expanded the canvas to add a white frame.
- Lastly, the overall photo painting got its final sharpening.
And here it is: my final edit!
I love watercolor paintings!
