In this blog post, I am going to share with you how I created a painting-style wallpaper by using just some simple tools: camera phone and iPad photo editing apps.
I took this photo with an iPhone 6 using the built-in camera app with HDR function enabled. Since there are a lot of bright colors (the sky and flowers) in the scene, I intentionally under exposed to ensure that no part of the photo is blowed out.
I made the first round of edits with VSCOcam app for iPad (free on the App Store). I performed several adjustments to the exposure, contrast level, white balance, coloring, and sharpening. I also applied the T1 filter to create the film look: low-contrast, desaturated, and magenta color cast.
To create special effects and add texts to the image, I used Pixelmator for iPad ($9.99 on App Store). I gradually painted on the gradient using spray tool. I put the paint on different layers in order to have great control to blend mode and opacity. When I achieved the desired look, the last step was to add some texts and watermark.
