Dot Mask Replica

Playing around on Photoshop Elements the other night I stumbled into a new layering and masking technique; new to me, anyway. Someone once described a net as a lot of holes tied together with string (Who? Nobody knows!), and this dotty approach is not dissimilar. The end result was a dozen variations on the same pattern, of which these two seemed the most harmonious. There's nothing much to say about them, other than that I enjoyed making them, like the results, and will certainly be exploring further this new way of creating an eye-pleasing complexity out of simplicity.

If I pull the plug and let the colour drain out I get this, which has its own subtle charm:

And talking of subtle, I also made this one, which is not quite what it might seem to be at first glance, using some more conventional bits of layered imaging, but which also involves dots:

It has a certain "Dutch still life" vibe, I think. Except in this case it seems the subject matter has already developed "craquelure". Perhaps I should call it "Pre-Distressed Butternut Squash"? I like this approach, too, and it's useful to have an indoor genre to start working with, now that the wintry weather has started to arrive.