This quote has been in the back of my mind for weeks. I did multiple “faux” mono prints today, tried a shoelace and stencils for some pattern. No success. There was paint left on the palette, so I thought to do some simple color blocks, and use them as backgrounds.

I scanned the art, and the colors were true to life. I rotated each piece, and enlarged it to fill the design canvas in Photoshop in a pleasing manner. Below are the originals. I am sharing the technical process for Nelvia McGrath, who is learning Photoshop.

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I really wasn’t happy with them, so I “cropped” quite a bit. Not much of interest here. I could have painted on top of the original, added to it that way. A tree, shapes. But I guess I am tired today, nothing came to mind.

I added the short quotes, chose a fill color and font. I worked with word placement and alignment. On the first one, I used a “stroke” or outline to the lettering for added definition. You can see it where the white letters meet with the white of the background. In the second quote, the dark color made a stroke unnecessary.

The blocks of color made me think of Rothko. I had eliminated so much of the actual art from view, that this quote of his seemed to fit perfectly.

I have managed to make progress on revisions to a few of the pieces I have done this month. Nice, I don’t feel completely unproductive. Haha. I added a coat of Gel Matte Medium to the succulents, and I really love them now. It toned down the shine of the yellow pen.