Half-Timbered Houses in York (Digital Woodcut)

Originally uploaded by randubnick

My recent short stay in England included a visit to York, which is a fascinating mix of old and new, quaint buildings and Starbucks, narrow streets filled with parked cars. I had a lot of fun and took lots of pictures of the tourist-filled streets. I loved the patterns in the half-timbered houses, but it was hard to get a photo that didn't include traffic lights and neon signs. Tonight I opened the original version of this photo in Painter. First I used some cut and paste to cover up a car parked in front of the building. Then I used some digital airbrush to cover up electric wires in the sky and in front of the building. Then I posterized the image and turned it into a digital woodcut, using a reverse selection to leave the sky unchanged. Then I transferred the result back to iPhoto for a final straightening and crop, and here it is.