Photoshop. Smudge tool. Flowers.

I ran a Photography department in a school for a few years. I taught myself how to use Photoshop. I still use it quite a lot, to play around with ideas for paintings, as well as correcting and improving my photos.


Here is a fairly easy idea, to make a "non painted" painting for your wall !


Firstly, find some flower photos. I have used some images of Gazanias, that were growing in my garden in the summer.  Simple daisy like flowers probably work best with this technique.

You then need to take the background away, so you are just left with the flowerheads. I am not going to write out the method here in detail, as there are several ways you can do this. A few examples are using the magic wand tool and  the eraser, or creating a layer mask. There are lots of other ways, so you need to choose which works for you. Whichever way, you will need to zoom in, and work steadily and carefully.

You then need to open a blank page, add your flower images, and move them around until you get a composition you like. I have used a white background here, but this also looks good if you add a contrasting colour on the background. When you have finished,  flatten the image.

I added a sunflower in to this one, as well, because the dark centre gave a good contrast.

You then need to use the smudge tool. Use it in Normal mode, and start off with a really big brush size and about 50% strength. You will vary both the brush size and strength as you go along. You will change your mind, and you will make masses of mistakes, but just step backwards and undo them each time!

So, just use the smudge tool to drag the image around, and you will eventually end up with something like this.......

Here is another one I did....

I printed these on top quality photo paper, and  put them into frames. I  hung them up in a corner of my living room.  They make a bold statement !

What do you think?  Comments appreciated!