by successfulbob | photography education, tuesday painterly photo art
Tuesday Photo Art with Lois Stanfield, M.Artist., CPP
Tuesday’s have become quite a hit on Successful-Photographer thanks to photographer artist’s willing to share some of their thoughts and ideas on creating art based on photography.
Today’s photographer/artist is Lois Stanfield, who specializes in Equine and Pet Portraiture. She was a Professional Photographers of America 2015 Platinum Artist of Year and 2014 Silver Artist of Year in the Artist category. I remember being on a judging panel when one of Lois’s images came around (of course I didn’t know it was hers at the time) and I was absolutely taken with it. When images can stop people in their tracks you know you are on the right path.
First up let’s take a look at an equine treatment in the form of a pencil sketch.
Graphite-like treatment of this image details the most important features in this horse image
Source image Lois worked from to create the art above
I believe I would call this distillation. Lois keeps the most striking parts of this photo and discarding the rest. knowing what to leave out is probably at least as important as what to include in your art images.
I asked Lois for her words of wisdom on creating art from photographs.
“Well, I don’t know if it’s wisdom, but here is something to ponder!
I find that the way to develop as an artist is to allow yourself to play. When learning to use Corel Painter, at first we need to follow the instruction of a good teacher. Perhaps a few teachers. But then it’s time to play, experiment, try the “what if?” process. What would happen if I did this? And synthesize all the instruction with the discoveries you make while playing. From all that, comes your own style and brand of painting. But it doesn’t end there. Pushing the envelope and trying new things will expand your abilities and vision of what’s possible. Leave fear behind!”
Talk about taking an image to a new place from a photograph. WOW, Sweet!
Image from MyDogPhoto.com © Vicky Cook
Lois does work on commission creating art for her clients. The image above was brought to her for painting by a customer, and the art was only started after permission was secured, with a release, from the photographer.
Obviously, if learning the techniques of turning your photographic images into a painterly look is something you are interested in there’s a market for that.
Lois teaches webinars and one-on-one WebEx’s. Her next webinar will be June/July, on “How to Create Beautiful Backgrounds for Your Paintings.”
Lois’s website is: http://www.loisstanfield.com
You can contact her via email: Lois@loisstanfield.com
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography, photography - art quote, photography education
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – Charles Maring
Met Chuck at a WPPI convention quite some years ago.
Impressed I was then. And even more-so now. He has grown and pushed his skills in tremendous ways. He has been at the forefront of creativity, and I have enjoyed watching his growth. He has leveraged technology to improve his photo and art imagery and expanded his skill set to include video production to rival pro houses. He is a great marketing person; I think you should take a look at the Maring’s website. Notice the plural. I would be remiss in not mentioning the Chuck is part of a team. As they say behind every successful man, there’s a strong woman. His wife Jennifer fulfills that role exceptionally well.
Can you tell I’m a fan of the Marings?
Here’s the quote that I grabbed from his art website that led to today’s post.
“The ability to observe and capture truth with eloquence is an art form that takes instinct. However, even instinct can be honed, and when the experience solidifies one’s sixth sense, it becomes intuition.” Charles Maring This quote continues
I often reference practicing your skills here on Successful-Photographer along with not being afraid to fail as that is one of the strongest ways to learn. I believe what Chuck is referring to in his quote is the ability to push and practice and study until you move to the place where your mind is working so well that you almost don’t even know all the thought that went into the creation of an image.
I’ll ask, to remind you once again, how much have you practiced this week? How much have you studied? Have you pushed enough to make your thought process in creating imagery intuitive?
If the answer is no, time to get on the stick.
Yours in creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, inspiration, photography creativity, photography education, tuesday painterly photo art
Tuesday Photo Art – Michelle Parsley – M.Photog.M.Artist.Cr., CPP
Another country heard from.
Michelle does a lot more painting of elements by hand than other artists that have been featured in this space. This shows that there is more than one way to skin a cat when creating art from photography.
Painted image by Michelle
Here is the base image for the painting above.
Michelle explains.
“I’m not the best beginner Painter teacher because I create so much of my images by painting freehand. However, Heather the Painter is one of the best beginner Painter teachers I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. If your readers really wanting to delve deep into learning to paint with Corel, they can find her online tutorials at heatherthepainter.com.”
A finished image. Note the attention to detail in the lighting patterns & color temperatures in various areas of the painting
Base images for the painting above. Center image © Patty Hallman – Michelle used with permission.
Michelle suggests, “If you like the painted look but don’t really want to spend several hours on a single image, Heather and I teamed up to create a wonderful tutorial set that can allow you to go from a simple photograph to a painted look in roughly ten minutes. Combining Heather’s hand painted backgrounds with a few simple and affordable plugins, a painted look can be achieved in no time flat. You can find my tutorial called “Create a Painting n 10 Minutes or Less!” on my site at elevateyourart.com. Use the code $10OFF to save $10. Inside the tutorial is a discount code for Heather’s backgrounds, Alien Skin Snap Art, and Topaz Labs. This technique can also be used to reduce the amount of time needed to create an image in Corel by simply using Corel to refine the features a bit at the end. it is a very speedy workflow for those of us that create painted portraits regularly!”
See more of Michelle’s art here. https://parsleyfineart.com
Yours in Creative Photogrphy, Bob
by successfulbob | photography, photography education
Write Better Blog Posts
The PAIN!
The AGONY!
I don’t know what to write in my next blog post. Arrrgh!
Been there done that. No more. I bought Jenika’s Irresistible Words quite a while ago and it made it easier to come up with new material for my posts without straining my brain.
What will Irresistible Words do for you?
Highlights:
• Learn to write a blog post in 20 minutes or less
• What gets people to keep reading (and share)
• How to gain and keep an audience.
• Sales writing people actually want to read – and more.
• Will make all the communication you need to do easier during the summer high season.
Jennica is the driving force behind Psychology for Photographers and here lessons are easy to follow. She spoon feeds you the information in tasty bites. You almost don’t even realize you are learning.
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No code needed – Discount is already in your cart!
Irresistible Words teaches you how to fill that website with words that lead people to book – without making you feel like you’re “selling.”
Remember, along the way, you’ll learn to write blog posts in 20 minutes or less, avoid 2 key mistakes that sink your bookings, and 9 surefire ways to end writer’s block. (Full info here.)
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – I am an affiliate with Psychology for Photographers. I do receive and affiliate fee for sales when you buy, but I really enjoy this product myself!
by successfulbob | inspiration, photography - art quote, photography education
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – Robert Genn
Canadian Painter Robert Genn wrote a blog called The Painter’s Keys for many years before he moved on to the next world. I count myself lucky to have been a follower for some years. I learned many great ideas about painting, art, color and other tidbits that transfer over from painting to photography. Sometimes the correlation is not immediately obvious, but I must say I believe my photography has improved quite a bit once I started studying art and artists.
Robert may be gone, but The Painters Keys lives on through his daughter Sara, who reprises some of the ‘best-of’ letters from her dad and supplements them with letters and ideas of her own continuing the tradition. I think the art world is the better for it.
Today’s quote is a simple one from Robert, but one I believe needs to be seen on a regular basis lest we forget.
“The more you practice what you know, the more you know what to practice.” Robert Genn
We can all get into a groove that is comfortable when we work and even when we play. You may have heard the expression, if you spend too much time inside a groove you turn it into a rut.
Do your work. Don’t forget those personal projects that help you explore and practice new ideas. Find what works. Push it to the next level. Make some mistakes. Try again.
Practice more so you know what to practice!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Check out The Painter’s Keys. Take a look at some of the letters and sign up for notifications of new letters. They come out about twice-weekly. You’ll be glad you did I think you’ll be surprised how much we photographers have in common with painters and other artists.
by successfulbob | photography creativity, photography education, podcast
Giulio Sciorio & I Discuss Photography & Art
I had and in-depth chat with ‘G’ on a podcast called the Creator’s Path. It was quite interesting as we talked about many subjects including at what point a photograph becomes more than a photo? Bob Coates and I chat about intersecting photography with fine art painting, what it means to be a Certified Professional Photographer and a whole lot more…
The Art and Craft of Photography – with Bob Coates
I hope you enjoy the thoughts shared in the Podcast. I know it got me thinking about how and what I do as a photographer and artist.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
