Spring Blessing

© Sybille Sterk

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

Forsythia image taken on Saturday, colour adjustments and a texture. I love spring and the new fresh light and the blossoms and colours everywhere. Makes you hopeful after all this winter darkness.

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go toBluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

Below a selection of iPad and iPad mini cases on Society6. Most of my artwork is available on these.
Grab yourself something pretty to celebrate spring finally arriving!

Yellow Explosion

© Sybille Sterk

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

Forsythia image taken yesterday, very little editing except for some level adjustment and a texture.

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go toBluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

All new totebags on Society6

Sunlight

© Sybille Sterk
Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

Taken with my new Lensbaby Composer Soft Focus lens. I am still experimenting with it and trying to get to grips with it. It's not as easy as it looks, but I liked this one. These are actually the leaves of a winter jasmin but with the lens they came out yellow and full of sunlight. Almost like magic they showed all the sunlight they stored up over the summer (this was taken a week ago, in October).

All other images/textures/brushes my own. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6 and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go to Bluecanvas).

Forsythia

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I thought we all could do with some sunshine with all that rain (at least here in the UK) coming down on us and trying to wash us away.... Yes, yes I know, how are we supposed to be in a drought, when it rains all the time? Well, the water hasn't made it all the way through to the ground water level yet. So we need some more rain. Miserable, I know. However, here are some golden forsythia and a blue sky to tide you over. (Pun intended.) :-)

Created with my own photographs in Photoshop, no stock used.

Chinese Lantern

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I just love the stark branches of winter with a few berries leftover like little treasures. :-)

Part of my new series of images for licensing on Arcangel-Images - use this code: SYST-0108

Created with my own photographs in Photoshop, no stock used.

Flower Diptychs - Roses

This is my favourite Blue Moon rose. It doesn't only look fabulous it is also scented and grows like mad. It covers a whole fence panel in my garden and looks fantastic.

All my own images, except for:

• Retro Actions (Rio) by Apples & Sisters
• Mixed Sets 2 by Shadowhouse
• Subtle White Texture Set by Shadowhouse

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This rose is actually called "Happy Birthday". It's a lovely simple rose (not many petals), with lots of colour - from the palest apricot to the deepest pink on the edge of the petals.

All my own images, except for:

• Freebie Actions (Love Vanilla) by Apples & Sisters
• 6 Faves Texture Sets 3 by Shadowhouse
• Entropy Texture Set by Shadowhouse

 

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 This is the same rose as in Happy Birthday I however, I tried to show the wonderful swirls the petals and the deeper colour at the edges of the petals make in a couple of close-up shots. A sort of 'abstract idea' of a rose, rather than a rose image.
The two images together make the perfect set (available from Redbubble and now also on Artflakes.com)

 All images my own, except for:

• Retro Actions (Amora) by Apples & Sisters
• 6 Faves Texture Sets 2 by Shadowhouse
• Assorted Paper T’s Texture Set by Shadowhouse

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Another of my rose images, this one so delicate and fragile in the palest of pink. :-)

 All images my own, except for:
Freebie Actions (Retro Fiesta) by Apples & Sisters
6 Faves Texture Sets 2 by Shadowhouse
Canvas & Paper Texture Set by Shadowhous

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This is a wild rose growing in my garden. It planted itself there and it's so beautiful that I don't have the heart to rip it out. This diptych shows the heart of one of the blossoms in full bloom and the other of one that is fading - the petals have fallen off and all that's left is its heart...

All my own images, except for:

• Freebie Actions (Allegria) by Apples & Sisters
• Another Mixed Texture Set by Shadowhouse
• Rich Tones Texture Set by Shadowhouse

 

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This is another set of images from the wild rose in my garden. I love the simplicity of wild roses, they are so very beautiful in their own right. :-)

All my own images, except for:

• Freebie Actions (Love Vanilla) by Apples & Sisters
• 6 Faves Texture Sets 3 by Shadowhouse
• You'd Be Surprised texture by Shadowhouse

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Yellow and Pink Roses in my garden. These are both tea roses with the most beautiful scent.

All images my own plus:
Retro Actions (Amora) by Apples & Sisters

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All images are available as prints and cards from Redbubble and now also on Artflakes.com)

The Dream Lord's Gift - Photo Manipulation

Illustration for my poem of the same name, The Dream Lord's Gift

 

Credits

Model 1

• TWS_1 by AttempteStock

Model 2

• yellow 4 by rammkitty-stock

Stock

• Rugged Male Hand Extended by FantasyStock
• Butterfly 3 by Sammykaye1sStamps
• Veil Stock Package 2 by almudena-stock
• and more birds by mimose-stock
• Whitby Abbey Ruins 3 by FoxStox
• cathedral by bloodydawn
• Remnant by Elandria
• Fingers to the Sky by Elandria
• The moon crescent image is no longer available on DA, but it was downloaded from Stormpenguin-Stock.

Backgrounds and Textures

• field 5 by F3rd4
• Darkness Descends by Book-of-Light-Stock
• Sky 46 by Sed-rah-Stock
• Mixed Sets 1 & 2 by Shadowhouse

Brushes

• Hair brush set by para-vine

All other images/textures/stock/brushes my own.

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Wonder - Or the Mystery of the Ladybird - Diptych

 

 

 

This is the fifth in my series of diptychs. 

All of them centre around childhood and the things we learn during childhood and far too often forget when we grow up. Wonder is one of them. How often do we look at something in wide eyed wonder?

Credits

Model

• yellow by Tracie76Stock

Stock

• Ladybird V by zwierzak
• Ladybug by resurrection-stock
• ladybird III by zwierzak
• Yellow Gerber Flower by aem-creations
• Flower 6_Gerbera Daisy- Stock by Inadesign-Stock

Backgrounds and Textures

• Sky 46 by Sed-rah-Stock
• Biology Of Smetana by Smoko-Stock
• Fish Bite Moonbeams by Smoko-Stock
• Entropy-5 by Shadowhouse
• Texture 20 by Cameron Grey

All other images/textures/stock/brushes my own.

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Weight of a Feather - Photo Manipulation

How much weight until you reach your breaking point?

Credits:

• Alison Ashwell for storm clouds and cracked mud
• Model, Craft11 by Faestock
• Turn back time, Texture 4, Princess of Shadows:
• Hardcore Grunge, Texture 4, Princess of Shadows (Collection removed from DeviantArt)
• Feather Brush by Silinias
• Cloud Brushes HiRes Nr.1 of 5 by Leboef

The rest of the images/textures are my own.

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Dragon's Eye - Experiment - Variations

This was an experiment.

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I painted the original in Corel Painter and then used it as a base for 'Altered Art' by adding textures and photographs to make a new altered image.

I wanted to try out the different effects of different textures on the image and see what variations I could achieve using this technique. I overlayed the image with textures and added photos but barely changed the original, in some cases not at all.

The idea for the orginal was to make it suitable for manipulation as I wanted to integrate the techniques used in photo manipulation in my digital paintings to create a new style. I've always been using the patterns and papers in Corel Painter, but this is going a step further by integrating textures and photographs.

Woods Dragon

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She was completely lost in the woods. There was no sign of habitation and no sense of the woods ending. She struggled through leaf mulch, over roots, snagging her dress on bramble and snapping twigs. Eventually, when it began to get dark she saw an orange light shimmering through the trees. With nowhere else to go, this seemed as good a direction to head towards than any. She parted the branches in front of her and looked a huge glowing eye. Her heart took a double beat and she tried to retreat back, away from the huge beast....

Credits:

• Texture 41 - Sirius SDZ
• Candle Smoke - wasd
• Grunge Textures 04 - Goodtextures

The leaves surrounding the dragon's eye are all photographs I took with the intention of using them to frame my illustrations. All other textures used in the image are mine, too.

Tapestry Dragon 

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She had followed the instruction in the book to the letter, followed one landmark after the other until it lead her here to this dirty window in a part of town she had never been before. She wouldn’t have believed that there was any part of the town that she did not know, hadn’t been before, but the book had lead her here. She decided to follow the rest of the instructions. Standing in front of the window, she rubbed the glass, the looked through. Right behind the window was a tapestry wall, framed by tatty velvet red curtains. She spoke the spell under her breath. A huge eye opened in the tapestry wall. The oracle had awoken…

Credits:

• Dirty Glass - Enframed
• Concrete Bunker - Goodtextures
• Paper Texture - Night-Fate-Stock
• Texture 28 - Night-Fate-Stock
• Backblech 01 - Sundel
• Curtain 03 - LunaNYXstock
• Art Nouveau Pattern Texture - Enchantedgal-Stock

Stone Dragon

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He had lost his way amongst the tall oaks long ago, when he came across a crumbling wall. Behind it loomed a huge structure, partly overgrown with moss, grasses and wildflowers. He decided to climb the wall. Laboriously he looked for handholds amongst the crevices between the stones. Finally, he reached the top of the wall and looked across it. At first he couldn't make out what he was looking at, then he realised it was a huge reptilian eye. It blinked....

Credits:

• Texture 145 - Sirius SDZ
• Texture 117 - Sirius SDZ
• Paperstock 13 - HateStock
• Bryn Metal Decay 17 - Enframed

All other textures and photos are my own:

The ivy is one of my photos I took at Sawston Hall and the stone wall at the front is part of a wall in the Colosseum in Rome.
________________________
Please let me know which variation (or the original) you like best:

 

  

  

If you'd like to know how I created these variations, check out my journal entry on Redbubble.

Paintings - Sunflower and Spring (Cherryblossom)

Here they are finally - my paintings.

Sunflower

This was a Christmas present for Steve as he loves sunflowers. :-)

It's acrylic on canvas and was my first ever painting on canvas....

Here's another shot:

and here's a detail that is also available as a greeting card on Redbubble:

 

Spring

This is my second ever painting on canvas.

  

This is available on Redbubble as a print

or as a greeting card, created with a detail of the large painting
and a texture (Sirius_SDZ) and a photo filter.