Week 10, Day 6: Freebie Card

The week 10 Card is done and I realized that I missed a day this week.  Not sure where or when, I thought I had posted everyday.  I loved the images from yesterday where I manipulated layer filters in Photoshop to create a different look for the black dogwood graphic I created.  I took my favorite image and applied different filters to change only the color.  Depending on which filter I used depended on what part of the image was changed.  Some of the filters used were hue/saturation, channel mixer, levels, curves and selective color.

The Final Image:

The final image,
a collage of different colored blossoms.

The Freebie Card:

The download link.

So what do you think?  I'd love to hear what you think about the blog, get suggestions for future inspiration, how you've used the cards or if you've gotten comments on them.

Week 10, Day 3: Going Graphic

In trying to do something a little different, I decided on a simple graphic image of a dogwood blossom.  Simple it was not. I started out very simple then seemed to add more detail as I progressed.  It took a long time to do this all in Adobe Illustrator. But I did learn some new tricks as I played around with it, and after all this is a learning and discovery journey, so what if my kids got leftovers for dinner!

After finishing this and then coming back later, I thought about why I like dogwoods -- because they bring light and life to a seemingly lifeless and dead area.  And this image looks so dark, it just doesn't capture my feeling...something to work on later today.....

Week 10, Day 2: More Photos and Sketches

Today was a beautiful day and I took some time to go outside to take some more photos of the dogwoods so I would have some more sketch references.  One of the reasons that I love dogwoods is that they bloom and dot the brown bark of winter with new life.  It's so just so pretty, unfortunately my photos just don't capture my vision.  Why is that?

Then I did some sketching late tonight.  I also got S's markers and did a marker drawing too.  Then I took it into photoshop and added some colors that S didn't have.  I also played made one of the drawings look like copper.

sketch, sort of what I see...

Now, through the magic of Photoshop,
it's a copper etching.

My marker sketch of a dogwood flower.

What is your favorite flower?  or tree?  Or what do you like best about spring?

Week 10, Inspiration

This week, although quite unseasonably cold here in the south, spring is in the air.  One of my favorite parts of spring is everything coming back to life again.  Trees are blooming, grass is getting greener, and the flowers are all starting to bloom.  This week's inspiration comes from nature.  I wasn't able to go and get all the photos that I wanted yesterday, but I did get a few in the last rays of daylight last night.