Saturday, June 18, 2011

{It's all about Hydrangea}...

I have a new Hydrangea bush in the garden, and along with watching
it grow outdoors I am taking lots of photos of it. 
Of course!
One reason to take photos is to play with them in PSE,
and a second reason is because when I planted the bush I planted it with all of the blooms
 facing to the back corner  so they aren't very visible from the house or yard.
But not to fret - there are plenty more blooms coming.
As I try all sorts of layers and blend modes different images appear as
if by magic.  I liked this one for reasons I can't even fully explain.  But it
has sort of an old worn look to it.  I may still add a bit of a frame around the edge
and call it printable. 



Above  I am using multiple png. files and masks.  (Hope that's all the right lingo).
Which needed a blank background layer first in order to create a solid printable image.
At least it did for this image using two masking layers.
Below a simpler version.  But oh, so lovely!

And a watercolor painting of the bloom.  (Now remember, I am a fiber artist, I can sew anything with confidence but painting not so - yet!
I have a few more watercolors of flowers which I will share in another post.
This painting was my least favorite so I used it to experiment with.  Including using a gel medium over it.
It works just fine and created a nice leathery feel and usability to it.
And once I stitched it to a black and white background it became one of my favorites.
It'll probably become a back cover to a journal.
And it all started from this one single photo.
Well, out to play in the garden some more. 
This time I have a new Peony bush to plant.

3 comments:

nancy said...

i love hydrangea's and your project came out beautiful, can't wait for the peonies to bloom
i'll be spending the day in the garden weeding and taking photos, thanks for the inspiration

Becca said...

I love your hydrangea photos. I can't get them to grow here in Vegas.

WrightStuff said...

Hydrangeas remind me so much of my Grandma - she used to grow massive ones in her garden and had real green fingers! I love plahing with flowers in PS too - so much you can do, I can lose hours!!