Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

Digital Art Concepts Masking for Emphasis

Sometimes you really have to think outside to get the results that you want, and to do this you need to
use your whole toolbox and imagination.

Figure 1: Starting Photograph

This is a quick snapsot that I took at the Dia de Los Ninos festival in Denver. I really liked the dressing
and umbrellas and the spontaneity of the scene, but each time I tried to work with it, I couldnt seem to
get it to work successfully.

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

Figure 2: Problems with image

I identified what I wanted to be the center of interest, but the problem was that the way it was in the
original form, it didnt stand out. There was not enough contrast in lighting, color, or details to bring out
the girls. If I totally removed the background, I would lose the context of the picture and it would look
too artificial.

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

I finally came up with an approach that would work. It involved Masking For Emphasis.

Figure 3:Overlay mask

To start with I created a new layer and filled it with a medium brown color and set the composite
method to Overlay. The Overlay method fuses the layer color into the image. The result is a slightly
darker warmer image. This helped to bring out the figures but still there wasnt enough contrast to
make them stand out from the background.

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

Figure 4: Gel Mask

The next step was to repeat the process but this time I used the Gel Composite Method. This darkened
the whole image with a reddish brown hue. To make the girls stand out, I then erased the areas on this
layer to bring out the girls while keeping the background dark and vague.

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

Figure 5: Masked and cropped starting image

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

Manipulations
After masking cropping and a bit of tweaking, I had a starting image that I would use for manipulations.
For the first effect, I used The Topaz Buzz Sim Filter. Buzz Sim was the name of an earlier software
program that developed this effect and was alter acquired by Topaz labs and incorporated into their
Topaz Simplify Filter pack. The result of it is to flatten the image into more like an illustration, and
enhance the colors.

Figure 6: Topaz Simplify Buzz Sim Filter applied

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

Figure 7: Buzz Sim filter applied

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

Painterly Effects with Microsoft PhotoDraw II

The next step is to create some renditions using the effects in Microsoft PhotoDraw II (The same effects
can also be found in Microsoft Digital Image Pro). This program will remake the image based upon a
brush template. I will often create several renditions changing the brush or effect and then decide which
to use.

Figure 8: PhotoDraw Effects applied

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

Completing the Image in Corel Painter

The final step in the process is to give it a watercolor look and to add a little more detail to the faces.

Figure 9: starting image in Corel Painter

Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

To create a more realistic watercolor look I use scans of watercolor brush strokes like this one.

Figure 10: Watercolor brush stroke template

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Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

I then add this as a layer using the Overlay Method

Figure 11: Watercolor pattern added as layer using overlay method

The result is that the subtle patterns of the watercolor template are fused into the existing image to
create a very realistic watercolor look.

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Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

The final step is to add some of the details back into the face. To do this I go back to one of the starting
images (Topaz Buzz Pro filter image) which contained more facial details. Using the Straight clone brush
in Corel Painter with the Buzz Pro image as the source, I added just those details on a new layer.

Figure 12: Clone brush details

Figure 13: All layers shown

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Digital Art Concepts Creative Masking

The final Image

Figure 14: Final Image

The final piece captures the scene the way I wanted it. It keeps the center of focus onto the girls, and
used monographic desaturated hues and vague details to bring out the pink of the girls dresses and
umbrellas. The faces have just enough details in them to give them some form, but the rest is much
more abstract and painterly than the original photo.

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