This is my entry to the LMAC let's make a collage competition. This fantastic community initiative has been on my radar for so long as I've enjoyed viewing my long-time friend @agmoore's collages. Although I have been making collage art for a while to enhance my creative writing posts, this is my first entry to this awesome competition.
I love writing fantasy fiction, and have been working on a fantasy novel for some time off-chain. If you're interested in reading some of my recent fantasy work check out this short story I wrote yesterday, The Tale of the Mersey Mermaid... or one of the many stories I have written catalogued in My Hive Bookstore.
I've always found that fantasy fiction short stories are enhanced with a carefully selected title image to entice the reader and hint at what the narrative entails. I have been using images from Pixabay to do this from my earliest days on steem/hive in 2017... saying that makes me feel like an old Hivian 😂
It's the many fantasy collage images I have seen over the years that inspired this post.
Creative Process:
First I created a basic idea plan on my notepad (as you can see the idea evolved as I hunted down images to make the collage a reality):
I found a variety of images on both LMAC Image Library and pixabay to make the collage:
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N.B. 2% beneficiary set to the @quantumg account from this posts rewards for using their image :)
After which the real work began:
First I flipped the title image, and then used both the fuzzy select and the eraser tools in GIMP to cut out the sky in @shaka's image so that it could more easily fit in the bottle. I removed everything to the horizon, including the trees, to allow for an easier fade between the magical background in the bottle and the scene of the dwarf's cottage.
Then I added the stock image of the dwarf from pixabay, resized him and spent some time using the 3d transform tool in GIMP to change how he was standing. Next I added the swirly patterned background as the lowest layer and used the eraser tool place the image only in the bottle.
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After studying the image for a while I decided the edges of the image of the dwarf's cottage and land inside the bottle didn't blend well enough with the magical bottle background. So I duplicated several of the cottage layers and adjusted the opacity to varying degrees. Then I noticed that the eraser tool had an opacity setting and that I was doing all this the long way round 😂
I used the eraser tool with a medium 'hardness' to erase the edges of the cottage transparent image and then adjusted the opacity to create a merge.
Finally, I added the bottle with transparent background into the main night-time seashore image, flipped and resized it to cover up the skull in the original.
Next, I added a bloom light filter to the bottle, and then spent some time experimenting with the supernova filter. After discarding a few images where I was trying to place a supernova on the bottle layer, I decided to place the supernova behind that image on the main seashore image.
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This gave a better effect of light emanating from the magical bottle imprisoning the dwarf.
I hope you have enjoyed this trip into the world fantastic and reading about the process.
Thanks 🙂
All image sources in this post are CC licence made using GIMP Photo Editing Suit. I have set @lmac as 20% beneficiary of this post's rewards to help support the community.
If you have enjoyed this creative post, please check out my homepage @raj808 for similar content.
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Hi @raj808,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
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I am so happy to see you here, @raj808! What a wonderful collage. I love your concept, your execution and your process description.
Because I've seen the original art you create for your stories and poems, I always thought you'd be a natural here. And now you are here! A big, hearty, warm welcome to you my friend!
Thank you for the welcome @agmoore and I'm glad you digged the concept and results.
It was really fun to put together, but after around 4 hours in my computer chair I must remember to get up next time and stretch 😂 My back is telling me off for spending so long with the eraser tool.
Lol, it is really fun and satisfying though when you transform images like this, I guess it reminds me of when I was a child and I used to collect warhammer minitures (lead figures). I would spend hours, or even the best part of a Saturday painting those figurines. The OCD runs strong with me 😂
The light of the bottle is a lovely touch. Great idea to put picture of magical house in the bottle.
Thanks redheadpei.
I had a lot of fun creating this image, just put on music and let my imagination take over 🙂
Congratulations @raj808!
You raised your level and are now a Minnow!
good job friend, congratulations
Thanks mlrequena78.
I had a lot of fun creating this image, just put on music and let my imagination take over 🙂
Very nice! I like the starry sky and the mist around the pebbles
Thanks creativemary.
I had a lot of fun creating this image. I agree that the stary sky and misty seashore really add to the image concept. The bottle is so bright, and it's the only element that has any color, I feel like the night time misty background contrasts with the illuminated magic bottle well 🙂
Yes, the bottle draws your attention
Your level lowered and you are now a Red Fish!
Whoa, I heard @haejin was curating content and I finally saw him here on your well curated post! Congrats! I have been enjoying curating art from this community! Keep up the great work!
Thank you @dynamicsteemians
Yeah, it was amazing to see how well this post did. It is certainly the highest rewarded post I've ever had on hive (or steem) in the 4 years I've been writing on this platform. Amazing! I shall have to share more of my digital art here, and LMAC is an awesome creative catalyst for making interesting digital art collages, plus the commuinity around it is large, active and very creative 🙂
Also, I think I need to have a closer look at NFT Showroom. I did create some NFT's on tezos earlier this year but found the twitter shilling game to be somewhat rigged. I quit on creating NFT's for many reasons but maybe NFT Showroom would be a better fit. Hmnnn, food for thought.
Thanks for checking out my collage.
Yeah man! I love @nftshowroom. I started going in heavy on them but then went in hard on splinterlands instead. I am slowly starting to get back to collecting with nftshowroom. I kind of am assuming that cross chain asset management is in the works, aside from cryptovoxels, which should help increase the value of art there. Too many artists there that have art there that is not being bought so they are lowering their prices.
Either way, I am starting to acquire art there again and hopefully the Hive community has a renewed interest in the amazing underground art at the Nftshowroom like they did with hive punks.