The Power of Templates
I love to create from all different types of sources. Composite paintings are challenging and fun, especially if you are building all the elements of the image yourself. This can be extremely time consuming, especially around the holidays! Enter: Photoshop templates. Incorporating the use of stylized backgrounds is hugely enjoyable and allows you to incorporate subjects whose images were taken outside of the studio. The above image features my subjects placed in front of a charming toy store, and was created by Photoshop artist, Tara Lesher. This is from her Cozy Collection series. If you hop on over to her site, you will see many amazing templates from which your creativity can spring. With holiday sales going on, this is the best time to stock up your library! I do not get a kick back from this endorsement.
So what's hard about using a template?
1. You should ideally photograph your subject at the correct angle with the correct lighting to make the scene believable.
Even a fantasy shot should compel the viewer to believe, in their imagination, that this image COULD have been taken. You're fooling their sensibilities and fueling their imagination when you make things appear as real as possible!
2. Know Photoshop
Let's face it, you may not get the ideal shot. Your client may ask for beautiful Christmas image and give you a sample that requires an extra level of skill to execute. Take the above example. The image provided to me was taken in full sun. Clearly this whimsical template calls has an evening feel. Combining these images will vex in the most skilled Photoshop artisan. Make sure you practice incorporating your image first before offering it to a client. (People like Tara Lesher also offer memberships where you can gain this skill with credible accuracy!)
3. Mix and Match Elements
The below elements were provided by the Summerana education and photoshop platform, another site I highly recommend as you look towards forwarding your holiday photoshop (or any holiday) skills. You can see the the initial image was anything but perfect and was quickly, and informally, photographed in the client's front yard. But combining the elements, you can take your creativity to another level. This requires that, again, you carefully study the light. Being a photographic artist requires you to implement that same rules of lighting and composition as you would in your camera. The goal is for an impactful shot.
4. Kick it Up a Notch!
The last image features a more painterly rendition of the first, implementing a new set of brushes and skills. Head on over to Elevate Your Art if you really want to dive into some heavy duty, ongoing education in digital photoshop painting.
The main takeaway is to explore all the resources available to you as an artist. There are so many more resources I could mention, but today really wanted to focus on encouraging you to step out of your comfort zone and dip your toes into some Yuletide composites!
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