Working Digitally

Ghost Bridge. Digital Collage

When I worked in publishing I designed art mostly in Photoshop and Illustrator. I did some page layout in Quark (yes I know, I am old). I always had the most recent version of the software on my computer. I don’t know how to do without it. So when my computer would no longer support Creative Suite, I bit the bullet and signed up for the monthly charge for Adobe Creative Cloud.

It is not cheap. But I love it and I am addicted. Don’t judge me.

Mostly I have used it for scanning in my analog art and resizing for use in social media. Or printing out for greeting cards. But recently I began to use it more for the actual making of the art. Some of the processes I am using, I had never tried before. I feel a bit like a newbie even though I have been using Photoshop for many years now.

The first new thing for me is the use of blending modes. They are really like magic! When you use them each layer blends in some way with the layer below. So that your colors always harmonize. In the image above I used the “divide” blending mode on the bridge layer. The “divide” blending mode almost always turns the layer white. For the trees I used the “multiply” blending mode. That always darkens the layer, plus it removes any white areas. It’s one of my favorite blending modes. You never really know what you are going to get when you use blending modes. It is almost always a surprise! Give it a try!

For the background here I used an old watercolor. Using some of my watercolors like this is a great way to re-purpose them and make the work truly my own!