Digital Image: Rose GIF

I saved this rose image in GIF format, so it would be alright to place on a web page. The file size is not too large, methinks.

The rose was created using pen tool in CorelDraw. With Ctrl+Q to convert lines to curve, I could manipulate the initial sketch into forms I wanted. Even the swirly lines were not difficult. To copy the object to their exact opposite, I just needed to drag it to the other side while holding Ctrl key, then right-clicked on the desired position. Instant flip. No need to copy layer, and then flip in from Edit menu. But that's just photoshop for you.

Still, photoshop has the advantages of colors. Really beautiful colors you can pick with only an eyedropper. And pretty textures you can custom-make. Some of the awesome effects are only a click away using filters or layer styles. I only added noise and a little lighting rendering for this rose image.

If you know flash, this image can be made into a button. At least, the rose can. Maybe I'll try to make a button with it.

Digital Image: Jewel

After being a bit down yesterday, I'm kind of content with this image. Quality-wise, way better than previous upload.
This is also fully digital, but with a lot of help from free tutorials around the net.
I think it's kind of pretty. Shiny, at the very least.

This image is all filter and a lot of blending style. I hope I can remember all of it. The tutorial is a little difficult for me to follow.
But I manage to do some changes from the original tutorial, like using fleur-de-lis instead of butterfly in the middle of the gem.

The background was easy though. I just used black filling, layered by blurred white circle. The swirly pattern could easily be found on the net. I only applied lightening filter to make the "pearls" stand out.

Digital Image: Landscape

This is getting ridiculous. The more I practice, the more I degrade.

I was going for a natural look. See? Natural, as in reddish afternoon sky. Not this forbidding gates of hell.

Next thing I know, I'd give up going digital and stick with the pencil and charcoal. At least, I have better control of my hand. Drawing with a mouse is harsh. My hand kept getting tangled with the cord. I clicked at the wrong places. Then the computer shut down.
I'm at my wits end.

So, on with the image. Fully photoshop. Tools: brush and smudge. Filter: noise and blur and lightening. Oh my.
That's it.

Digital Image: Tree in Winter

I am like that tree. Fresh out of leaves, fresh out of ideas.
Purely photoshop work.
I browsed my collection of photos and found a few images with trees in them. This one was the easiest to trace. Other trees had leaves.

I used polygonal lasso to trace the edges, then filled it with gradient. With selection still active, I filled a new layer with white, then another layer with black. I moved the selection a bit to the right and deleted a part of the white paint. Then moved the selection to the left and deleted the black one. Shading and highlight done.

I made the shadow using a layer copy of the tree image, and filled it with black, flipped vertical. From edit menu, I used transformation -> skew, then, well, just skewed it from side to side until I got the shadow position I liked.

Background was done in less than 5 minutes. I filled the bottom layer with black, added a new layer on top of it and paint the ground using soft edge brush.
I made the snow also with soft edge brush but added scatter and jitters (size and opacity) on brush preset menu.
Done.

Digital Image: Simple Flower

I really don't like drawing flowers. But it is a must-draw object. So at least I have to give it a try.
Just like back in third year art lesson. I used color pencils back then.
This image does not look like color pencil sketch. I wanted to make it like hand drawing. Apparently I failed.
This is purely photoshop-generated. I only used brush and smudge tool. It's tidier than my nine years old self's scrawl.

Digital Image: Carol Singer

This is practically the first ever humanoid image I've made using only digital means. Most of my pictures are based on hand sketches.

First, I used Corel Draw to make the outline. I'm not an educated graphic designer, so I won't know about any special feature in that software, hence, the usage of only a simple pen tool. It's kind of easy too. Not as complicated as Illustrator, I'll never get the hang of it. The pen tool can only draw straight line. That's why I have to continuously press Ctrl+Q to create a curve. It's still time-consuming for me, despite the simplicity of said tool.

Then I painted the colors with Adobe Photoshop. Also only using fill option and gaussian blur. Very simple procedure that anyone can do. Shading and highlighting are still a mystery to me. See?

First Sketch with Digital Paint

I made this image just yesterday. It's based on my first sketch from the previous post. I kind of skipped the tracing step, and went straight to painting. Alright, the painting was basically only filling the blanks with paint bucket tool. I'm still not brave enough to erase the outline.

The result is so very flat. I don't really have the ability to shade and highlight images, but will try, though. Will try the hardest. Hopefully it can be better. More 3D-ish. I'm a bit happy with red color on the heart. Very simple to make, too. I only use gaussian blur for the shade and highlight. No idea what to do about the wings. How do you make some wispy effect? Wispy is good for wings. Maybe airbrush from the brush preset with additional spatters can do the trick. This is the time to experiment ....

Digital Image: Rose

At first I only wanted to make a simple line art image from Beast's rose. But the result was not really satisfying. It was plain. Granted, the first one was a white-on-black.

I loaded the image selection, did an inversion of said selection, and filled it with red. I ended up having a red ink blot with gaps all over the place. But from my point of view, the current result has more character. I kind of like this one better. I added some white and a bit of maroon to give it a more three-dimensional look. The background was the easiest. It started with a depressing gray, then with a pinch of filter (noise and lightening effect), it turned out not so depressing after all. The sparkles, I shamelessly ripped them off from Beauty and the Beast.

Shabby Is Good

Since I was a little girl, I've always dreamed of becoming a famous artist. My paintings would be showcased and coveted by many a renowned galleries. My name would be written in history in gold ink and a hefty amount of flourish. But alas, it is not to be.

As my love for drawing and painting never falter, I've wasted hundreds, maybe even thousands sheets of paper to contain the carbon bits of my pencil. The collection grows over years. Some I need to throw away, the torn ones, the hated ones, even the unfinished ones. It is my silent prayer that someday my skills would develop and people would say that my drawings were good. Hopefully. I am still crossing my fingers. The sketches are still as shabby as ever. I mean, not shoddy workmanship, only the results are almost never as pretty as I hope. But, all is good. This little woman is not giving up. Don't care if it takes half a century, but I will reach that goal. And, hey, with the new digital imaging technology, maybe my goal won't be too impossible.