Here is a fun stripe generating game I learned with Photoshop.
Before: Possumhaw
1. Crop. Select a very small row of your image, like 1-10 pixels wide by the height of your image. Chose a section that has color variations.
2. Resize. Click off "Constrain Proportions" and increase the width of the image so instead of 1-10 pixels it is now hundreds or thousands of pixels -- whatever you want.
3. See! - The colors in the selected row of your original image have now spread out to fill the whole image.
4. Use for collages, wrapping paper, desktop background (crazy - will make people think your computer is freaking out), or print out onto fabric and make a quilt!
I first learned about doing this last year in an episode of Simply Quilts. (My craft inspiration before I stumbled into the wardrobe and found all of your blogs!) A guy did this and got his images printed out at a banner company onto huge pieces of fabric and made whole-cloth quilts with them. Stunning.
If nothing else, this technique is good for color palette inspiration as it literally draws out the color in your favorite photos.
Here are some more before and after shots:
Chipped glass, before.
Chipped glass stripes, after.
Spring, before.
Spring stripes, after. My fav.
It works vertically too, of course.
Zinnias before.
Zinnia stripes, after.
Warning. It's addictive.
Posted by: Amy | June 30, 2006 at 04:19 PM
You are too cool! I'm looking forward to some in person lessons this weekend.
I'll share images from Arches and Canyonlands National Parks as well as Monument Valley with you and you can share some of these cutting edge techniques with me.
Love,
Dad
Posted by: Dave Bryan | June 30, 2006 at 04:26 PM
Those look amazing. I am so bad with photoshop it's not true, but your instructions look really clear and have inspired me to try again (try being the operative word!).
Posted by: Ali | June 30, 2006 at 04:53 PM
That's completely stunning. I don't have photoshop, but the inspiration alone in what you have done here is pretty blimmin' cool.
Posted by: Megan | June 30, 2006 at 05:15 PM
That is so cool! Your zinnia stripes look a lot like the stripes on your canvas. The implications are HUGE. Sometimes I wished I could find a fabric that coordinated perfectly with a print I had. And you're saying I could just scan my fabric in, and print up your own? Do I need a special printer to print up fabric? I've never done it, and I'm afraid it'll cost an arm and a leg...
Posted by: linda | June 30, 2006 at 08:50 PM
I still haven't gotten up the nerve to try the printing on fabric thing. I did these stripes back in January and wanted to print then and didn't and then forgot about it.
Here was a recent post from Wee Wonderfuls
http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/2006/06/like_a_polaroid.html about printing on fabric.
Must try it with these stripes and report back.
Posted by: Amy | June 30, 2006 at 09:29 PM
Love it, reminds me of amy rupel. http://www.amyruppel.com/moreart.html :)
Posted by: michelle | June 30, 2006 at 10:06 PM
brilliant! i love it!!!
Posted by: kyrie | June 30, 2006 at 11:47 PM
I love it! I think some of the magic lies also in the gentle vairation in the stripes--if you look closely, it's not really that clear-cut; there are gradations. My eyes love the way that looks. And you definitely have a preferential color palette! Lovely. See how the last one matches your wall hanging?
I haven't been tothe wildflower center in ages--did you hear that UT is acquiring it? I wonder what that means...
Posted by: Steph | July 01, 2006 at 12:11 AM
Wow, that is a neat trick! Thanks!!
Posted by: autum | July 01, 2006 at 08:08 AM
Very cool trick. I wonder if you could make a frame for the pictures with the stripes and then it would be a "bildungsroman" (picture in a picture)!
Posted by: Jennifer | July 01, 2006 at 09:52 AM
I love me some stripes. Very groovalicious. I first scrolled the photos before reading your post and immediately thought about printing them on fabric. I could not afford that print job, but it would be cool. The blue is my favorite too! It reminds of that stripey fabric you used for a few things-pencil roll, mom vest?
Posted by: Angela | July 01, 2006 at 02:39 PM
Okay, all those stripes now need to be made into fabric. Pronto.
Posted by: capello | July 01, 2006 at 07:27 PM
This is really cool!
Posted by: Lauri | July 03, 2006 at 10:56 AM
wow that is so cool, I love stripes. I am going to go off and try it right now!!!
Posted by: Hannah | July 03, 2006 at 05:24 PM
Wow! I love it! and you chose pictures with such lovely colors! I have to try this!! thanks!
Posted by: Carmen | July 04, 2006 at 09:00 AM
Very cool!!
Reminds me of a Gene Davis painting.
r.
Posted by: collage a day | July 04, 2006 at 08:53 PM
love it.
told
everyone
i know.
:)
Posted by: bugheart | July 05, 2006 at 04:15 PM
Oh WOW!!! I just tried this with a pic I have of lampwork glass beads...
TOO COOOL!!
(why oh why did I come here...now I will be on the computer all day! ah well, I'm already on the computer all day!)
Posted by: blestwithsons | July 17, 2006 at 08:56 AM
Wow that's great!
Posted by: juju | November 30, 2006 at 08:06 AM
this is the greatest thing ever... i am in danger of never leaving the computer. thank you?
Posted by: stephanie s | June 05, 2007 at 01:36 PM
hi,
in photoshop you can try this :
click on the selection tool with a long click, and choose "select one row" in the menu ( or select one column ) . clic on the image to select one row.
hit ctrl + T , and move the side little square ( or bottom square, or any ) to extend.
with a right click you can also choose "rotate" to have diagonal stripes.
hit entry key when finished :D . tadaaa :)
Posted by: krysalia | June 06, 2007 at 09:49 PM
I can't believe how neat the stripes are! Would make the greatest fabric.
Posted by: Carla Finley | January 12, 2009 at 07:05 PM