Weekly Theme: Territorial Tree Swallows

I've always been a huge fan of chinese brush art, and have always been somewhat of a frustrated painter, so I had alot of fun with this one. I took the original image and desaturated the colors- then took it to topaz, where I used the detail/soft preset. From there I used xero illustrator, to mute the colors a bit more and add a bit more definition. Then I used the gamma correction to lighten it up even more in cs4. Cloned out the shadow effect around the birds and removed a few pine boughs in the bg. Added a sumi plant brush in the corner and I think that's about it, other than stamping it with a chop that symbolizes my name.

another fun theme :)

Very, very nice Cindy! I like the treatment on the birds and your bamboo leaves (did you paint them?). The placement of the chop is nice but I'm thinking that you need to have it in the upper left, as this area is very empty and the line formed by the upper edges of the birds is not working. Try positioning the chop in the upper left and see what you think. Not in the upper left corner, but down a little from there. You can create a blank layer, put the chop on it and then move it around till you think it's in a balance with the birds and the bamboo.

appreciate the feedback Dan. I haven't quite got the look/feel I want yet, but I'm sure I'll play around with this one some more before I'm done. The bamboo leaves are from a sumi e brush set that I like to use. I'd placed one in the opposing corner as well, but thought it may be a bit too much. Here's a rework with the chop in a different position.

Cindi, your repost is just what I was thinking would balance the piece! Nice!

thanks again Dan. I did yet another version adding a sumi brush to the ulc.. this is what I initially was going to go with.. a bit too much?

eeks, I'm seeing some areas I need to clone over.. my monitor settings still aren't right :/

Very nice..looks very authentic....

Cindy, I like your final repost alot. I see a few clone marks-but an easy fix. This has a nice soft feel to it. I like the pale gray BG and the chop. The leaves look hand-painted, very nicely done.:)

I like the repost - nice balance & lovely image.

Like the repost and I think a thin black border would be very nice too. Good work Cindy.

Beautiful composition, Cindy. A wall hanging for sure! Like your final repost.

Nice image and application Cindy.

Might add a little detail to the eyes, but I like the softness of the birds otherwise.

Cindy, the repost is wonderful. I love the composition and the softness makes this so beautiful:)