Improvement
195 creative works found
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The Missing Link
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Something has been bugging me about the original for months. Fixed it. (Nearly). So here she is again posing in front of a picture of herself on the computer screen. Of interest to cat peeps Tilly is one of five ginger female born in one litter. You know how rare they are. A record perhaps. And, before you ask, yes she is my owner. LOL
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A wall of bricks, a steel door, and a drain pipe….
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Sand Sprays up during a long lump landing /
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Self Improvement Tee – Just add mirror
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Yet another black and white from my book “Snow Man is My Friend.” I post it only because I haven’t had time lately (and have been much to lazy) to do anything new. Still, it’s a pretty nice little drawing, no?
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A male Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus carries some grass to line his nest in mid-May. This is Australia’s only true stork (which we sometime mistakenly call a Jabiru) with a wingspan of over 2 metres. Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia.
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Here is my new improved vectorised WRATH tee, totally resketched, embellished and vectorised for added madness. Hope you like it. / Wrath is such an ugly emotion and rarely used wisely. Apply with CAUTION.
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The Easy Guide to Creating the Orton Effect using Photoshop - UPDATED
by Peter HillThe aim of this Guide is to provide easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions to achieving the Orton Effect without the necessity of bei…
The aim of this Guide is to provide easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions to achieving the Orton Effect without the necessity of being a Photoshop guru. I still call myself “new to Photoshop” and I have found a lot of tutorials on this topic assume a much higher level of knowledge than I have and are not very intuitive. I have revised the Tutorial to show a shortcut to the 2 Blending Option steps, which I only found myself after posting the original tutorial (doh), but I have left the long way as well, as you may wish to play around with the default settings applied by the short way. To achieve the Orton Effect you will be creating Layers, but don’t worry if you haven’t done this before. I hadn’t. The method I am about to describe is the simplest I have found. It’s not my method, but the description is all mine. When I have more time (yeh, right) I will revise this tutorial to include screenshots of the various steps. But for now, you might like to print this Guide and have it next to you while you create your first Orton Effect. I use Photoshop CS2 v9. The method described below originally came from someone using Photoshop Elements, so you can see this is not advanced stuff. The steps described below assume almost zero knowledge of Layering, and ignore other adjustments you might be making to the image, for example Sharpening the image before you start work on it (recommended). Step 1 Choose your image. Any image will do, you are just learning at this stage, but if you have that favourite flower shot or portrait – cool. Step 2 Open Photoshop. Open the image you have selected to be your first amazing Orton Effect image. Feel the excitement. This is your Background Layer. Step 3 Look for the Layer toolbox on the right hand side of the Photoshop work area. There should be a rectangular box with a small eye icon, a tiny thumbnail version of your image, and the word Background in italics. Right-click the word Background and select Duplicate Layer. A small box should immediately appear in the middle of your screen. It is asking you to Name the Duplicate Layer. Name this Layer Focus and click Enter. (Note: It doesn’t really matter what you name it, but Focus will do for our current purpose.) Step 4 There should now be a new rectangular box immediately above the original, and called Focus. (If there isn’t, stop, curse quietly, then try Step 3 again.) Pause now and look at the tiny eye icon. You will see that it is now the Focus layer on your screen, so this is the “copy” you are working on. OK, moving on ….. Right-click the Focus rectangular box and select Duplicate Layer again. This time when the naming box appears just click Enter because we will use the default name for this Layer, being Focus copy. Step 5 OK, now we are going to blend the Focus copy. There are 2 ways to do this – the long way and the short way. I will show you the long way first, just in case you want to go back and play with it after you get familiar with the process. Long way – Right-click the Focus copy rectangular box and select Blending Options. This will open a new box with lots of options. Ignore them for now. In the top part of this box you will find a window showing the Blending Mode and the default setting of Normal with a pull-down menu (A downwards arrow). Open the menu (left-click) and select Screen. Click Enter to close the box. OR Short way – look at the window which shows your layers. See the drop down menu at the top left, showing Normal as the default? Scroll down the menu and select Screen. The Focus copy layer should now have a bit of a washed-out look to it as a result of selecting Screen as the Blending Mode. (I have found that if the Screen effect still leaves a fairly good image, the Orton Effect will be enhanced. Too washed out and the Effect is diminished.) Step 6 Right-click the Focus copy rectangular box again, only this time select Merge Down (it’s near the bottom of the menu). This will collapse the Focus copy layer onto the Focus layer. Step 7 Right-click the Focus rectangular box again and select Duplicate Layer again. Name this copy Blur. Click Enter to close the box. Step 8 Now, find and open the Filter menu on the Tool bar running across the top of your screen. Select Blur. Another menu should open. Select Gaussian Blur (don’t ask). A new window should open. You will see a Preview of the image with a default blur Radius setting of 15.9. You can play around with the radius later. For now, just click OK to close the window as we will accept the 15.9 (I have found 15.9 to be right for most images anyway). The blur you are to achieve with this step should be enough to discern the shapes without the detail. Step 9 – The Magic Happens! This is the fun part. We now make one more blending option. Again, here’s the long way and the short way. Long way – Right-click the Blur rectangular box and select Blending Options. As described in Step 5, this will open a new box with lots of options. Again, ignore them for now. In the top part of this box you will find a window showing the Blending Mode and the default setting of Normal with a pull-down menu (A downwards arrow). Open the menu (left-click) again and this time select Multiply. Click Enter to close the box. OR Short way – Click on the same drop down menu you used to create the Screen effect, only this time select Multiply. You should now be able to see the Orton Effect! Step 10 If you want to accept the result, right-click the Blur rectangular box one more time and this time select Flatten Image (it’s the last option on the menu). This basically collapses all the layers into one final image and is the last thing you do in Layering. You can now save the image as normal. Does it look something like this? If it looks too dark though, you can adjust the Opacity level with the sliding bar before flattening the image. Look for the tiny Opacity tool in the top right of the Layering toolbox. But if you find you need to go below 90% the Effect is significantly lost and maybe it wasn’t the right image. Another option is to adjust the Fill and leave the Opacity at 100%. Have fun! I am. Peter
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This may not look to be that comfortable to ride. It was a lot easier that raking hay by hand. This old horse drawn hay rake could rake bout what 8 men could do in a given time. That would leave a lot of time for other chores. More often then not, one of the younger kids would drive the rake, and the older kids and men would gather and put up the hay. This was pulled thru the field of cut hay. The tines would collect the hay. When they were full the lever would be pull releasing the hay in a pile. Then it would be gathered and taken to where they stored it. This may be crude by today’s standards but in its hay days this was a major improvement to putting up hay…….image taken at the Mountain Farm Museum at the Cherokee NC entrance to the Great smoky Mountain NP
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A piece of typography inspired by evolution. To evolve is any process of formation or growth, to develop and refine.
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This may not look to be that comfortable to ride. It was a lot easier that raking hay by hand. This old horse drawn hay rake could rake bout what 8 men could do in a given time. That would leave a lot of time for other chores. More often then not, one of the younger kids would drive the rake, and the older kids and men would gather and put up the hay. This was pulled thru the field of cut hay. The tines would collect the hay. When they were full the lever would be pull releasing the hay in a pile. Then it would be gathered and taken to where they stored it. This may be crude by today’s standards but in its hay days this was a major improvement to putting up hay…….image taken at the Mountain Farm Museum at the Cherokee NC entrance to the Great smoky Mountain NP
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I photographed my very first eagles on this New Year’s Day 2009; this one was in Amelia, Louisiana, in St. Mary’s Parish. I thought the quote by Benjamin Franklin was an appropriate one to sum up my adventures this day and my hopes for the new year. Happy New Year to all!
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This is a counter-point to my last addition to my gallery, PROTECT the UNTAMED. This is Los Angeles, circa 2009 (if this is ever going to be on exhibit it has to have the word “circa” somewhere). As part of the human race and therefore in part responsible for what Man has accomplished, both good and bad, I am not proud of this scene. Compared to what could be and what should be, this leaves much Room for Improvement. But it can be changed and we can all help in that. I think we need to before it gets more out of hand. / (Taken with a Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 lens. Five exposures were combined to make an HDR) Featured in Survivors and Friends in January 09 -Winner of the Earth Day challenge in the Challenge Cafe Group. / -Top 10 in the Urban Chaos Challenge in the group Mood and Ambience.
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The young Kirana practices her stalking technique. / This young Sumatran Tiger, photographed here at Paignton Zoo, has now moved to Chester Zoo. Panthera tigris sumatrae
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Our Daily Bread
by tkrosevearJOURNAL Well, I have just finished publishing this dateless and timeless Journal. A personal hea…
JOURNAL Well, I have just finished publishing this dateless and timeless Journal. A personal healing journal that takes you on a journey through your uniqueness and personal cyclic patterns. Our Daily Bread is an acronym, inspired by the Lord’s prayer, meant to create a journaling prescription, personalized for activating change towards a new perception on your unique “healing path”. O – Observing and noting your unique habits, in your daily routine / U – Uniting with thoughts which manifest an abundance, health, love & responsibility / R – Remembering that you deserve ALL the love, respect, joy & prosperity D – Defining your relationships with clear boundaries / A – Abounding and sharing the positive and healing knowledge you’ve acquired / I – I (SELF) am a unique individual becoming the best person I can be / L – LOVE and care for yourself and others by example / Y – You are responsible for your WILLPOWER B – Believing that the possibilities are endless, in achieving your Healing goals / R – Respect that NO one else can “fix” you – but you / E – Emote your feelings to yourself in a mirror or in your journal, as well as to others / A – Accept that there is a reason for everything, in your life’s journey / D – Divinity is present, become aware of non-logical insight and perceive intuitively This journal can be used on its own, or in conjunction with my previous ‘works’, “Sailing through the 7C’s”, “Beyond Symptoms”, and “Puzzled Isles of Spirit”, which would pursue more in-depth explanations of the workings of this journals’ purpose and function. Thanks so much for looking and taking the time to see what I have been up to…
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Sixteen Ways to Increase Your Sales
by Stephen MitchellI’ve seen so many people still asking why they’ve still not sold any artwork on Redbubble! So I’ve compiled all my enterprising, marketin…
I’ve seen so many people still asking why they’ve still not sold any artwork on Redbubble! So I’ve compiled all my enterprising, marketing, sales and money-based articles written over the last two years. I really REALLY hope you enjoy reading and applying them into your sales-campaign. First, let’s take a look at you, the artist within. Wait, that sounds like the first article… 01. Defining the Artist Within / 02. I Have a Special Condition! / 03. Keep that Entrepreneurial Spirit Alive / 04. Two Crafty Ways to Become a High Profile Photographer / 05. Playing the Popularity Game Without Caring if You Win or Lose / 06. What Makes You Think Your Art is Good Enough? Here is the guts of this article, the really in-depth stuff that should help understand how to better use Redbubble in your venture to either make money or make a name for yourself: 07. Are You Selling More Artwork ? / 08. Helping YOU Make a Profit on Redbubble ! / 09. Pleasure from Profit from Pleasure / 10. Quality Marketing Equals Sales / 11. Selling Your Art Successfully / 12. Sell, Give, Donate and Use Your Skills / 13. My Marketing Strategy / 14. How to Sell Anything / 15. Selling My Artwork At Amended Prices / 16. Twelve Months on Redbubble The trick is to read each article, and then ask yourself: ‘How does this apply to my situation?’. I’m very sure you’ll find a way to incorporate the ideas I’ve used here to improve your situation and increase your sales! I look forward to hearing how much more sales you make over the next few months!! EDIT [11:32 PM 15/05/2009] / Some of you will now want to run an exhibition, gallery or stall of your artwork. For that I have compiled another list of links that should help you! / ... Running Sheet for Exhibitions Since this is my article, I have to get a few shameless-plugs in here somewhere. I have T-shirts for sale that will get you noticed! / ... Your Name on a PHOTOGRAPHER Shirt / ... Photographer Shirts / ... Redbubble Shirts for Artists, Writers and Photographers Postscript / I started writing simple tips that any Redbubble Artist could use. I don’t write them so much any more, but I keep them here for my own reminder. I hope you enjoy these two that relate to this post enormously: / ... Tip #001 / ... Tip #004
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I have always been a fan of Escher – his sense of perspective and composition is just amazing. This design is based on his 1953 Lithograph called Relativity that depicts a paradoxical world in which the normal laws of gravity do not apply. I decided to put a twist on this, where the architectural structure is going through a ‘home improvement’ with the people giving it a once over with a coat of paint. Please note that the colour of the paint depends on the colour of shirt the design is placed on. The example below demonstrates what it would look like on a yellow shirt. More Zomboy Shirts / Check /
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You can’t improve your photography using a camera
by John RobbI have a theory. Bare with me as I explain and before you assume I’m affected by drugs (only a few) or full of manure. You can’t impro…
I have a theory. Bare with me as I explain and before you assume I’m affected by drugs (only a few) or full of manure. You can’t improve your photography using a camera. / You can’t improve your photography using photoshop. / You even can’t improve your photography with one of these: A few things over time have made me realise this: I took a bubble break a while ago and in using a notepad I found more ideas coalescing there than behind the viewfinder. I realised photographic ideas didn’t have to be instant fast food but could be slow cooked over time. I can revisit and add to the notebook and it has become invaluable. Some ideas are over a year old and yet unrealised. This one was four months on the pages of the notepad. I spent time on a long vacation recently and towards the end I found myself shooting less. Instead I found myself experiencing the world first hand and not exclusively though the viewfinder. Interaction with people and the environment didn’t give me photographs but it did help me find inspiration amongst, sometimes the most trivial, things. / In these latter stages If I took a photograph it was with my point and shoot and a sort of visual note – a stepping stone to other ideas and possibilities. I realised that nudity, HDR and texture layers didn’t add to images unless there was a story to tell or artistic vision to enunciate from their inclusion. I started to loose the fear of not using them. Re-reading some old and new information on the bubble gave me cause to think. / / / So what do I think the key is?....It’s this: Feed your mind. Talking to writers is a particularly good form of mind food. It may sound obvious but they use words as images – they photograph things in language. If you understand how they change media then you can become more adept at adapting yours. Meet and get to know someone you want to photograph – What are their dreams? What gives them passion? Do you know how they like their coffee? Try writing down little random snippets and collecting them – they are your ingredients for a good recipe. Don’t rush things, if your thoughts are sparse then don’t despair – they will grow. Go slow. For example: if you post one image a day here then after a while your throttling of work makes you start to self analyse and look for your best rather than what is acceptable. Go out and experience things, meet the world not always with a camera in hand. Improve your photography by getting a better, sharper and greater….....mind.
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Hearing nothing isn’t the same as hearing something. Nothing is like someone else in the room, taking up space, breathing your air…when all you want is control of your life. And peace. Painted in Photoshop Elements 3. And believe it or not, I’m getting better at this. The little 15 pixel brush is doing a better job of going where I want it to go and doing what I want it to do. Yay!! There’s hope. Even if there isn’t any news.
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Skomer Island Puffin. /
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Wood panel wall, tiled fire breast with full fire and just simply spiffing carpet and sofa. Lovely! :P
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I got my new lap top which shows up more mistakes then i could imagine i did. so i have done this one again making sure i have taken most of the background out. :)
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