Duck Dreams

Now, i know that using Textures on photographs is not everybody’s cup of tea… but when the archives are offering up second rate options and the rain is pouring down, as is often the case in Scotland, the artist in me finds some solice in the ability to take an existing shot and render it in such a way as to improve the atmosphere, change the mood and generally make it ‘artistically’ appealing to some folks…

I find it somewhat therapeutic and challenging to make a couple of images seamless and appear painterly like…

I agree that it is in the preverbal ‘eye of the beholder’… but if you set out to do it for yourself, then achieving self contentment in the result is a result in itself.

I would point you towards several masters in this field, many of whom are pretty new to this genre…

The undisputed master, and  selfless producer of free content (as long as you acknowledge use) is SkeletalMess (AKA Jerry Jones)

And with the links following you can give it a go yourself…

Get your textures and a tutorial from SkeletalMess website

Get additional SkeletalMess Textures on Flickr

Visit Paree’s website for inspiration

…and finally, when the bug has bitten, upload your finished article to the Ghostworks group on flickr. A well moderated, positive group for all levels of interest. As I have said, it is about having fun, I tend to be simplistic in my approach to Textures, prefering to be subtle and retain the landscape feeling, but as you will see in the group, the possibilities are endless, from the subtle to the bizarre…

My opinion is that if you are a purist, then this is not for you, but I believe that attempting textures helps in the overall skills that are needed within photo processing.