One Image Transformation Options

I took that image during a trip to Argentina in 2011, I have a fascination for trees, I was attracted by the branches, feel really like looking at the lungs of our planet. I have a lot of respect for trees, they help the planet breathe by turning carbon dioxide into clean, pure, oxygen, we are lost without them.
They also keep our planet cool, and help stop the global warming, and add beauty to our landscape.
I took that image with my Lensbaby and a double glass optic, the reason why I use that lens was to focus on the delicate branches I wanted everything else out of focus.
I put the file away when I came back from the trip, I knew what I wanted to do with it, but I was not sure how too.  A year later I decided to try, I think if I remembered correctly the first 10 or 12 attempts were unsuccessful.
My first successful attempt took me a few weeks, using Photoshop Cut Out Filter, and Corel Painter I was able to do a mix of cut out and painting.
My second attempt took me a long time, few months, using only Corel Painter and all the different brushes, a lot of redo’s, took time to get exactly what I was looking for.
When I look at the two images, I cannot say which one I like better, and I don’t want to make a choice, they are both a representation of my vision, a vision that was inspired by beautiful and   majestic trees.

This was my first successful attempt, you can see the cut out filter effect for most of the image except for the middle part where I used Corel Painter to add the flowers and to define some of the branches. I used selective color and hue/saturation to get the final color.

This is my second successful attempt, so much work, that's probably the reason I like it so much, or maybe it's because it was a intense extraction of my vision, and a expression of my feeling. Took me few months, but it was a relaxing time listening to great music, and drinking wine. It's not for every taste, but it is a great representation of what I really wanted to achieve, and that's what is important, this kind of work is done first to please the artist, in that case me, and it's the same for everyone of us, doesn't really matter, if only we and few others like the result, if we are happy with it, that's what matter.

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