Attn: local blog readers: Class -- Photoshop for Artists & Crafters - Beginner Level

Sunday, March 18, 2012
at Captured Moments, Curry Road, Schenectady
10:30 am - 3:00 pm (bring a bag lunch)
Cost: $50
Please email me at kerristabile@gmail.com if you are interested in attending. I will send you my mailing address for payment.

In order to provide hands on instruction, class is limited to 10, so sign up ASAP!!
If I receive an overwhelming response, I will offer a repeat of this class on April 15. (same time, same place)

What you need to bring:
1. A laptop (this is a MUST) with some version of Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements installed on it, and a power cord to recharge your laptop if/when necessary.

2. One or two images to play with/experiment with in class -- this can be a (color) photo, artwork that you have created & photographed or scanned, or artwork/photos you have "borrowed" off the internet -- You will use these images to experiment with the techniques that I will teach during the day. I may also email an image or two to participants if I think we need to be working with the same image.

Based on the feedback I received, I have decided to begin at the very beginning, so if you have some Photoshop experience, you may want to wait for a more advanced class, which I hope to offer in the future.

What you will learn:
Creating & using layers
Familiarity with the toolbox
Adding typography & type treatments
Using artistic filters (i.e., making a photo look like a painting or other work of art)
enhancing the pictures you take (color correction, etc)

Practical tips for artists and crafters
-- how to create & size a blog header
-- how to optimize images for the web

And any specific request that we can cover within the time we have!

Thank you and I hope to see you soon!! --

Photoshop fun...

Sometimes when I am in between art projects and need to fuel my creativity, I take a piece of art I've already created, scan or photograph it, and then alter it in Photoshop. Playing with typography and words (and photoshop layers) satisfies my soul.

Sunflower on a rainy day...

I am grateful.
I really am.
Every minute of every day.
But enough of this f**king rain already.

Phew. Not quite poetry but I feel better.

Show up...

"I don't wait for inspiration. If you wait for the clouds to part and to be struck in the head with a bolt of lightening, you're likely to be waiting the rest of your life. But if you simply get going, something will occur to you."



"Inspiration is for amateurs, and the rest of us just show up and get to work."

--Chuck Close



When I stumbled upon this quote, it made me smile. It is something I have known for ages, but I love how he says it so simply.

Journal sketch & Photoshop alteration #3

I love taking a raw pencil sketch and playing around with color and Photoshop filters to see what emerges.

Journal sketch & photoshop alterations...

Fall fotoshop fun

Charlotte, before photoshop...


Charlotte, after photoshop...

Altered wish...

This is a digitally altered version of a painting I made over the summer. I had some Photoshop fun with cropping and filters to alter it into a holiday piece. Since it's December already (can you believe it??), I thought an altered Christmas tree would be appropriate. My posts this month will probably be few and brief, as I have not purchased a single gift, baked a cookie, or written a card yet. In fact, this may be as close as I get to a holiday card at the rate I am going!

While I love the act of giving someone a perfect and thoughtful gift, more and more I resent the pressure to buy, buy, buy during this season. I realize that this mind set will not help the economy, but I am hoping to find creative ideas for giving that don't always involve a trip to the dreaded mall.

Oh, and I almost forgot...
My friend Marilyn is introducing a new monthly "featured artist" on her blog, and she has invited me to be the first. Here's my interview.

Happy Halloween!!

Hist Whist
-- e.e. cummings

hist whist
little ghostthings
tip-toe
twinkle-toe

little twitchy
witches and tingling
goblins
hob-a-nob hob-a-nob

little hoppy happy
toad in tweeds
tweeds
little itchy mousies

with scuttling
eyes rustle and run and
hidehidehide
whisk

whisk look out for the old woman
with the wart on her nose
what she'll do to yer
nobody knows

for she knows the devil ooch
the devil ouch
the devil
ach the great

green
dancing
devil
devil

devil
devil

wheeEEE