I love it when I learn new tools in Photoshop, it makes my day go all shiny and happy. So imagine my bliss when I learned THREE new tools today?
What did I learn?
Well, a coworker, who shall remain nameless in his fabulousness, taught me about two new plugins and a spotlight creator. One plugin creates a grid, a major time saver for anyone who has attempted to make one themselves. The other removes all black from a photo, great for when you want to use only a light section of a picture and don't have the time or patience to select it all out. Finally, the spotlight creator creates the most awesome and unique spotlights (way better than lighting effects).
What did I do with these new tricks once I learned them? Created a completely lame, yet amusing Polaroid:
I used the spotlight creator to create a beam of light, then removed the black from that beam and duplicated it. I found a picture of a spaceship, adjusted the levels to really bring out the shadows and highlights, and removed the black from that. I then positioned the ship right above the abductor beam of DOOM. Then I found a cow, selected it out and positioned it in the beam. I moved the duplicated beam over the cow, so the light expands where it touches the cow. I then used an old Polaroid action to age and frame the piece.
Not the most original or interesting piece, but it was fun and a good test run for learning the new program and plugins. And hey, I only had 10 minutes to kill.
P.S. I'll see about creating a tutorial on these tools once I really get the hang of them.
Been a bit since I've posted. It's always hectic around Christmas time for me, and this year more so than usual. However, things have started calming down and I'm back with pencil in hand. In fact, I present you my newest piece of artwork:
This was done in oil pastels last weekend as a gift for the newest member of my family, my niece who was born this morning.
The piece didn't come out quite the way I wanted. The eyebrows are a little high and the skirt doesn't seem as ruffle-filled as I waned, but all in all, I am pleased. My favorite part, by far, is the tree though. The leaves just came together so nicely and the coloring in the tree worked really well after I sprayed it with fixative (before I sprayed it, the tree was a little too light and red, but fixative always brings out the darker colors in a project).
Yesterday marked the Autumn Equinox, the first day of fall. And, while I know that technically I should have posted this yesterday, today I am posting a fun new craft to celebrate. The craft is called "Festive Scarecrow," and involves sculpting a small ornamental scarecrow and blackbird cirounded by pumpkins.
I didn't make this tutorial, but it is done really well with step by step, easy to follow instructions. They didn't link to the products you would need (though they do list them) so I also found and put together the slideshow above for easier shopping. Good luck, and happy crafting!
I'm pretty proud of how he turned out. He was just meant to be a quick image down for the purpose of a Facebook profile image (for a website called "The Cat Clan") but turned out cute enough to share around. As always, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.
Buzz it!
