Digitally Altered Photos That Look Lik Paintings

Photoshop whizz turns landscape photographs into Van Gogh-style masterpieces at the touch of a button By Simon Tomlinson These pictures might look like works of art, but they are actually photographs that have been digitally altered. Ross Armstrong created the impressionist-style images by chance and is now selling them for up to £200 a go as people prefer them to his real photos. The amateur photographer started to manipulate his landscape pictures after uploading a batch onto his PC and opened one in a free demo version of Adobe Photoshop. Ta-da! Amateur photographer Ross Armstrong uses Photoshop to turn pictures of landscapes like this one in Sipan, Croatia, into impressionist-style masterpieces From this: Mr Armstrong's picture of Dunstanburgh Castle (above) in Northumberland is one of many scenic shots around Europe which he has loaded onto his PC To this: After some trial and error on Photoshop, Mr Armstrong found he was able to re-create the famous swirling patterns that became the hallmark of impressionism A sunset in Edinburgh: Mr Armstrong is now selling his doctored images for up to £200 each as he says people prefer them to his original photographs Very impressive: Mr Armstrong started to manipulate his pictures after uploading a batch onto his PC and opening one in a free demo version of Adobe Photoshop Boats on the shore at Barra in the Western Isles: Mr Armstrong, who lives in Edinburgh, stumbled upon his new technique almost by chance Although he normally only used the programme for fine tuning his photos, Ross started dabbling with some of the latest filters. Through trial and error he managed to manipulate a landscape picture so it appeared to look like a swirling oil painting, similar to Vincent Van Gogh's work. Ross, from Edinburgh, was delighted with the abstract results and has since uploaded hundreds of his images onto the software. He carefully altering the stroke size and adjusting dozens of individual settings to create more of the unique artworks. The village of Portnahaven on Islay in the Inner Hebrides: Mr Armstrong normally only used the programme for fine tuning his photos, but then started experimenting The Forth Rail Bridge: Mr Armstrong has uploaded hundreds of his images onto the software and has set up a website to sell them through Not a pigment of your imagination: The Motorola worker carefully alters the stroke size and adjusts dozens of individual settings to create his look The isle of Lopud, Croatia: Mr Armstrong turned stunning scenes from across Europe of harbours, bays, buildings, towns and countryside into artworks Stroke of luck: Mr Armstrong said: 'The more I edited the picture the more it resembled something of an impressionist style, although that wasn't my original goal' St Mary's Lighthouse: Mr Armstrong said he wasn't trying to go for a Van Gogh style as he was more obsessed with Salvador Dali He has turned stunning scenes from across Europe of harbours, bays, buildings, towns and countryside into beautiful impressionist style pieces. Ross, an operations manager for Motorola, said: 'I was working on the final chapter for my book when I started using a demo of Photoshop. 'There was a new feature on it so I tried it out and spent ages looking at the settings, there is a lot you can customise and change. 'I can alter how much a picture can look like a painting and can control things such as the stroke size. Beautiful: A picture of Sveti ¿or¿e, known in English as the island of St George, off the coast of Perast in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro Masterstroke: The island of Sveti Dorde contains the 12th-century Saint George Benedictine monastery Old Petrol Pumps in Northumberland: Mr Armstrong said: 'I was working on the final chapter for my book when I started using a demo of Photoshop' Tech wizard: Mr Armstrong said: 'The more I edited the picture the more it resembled something of an impressionist style, although that wasn't my original goal' Staithes, Northumberland: Photoshop is a graphics-editing software initially released by Adobe System 24 years ago Cramond Island in the Forth of Firth: Mr Armstrong has taken pictures of dozens of scenes across Europe including harbours, bays, buildings, towns and the countryside Impressionist: Vincent Van Gogh was known for imparting rough beauty, emotional honesty and bold color into his artwork 'The more I edited the picture the more it resembled something of an impressionist style, although that wasn't my original goal. 'I wasn't trying to go for a Van Gogh style although I am a fan, I grew up being more obsessed with Salvador Dali. 'I have started selling the digital art images and I find that people actually prefer these to some of my normal shots.' The images cost up to £200 for an A1 sized poster print from www.roscophotographic.com. And here's one by the master himself... Iconic style: Dreaming of Japan and Hiroshige by Dutch post-impressionist Vincent Van Gogh, who was hugely influential in the 19th century