One of my
favorite books back when I was young was The Once and Future King by
T.H. White. In it, the wizard Merlyn tells the boy who will become
King Arthur that “The best thing for being sad is to learn
something.” And I have valued that advice all of my life. Set
yourself to learning something interesting, and, for a while at
least, worries and problems are kept at bay.
I certainly
forget myself when I'm delving into magical, marvelous Photoshop.
I've been using it since 2001, but there is always something new to
learn. Beyond my shelf of Photoshop books, the Web offers what seems
like infinite tutorials, videos, online courses. I subscribe to
Photoshop Roadmap which compiles tutorials, tips and techniques on
all aspects of PS. In the article "5 ways to create Photoshop watercolor effects, explained and compared," I especially liked the
technique demonstrated by in this video by Marty Geller from Blue
Lightning TV.
It's
uncomplicated, just a few simple steps, but you have final control of
the result. I think it worked best on this image.
You can
compare it with the original photo I took of ferries in Portland,
Maine last fall. The plain blue sky became a lot more interesting
due to the brushstrokes applied in the main step. I redid that
several times until I got an effect that I liked.
The lilies more
closely resemble the original photo; I increased the watercolor paper
texture to give it less of a photographic appearance. I also played
with the colors, intensifying the orange contrast in the center of
the flowers.
The third photo
was taken in Woodstock, Vermont. I like the way the watercolor
technique softened the house and put more focus on the gloriously
blooming hydrangea. Nothing dramatic, just pretty, but sometimes
that's perfectly satisfying.
Of course, with
all the complexity that Photoshop offers, these steps could be just
one effect in a more elaborate composition. In fact, sometimes it's
difficult to stop piling on the effects because you never know when
something wonderful will appear. And while your eyes are glued on
the screen and your hand is clutching your mouse or stylus, you
forget that it's time to fix dinner or way past time for bed. You keep going
because, as Meryln concluded “...what a lot of things there are to
learn.”
