LAYERING EXPERIMENT 2 IN PHOTOSHOP

Chippewah 5, Demonstration of Layering Using Modes. © by Ruth Zachary

This Post is a continuing demonstration of how Using the same basic layers, and how by changing the Modes of the layers, the resulting configuration of colors, shapes and relationships within a composition can be changed. The initial explanation of these experiments began on the previous post, dated May 25, 2014.

The settings for each mode change are recorded step by step:

 

CHIPPEWAH 5. layer1- Chippewah Background at Bottom , Mode- Normal

            LAYER 1, KP Mod, - Top position Mode - Saturation

            Layer 2, Pale Blue Dawn. Middle layer.  Mode – Darken

 

CHIPPEWAH 6 - LAYER 1 Chippewah, Background, Mode - Normal

            LAYER 1, KP Mod, - Top position,  Mode -Saturation

            Layer 2, Pale Blue Dawn. Middle position,  Mode - Saturation

Chippewah 6 ,  Only Layer 2 in the Middle was changed to Saturation.                                            ©by Ruth Zachary

LAYERING EXPERIMENTS IN PHOTOSHOP

Chippewah, Used as Background Layer for Series. © by Ruth Zachary

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A SERIES OF ABSTRACT LAYERING EXPERIMENTS IN PHOTOSHOP

The Series name, Chippewah, came from a nearly disintegrated year-book cover from 1920. The flaked texture and color appealed to me, and is the background layer in this series. This scan has been used  many  times. 

            KP Mod was created in Kid Pix. Pale Blue Dawn was another piece made in another Photoshop series of experiments,  named Where Visions Gather. Dancing Around White was another piece generated in the same kind of process. That piece was completed as a collage on a Masonite panel, and no longer looks like the Computer design-study.

Going through the process step by step may help the viewer to see how changes are achieved on the computer, using modes and other techniques, with many possible versions.  Sometimes the process seems easy, but sometimes I spend a whole day experimenting, with nothing to show for my time. In the explanations given below, I have recorded all steps I have tried myself.

I will continue posting these steps on this blog until they are complete.

KP Mod, Used as Layer 1 in this Series. It Was Also Used in the Imagery of the Previous Post. © by Ruth Zachary

The series began with three layers. Layer 2 was named Pale blue Dawn, shown below.

Pale Blue Dawn. Layer 2 of this Chippewah Series. © by Ruth Zachary

Chippewah Series, #4, Bright Sunshiny Day, First Result of Series,  Using Modes with Layers in Photoshop. © by Ruth Zachary

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CHIPPEWAH 4 – layer1- Chippewah  as Background, Mode- Normal.

            LAYER 1, KP Mod, - Top position, Mode -Saturation

            Layer 2 Pale Blue Dawn. Middle,  Mode Normal 

You will see in the nexr few posts, that a great many of the resulting images from this process are extremely varied and in some cases do not resemble their parents much at all. 

Most of the images measure about 14x17" and are 300 dpi in Photoshop.

From four finished pieces to begin with, a total of seventeen images resulted. Although I would not accept some of them as works to display, all the same they do demonstrate the variations adequately to use as an example of How to. Of course you will want to gather your own textures so the results from your own experiments are completely your own.

Images and Writing are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

LAYERING IMAGE CUT-OUTS

-->  On March 30, I explained I was experimenting with  layering methods, using different layer combinations and different modes on the top layers. The textures originally created in low resolution paint programs were then copied into Photoshop as a means for designing, discovering color combinations and for stimulating freedom and play into my process.


I had at that time,  discovered a new technique to use with this methodology, which I hoped to share in the future. It took longer than I anticipated to return with experiments  creating compositions in this new method, because I needed to work on a theme project with realistic images just then, even though the technique worked equally well with both abstraction and realism.

Coins of the Realm 1. Computer Layered Composition  7.5x10" ©by Ruth Zachary

The layers I chose to combine included two textured abstract layers, a third layer with a Kid Pix geometric design, and then a fourth layer containing a scanned image of various coins. I used the select the white background option in Photoshop on the coin layer, to select and cut out the background around the coins just in that layer. In the above version, it is easy to see how the coins were affected by changing the modes of different layers. Some details in the coins are still visible. Working in a small size allows working faster with many layers, because it is less memory intensive.

Coins of the Realm 2. Computer Layered Composition. 7. 5x10" © by Ruth Zachary

The different colors and values were the result of changes in the modes. Even though the coins have a different appearance, the coins remained in the same relationships to each other and to the dominant design of the Kid Pix geometric composition. To save each version, I used "Save As " to preserve the images I liked. Layers were flattened in each saved version.  Paint textures on some layers can be seen on the surface, as well, although the Kid Pix design was mostly in flat colors to start with.

Coins of the Realm 3. Computer Layered Composition. 7. 5x10" © by Ruth Zachary

Changing the mode of the layers then results in other combinations. In this version, the circular motif seems to shift, although the coins did not change position. Also in this version, the coins have no details. This composition is quite different from the original Kid Pix creation, but has more of the flattened color areas like the original. I think this is the one I like best.

What is new about this method, at least to me, is that the coins were cut out and they have a completely different impact, than working with several full sized, fully filled layers. I have carried this on to yet another step, using photographic cut out images. Cut out drawings, paintings, or separated distorted images offer unlimited potential for integrating realistic or semi-realistic images with abstraction.Since this is something I have been working toward, for a long time, I find this to be very exciting! The next step of this process will appear on my Montage Blog soon.


All Images and Writing are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

IN THE WIND

For four days or so, we have had rather cold dismal weather-  temps in the 50s, too cold for the mower to start, and to mow for the first time this year. Meanwhile the grass and the weeds are gaining by inches every day.

This brings me to say, in spite of best laid plans, one does not always have control of all the factors involved for dealing with daily tasks. I see many yard work responsibilities, which must be addressed when the weather is right, and in a timely manner. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with it all.

Therefore I am probably not going to blog as often as I would like over the summer months. I will write when I can, do art work when I can, with the reduced goal of blogging twice a month for a while.

Ruth Zachary.

TOASTER DOODLE?

White Bread. Computer Design in Kid Pix and Photoshop. 12x16"            © by Ruth Zachary.

This design began using Kid Pix. It started using small KP drawing and paint tools, and another, which outlines droplets, strokes, lines etc. Over the textures created, I added roughly drawn bread slices in a grid configuration. Geometric shapes, and Grids are designed to exploit patterns and composition on a two-dimensional picture plane.

After that, randomly generated tools were applied to the grid pattern, which included some areas of patterned details, and also other diagonally defined blocks of color.

When the grid was copied into Photoshop, open transparent areas appeared between the colored shapes where white appeared in Kid Pix. Another textured (beige) layer was placed behind the grid, to border and fill the transparent areas.

A piece of real gluten free bread was scanned into Photoshop, and the shape was cut out and placed on top.

Please note: I use my art work to illustrate other blogs, Earth Born Health, and R Z Writestuff. This image was posted yesterday on my health Blog. To identify the image as mine, and to show readers how to find my art blogs, I have added the blog address on top of the image. This information is not attached to the actual art work, if anyone is interested in acquiring a particular piece.


Writing and Images are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary

FROM STUDY TO FINISHED ART

Concert in Blue Flat Minor, Study. 12x16" © by Ruth Zachary

This study was one of several geometric abstractions started by using Kid Pix, and then copied into Photoshop for further development. Although I like the compositions developed in this way, I also like the hands-on approach with painting or collage, and the ability to move actual cut out paper images from one place to another.

The concept of this piece was to express the sorrow I feel over the suffering of all people who are caught up in war. I found an article containing letters from soldiers, and I copied fragments of the letters and collaged them into a piece  based on this earlier study, but on a canvas format that was not as long as the first image concept.

Design elements printed on good papers from the study along with flower images and the letter fragments were adhered to the canvas with acrylic medium. The result is shown below.

Concert in Blue Flat Minor, Acrylic Collage. Size 20x24". ©by Ruth Zachary

As  can be seen, the finished rendition at the bottom is a different arrangement than the first, although in my opinion both versions have compostional integrity and work well. I chose to depart from the strictly vertical direction with a slight slant to the right, to suggest depth.

When I print out computer images, I use a light weight paper capable of retaining photographic detail.

When adhering papers to the surface, I coat the foundation surface with medium, soak the paper briefly in water, blot it briefly, and then place the cut or torn paper on the surface and smooth the air pockets toward the edges. Sometimes wrinkles are left for texture, but if not wanted, the brief presoak on both sides is enough for the paper to shrink and bond to the foundation. After it is dried, the surface is finished with two coats of acrylic matte varnish. 

(Note - some papers will allow ink colors to run, or blur or turn too dark. This feature can be used to an advantage, but it is best to know what the outcome will be beforehand.)

The frame was made by a friend from wood, and the frame was painted to complement the artwork.

Writing and Images are the copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

COMBINING REALISM WITH ABSTRACTION

RUTH ZACHARY MONTAGE

Polkadot Pig. 8x11" Computer Composition.  © by Ruth Zachary

Ultimately, I think my goal as an artist is to be able to combine recognizable imagery and abstraction.
After years of combining realistic images in a montage presentation, I felt my work lacked spontaneity, but I found it hard to return to present the images in any approach but realism. I have struggled a long time to be able to be able to express my art in a the way I would wish.

EPIPHANY WITH A POLKADOT PIG

In the previous Post and Abstract experiment, I had just discovered that a cut out subject transplanted into a composition could be integrated into the character of the previous work by layering it into the background by applying different modes.

Recently I have also been working to create more realistic work with a bicycle theme, and had already cut out a bicycle in great detail, with a blank background. I moved the bicycle to a new document, and adjusted the size so it would fit into Scribble Paint 9. (Layer 1)  The  realistic bicycle worked pretty well without changing the mode because of linear qualities in the abstract background.

I liked Scribble Paint 9 as an abstract piece, but I could also envision a pink pig, riding the bicycle, outlined in yellow, painted in the splashy style of the abstract Apple Works paint strokes. Layering, using modes on the pig could make the pig consistent with the rest of the composition. I created the pig twice before copying it into the composition. Then I tried all the modes available on the pig cut out, some of which worked and some that didn’t. I adjusted the pig to 90% opacity, so some of the paint strokes beneath showed through, which helped a lot.

What  I learned in that moment was that I had been painting my subjects so realistically, that the subject or the background were no longer consistent in character. I want to maintain an image that is true to the realistic form, but not necessarily photographically detailed, as in my Bicycle Café painting, shown in sequence on my Montage Blog. I need to paint in a manner consistent with the surrounding impressionistic elements of the painting. It requires seeing the whole in a different manner.

ANOTHER EPIPHANY

The act of putting a cut out object into the abstract setting, could have ended with the same sort of inconsistency, not integrated into the whole. But using cut out shapes with Layers in Photoshop offers infinite possibilities for integrating realistic images into an abstract composition. And what is learned can be applied to hands on painting! Or not. The choice is up to the artist.

More adjustments were required.When the pig cutout was copied into the image, I needed to adjust the size and perspective of the happy little creature. When applying different modes, the pink pig with yellow outlines was changed to pink and purple with white outlines, but the new colors still worked with Scribble Paint 9. In one part of the  pig’s surrounding area (a semi transparent apricot tone) was  cut out, copied back in as a fourth layer, and flipped vertically and horizontally so it dominated the top of the composition, with the intention of seeing if the modes helped.

The original orientation of Scribble Paint 9 (layer 1)was flipped horizontally, as was layer four.  I tried different modes on the top two layers. Eventually, I deleted small areas of the top layers so the composition retained some of the original color and character of the background retained in the normal mode. I decided eventually to change the mode of the bicycle, which in this variation, picked up the other colors of the composition.

Eventually I rejected the pig composition, as too busy, which is the price of experimentation, and yet the rewards are so many, I can't complain. Finally I took another Abstract, Scribble Paint 8 and layered the bicycle into that.

Scribble Paint 8 with Bicycle. 8x11". © Ruth Zachary

To see the bicycle paintings and another version of this post, follow this link to 

Ruth Zachary Montage. However, blogger adds a %20 to my Url, and it will not take a viewer
to the correct site. Every time I re enter the Url, it does the same thing again. I don't know why.

Writing and Images on this blog are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

LET YOUR INNER CHILD OUT!

Scribble Paint 9, Computer Study, Size 8x11"                     © by Ruth Zachary

This composition evolved out of the layering methods previously described, using different layer combinations. The Scribble paint textures from low resolution paint programs were then copied into Photoshop as a means for designing, discovering color combinations and for stimulating freedom and play into my process, and shared with viewers in hope that others will enjoy the approach as much as I do.

I have just discovered a new technique to use with this methodology, which I plan to share next time.


Writing and Art Images are the Copy Right © of Ruth Zachary.

CREATING ON THE COMPUTER

DESIGNING WITH LOW RESOLUTION PAINT PROGRAMS

This is a continuation of the previous blog dated March 14, "Discovering Abstraction," also about using low resolution paint programs, for designing organic and/or geometric compositions. Some draw-paint tools may be found in word processing programs. An old program, Claris Works, predating Apple Works, used on Mac computers had such features.

Created in Claris Works 8x11"     © by Ruth Zachary

As you can see, the program could create several geometric shapes of several kind, outlined or not, and including rectangles with rounded corners. Organic shapes could also be drawn free-hand with a mouse or a tablet. The paint tools were great, too, with gradient fills with two colors as shown above.
Brushes could be customized to make streaked tracks in a certain color, which would often show more than one color, depending upon the color of the background. The airbrush or spatter tool was interesting too.

I saved this design in a simplified state, so I could make many other experimental variations, which I choose to call working in series. I save the variations I like. One advantage to starting a composition in a low resolution program is that you can work very rapidly, and intuitively as you would using paint or other tools, but you can easily save all the steps in between. Low resolution also does not require much storage space. Designs or small sections can easily be copied in one program and pasted into another.

Orange Blue Brown, 8x11"  © by Ruth Zachary

In this stage of developing the series, the image was copied into Photoshop and enlarged somewhat to fill letter sized paper. I frequently create different layers using that capability in Photoshop, and use

different experimentally textured images over the basic design, usually labeled "background." This 

time the design was flipped horizontally. I do not remember what texture was placed over it, but usually I make the top layer somewhat transparent, and then try changing the mode of the top layer.

What will result usually cannot be predicted and sometimes nothing is worth keeping. But  some compostions created in this experimental way offer a wonderful place to start and move on.

Aqua Violet 4   8x11"           © by Ruth Zachary

This time the background layer was flipped vertically. I believe I used another textured layer, and later,  a drawn layer, and perhaps even another layer at different stages of experimentation. Some resulting images look nothing like the original, but I chose those which retained some of the basic design for this demonstration so the viewer could see traces of the evolution to this stage. 

Many of the designs created in this way do not use layers all the same size. Sometimes free hand shapes are cut and pasted and rotated within the original layout. Often large portions are cut out of another composition and placed into the basic design. Or sections can be put into different layers and shuffled to make a completely different composition. There are design choices made at every step.

The computer as a tool allows an infinite number of options, but the computer is not in control. The artist is the one making the aesthetic decisions. It allows the process of creation to work at its best!

Writing and Images shown here are the Copyright  © of Ruth Zachary.

THREE KINDS OF ABSTRACTION

When asked to bring more art work in to Madison and Main Gallery in Greeley, Colorado, I chose three abstract pieces. The Theme is Finding Home, and for me they represent home in a general way.

I have lived in Greeley for ten years. I chose a painting of the Sodbuster Barn, a landmark historic building of Greeley, a semi geometric piece in the colors of the winter desert, Desert Concert, and another more organic composition, called Where Visions Gather which has the feeling of the foliage so prevalent within this town, and including the mountain views on the Western horizon.

To see these pieces on display, Visit  Madison and Main Gallery , 927  16^th St, Greeley CO.  Open 10 am to 6 pm Tues thru Friday and Saturday 10am  to 4 pm. The theme is Finding Home, on display through April 2014. Ph, 970-351-6201.         

Visit Web Site  -  http://madisonandmaingallery.com to see other pieces that have been featured under my name on that site.

Writing and images shown here are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary. 

Where Visions Gather, Acrylic Collage, 18x24"  © by Ruth Zachary

Sodbuster Barn, Mixed media 12x16" © by Ruth Zachary

Desert Concert, Collage, Acrylic, 18x24"  © by Ruth Zachary