Generating imitation custom artwork by simulating brush strokes and enhancing edges

A method for modifying an initial image to produce a resulting image having the appearance of custom art work by identifying contrast edges in the initial image, comprising

• storing a pixellated representation of said initial image in an electronic memory,
• generating at each pixel of said initial image a differential measure of luminance contrast by computing a luminance variation between pixels neighboring said pixel, and computing a logarithm of said luminance variation, and
• modifying luminance of said initial image by combining the logarithm of each said differential measure with luminance of a corresponding pixel in said initial image, to generate luminance values for said resulting image, whereby objects in said resulting image have enhanced definition from background, and
• producing a visual output of said resulting image.

Apparatus for modifying an initial image to produce a resulting image having the appearance of custom art work, comprising

• an electronic memory storing a pixellated representation of said initial image,
• computing circuitry inspecting pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to derive, without human input, modifications which reduce the precision of said initial image in a manner simulating techniques used by humans to produce custom art work, by selecting locations in said initial image, determining contrast of said initial image at each location in at least two directions, determining a direction of maximum contrast at each location, and selecting elongated portions of said initial image at each locations, the elongated portion at each respective location being oriented with its elongated dimension perpendicular to the direction of maximum contrast at said respective location, and automatically applying said modifications to said pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to generate a pixellated representation of said resulting image, by blurring said initial image to form a background within which said portions are modified, and modifying each selected portion to approximate one or more of more uniform luminance, uniform color saturation and uniform color hue as compared to said initial image, whereby said resulting image has the appearance of brush strokes, and
• an output port for connection to an output device capable of producing a visual output of said resulting image.