It is now Week 2 of our photo processing One Four Challenge for December, hosted by Robyn Gosby at Captivate Me. I am continuing my manipulation of the graceful White Tern at Elizabeth Reef. I am excited with this week’s interpretation and I hope you like it.
Like me, everyone on the Challenge is pushing the boundaries and taking their editing in interesting directions. To see all participants’ entries, click on December Week 2.
Processing Week 2: Watercolour
One of the stunning aspects of reaching the Elizabeth Reef is seeing the wonderful graduations of colours in the water, from deep ultramarine to aqua, with some pink and purple corals shining through the crystal clear water. So I was keen to have these hues reflected by applying a watercolour treatment to the image.
Here is the image:
Processing 2: Watercolour on Burlap
My approach for this process:
- Cropped image used as a base in week 1 and emailed from my laptop to my iphone!
- Put through watercolour effects with the Sketch Guru app;
- Tweaked the settings, eg paint brush size, saturation, contrast, shadows & highlights and hue;
- Emailed the reworked image to my laptop to do further processing with Photoshop Elements 9;
- Applied the Texturise Filter/Burlap, set at 51% scale, 2 out 50 relief, and with light from the left.
Let me know what you think of this interpretation.
Weeks 1 and 2 progression
Here is the progression to date:
To see the entire One Four Challenge collection, click here.
Sv-Anui 
Love this one!
Thanks Sari- it’s different and it was fun experimenting!
I love it Chris!
Again, it works so beautifully. I love that you have used the textures of watercolour paper and the beautiful colours of Elizabeth Reef.
You did lots to achieve this result and its cheerful and refreshing.. Wonderful 😀
Thank you for the very kind words, Robyn! I had fun learning new tricks again!
It really shows Chris and I so agree with Diana’s comment!
I love the water colour painting effect you have achieved this week.. Certainly a different look from last week..love the clear bright colours that flows well with the subject.. You wouldn’t say it’s a photography manipulation but a rather beautiful painting !
Oh what a lovely comment Diana😊
I love the colors, so happy and cheerful. And, it doesn’t take away from that incredible bird either. I really love this!
Thanks so much Carrie. Glad you like this version as well! Chris
This is lovely and so unique. What I like most is how you left large patches white so the overall blue doesnt overwhelm the delicate tern as the main subject. Very pretty and another great card!
What a lovely compliment. Thank you so much for this feedback Stacey!
My pleasure, it was perfectly deserving of it 🙂
Very beautifully done. The soft colours and the texture have really made this photograph become a painting’ A great second week Chris
Glad you like this Lee! 😊
You used some tricks I never even knew about! Very sweet!
😊
I love to turn photographs into a painting look-a-likes, and this one is so beautiful. The Watercolor effect suits this subject, no doubt about it.
Lovely comment thank you Lore.
Ooh! Love this. The colors are wonderful.
Thanks Joanne. I love painting watercolours, so couldn’t resist adding this touch to this week’s interpretation!
this is beautiful!! Definitely time for me to try the Sketch Guru app…the watercolour effects are great.
Thanks Marsha – and that app is easy to use!
I love the art of a watercolour!! beautiful!
Thanks Cybele😊
Beautiful watercolour effect!
Thanks – i like painting in watercolours – so it was too tempting to turn this image into one!
PS thank you so much for following our adventures. Hope you enjoy our sailing and bird posts too! 😊
Nice going, Chris! Lovely watercolor treatment and great idea to incorporate the colors of Elizabeth Reef.
Thanks Katrina – I must say your work inspired me to try this!😊
Beautifully clear, bright and artistic!
Glad you like it Sue! ☺️
Love what you are doing with the tern! I didn’t realize that digital editing could generate that kind of watercolor effect. I’m learning by watching you, but it might be some time before I attempt the same. Looking forward to next week’s edition.
Thanks for the generous feedback. It is fun and not hard at all – trust me I am a novice with processing!
Phew so much emailing! 🙂 The blue & co. watercolors represent the tern so well, and I really like how the effect has turned out. My favorite in the series so far. Can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with next!
Thanks Anita – and I agree with the amount of emails! There is quite a bit of work involved as the group has grown bigger!
I really like the idea of this image and just as imaginative as the one before.
Thanks for your kind comment Ben!
Hi Chris,
I agree it’s gorgeous. Why don’t you have it printed in large scale and stretched on a canvas?
Great effort now I’m off to find that app. xx
Thanks Lisa – the App is free too!
Hello Lisa – now that we are at anchor I can come back to you! I did get a canvas printed of that white tern in the original image – it hangs on board Take It Easy. You might be able to see it if we manage to sail your way. It’s hard going at the moment with very iffy weather! That app is really easy to use and free.