A recent attempt at photo illustration

I was watching the most recent episode of KQED's Quest when I saw the work of botanical illustrator Kandis Elliot. She starts with photographs and then uses software (CS6?) to enhance the pictures, turning them into beautiful illustrations. I used several techniques to try something in the same vein. I used various masking and selection techniques to flatten the tonal values to mimic something more like gouache or watercolor. I tried not to use "out of the box" Photoshop filters, but I did use the "dry brush" to achieve texture. Other techniques included using "apply image" to generate masks (and reverse masks), using a "threshold" layer adjustment to generate and image which was then blended to achieve some dark detail, using a gray layer in overlay mode for dodging and burning, creating an image with the "charcoal" filter to achieve an image blended in "darken" mode (I think), and using the "blend if" options and darken mode. I used a shallow knock out too, if I recall. In the next installment of this blog, I'll show a different image using similar techniques. The important thing, I have found, is that familiarity with the various tools allows me to approach the subject with some spontaneity, forgoing the need to execute a formula.