Impresso Pro by Jixipix is a fun program I found to create paintings out of photos.  You can get Impresso Pro here.   This program is an automatic painting program, and has a variety of presets included to give you different looks for your finished art.  I usually use the program to get a beginning simple painting effect, and then I take the painted image over to Procreate on my ipad to further refine it, or even totally repaint it in some cases, to create my paintings.

In the video below, I show you how to set up the exact preset I use to start my portrait style paintings in this software.  I've included 3 screenshots of the 3 different layers, which you may wish to print out or refer back to when setting up your own preset to match mine.  Note:  Make sure to save the preset after you set it up, so you'll have it for the future!  I show you how to do this in the video. :) 

The preset settings I give you in the video work well for a portrait style painting such as this one of my eagle.  I had already blended my eagle photo with a background from the new Art Journal Series 3 Collection before starting my painting.

The Canvas Layer settings:

The Alla Prima Layer Settings:

The Background Paint Layer Settings:

In today's video, I take you through the creation of this winter snow leopard art as I test out a new texture which will be released in a set this month.  Be sure you've signed up for the mailing list, so you can be notified when the new set is released! :) This is the image I am creating in the video below:

In this video, I demonstrate how I did a simple head swap on the bird, and then I take you through the creation of the artistic image using textures and resources from the collections at the bottom of this post.

In today's video, I take you through the creation of this eagle art.  I used a Sweetest Dream Spring Field texture as the background and then three layers of Island Dreams textures were added on top:  One to adjust overall color tone, one to add a bit of darkness where I wanted, and one more to add some brighter light in an area.  I hope you enjoy the video!

This morning, I played with a snowy owl photo with a white background just to give you guys some creative things you can do with those white background photos.  Here's the before and after images I show in the video...be sure to watch the full video below...and I hope you enjoy it! :) 

When I'm photographing wildlife in the field, I often come out with photos which are too dark.  I try to remember to adjust my exposure compensation UP to get it right in camera, but sometimes I forget and I'll have photos which appear unusable.  However, they can be saved in many instances!  By using "Screen Mode" in your layers panel in your photo editing software, you can brighten a photo which may be too dark - instantly!  I did a short video showing you the process here:

In this video, I take you through a composite image I'm creating, using three of my photos from a recent outing.  These are the three photos I used:

Watch the creation of "Sky Master" in this video where I go from camera to art in just 30 minutes!

Be sure to see my other videos on the site to learn how I do my masking and other work in Topaz Photo FX Lab.  And if you want to learn how to do this type of work in Photoshop, I recommend this course, which is the most comprehensive Photoshop course on the planet!

In this video, I go over my layers panel and explain what I did to create this hawk art, Basking In The Sun.

Don't be afraid to experiment with multiple layers of texture, both under and over your image, to create the overall look you want for your art.

Don't be afraid to adjust color tones, saturation, exposure/brightness on the texture layers to make them compliment your original photo perfectly.

Don't be afraid to adjust layer opacity and do masking on texture layers.

Just because a texture is presented in a certain color tone, or brightness/darkness level doesn't mean you have to stick with it the way it is!  Sometimes I'll use just a small part of a texture, or accent, to create a look in a small area of the final work. 

​Experiment, have fun, and lose yourself in the process of creation!