iPhone Photo Art Recipe or How To Grunge a Butterfly

Often I artify my photos so much with so many apps that I forget which ones I used on a given image. I get lost in the process, which is truly wonderful when making art and not so great when I want to duplicate a process. However, I was asked for this butterfly grunge soup recipe, so here goes to the best of my knowledge and recall: the steps to A Wing And A Prayer.

First, I photographed this butterfly wing against a ti plant leaf. This butterfly is no longer living - I tried to save it when I found it on the road in a strong wind. Alas, too far gone. I keep it on my desk along with leaves, feathers, shells and the like. I use them as photo collage elements because they are still so beautiful.

Next, I oil painted the image in Impressionist Art, knowing it would be way over the top but perfect when combined with the original.  The painting part takes a little time as you have to paint each stroke with either finger or stylus. It saved small (just how this app works)  so I knew I'd need to upsize it when I combined it with the original.

I upsized it in IRIS, then combined it in DXP - just trying all the blend modes to see what grabbed me. I think Multiply was the one I finally used.

I erased the edging along the wing in TouchRetouch. Then took it in to Camera+ for Clarity to pop the colors and then used a Camera+ filter that made the background Aqua.

Next, I used Camera Awesome! filter for this amazingly cool vintage, torn edge look. I don't remember which one because there are so freaking many but you'll find it.

Finally, I processed it in Modern Grunge, using one of the cutout effects. As always, I sharpened it in Snapseed and added copyright with Impression. Voila. Iphoneography right out of the oven. Total time elapsed: about 40 minutes. That's the recipe to the best of my recollection. (My mom is an intuitive cook and sometimes leaves out steps when she tries to give me here best recipes - I now finally understand how that happens.) Still I think I covered them all - try for yourself - better yet, improve upon it with your own ingredients. Happy apping.