I had a photo I shot at a photography workshop that I wanted to play with but I didn't have a clear topic in mind. Over the next couple hours, this is what emerged - including some really raw journaling about the longing I have for the children I didn't think I wanted.
I ended up layering several different filters with various blending modes to create this final image. The bottom layer is Cutout, followed by Sumi-e and Cutout in a Luminosity blending mode, a desaturation layer, followed by a layer mixing Charcoal and Cutout in Subtract blending mode, and another layer of Charcoal and Cutout in Soft Light. I then added the painted paper with a Hard Light mode and Blend If set to everything except the solid black. Then I added the same painted paper with a 75% hard light blend set to Blend If only the solid black. (Confused yet?) Then came the diagonal stripe paper with a Linear Light blend at 18%, masked to not appear over the woman's image. Then I added another layer of the painted paper with a Screen blend, and created a faux drop-shadow on the woman's body.
The title was inspired by the old saying, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride." It's composed of the painted paper with a Linear Light blend clipped to white text; the subtitle block is a paint smear clipped to a black rectangle. I created the paper strip quote by clipping the teal paper to rectangle shapes, adding a halftone style, rasterizing, adding the text with an engraved style, flattening, and applying a tape w/shadow style to finish.
Digital elements came the kit "Autumn Magic" by
Valorie Wibbens. Title font is Impact, journaling is AmerType Medium. Styles from Mommyish include "
Stylin' #165 - Halftone Styles", "
Stylin' #61 - Tape", "
Stylin' #81 - Engraved", and her shadow styles.
