Stage 8:
Metal ferules
tip her braids |
Bejeweling her braids
was going to be a challenge. I used the saved collar section
(“web page button”) I had created for the collar, to
select an oblong V-shaped section with the polygonal lasso tool,
copied it, and created a PhotoShop layer within the painting.
I applied Eye Candy’s chrome filter in custom mode to create
the illusion of a cylinder, then copied and transformed small
sections of the cylinder to place metal rings around the ferule.
Jewels were easy to add, by copying a jewel from the gem layer
I created for the collar, and resizing/changing hue as I liked.
Lastly, copying the ferule layer, I plugged ferules on the ends
of her braids one by one until her hair was properly and elegantly
bejeweled.
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Stage 9:
A regal gown
in 3
editable layers
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The final steps included
the small portion of her gown, which again, I colored on its
own layer. Adding swirls and metallic appliqués (which
I snagged and assembled from a gold brocade fabric scan!), I
made yet 2 more layers. This was necessary, as I delight in being
able to change clothing colors in my models to suit whoever buys
prints of my paintings. It’s a simple customization that
many clients appreciate. I can change the whole background (hinting
to any location in the world) of many of my belly dancer paintings,
by simply plugging in a seascape or pyramids, or whatever, on
it’s own layer. I even change the costume colors. My art
prints can all be unique. |
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SPECS:
The original scans were about 14 MBs each (at 200 dpi); combining
the two halves made my painting file about 28 MBs. As I went
along, the painting ballooned to nearly 70 MBs in PhotoShop’s
PSD format with 9 layers. I flattened the image and saved it
as a TIF file for printing the posters—this speeds printing
considerably (it’s only 29 MBs). For my own amusement, I
ran several artistic filters (fresco, watercolor, colored pencil,
etc.) over my painting to create unusual “artsy-fartsy”
prints.
THE EQUIPMENT I
USED:
Custom-built AMD Athlon 900 MHz computer,1GB of RAM, 43 GB hard
drive space, 19" monitor, PhotoShop 7.0, Epson Stylus Photo
1280 for photorealistic poster-size (13" x 19") prints.
There’s nothing like a fast machine with lots of RAM when
using PhotoShop (especially when applying filters). All my actions
occurred in “real-time” with no lag waiting for things
like the smudge tool to take effect.
There is more than
one way to complete a task within most computer programs. The
methods I used worked for me very well; you may find a different,
easier approach. Experiment. The steps I took to complete this
painting are not the only possible ways to accomplish my artistic
goals, but ones that I found intuitively accessible and easy
for me. The best things are, my house doesn’t smell like
turpentine (if I use standard oil colors), the cats don’t
get a blue ass from sitting on my palette, I don’t have
to buy paints (running $10 or more a tube these days), and I
don’t have to wait for anything to dry before I proceed
(again, using oil colors). The whole concept of using a computer
to finish or enhance a painting is such a thrill, I can’t
imagine ever wanting to go back to the messy, expensive old-fashioned
way. Art is now a technological activity! |