Saturday, July 14, 2012

Beyond Layers Day 24 : Pastel Processing


I have to admit, I had a hard time with this assignment, at first.  I'm all about clear communications, vivid, full, saturated colors and sharp images.  Pastels make me a little uneasy ...   Maybe that says something about me?   This style has a definite vintage feel to it.  Dreamy.  Faded memories.   Maybe that's it--fear of loosing those memories, wanting to keep them bright and vivid, instead.   Heck, I dream in technicolor.    Not like this ....  Hence, I looked for a quote that wanted to escape this dream state.

The image at top was partially rendered in RadLab.  Kim recommended a 30-day free trial if we were not already familiar with it.  Yes, the process went much quicker with this handy tool.
I used the following RadLab filters stacked one on top of another : SuperFunHappy - Flora - FlareUpFaded - SuperFunHappy(again).   I did not change the levels for each filter, but used them all as given.  (Actually, I did play with them, but eventually decided to go with the default settings.)

Layer 1 : Copy Background
Layer 2 : Rad Lab Filters Stacked (SuperFunHappy - Flora - FlareUpFaded - SuperFunHappy(again)
Layer 3 : Feathered Frame with color fill. Normal blend mode; 100 opacity.
Layer 4 : Text   GingerSnap and My Underwood.  Normal blend mode 39% opacity.

This is a simple recipe compared to the first round below ...



Let's call this one the manual version.  A similar effect, but it lacks the glow and warmth of the RadLab version above.

Layer 1 : Copy Background Layer
Layer 2 : Smart Blur Filter (added last)
Layer 3 : Add frame and color fill; Multiply blend mode at 100% opacity
Layer 4 : Levels Adjustment; Screen blend mode; 82% opacity
Layer 5 : Hue Saturation - Normal blend mode; 100% opacity
Layer 6 : Frame with color fill - Soft light at 56%
Layer 7 : Kim's Now Texture - Soft light at 100%
Layer 8 : Duplicate Layer 7 - Multiply at 49%
Layer 9 : Text - GingerSnap and My Underwood fonts.  Soft light at 100%
Layer 10 : Duplicate Text Layer.

Whew!  That took a couple hours of experimenting.  Doing and undoing.  I tried a few layer masks to erase some of the effects and texture on the flower reds, but it didn't seem to give me the desired effect, so I deleted those layers. 


Here is the original photo of orchids taken at my Mom's house.  Recognize this, Ma?


beyondlayers

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very creative work you did!!

Mary Ann Roesler said...

86 posonin
Thanks for sharing your process...I also dream in technicolor...doesn't everyone!

Eija said...

Yes, I can see that we've felt the same way...

I like both of your renders - the first one has more glow but also more contrast, whereas in the manual version the pinkishness seems to echo the original colour.