DIgital Art - 8/13/14: "Day Lilies"

NF Photography asks us to post a Digital Art creation.
Next week's prompt will be for an Abstract Photo.

This image is both a Digital Art creation and an Abstract Photo ---or rather several photos combined.

Find Photoshop tips at the bottom of this post.

"Day Lilies"
This image is obviously a representational abstract. I used four photos, taking
parts from each to resize, combine and overlap. I used several different
Photoshop filters and tools to end up with this result.  Some of the original
images are difficult to find because of the overlapping.
After using "accented edges" I noticed that there was a tiny strip of lighter
color around two edges, so I lightened the other two.
(See original photos below.)

All of these were taken in June at
Cranberry Township Community Park in PA.
I used this large Lily twice, once in the lower right,
then I flipped it horizontally and use it in the upper
right, although it is difficult to see there.

These lilies were growing in three huge planters.
When I took theses photos, there were only yellow lilies
and also many buds that hadn't bloomed yet.

Several days after taking photos of yellow lilies,
there were also orange and deep red ones blooming
along with the yellow ones. But I saved those
photos for another project.

I used this as my background. I also copied the large lily
and added it to the top layer so nothing would
overlap it and it would be the focal point
(or center of interest) of my final image.
Notice that I used the "Rule of Thirds" when I took
this photo and also in my final abstract creation.

For anyone who thinks they aren't good at creating abstracts, I have created 3 easy lessons on creating successful abstract designs in any media. If you are interested, you can find "Lesson 1: Color" by clicking HERE. Lesson 1 has a link to "Lesson 2: UNITY" which has a link to "Lesson 3: ADDING VARIETY."

I am a retired art teacher who spent more than thirty years teaching art in public schools ---from kindergarden to community colleges, but mostly in Junior High or Middle Schools.  I also spent two years teaching English as a foreign language in Brazil.

Photoshop tip:
Do you find yourself having to constantly move to the top of the page to choose a smaller or larger brush size?
As long as you want to use the same brush shape and hardness, it's much easier to just hit the open bracket key ([) to the right of the P to make the brush slightly smaller each time you hit the key. Move one key to the right for the close bracket key (]) to gradually make your brush larger.