As I type, it's 5.56am Friday and I'm determined to be very organised and ready to enter Paint Party Friday today.
So.... I'm gathering my pics, brushing off my 'mind cobwebs', sorting out my words, have set the "stand-up-and-walk-around" alarm, on the phone, for every 30 minutes and here I go :D) ...........
This is Kookaburra he started life as a first Birthday card for our Great Nephew.
For this post, I felt he looked a bit lonely with no background, so I decided to re-learn the photo editing programme Gimp (Version 2.8 which is free online) so as to combine with one of my photos of our eucalypt trees.
Here's the result:
A little further down I've included a pic of the original card.
Here's the source of my inspiration for Kooka... this fairly dominating fellow didn't like Magpie having exclusive rights to the food we left out, so I took some photos as he also enjoyed a feed:
~ The Process ~
I remembered to take some photos as I worked through the card.
Starting off with watercolours:
I quickly decided to change to acrylics and to apply some with a palette knife:
He needed a bit of texture for his beautiful plumage:
This is the end result... a card made with love for a sweet one year old:
As I say, for this post I wanted to add something more.
I used to work this photo editing programme with ease a few years' ago when I had a short stint on Redbubble, but I'd forgotten how to drive it!
So, to good old YouTube and the many generous people who make free tutorials... that soon got me going again:
I was actually very thrilled to be able to brush up on editing, and now I haven't stopped creating digital art using my paintings and photos... with my dear family as subjects... am having a lot of fun doing it.
I know there are many accomplished digital artists out there in Paint Party-land, however, if there's anyone contemplating learning digital editing, and can't afford Photoshop, I'm going to share this very easy to follow video because it's helped open up another way of expressing art for me.
I hope it's of assistance to someone else too:
Gimp tutorial - How to combine / blend two pictures together
Linking to Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday, where the happiest of artists gather... and everyone's welcome!
I love this bird, Sue, and what a gorgeous painting!
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Linda. Enjoy the weekend :D) xx
DeleteSue this bird is amazing. Well done and Ohh on figuring out how to drive the program too. I forget how to do things too if I don't use them often.
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to forget things yes Nicole :D)
DeleteAm enjoying the challenge to re-learn... thanks for popping by xx
LOVE that bird, you painted it so well. I use my photo editing programmes a lot, but can imagine forgetting things if I didn't. Good to see you back with us! Happy PPF, Hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Valerie, really appreciate your comments and Happy PPF to you too :D) xx
DeleteYour Kookaburra painting is wonderful, Sue. So beautiful and bold! You made a smart digital work with it. Thanks for nice photos and tutorials, too.
ReplyDeleteHave happy PPF and weekend xx
Thanks very much Sirkkis. Glad you enjoyed and lovely to read your comments. Happy PPF :D) xx
Deletewonderful is the Bird, you painted it so fantastic!
ReplyDeleteHappy PPF and weekend
Elke
Very many thanks Elke, much appreciated. Happy PPF to you! xx
DeleteLovely little bird. I sometimes find photo editing a chore; I suppose that comes with sending off images to editors. I would spend hours editing photos only to have them rejected, but that's all part of the game, I suppose. You've done a great job though. A beautiful piece.
ReplyDeleteHi John, thanks so much :D)
DeleteI can understand what you mean about the hours spent editing photos, not from my limited experience but from being aware of the work one of our dear granddaughters puts into this area of expertise.
Appreciate you dropping by, have a Happy PPF !
Hi, Sue, fellow Aussie :D
ReplyDeleteLovely painting of a kookaburra :D I haven't painted one myself, but you are inspiring me to go out and give it a go.
he has lovely texture in his feathers and looking at his size, using a painting knife must have been a challenge. I've only ever used them on large paintings - you've done a fantastic job.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Best wishes,
Liz
(waving from Adelaide)
Hi Liz, lovely to meet you... waving back at you from South East Gippland in Victoria :D)
DeleteThanks kindly re palette knife, I love how forgiving acrylic paint is... so I scratched and dabbed and overpainted until I was happy with things ;D)
When I enlarged my photos, I was amazed at the patterns and colours in the Kookaburras feathers - definitely fun to paint.
Cheers now and appreciate your visit. Happy PPF!
Great addition to your lovely bird Sue. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks so kindly Lin :D) Enjoy your weekend - hope some sunshine made it to you! Cheers xx
DeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Regine :D)
DeleteHello, I would love too see your Kookaburra in the wild. Your painting is beautiful, well done. Have a happy day and enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteHi Eileen, they're lovely to watch in the wild ... a group of 2 or 3 regularly visit our neighbour's eucalypts and then start up their 'laughing'. I'll never tire of seeing them :D)
DeleteThanks for your visit and I appreciate your lovely comments. Have a great weekend too. Cheerio xx
The kookaburra is my favourite bird. You have done a good job of painting one. I'm glad you are having fun making digital art. We have a U3A class on Gimp in Logan.
ReplyDeleteBeaut to see you Diane and, thanks, I'm glad you liked him.
DeleteIt's lovely being able to combine my own photos with my paintings - and Gimp is the type of programme that suits those purposes very well, plus it's free ... always a bonus ;D) It would be great to have attended a class on it - can certainly recommend learning it Diane, if you have a look through a lot of artists' work via Paint Party Friday you'll see the fabulous digital art they do and what is possible.
Cheers now, enjoy the weekend xx
How gorgeous! I love to see paintings from start to finish so thanks for sharing that. Your bird is adorable and such a super present for your nephew.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the GIMP tutorial. I use Photoshop but my 11 year old daughter is really getting into digital art now and we downloaded GIMP for her. I'm going to pass on the tutorial to her. It looks like a good one :)
Hi Sal, thank you kindly. I do hope the tutorial is of help to your daughter :D)
DeleteCheers and Happy PPF!
Beautiful bird I will definitely check out Gimp thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLovely of you to visit, thanks Christine :D) xx
DeleteWonderful! Lovely bird. So sweet! Happy PPF!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Maria. Happy PPF to you too :D)
DeleteAmazing picture! Have a nice weekend;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Anne.
DeleteI hope you enjoy your weekend too :D) xx
What a cutie! Love him :) You guys in Australia have the best names for birds and animals too btw :) Happy PPF from Number 32 :)
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, thanks for your lovely comments :D) Have a great weekend and Happy PPF!
DeleteWonderful, it was fun seeing all the steps along the way. :)
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated Julie, thank you :D) XX
DeleteBeautiful digital art ~ that bird is magnificent and thanks for the tutorial info will need to check it out ~ thanks, ^_^
ReplyDelete(A ShutterBug Explores) Thanks for coming by my blog and commenting. I am a bit late
Lovely to read your comments Carol, thank you.
DeleteNo, not late... PPF extends right through the week ;D) Cheers!
luv the bird, happy PPF
ReplyDeleteMUCH LOVE...
Beaut and thanks Gillena! Cheers xx
DeleteWhat an excellent tutorial! Well done! Thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jenn... enjoy your weekend! xx
Deleteaw, thanks Felicia :D) xx
ReplyDeleteA wonderful little painting for your card! Such a funny bird - I love them! Interesting to learn a bit about the photo-editing, too. xx Karen
ReplyDeleteReally appreciated, thank you Karen :D) xx
DeleteAustralia, Australia...your post woke me up: all funny names and words you have (for my ears/eys) like Woolloomooloo, Woollahra...lallalaa :)
ReplyDeleteWalking in Sydney, our visit in Adeleide many years ago...Eucalyptus trees are amazing, their skin looks so special. I have tons of photos of them :)
And of course birds. Birds I've never seen/heard here in Scandinavia. Their looks and singing - aaaah. Like your painting!
Happy PPF!
Hi there, thanks for your comment.
DeleteYes, I can imagine how different our place names must sound to you, also to get your tongue around.
Many of them have an Aboriginal (Indigenous Australian) meaning - and, when translated, describe the land/fauna/flora, or, a little bit of the history of early Australia. Like a lot of history throughout the world some is good and some is bad.
Our blogs certainly enable us to see and learn about the differences in our various countries don't they, and it's lovely to be able to communicate like this.
Cheers and Happy PPF!
You were up early! Even before the sun... just. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love your little kookaburra and the insight into your working process – very clever layering your painted bird with a background photo.
What did we do without YouTube? I’d be lost without it now. That and Google.
Happy Gimping… xx
Hi there Vicki!
DeleteYes, I seem to keep 'chook hours' the older I get!
aw, thanks, am really pleased you loved kookaburra - the more I enlarged my photos of him the more I was really impressed with the patterns and colours on his feathers.
I agree, the way we can use the internet these days still knocks me out...
Lovely to see you, hugs xx
In my life, I never knew what a kookaburra looked like, only knew a children's song about one. Now I know and this is precious. You really did a lovely job on his feathers. Happy PPF, on Sat.
ReplyDeleteThat's so lovely Susan, I'm really glad you enjoyed seeing him.
DeleteYes, I often remember that song ... we were taught it right from an early age:
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Merry merry King of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be"
Thanks for your visit, Cheers!
Sue, this is a fabulous painting of the kookaburra! And the eucalyptus painting is also beautiful. Combining them makes a lovely scene. Like Susan above, I had never known what one was and had sung the song as a child.
ReplyDeleteThanks so kindly Faye for your lovely comments. Really beaut to see you :D)
DeleteI marvel at your ability to creat digitally. I love the bird. Beautiful color and details.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely of you to say Diane... tutorials make it very easy - the one I've included in the post doesn't have any talking which I sometimes find distracting. Thanks for dropping by and for your comments. Cheers :D)
DeleteI love your Kookaburra painting, and the real thing, too! I've been considering getting gimp. I had a version of it some years ago, but it was hard to maneuver through. I do need something extra for photos myself. If I get it, I will definitely use Youtube for help. Thanks for the ideas and your lovely bird. Have a wonderful week ahead, Sue. ♥
ReplyDeleteHello Suzanne, beaut to see you. The photo editing programme that I originally started off with is Photoscape... also a free one. It does a lot and is a lovely way to ease into Gimp.
DeleteSend me an email if I can help in any way :D)
It's really fun to use, especially on your own photos and cards!
Appreciate your visits, cheers now xx
You were certainly up early.
ReplyDeleteI just love your painting ... and such a nice name for a bird too!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and all good wishes for the new month of October ... the year is simply flying by.
All the best Jan
... I used to sleep in when younger - lol, that's when we thought time was endless eh!!
DeleteIt's all good, I really love seeing the morning light breaking through - some of those pinks and blues in the sky are amazing.
Thanks for your good wishes and comments Jan :D) xx
Oh Sue I adore your Kookaburra! Now I have a song I learned from childhood stuck in my head about a Kookaburra! Just gorgeous and thanks so much for the youtube link and heads up on the digital program!! Excellent post!!
ReplyDeletePeace Giggles
lol, I love that! Didn't realise the Kookaburra song was know world-wide, so lovely... not just we little kiddies in grade 1 ;D)
DeleteSo glad you enjoyed my painting and thanks for visiting.
I love your wish - yes, Peace ... xx
Wow... your little Kookaburra is just gorgeous - so talented as it has perfect detail. This is very inspiring Sue! Thanks so much for popping by and leaving such lovely encouraging words. Thanks for the links too.. I need to learn a little more!! Have a happy PPF week!!
ReplyDeleteHello Mandy, thank you very kindly :D)
DeleteYour Kookaburra is a beautiful piece of art, painted with such loving thoughts <3 Wishing you Sue a good start to October!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your lovely comments and thoughts Riitta :D) xx
DeleteHe's a beauty, Sue. We often have them as our alarm clock as a pair like to come and sit on the church roof next door. What with them and the cockatoos flying over, it's hard to have a lie in!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh Tracy, what a racket you must wake up to lol !!! The kookas' laughing is one thing, but those cockies ... goodness they can be loud. We get swarms of them coming over late in the day - massive amounts of them. True Aussie sounds eh :D)
DeleteYour Kookaburra art is very sweet Sue, and if I were the receiver I would consider it a family treasure. Very clever editing and thank you so much for the tutorial. I like to play with my Paint Shop Pro but haven’t done anything with it in a while. Your post has inspired me.
ReplyDeleteThanks so kindly Denise :D)
DeleteI'm really glad I may have inspired you to do some more, I've so enjoyed seeing your work with it. Cheers and happy paintshopping xx
you are funny and talented and a joy to be friends with!!!
ReplyDeletethat's a lovely painting of a beautiful bird. i hope this card gets tucked away for your great nephew so he can but it in a frame one day!!!
aww, thanks Debbie :D)
DeleteAppreciate re the card too - yes, I'm sure it will.
In this busy age, whenever I send a card to family/friend it's always acknowledged with happiness.
Lovely to see you - enjoy your week xx
Gosh Sue, you were organised especially with the 30 minute breaks I always forget to do that and hours go past. I only realise I’ve been sitting in the same spot for hours when I struggle to get up!
ReplyDeleteTerry uses Photoshop in combination with Lightroom and does an amazing job while I’m still grappling with Lightroom (and not getting very far). I’m going to find the time (first setting the alarm on my phone) and go and investigate Gimp. Thanks for the idea. I love both the before and after picture of Kooka.
Have a fun filled week. Hugs Barbara
heh heh, yes Barbara that was a totally organised day, Friday, I shall treasure it because it only happens once every 10 years ;D)
DeleteOh, but the getting up every half hour stands though, I follow instructions from my wonderful Physioman on how I should conduct myself around computers... it works! When I feel that I may wish to cheat, I pop the phone on the other side of the room so that there's no option but to get up in order to turn the annoying alarm off!
Thanks for your visit and lovely comments and I'm really pleased you enjoyed the post.
Have a great week! xx
Your kookaburra painting is just so gorgeous. It was lovely to see the stages in this beautiful work. xx
ReplyDeleteHello there Maria, it's totally delightful to see you pop in :D)
DeleteThanks very much for your lovely comments. Have a great week xx
Oh I love your Kookaburra! Beautifully painted, it looks great with or without the added background. There's a couple of Kookaburras in Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens in Dorset, where my partner and I like to go occasionally when I'm over in England. It's always a pleasure to see them and take photos of them. It must be wonderful to have them in your garden!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Nordjlus :D)
DeleteThe Kookaburras presence always brings attention to them - they're an unusual bird and quite dominant at times in the heirarchy of the birdworld from what I can see. Yes, it is wonderful to have them visit us.
Hello Sue,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I loved your photograph of the Kookaburra, a bird I have never seen, then I admired how you painted him, very skilful, then I enjoyed the Photoediting tutorial and how you edited your photograph to include your trees, that's clever.
Isn't it amazing that people put up these youtube help videos for free, just to help others.
Have a happy week.
Hi Sheila, so glad you enjoyed the post - the opportunity to have this immediate help from YouTube contributors is such a great thing, yes.
DeleteThanks for visiting and I appreciate your comments... cheers now :D) xx
The birdie painting is gorgeous!!! And glad to see you are altering/enhancing it digitally too...I use photoshop whenever have to use one...I will go through what you mentioned to get to know about it too. Good to know as many as one can. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Hello Deepa, and thank you. Yes, it was fun re-learning the digital process. It really gave me a challenge. I'm so happy you liked the result :D)
Delete