CoffeeShop "Fine Art Transformation": Create Custom Art Using Public Domain Images!

It was a rainy weekend and the kids and sweetheart were busy so I had time to work on my blog which has been so neglected this year. 2020 has lasted for what seems like forever and it was a difficult year. 

Just this week my parent's beloved good-boi George (seen in the photo below with my dad) was attacked by a neighbor's German Shepard and died of his wounds. On the way to the ER my father was involved in a wreck that totaled his pickup. Thankfully everyone in the automobiles were fine, but I told my father that he is living in a hellish country music song right now since he lost his dog and his truck in the same week... Our family LOVED George so much, he was a rescue and looked like a dachshund/pit bull mix. He was incredibly loving, always made us laugh, and he will be missed dearly. Rest in peace little George.

So what better way to cheer myself up than playing on my computer doing photo-editing and designing. I also want to revamp my site. I run this blog on a shoestring budget and I maintain it all on my own, so don't be surprised if you see some weird things going on in the next couple of weeks. Just let me know in the comments if you see anything crazy or find broken links. Today I went down to 2-columns after having a 3-column site for years and years. I really need a new template but I don't have the time for that right now, so I am just editing the html.

I didn't just work on my html this weekend however. I am so excited about sharing this new tutorial today. It was such a blast designing this new art piece for my hallway walls and I just had to share the process with you. I used public domain images and Photoshop and created this wall art in about 15 minutes and I share the steps below.

I edited a pattern, La Donna painting, and letter to use in this tutorial and include those edited images in the download located at the bottom of this post. The free public domain flowers have to be downloaded at the Heritage Library where I found them. I also include my high-resolution image I created in this tutorial in my download or you can download it here.

I used this tutorial to edit the image above too, which you can download here.

CoffeeShop "Fine Art Transformation" Tutorial:

I absolutely love this oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Before adding any flowers, I used the clone tool to remove some spots and dark areas from the original image. You can download my edited version at the bottom of this post.

I found flower bouquet images at the Heritage Library that were perfect for this edit. This was so much easier than adding individual flower images. The original colors were not ideal, but thankfully I can use blending modes to change them. 

I added flower bouquet #4 to this image and free-transformed it to fit in the corner. But I want to remove the blue flower.

I added a layer mask to the flower layer and then used a hard black brush to remove the flowers off her hands.

Then I put the flower layer in Soft Light blending mode at 100% opacity. Isn't this gorgeous?

I continued to add flowers from the pack in Soft Light blending mode until she was completely surrounded. I added layer masks to most of the flower layers and selectively painted them off her skin and hair where needed. 

I wanted to add a pattern where she would be wearing a shirt. I used the one I included in the download and adjusted the size until it completely covered the image. I put it in Color Burn blending mode at 80% opacity.

Then I added a black layer mask and removed the pattern from everything but her body. To see the red color where the mask blocks the effect as seen above, click the "\" key and click again to remove it. 

I love how she now is wearing a patterned blouse!

Now I wanted to add some text to the image. I found this amazing letter from WW1 (go read the original if you get a chance) and created an overlay which you can download in the pack below. I put the overlay on the image and free-transformed it to cover the entire area.

I put that layer in Soft Light blending mode but it is so faint you almost can't see it.

To make it darker I added a dark chocolate Solid Color fill layer on top, and clipped it to the letter layer. I ended up lowering the Fill to 80% later on during the edit.

Then I added a layer mask and removed the letter layer from her skin, hair, and blouse.

Finally, I added a Levels adjustment layer on top and adjusted the highlight slider to slightly brighten the image.

I am really happy with this edit! I am going to resize and get it printed on a canvas or glossy photo paper and frame it. I might do a set of these, I think they would look gorgeous on my walls. 

Once you have the first image finished you can add any lovely woman portrait and adjust the layer masks and color of the  background to taste! I made this one in just a few minutes by cutting this woman out of the original image and then adding a pretty textured background behind her.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I would love to see your own creations using this method on my Facebook Page!

Download the CoffeeShop "Fine Art Transformation Kit".

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for all the actions/presets and professional design elements, storyboards, and textures.