Search This Blog

Bryce Canyon Fantasy

Bryce Canyon LandscapeAnd now for something completely different. In this month's edition of Photoshop User Magazine, Bert Monroy gives a lesson on adding a starry sky to a photo. I thought I'd try it out for some fun and to learn some new tricks and used this photo of Bryce Canyon in Utah that I took a couple of years ago.

Bert is a master of digital art. I went to a training class given by him in LA last year and was just blown away by what the guy can do and as I felt overwhelmed by his mastery of Photoshop and the sheer volume of information he was passing out I kept thinking to myself "What the hell am I doing here"! Bert paints with Photoshop in the same way an artist paints with a brush. He only takes photos of his subject matter to act as aids to memory and for sketching his work; his "paintings" are made completely with Photoshop.

At the time I took his class he had not long finished his masterpiece of the Damen Station on the Blue Line of the Chicago Transit Authority (Damen can be seen on Bert Monroy's website). He told us that the months and months of painstaking work (about 2000 hours in all) that he put into this huge 40x120 inch digital painting left him feeling like he never wanted to do anything like that again.

Fantasy photo art - Bryce CanyonAnyhow, my piece of fantasy art looks rather rudimentary, but it was fun and I learned some new things. (See larger version here)

If you want to learn more about using Photoshop, I recommend joining the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. As part of your membership you'll get the Photoshop User magazine, which is always jammed full with Photoshop lessons for beginners to advanced. Click here to join NAPP

Comments

Young at Heart: The Active Seniors Collection + Massive Redbubble Sale!

Ollie Grandpa Stepping into the freedom of retirement after a long, 45-year career completely shifts your perspective. You finally have the time to let loose, hit the road, and truly embrace the fun side of life! That joyful, unrestrained energy is exactly what I wanted to capture in my newest Redbubble collection. I'm so excited to introduce my new " Active Seniors " series, featuring designs that perfectly embody the "young at heart" spirit. The series features a vibrant, adventurous little old lady tearing it up, and a matching active grandpa catching some serious air on a skateboard or cruising on a bright orange motor scooter. Complete with flower-adorned helmets, flying striped scarves, and big, beaming smiles, these characters are a tribute to everyone who refuses to slow down. These make fantastic graphic tees, travel mugs, or stickers for your own "Fa...

Finding Warmth in the Wild: A Western Gay Romance Story

Gay Cowboys Reading Under the Mountain Sky There is a specific kind of silence out in the wilderness, far from city lights — a quiet that draws people together. With my latest digital artwork, "Under the Mountain Sky," I wanted to capture that feeling of finding your own private world in the middle of a vast landscape. A Story by Firelight This romantic image features a gay cowboy couple sharing a quiet evening, settling in against a tree to read by the light of a campfire. It's a simple moment, but it speaks volumes about comfort, safety, and deep affection. I focused heavily on the lighting contrast to tell this story. The warm, dancing oranges and yellows of the fire represent that safe, shared space of connection. Outside of that glow, the cool purples and deep blues of the twilight mountain range stretch out, emphasizing that all they need is right there in that circ...

Capturing Serenity: Dive into the Mystical World of the Pale Blue Iris

"Ethereal Iris" — the finished artwork. © John Corney The bearded iris is one of the most rewarding flowers to photograph, and one of the most difficult to photograph well . Its ruffled, almost impossibly intricate petals catch light beautifully — but they also sit in busy garden beds, surrounded by foliage and distractions that pull the eye away. This post is the story of one iris, and how it travelled from a quick phone snapshot to the finished artwork I've called Ethereal Iris . The Garden I Always Meant to Visit I first heard of Descanso Gardens many years ago, when it was featured on one of Huell Howser's shows on PBS . Like a lot of viewers, I watched, thought "what a lovely place — I really must go there someday," and then somehow never did. The years went by and Descanso stayed on the someday list. What finally got me there was my photography friend Denise, who sugge...