Thursday, October 28, 2010

Using Photoshop to compose a painting


I am at the nail biting stage of this painting. It is almost finished so I am scared of ruining it. Because of the clean background on this one (it took a couple of weeks and six or eight coats of paint to get the smooth gradient) I can't paint over any mistakes. So Photoshop comes in handy for trying new ideas. I want to add more branches to the tree.


Maybe some more branches on the top.


Or some branches on the sides.

The animal is a mountain beaver which is native to Washington State. It is about cat sized and has a stubby furry tail, not a beaver tail. I'll post more about it later but for now I have to choose how to position the branches and then get to the studio. Each twig takes such a long time to paint.

This painting is four feet wide. I love all the empty space.

5 comments:

  1. aplodontia!! i had the pleasure of watching one grazing by the roadside in carnation.

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  2. In a way, photoshop feels like cheating... but then, I'm sure Michelangelo would have used it, too. A perfect way to save on all those carefully painted layers! I love the first version; as you wrote, empty spaces are just as important as filled ones. It is so well proportioned, as it is. Have lovely weekend, Liisa.

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  3. we have mountain beavers . They do a lot of digging which isn't very cute, then Sadie our lab digs after them and make "ankle-turners" all over the yard. I love the empty space too. How about some free time to go with it?

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  4. first one is the strongest!
    love your work..

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  5. Clever trick using Photoshop to add elements without actually painting them in yet.

    -Dean

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