FINE TEXTURES AND PHOTOGRAPHIC OVERLAYS TO ENHANCE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY AND MORE


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

In the corner of a French field


This French farm stone mazet or finca was leaning in an alarming way, anybody who's seen the leaning tower of Pisa would instantly get the idea! So, I corrected it by slightly pinching the ground with the CS warp.

These structures were lived in by poor Mediterranean farmers, normally just two rooms, one up, one down. The animals slept downstairs and the farmer on top.
Often the iron animal feeders will still be in place along a wall with a corner cooking/fireplace just where it was over 100 years ago.
Outside there is always a deep artesian well, normally these wells have a fig tree growing next or even out of them.
If you ever need to find the old well in the south of France, just look for a fig tree, and that's where it will be. In my first French village house I found the old garden well by this very same method!

For this image, I had in mind a kind of bashed-up and rusting Victorian biscuit tin lid. It sometimes helps if you have even a slight vision or end goal in mind, then you can then start opening your chosen chocolate box of textures and try each of them!

Firstly, I always like to re-size my image to 4000 pixels along one side, to match the textures, this helps speed-up the selection process.
I'll normally double up the base image and use a slight painterly effect.
only then do I start to play with the textures..

As ever, I list the first texture used to the last, as sequence is important!

Aquarius - Linear Light @ 72%
Brushed Rose - Color @ 30%
Europium - Vivid Light @ 50% (brushed from center and dark corners)
Touchstone - Soft Light @ 57% (brushed from lower left dark corner)
Mouse - Overlay @ 100% (brushed from over the top of the sky)
Mouse - Hard Light @ 60% (flipped horizontally, balancing the last)
Stygian Tin - Luminosity @ 79% (turned terracotta in saturation)
Base image - Overlay @ 100%
Desert Djinn - Normal @ 10%
Fly Edges number 30 - Saturation @ 60%
(some of the left and right edges clipped off)

You can see the finished big version on my Flickr.
Please feel free to leave feedback!:-)

Summer Painterly Pack
36 large textures for only $40
Add to Cart

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges
Add to Cart

Combo Pack Offer
Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two
Add to Cart

Fly Edges Pack
Only $40
Add to Cart

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

5 comments:

Borealnz (Jill) said...

Beautifully textured Paul, I love the soft painterly sky. Interesting about the figs too.

paulgrand said...

Ah yes, I've been thinking why they grow next to wells.
And my theory is that they would wash plates and such by the well, the seeds would be thrown away with the dishwater, then germinate in the only damp place they can grow in, by the well!

Colleen Farrell said...

I loved the story about the finca and the figs. Always an inspiration to visit your blog and see the wonderful artwork you and Jill produce! I just bought the Summer Painterly Pack, and it looks like a fantastic addition to the others.

paulgrand said...

Cool, thanks Colleen!:-)
I expect the local water diviners will now loose a fortune, now the secret it out!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing

Julie A. Brown said...

I am eagerly anticipating the ownership of your latest set of textures.....my satellite service has been giving me so much grief, but as soon as I am able, I can't wait to add them to my complete collection of your offerings. I have learned so much from you both. Thanks and regards, JB

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