Cath Sheard Art

Tag: photos

Creating a base layer
Although I can do all kinds of things I suspect I have only scratched the surface of what can be done with Photoshop. Not that I am wanting to create digital art as an end in itself, more that I want to create things that I can use in my art that are solely my own work. That way there are no tricky copyright issues and that has to be a good thing, right?

These pieces started with photos I took last night at a friend’s place and have two or three layers each. I’ll be transfering them onto canvas and them painting more layers over the top.
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January 2, 2009
Puppy portrait time
I have been taking cute photos of our puppy. Well okay, Faith’s not really a puppy, in fact she’s almost 2 years old. I think she’ll always be a puppy to me. Anyway … I thought “why not paint her?” … so I did.
Tony looked at the end result and said “it looks like a bunch of lines going in all directions” then looked at the photo and laughed. In all honesty, from the right angle, Faith really does look like a bunch of fur thrown in a heap. Judge for yourself! BTW – you can visit Faith’s blog here.
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September 23, 2008
Trying a new direction
Circles 4

This weekend I have been working (playing) with new directions; nothing serious, just seeing what happens. This wee one is a 4×4″ box canvas – it has a lot of layers, some scumbling, some stamping, some glazing. I’ve also been working on a new set of four 4x4s ready for the new gallery in Christchurch.

I’ve also been working on a digital entry for the latest Masters Month challenge, Andy Warhol, with the NZ Art Guild. I took a self-portrait using my Nikon D40 then manipulated it in Photoshop Elements to get a Warhol style self-portrait poster.
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September 20, 2008
Playing “what if?”
A good photocopier is a wonderful tool for artists. I have some photos of the moon, seen through long grass, that I use over and over again. Every now and then I spend some time and money playing with our work photocopier. At only $1 for a colour copy, it’s a bargain.

Playing with the photocopier means thinking about things like; how would this look as a negative? With the saturation turned right up? With the green turned right down? Black and white with very high contrast?

Recently I copied a dozen pages of the same three photos. This picture is just one photo of the three on a page – so for only $12 I have 36 reference images. Cool, I hear you say, but why not just mess round in Photoshop? Well, I do that too, but there’s something about seeing the immediate result come out of the copier, and then adjusting my choices accordingly, that is more satisfying and useful to me than only seeing the image on screen.
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September 14, 2008
Full moon
I’m one of those people who are really affected by the full moon. Perhaps it is the light through our bedroom curtains, perhaps it is some tidal pull – who knows? What I do know is, come the full moon, I am *wide awake*, and likely to be found painting or emailing at 3am 😉

One afternoon Mum and I drove down to the beach for a quick look round and, quite by accident, I got some amazing shots of the full moon in a bright deep-blue sky, seen through the long grass. I have used the images over and over and over; and will continue to do so. Here is the latest moon painting. This one is acrylic on 30×40″ gallery wrap canvas and is heading for exhibition in Auckland in September.
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August 28, 2008