I’ve started playing with the new Adobe Photoshop Oil Paint filter to get just a little more creative with some older HDR images; kind of a rejuvenation process. This macro shot of a pen point atop an antique inkwell was originally done in its rustic, “classic” condition as you can see below. But, I wanted to do a more artistic transformation.

After loading the image into Photoshop, I created a duplicate layer and applied the Oil Paint filter. The filter is pretty flexible and no absolute settings work with every image. So, I played around until I got what I wanted, a flowing, painting look. I then used the dodge and burn tools to create my own tonal variations for a controlled increase in contrast.