Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Nicholas Pond Final


Click to enlarge.


This is a huge painting, so scanning it was a bit awkward. If anyone knows an easy way to piece parts of images together please let me know.

I considered recording the painting process of this one but decided against it for a couple reasons. Even sped up it would take way too long to complete this painting on film and bore everyone to tears. Second, I wasn't sure this was going to come out. It's a complicated piece that needed some careful orchestration to keep the bear from getting completely lost in the background. The pond was also a challenge because making it too soft and the sky too dark, or vice-versa would have ruined the whole thing. I completed the pond and sky first to make sure they were agreeing with each other before going into the more detailed parts of the picture.

I'm extremely happy with the way it came out in the end though. Yay!

26 comments:

Kevin Spear said...

Dear Paige,

When we have illustrations that are too big for a scanner, we sometimes take a digital picture of them. If you have a high-end camera or a photographer friend, it may be an option.

I like the emotion in this one. It's poignant.

Kevin Spear

nicole falk said...

i think this is one of your best pieces Paige! i love it so much!!!

Kactiguy said...

I scan oversized things all the time. I found that the trick is to only do one prescan. Prescan a section of the painting that best represents the color of the whole thing. Then scan the all of the painting in pieces. Scan not prescan. This gives each section the same pallet, much easier to piece together. Next, I take one of the sections and resize the canvas to fit the rest of the sections. I then bring in one of the other scans as a layer. I change the transparency of the layer so I can align it over the other piece. And finally, with a large soft edge eraser, I cut of the edge and it will blend right in. I don't know if that makes sence or not, but it works great for me. Email me if you want me to explain it better. Happy scanning. Oh, and great painting too.

Anonymous said...

This is unbelievable beautiful, Paige!!! I love all your work but this one is WOW!

Phyllis Harris
http://www.phyllisharris.com

Shena Leonard said...

i love this painting!
Shena (=

angelic pursuits said...

I agree that you've done wonderful work, Paige! I love your choice of colors and all of the details in the picture.

Unknown said...

charming and peaceful!! FUN FUN !

Disco Mermaids said...

Absolutely beautiful!

I always look forward to seeing your latest paintings.

- Jay

Rafael Santiago said...

Simply beautiful! That would look nice framed and hanging in my daughter's room. ;)

Paula Pertile said...

Its lovely Paige!

The only way I know to scan big things is in little bits then paste together in PS. Unless you can take it to the photographers', but who can do that every time?

Dave James said...

Wow! REALLY nice one Paige!

Paula Bowles said...

Hi Paige, gorgeous work! :o)

I scan my stuff in sections on an A4 scanner, and then use photoshop to 'glue' them back together. I think there is actually a function in photoshop to do this, but I always just reduce the opacity of one layer and line it up over the one below to make sure they are aligned properly. (I always make sure there is some overlap in the two pieces) Then sometimes I use the eraser to soften the edge. and then merge the layers!

I hope that makes sense!?
paula x

Paula Bowles said...

*edit - Just realised Kactiguy has explained virtually the same as what I, um, attempted to explain!

Erik Brooks said...

Agreed Paige, this latest image is really very nice. I love the sky reflected in the pond especially...In catch up mode here, your earlier charcoal image is terrific too. Do more! That raw drawing feel is hard to come by. Thanks as well for your post on my running blog. I just found it -- oops! The trails are always a good release from the drawing table.

Ciao

Stephanie Roth Sisson said...

Really great painting! The color intensity is nice.

Courtney Pippin-Mathur said...

lovely.

Anonymous said...

That is absolutely gorgeous! I love the way the water looks, especially.

Ginger*:) said...

Gorgeous! I love everything about the beautiful painting.

And CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SMART WRITERS WIN!

There is a little deal in Photoshop called merge. It allows you to merge together parts of a scanned image. I often do the workarounds mentioned above but have tried the merge function and it works.

Edde Wagner said...

Wow, Paige! It's so beautiful and simple and fun. This is one of your best pieces!
I love it so much!!!

Elizabeth said...

Just lovely - beautiful colours. Such a nice thing, hanging out here on your blog. Thanks Paige!

Natascha Rosenberg said...

I love this painting! Well I love your work.

janie said...

gorgeous painting.
congratulations on your award.

Janice Ykema said...

Big yeah for you.. This is a gorgeous piece.... Im really enjoying the pieces you have here in your blog... ! (I take digital pictures with a good camera)

ChatRabbit said...

You win, Paige! Go here:

http://studiodubois.com/liz/blog/?p=283

Dan Santat said...

I love the lake and you separated that bear from the background perfectly!

Laura Zarrin said...

Beautiful piece! As to your scanning question, I've had the same problem. I just got Photoshop CS3 and it makes the process a dream! My Noah's Ark painting was scanned in 8 pieces. In PH CS3, I dragged all the scans onto one big page, used Align Layers (Ph alighs all the scans for you) then Blended (it made the blends seamless)! It would have taken an hour the old way--this time it took 2 minutes!!!!