Thursday

Paint Shop Pro exploration goes on

OM, digitally enhanced photo and painting

I took a picture of the Buddha statue Jerry gave me for Christmas and added a boring acrylic painting as a background, along with some digital enhancement. Getting into the important layer functions, I found that Paint Shop didn't seem as intuitive to work with as Photoshop (I really miss those "eyes" in the layer function to turn them on and off) and it seems like you have to go through several additional steps to magnify and add layer masks. I'm certainly not a professional when it comes to using either of these programs, but I'm enjoying discovering what Paint Shop can do and it's years ahead of my old version of Photoshop 4.0. Perhaps the latest version corrects some of these "deficiencies." It's a very small price to upgrade--I think $39. As long as my new computer beckons with all its mysteries, it's going to be hard to fit "real" painting into my day.

2 comments:

marianne said...

really nice- the shadow from the buddha intergrates the background beautifully. i love playing with the computer too- and have to remember that this is also making art. but sometimes the tactile thing takes over- or i smell oil paint-

Gayle Bell said...

I agree. Both processes have their advantage and it's all part of our repertoire. Thanks for your comments and compliment.