An Color Edit Example

Color Editing Mosaics.

I'll like you to help with a comparision.

The first image just had one simple crop and tidy up of edges.

The Second I did color and tone edits on to try to be back to how I suspect the original mosaic looked before weathering and erosion etc .


Is there a difference or not?

Here's the first version.

and now the second with more edits!

What do you think?

Next time I'll be discussing the use of mosaic filters in Gimp and how I edited letter shapes to get forms that would work the best with that filter.

Oh and yes I did tweak both the reds and blues for this using the Color Tool to deepen shadows and strengthen highlights and mid tones I HOPE ???

Ravenna Mosaic St Luke

Todays example of great design is this #mosaic from #Ravenna of #SaintLuke the Evangelist.

Note how by having a rural background the artists can use green to blend in with other nearby mosaics and work in Luke's symbol the Bull and lead the eye up and down the image following the contrasting whites and grays of the clouds at the very top, then the Bull, highlights on the rocks and ledges, the curves of Luke's clothing and book, and finally the Heron in the Pond at the Bottom.

Yes that is a bag of scrolls by his feet a storage method used in damper areas to transport books or where shelving and cabinets and boxes were not available.

So we also get to learn something about ancient books and scrolls from this mosaic as well as a great example of tonal composition!

Grape Pressing - Roman

While researching Maenads and Satyrs I keep finding images of Satyrs and Silenoi pressing grapes but not Humans in Greek Classical but no human workers until I added Roman as a search parameter.

Even then I got several images of cupids pressing grapes but finally I found this image.

Its part of a larger mosaic showing activities linked to various months of the year.

The ancients seemed to have used much shallower vats then modern winegrowers. 

I'll be sharing more images of this activity over the next few blogs showing how depictions of workers changed over the centuries.

Italo-Byzantine ChiRho

From the same church as the prior post an example of a #ChiRho #italobyzantine style #mosaic #lettering

I have not cropped this to emphasize the lettering because I want you to be been to see and study how the letters fit into and onto a band of ornament as part of a curved mosaic surface.

It also shows a good color balance in the composition and layout.

Think about how a similar color layout might work in print or on the web for a title or header or poster. I think you might have to strengthen the greens for modern mediumand maybe darken the blue or strengthen it?

You don't have to do a ChiRho ... you can experiment with other letters! Initials maybe?

Greek Mosaic In Situ

I so fond see close up images of smaller details of #Greek #mosaics that it was a delight to find this image to share.

So why am I sharing it here rather than over on my #metousia blog?

Happily the photo angle and distance shows how greek mosaic artists were not just skilled craftsmen copying paintings but also designers who thought about layout detail composition and inserting lettering! So Glyphika is the place!

Who ever created this thought about color tone layout and the relationship of the mosaic to the rest of the room. Art Design Creativity. And the "classic" element that marks it as Greek /Hellenistic BALANCE.

GIMP and Mosaic

#mosaic #gimp #filter

Gimp has a Mosaic filter I have experimented with now and then.

Here's two of my earliest attempts.

copyright Julie vaux 2016

For this one I added the lettering in a font I modified with more shadow to thicken the letters to look like a Roman uncial over a mosaic background.
Its just a bit too smooth ... another attempt

copyright julie vaux 2016

I wanted a mosaic background that emphasized the text so it stood out since this design was used on my Facebook page and the WEB.

This year however I decided to try to get both the background and lettering to work with the Mosaic filter. One tip: Add the mosaic filter LAST.

I wnated a background tonal range more like actual greek and roman mosaics ... so more matte and less shiny ...

copyright julie vaux 2016
unfinished work in progress 

still not quite right so color edits and border added 

another version  closer 

copyright julie vaux 2016
unfinished work in progress 

now the lettering looks much more like the irregular edges you see on ancient mosaics ... so theres about half a dozen merged layers in this 

I'll show you the finished final versions that will become stickers on Red Bubble next week! I may also put one up on Patreon as an reward or Deviant as an example.

A note on color edits - UP the both the yellows and reds but a touch more blue and cyan in the shadows. 

Resizing oddly with the mosaic filter to get it to work on a largely scale for a book cover I give found you have to work small and enlarge at the final edits otherwise the Mosaic effect just becomes a vague bumpy BG texture.

Now for a final comparison  a image of an actual mosaic  Roman Imperial era but Greek lettering!

 MMM next experiment I probably should try to see if Ripple might make the tile edges more irregular?  I have used ochre backgrounds rather than gray since I think it works better in a browser ....after all unlike the greeks I do not have a supply of marble chips and scraps or actual peebles! It needs to work for print and web so I can share it with you !

You can copy and share these images for educational purposes but not for resale !

An Color Edit Example

Color Editing Mosaics.

I'll like you to help with a comparision.

The first image just had one simple crop and tidy up of edges.

The Second I did color and tone edits on to try to be back to how I suspect the original mosaic looked before weathering and erosion etc .


Is there a difference or not?

Here's the first version.

and now the second with more edits!

What do you think?

Next time I'll be discussing the use of mosaic filters in Gimp and how I edited letter shapes to get forms that would work the best with that filter.

Oh and yes I did tweak both the reds and blues for this using the Color Tool to deepen shadows and strengthen highlights and mid tones I HOPE ???

Mosaic lettering

#mosiac #greco-roman 

Lettering on a Greco-Roman Mosaic Floor 

I normally share this type of image over on Metousia but this was such a lovely example of lettering I wanted my Glyphika readers to see it too!

The words are Health Life Grace Peace Euthumia = good will Hope 

I'm going to need either a new mobile or a laptop battery replacement soon 

so please consider boosting my limited Adsense earnings by using paypal.me/JulieVaux

Thank You 

Recycling Blue 9

Copyright Julie Vaux 2013

 

Copyright Julie Vaux 2013

 

Copyright Julie Vaux

The first image is a png file based on a svg created in Inkscape using the Polygon and Color tools and the 2 handles on the Polygon.

Then I opened the png file in Gimp.

For each of the Gimp edited images three different filter plugins were combined.

I'd love to see these patterns on paper or fabric . However I don't have the funds for a major quality print run  and marketing too.

If you would like to use buy or license these or other images please contact me.

P.S. don't forget to check out my Red Bubble Gallery using the link below or my Cafe Press Shop.

You can follow me at JVartndesign on Twitter and Facebook.

The Other Cross

The Other Cross


Many of you may have seen the traditional Christian Cross?


But have you seen this?

Unless you've studied Early Christian and Byzantine art you may not be aware that for the first few centuries Chi Rho crosses were depicted as frequently as the t cross we're more familiar with.


Look to the left of the picture. There's a stylized Chi X blended with a Greek Rho. It's not just Irish manuscripts that have Chi Rho crosses.


There is more than one Cross symbol.