Old Porto
I love flea markets...I always head to booths that sell old books, papers, postcards, stamps, and other vintage printed materials. With photo apps and Photoshop, I can create these images in the virtual world of digital imaging. In this exercise I used a slightly out of focus picture of the riverfront in Porto, Portugal.
I added a layer of watercolor to bring out the blocks of color.
When these layers are blended and overlaid with some texture, the image begins to take on a vintage, painted look.
Sorting through my brushes, I find several with old postage and cancellations, burned edges, and grunging marks. Playing with brushes and blending modes is to me like video gaming is to kids. I have to make myself stop, save the layers, and look forward to future experiments.
