From the sea
Posted: December 4, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 12 CommentsI was hoping to spend some time redoing my sketch from yesterday on better paper by going back to the same location, but work kept me indoors. The best I could do as the afternoon light dwindled outside my window was find some objects that reminded me of warmer places.
Good save Shari! Tremendous acuity,as always.
Shari sketches sea shells by the…?
oh, and is that an off white paper? different sketchbook? I’m just finishing up the stillman & birn book from the usk symposium this summer. I like it a lot, especially for drawing, but in looking through moleskines from last year, and contrary to my horrible scans, they seem to be more receptive to my efforts.
Say that ten times quickly John!
The paper is the Moleskine sketchbook (not the watercolour book) that I have been using lately. I like it for small studies like this one. The paper is a beautiful cream colour. I loved the Stillman and Birn book that we received but I hate scanning from those books. This Moleskine has a stitched binding instead of a perfect binding so it lays flat in the scanner. I don’t know what you did your last few sketches in but I think they look really good. The buildings today were great as were the last few “between houses” scenes. Do you have a new scanner? The colours seem brighter.
I’ve been trying harder to tweak the colours in ‘iPhoto’ after scanning with the same scanner. They seem a little harsh compared to the originals, and somehow they look different to me than in the sketchbook. Could it be the angle of viewing?
The last month’s sketches have been in the stillman and birn sketchbook. Its smooth for ink but a little slow to absorb paint, so some funny things happen, especially in the cool weather. I wonder if the harder finish shines through the paint more than absorbent watercolour paper. Nonetheless, I think I’ll go back to a landscape format moleskine watercolour next book.
The woods sketches were in the little landscape format sketchbook we were given in Santo Domingo. I REALLY like that paper. Have to figure out who makes that.
That landscape book that we were given (if it the one with the brown cover) was by Laloran. Wonderful paper in that. You can order them online but they are quite expensive. For a bit larger size than that they are $28.00!
I photo is not a great retouching software for scans. Do you remember Jorge Royan from Santo Domingo? He just posted some great scanning tips on the Urban Sketchers Facebook page. Are you a member of that? This may not be relevant to you but he uses Pixlr. Maybe you can do this in iPhoto. I’ll have to look to see if there is a histogram setting.
Here’s what he says:
HOW TO BRING BACK CONTRAST IN FLAT/GREY IMAGES
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Every camera and scanner has a photometer. It measures the light in all the scene, making an average and trying to render it all in a medium grey.
Because of that, when shooting a singer with a black velvet backdrop, the velvet comes out grey and the singer pure white, no detail. Same thing shooting a skier on the snow: the snow comes out grey (not white) and the skier very dark.
It is an average for the benefit of the general user..
In any camera one can “overrun” the photometer using the “Compensation” system. (The ” -/+” no one notices or understands). A photo pro uses it in EVERY shot.
In a scanner it is more difficult. A scanner does the same thing: it averages the reading and renders the white of the paper as grey. But there is no ” -/+” at hand.
So the thing to do is: scan plainly, with no tweaking or fancy settings, and after that adjust the levels curve or “histogram” in software.
This way, you are restoring the original contrast that the photometer flattened.
You can do this with any greyish image & Photoshop or any good online image editor. Pixlr is a good choice, but there are many.
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1) Open http://pixlr.com/editor/
2) Choose “Open image from computer” and do that.
3) In the menus go to Adjustment/Levels… (See my image)
4) The upper “Levels” box opens. (The red strips in the image are put by me).
…………(HERE IT COMES!)
5) Slide the left (Black) pointer right to the beginning of the curve and the right (White) pointer left to the end of the curve (See lower box image).
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That’s it. And if you want to work only in a specific area, not all the image, use the Polygonal lasso with “50” feather before levels . Try that. It selects only an area.
I better print that reply Shari. Yes I remember Jorge with some affection and awe. Looks like I have to come to grips with my tech aversion.
I just looked up Pixlr. It is a free, online photo editor. So easy to use. I just tried his instructions and it worked really well. Let me know if you try it.
Ahhhh…. I feel transported to somewhere warm just looking at these. (Sea shell colours are really unique aren’t they?) Beautifully rendered Shari. Really like the loose line work.
Thanks Alison. This was much more difficult than I imagined. These really soft colours are very hard to do in this sketchbook.
I am loving following your blog Shari, you have a real talent and I am really grateful for you sharing 🙂 Words are my paints and I am insanely jealous of anyone who can use pigments and water as well as you do 🙂
That is so nice of you Rob. I love painting!
Thanks for the pixir info Shari ( and Jorge). I used it this evening. Its was easy and is much closer to the original than my usual iPhoto method. It just takes a little more shuffling between programs to accomplish.
I’m so glad I reposted that John and that it was useful. I look forward to seeing your next post with the new and improved scans.