Category Archives: Digital Painting

More Walks In The Enchanted Forest

Posted by joanblease on

For quite sometime now I have working on a new technique to give images a more painterly feel. I think I am getting there….. but need to push the boundaries a little harder.

I am really enjoying creating these woodland landscape images all centred around the Enchanted Forest – I hope you will continue to walk with me?

Canine Capers

I have been asked to produce a vintage picture for someone who loves French Bulldogs. So here is the result. I was a bit difficult getting the pose and the uniform to “look” believable but hopefully I made a good enough job of it. I hope she likes my creative doggy image – and I […]

by joanblease

FREEBIES

I’ve decided to have a little give away to anyone who likes textures and tags : So here are the FREEBIES for you to have a look at – see below Ideal for photographic backgrounds and your arts and crafts projects Go to my website butterflysmind and click the tab PRINT SALES AND TEXTURES and […]

by joanblease

FLOWER POWER

Here is another straight shot from my studio sessions.I really enjoyed working in the studio and had the opportunity to work with many models. I had my favourites and Natasha was one of them.I had a rail full of costumes and the models who came to the studio really enjoyed trying lots of them on. […]

by joanblease

TANTALISING TEXTURES (A NEW DIRECTION)

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TANTALISING TEXTURES (A NEW DIRECTION) !!

For a good few years now I have been creating my own textures and have held workshops to teach others how to make their own textures too.

I thought it was time to push the boundaries a little further and over the last few months I have been perfecting a new creative texture technique.

I will be holding workshops in the new year which will be limited to 2 people per workshop.

I am really excited about this and look forward to introducing more people to this creative process.

Here are a few examples….

 

For more information please message me using the contact form – many thanks

I’m Just An Enthusiastic Amature Photographer

Posted by joanblease on

 

I’ve just put the finishing touches (again) to the presentation I am going to give on Friday at the Guild Of Photographers Event at Crewe Hall .

I feel so honoured to have been asked to be one of the presenters especially when I see who else is speaking eeeeekkkk. This will be followed by an awards ceremony (Saturday) where I have 3 pictures (2 categories) short listed for Image Of The Year – I am totally overwhelmed by this and it’s going to be really exciting seeing who has made the cut too. I am sure that the standard is going to be exceptionally high.

To be honest I feel a little bit  like a fish out of water because I think a good number of the attendees are professional or semi professional photographers and I am just an enthusiastic amateur. I won’t know anyone at the ‘do” although I have been informed that the awards evening will be “very enjoyable and that I will be amongst friends….” It’s a black tie affair so I will have to dust off my posh frock and find some heels I can totter about in. I hope that there won’t be too many politically charged acceptance speeches and there won’t be a puppy handed out to those who don’t win a prize (my cat wouldn’t be too pleased me coming home with an extra furry mouth to feed !!)

So, although I am looking forward to meeting new people and chatting to them about our mutual love of photography I can’t help being a little nervous about doing my presentation because (as we all know) what I produce isn’t to everyones taste, but of course I will do my best to make it interesting.

This is a new chapter in my photographic life – I have enjoyed the highs and lows of BPE/FIAP comps but feel that now its time to get off that particular roller coaster ride…. for a while anyway. In future, it is my aim and ambition to help people achieve their own personal goals and will do as much as I can to support and mentor them. This will be something I do privately as I am not part of any official mentoring team – but that said, I will be able to share my knowledge of entering comps and being somewhat successful over the last 9 years.

Now, let me have another run through of my presentation………..

Looking To The Past

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Now that I have gained The Fellowship of the BPE  (I believe I am only the 29th person to have achieved that honour of which only a handful are Women) I am set for pastures new, although I am having withdrawal symptoms when I receive information about the upcoming comps.

So instead of producing pictures that are solely for competitions I have been producing a set of images that are intended as a series of prints.

These pictures are made up of antique photographs that I own and elements from photographs I have taken myself and carefully blended together to make something a little surreal… or even  Real Surreal Images 🙂

Eventually, I am going to offer tutorials on how to put this sort of picture together and I would like to think that they will be as popular as my Tantalising Texture Workshops.

And while we are on that subject, I am going to announce the next Tantalising Textures Workshop very soon….. so if you want to know more about that and the Real Surreal Images Workshops please fill in the contact form below and tell me which one you are most interested in.

Onwards & Upwards

Posted by joanblease on

 

Now that I have gained my BPE Fellowship I feel more free to pursue and develop a series of pictures that I have been putting together over the last 12 months.

I have also decided that I am  going to concentrate on helping others to achieve their own personal goals – I had very little help on my personal photograph journey as I am self taught both in photography, Photoshop and post processing.

So what about my new images well ……they will be square in format, mainly (but not exclusively) green and feature olde worlde characters slap bang in the middle of the picture. The above is an example of where my creativity is going and I am really looking forward to seeing where my art takes me.

 

 

The Purple Barn

Posted by joanblease on

Channelling my inner Van Gogh again (apologies to the Master) I thought I would continue in my Purple Fields series.

This one again started out as a photograph but I messed about with it in Corel Painter and Photoshop.

Finished up with something, as far as I am concerned, a little more interesting and a lot more painterly

 

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Finalist Of The Year – The Guild Of Photographer

Posted by joanblease on
FINALIST OF THE YEAR – THE GUILD OF PHOTOGRAPHERS
I am GOBSMACKED !!! I am a finalist !!!
I have just received an email informing me that 3 of my images have been chosen to be in the final of The Guild Of Photographers Image Of The Year 2017.
I quote from the email….
“From the thousands of stunning entries into the Image of the Month competition throughout 2017, the Judges have selected just 12 images in each genre to be short listed as Finalists in the Image of the Year Competition.
We are delighted to inform you that you have been selected as a Finalist with two images in the Creative and Digital genre.
To reach the final is clearly a remarkable achievement when you consider the number of entries we have had and the tremendously high standards we have witnessed all year!”
I have also had another image chosen in the Avant-Garde Portraiture genre.
This means SO MUCH to me because I didn’t  enter the competition, I didn’t even know that images were being judged let alone know there would be finalists.
These judges don’t know me or anything about me,  they have no idea about what I have produced over the years, they don’t care what club I belong (or belonged) to, they don’t know whether I am a professional photographer or an enthusiastic amateur… which I am obviously the latter, they just judged the pictures on its own merit and WOW is that just fantastic…. well it is to me.
The Image Of The Year will be judged in December and I can honestly say I don’t think I stand a chance … especially against the professional photographers who probably grace the finalist list too.
What a lovely end to the year 🙂
FINALIST IN CREATIVE & DIGITAL GENRE
 FINALIST IN CREATIVE & DIGITAL GENRE
 
FINALIST IN THE AVANT- GARDE PORTRAITURE GENRE