I was playing around with Photoshop Elements and found a very easy and economical way to turn my favorite photos into art. Why pay big $$, when you may have a hidden gem right on your ol' point and shoot? And truthfully, it is easy. If you can stumble through a Guided-edit to "crop" and do an "auto fix", then stumble on over to a Full-edit to make a few more clicks on the screen, then you too can create some "Art". And boy do I stumble. Every time I open Photoshop it's like starting all over again-- eyes get wide, I start mumbling stuff like "Now what do I do?"; "I know it's here somewhere!"; "What the ??!!", then I start clicking around the screen aimlessly. One day it'll all make sense, but until then... I'll just make it up as I go along ('cause I'm crazy like that).
So anyhow, my soon-to-be craft room needs a little color, so I thought I'd tinker around with some flower photos that I took a few years back. This one is from Butchart Gardens~
{Original Photo}
{Applied 5x7 Crop}
With a few clicks, the magic begins...
Select {Filter>Artistic>Watercolor}
{Water Color filter} ~ soft but with some darker details
Or how about these "works of art"?
Select {Filter>Artistic>Paint Daubs}
{Paint Daubs filter} ~ a soft, bright look
Select {Filter>Artistic>Plastic Wrap}
{Plastic Wrap filter} ~ I love the added texture on the flowers and leaves
Select {Filter>Artistic>Cut Out}
{Cutout filter} ~ the most modern look
~♥♥♥~
I thought I'd try out some of the filters on a non-floral photo-- How about an action shot? Here are some Artistic Effects on one of my favorite photos taken in Venice, Italy~
{Original Photo}
needs to be cropped since you can see the front of our gondola in the frame
{Dry Brush filter}
{Poster Edges filter} ~ interesting what it did to the sky
{Water Color filter} ~ love the watery effect on the buildings. I think this is my fav.
~♥♥♥~