Into the Sunset- Digital Art by Tracey Grumbach

Into the Sunset- Digital Art by Tracey Grumbach

Inspired by a stock photo on Pixabay by Dimitris Vetsikas

I decided to try something new this time. Instead of painting in Photoshop with Photoshop brushes, I decided to try my hand at using digital pastel brushes. I'm always trying to learn new techniques and push myself out of my normal. I knew I wanted to try a scene that had water in it with pastel brushes because of the way you can blend the beautiful colors of the sea...blue and green. So, I went to Pixabay looking for inspiration. I haven't been out of the house much lately to take photos, so to keep things fresh, I will turn to other generous photographers who donate their images copyright free for the community. I am thankful for their generosity. Even though I am not required to link back or to credit the photographer per copyright law, I will always keep it real and give credit to those who give me inspiration.

After I found Dimitris Vetsikas' image, I knew I wanted to crop the scene closer, brighten the color palette to make it look as if the sunset was beginning on the right side of the piece, add birds (of course), and use the pastel brushes to bring a silky smooth look to the piece. I was happy with the way it turned out, although I did redo it several times because it took me a while to get the hang of the new brushes and get the blending of the colors to where I was happy with it. I ended up layering three versions of the scene-one completed with watercolor brushes, one with pastel brushes, and one with a paper texture and then masked out different places to allow a more dynamic finished product. The pastel brushes weren't great for smaller details that I wanted in the scene, such as the birds and the windows on the boat, so I ended up mixing and matching types of brushes for the final product.

Well, only 2 more sleeps before my girl loads up with Brian and heads off to Florida with a huge trailer filled with her life possessions. My oldest son will be remaining here holding down the fort while the twins and I will be flying down to Florida on Sunday. My plan is to have a post go up for each day I won't be here so the blog can keep-on keeping-on in my absence. I may even blog from Florida...we will see. I do know that I have a few more art pieces in the series I am working on, Get on the Road, and Portrait of a Flower, ready to go up! I've been working a lot lately so I would be prepared for this trip!

Have a wonderful Thursday. I am excited that the Ravens have their first pre-season game tonight. Football is back, baby!

xo