Boats
Here I start with a very simple idea, and made a really simple and spare abstract of a scene with boats. I used the power of iColorama to transform that simple image into an image that still has a simple composition, but has a lot more color, mood, texture and depth. This shows that even if you can't paint, you can still create a stunning painting!
I used this photo from the Rijksmuseum website, which provides high-resolution images free to use and modify for any purpose, in their Rijksstudio.
I opened the photo in SketchClub. I reduced the opacity of the photo layer so I could still see it as I painted, but it would not be so dark that I couldn’t see what I was I was painting. I kept this layer as the top layer throughout the rest of the painting process, turning visibility on and off to check my work as I went along. In the end, we will turn off visibility for this photo layer, so that nothing of the photo remains in the final image. On a new layer below the photo layer, I started by painting these shapes using the Vector tool at low opacity. I let the shapes be a little sloppy.
On a new layer below the boats layer, I used the Vector tool to make shapes for the water and the land on the horizon. As on the previous layer, I let the shapes be a little sloppy.
On a new layer under the boats layer and above the sea layer, I used the Vector tool to make shapes for clouds.
I filled in the bottom-most layer with a color.
On a layer on top of all these layers, I used the Pen tool to draw a few lines to hold the whole piece together. I exported the image to my camera roll.
I opened the image in iColorama, and I used Adjust/Tonelab preset 4 (which had almost no effect on this flat image) and Effect/Raise preset 1.
I used Style/Tensor preset 1. I saved a few versions of this with different slider settings, for later use.
I blended the previous two images, trying all the blending modes and slider settings, including the sliders under Set.
I blended again with a previous version, using Effect/Blend, again trying all the blending modes and slider settings, including the sliders under Set.
I used Adjust/Hue to change the color of the water to blue, using a brush mask to apply the change only to the water.
I used Style/Tensor preset 4 or 5 to make this version, using a previously saved Tensor 1 image as the secondary image for this step. I tried all the slider settings.
I blended the Tensored image onto the work in progress, using Effect/Blend, again trying all the blending modes and slider settings, including the sliders under Set. I applied Style/Water for a bit of texture.
I will use this image for blending. It’s from Pixabay, a source of copyright-free images.
I blended the Pixabay image onto the work in progress, using Effect/Blend, trying several blending modes. I used a brush mask to mask the upper part of the image, and reduced the opacity of the mask. This way the blend is strongest over the water and less strong over the rest of the image. I adjusted the mask opacity by touching Set on the brush mask bar, and then touching Adjust at the top of the dialogue box that comes up. Then I used the Full Opacity slider to change the opacity of the mask.
I finished by using Preset/Border to create a border.
