Week 1 - Nelia's Assignment

This is soooooo exciting. Janee is very talented and a great teacher on top of it. This is going to be one great class. I took most of the photos a couple of weeks ago in my backyard.

Click on any of the small images below for larger versions.

Assignment 1: Vignette

I selected the head of the dear using a feather. I then used the Wheat Thatch Paper texture for mat around it. Remember to click the image for a larger view!

Assignment 2: Scratch Edge

Back to kindergarten! We used layers and then a brush to scribble along the edges. Did you remember to click on the image to see the scribbles better? (LOL)

Assignment 3: More Layer Mask Edges

We learned how to do confetti and watercolor edges. Then we devised our own. Here's my sponged edge. Sorry, no larger version of this. My dog ate that part of my homework. Oh, OK, if you insist... actually I forgot to save a copy of it.

Assignment 4: Matting and Framing a Photo

I made Janee's Cotton Scroll Paper for my mat, but varied it with the Paint Daubs effect. I then made a metal look, mitered frame by making a custom gradient and then deleting the corners.

My English Cocker Spaniel, Murphy, stars in this image.

Assignment 5: Making a Stamp Edge

This was a lot more complex than it looks. We used a path to erase brush stokes to make the edge so that it looks like a postage stamp. I had a terrible time with this until I finally found the setting for Spacing. Hey, I'm a newbie to Photoshop, so some obvious things just aren't obvious for me. (grin)

Assignment 6: Posting My Paintings in a Gallery

Yep, there's an even bigger version of this. You know the drill, click on the image to see it.

The gallery photo that I modified is one from Janee. Original photo is ©2004 Janee of www.myJanee.com, used here by permission.

We pulled in our own images and reshaped them to fit the frames in the photo. We then darkened them to fit the photo better and then added lighting. See Murphy and my deer up there on the walls. Very cool effect!

I had really no problems up to this point, due to the well written lesson. That is, until I came to parts D.d. and D.e. I delved into the Help file and managed to actually create a Levels Adjustment Layer, but couldn't't figure out what in the world to do with it. So, I added another layer over each of my own images and bucketed in black to a selection made for each "painting." Then I fiddled with a white brush to add lighting. This didn't turn out as well as what Janee showed us.

Questions

A.1.f. (Vignette) What role does feathering play in this project? How would the finished image be different had you not feathered your selection?
Feathering can be used to reemphasize a particular part of an image or even select it out. Feathering gives a soft, subtle edge to your image, so the edge itself doesn't distract. Feathering can be used to give a "studio" look.

C.2.b. What does that Anchor thing with the arrows do?
It allows you to place the extra space, when you change the canvas size.

g. What is the Alt-code for Õ¿Õ?
I couldn't tell if this was a capital "O" or not. If so, the codes are Alt+0213 and Alt+0191. If a small "o," it's Alt+0245.

3. c. Name your edge effect and list the steps that you took to make it.
I call this the "Sponge Bob Square Pants Edge." (grin) I used a sponge brush and varied just about every setting it had. I did multiple applications of the brush, varying the parameters each time. I used a double brush to get the edges a bit darker.

a class from LVSOnline.com

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