I have been doing a digital workshop with Cynthia Powell from The Latest Trends in Mixed Media yahoo group. We have worked through 4 tutorials at this point and on the last one she challenged us to come up with a digital ATC. We had to use the techniques learned in the tutorials PLUS use one we hadn't learned from the tutorial. So here are some of the things I did. For the first layer (the background) I used a solid color of white. I tried black, blue, magenta, purple, etc. and found that the white background highlighted the layers the best. For the next layer, I used a piece that I had created in a class with Karen O'Brien.

The next three layers were 3 different masks which I tried to find with colors that went with the background I was using. I then used a sheet of music for the next layer. I varied the opacity with each of these last 4 layers.

The 7th layer was the image of the masked lady. This I had to extract from the original image. After placing her on the O'Brien background I decided I needed to add touches of color from the background on her dress. To do this I had to use the adjust color option under the Enhance menu. From there I chose replace color and then highlighted her dress with varying shades of green, blue, and magenta.

The last layer was the text iteself. Originally the text was in white but it was just too stark so I "greyed" it down. After moving the text box around, I placed it where it is presently.

Whew, after saving all of this I saved in the Photoshop Elements 6 format (.psd) and resaved as a jpeg file for posting on the web. This is the finished product.



I would like to send a special thanks to Cynthia Powell for her most excellent tutorials on using PSE 6.0. If you have any questions or comments, please post in the comment section below.

It has been a while since I posted but I have been working diligently on several projects: history of costume/fashion slideshow, a piece for a magazine, two workshops, and whatever happens to strike my fancy. What I am posting today is the digital collage challenge for one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. The image on the left was the piece that inspired my digital collage. I fell in love with this photo when I found it on the web. I am fascinated by the Carnevale in Venice, Italy from both a modern and historical perspective. Some of my favorite artists (Longhi, Guardi, de Gobbis) painted scenes of Venice (18th centory) during Carnevale in ridotti (state run gambling houses), convent parlours, etc., wherever the patrician class gathered. The piece on the right is the digital collage inspired by the woman sitting on a harlequin type floor. I had a great deal of fun creating it and do like the way it turned out.