Taos Photoshoppers still at it

Rick Finney, Bev Teagle, and Jerry Walter are still creating awesome artwork based on ideas from The New Creative Artist, using Photoshop digital editing as their medium. Now that I'm taking a Photoshop Elements class I'm even more amazed at what they do. The abstract is "Planetary Surge" by Rick Finney. Here he describes some of his Photoshop techniques.

Next is Jerry Walter's "On Oak Avenue, Elkader Iowa." He used a watercolor effect on a photograph through many layers. I've never seen a Photoshop watercolor that looked so much like the real thing. I love the intense color. The details of the trim on the porch and roof are wonderful. Here's a video interview with Jerry that describes his process and photography.

Bev Teagle has made a collage-style Photoshop artwork, combining several photographs and blending them together. This is something we're learning to do in the PSE class, along with how to restore old photographs.

I know Photoshop Elements isn't as powerful as Photoshop, but it's amazing what you can do with it, from composing a painting to value sketches to planning color schemes. Your photo can be the art or it can be part of the planning process for a painting.