First Night Design | Bringing in the Harvest #Art

Bringing in the Harvest © Sarah Vernon – Buy a print at Crated!

The pastoral tradition — whether poetry, music, literature or painting — has long been popular, particularly the art of the 19th century when Victorians lapped up engaging scenes of country life. It was an idealised version of the truth which has led to the erroneous assumption that life in the countryside is a deal more peaceful and beautiful than town. It’s an assumption that pertains to this day and there are many who tell a tale of moving away from the relentless struggle in the cities, perhaps buying a small holding, only to discover that it is a good deal smellier and dirtier than town and earning enough to survive is well-nigh impossible. There are exceptions, of course, but unless you’ve had a countryside upbringing, it can come as a shock.

Vladimir Kudinov

As soon as I saw this photograph of a modern farming scene by Vladimir Kudinov from Unsplash, I decided to follow the pastoral tradition and age the image. Whether I’ve succeeded is for you to say but I’m quite pleased with the result.

Using Photoshop I ‘sponged’ and redefined the machine to make it look as if it were a bale of hay being transported. I did the same ‘sponging’ with the modern levers where the farmer is sitting. When I was happy, I added the 2LO Broken 17 texture from 2 Lil’ Owls and set it to the ‘screen’ mode.

2 Lil’ Owls

Next I added a texture from Kerstin Frank, making it less saturated and more of a muted green than the original — click through to see her original texture. This I set to the ‘multiply’ mode.

Kerstin Frank

Bringing in the Harvest

Prints available at Crated and the DODO iPad Case at Zazzle. Soon to be available on all products at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!