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173 of 365 is a cloud with silver lining in #inkscape #illustration

Cloud with silver lining
CLoud with silver lining

So this is another case where I saw a photo and thought about how I could recreate it in Inkscape. In Inkscape, I created a blue sky rectangle, then using the ellipse tool, I created a small circle in white. Using the circle with the spraypaint tool in single path mode, I created a random line of overlapped circles across the page, then used the node tool to take the bottom halves of the circles away.  I extended the ends of the path to the bottom of the page. I duplicated the cloud shape and made it gray, and again in near black. I applied some blur to each of the cloud shapes and gradients where appropriate. Finally, using a bird dingbat font (Birds of a Feather, http://www.dingbatdepot.com/details/BirdsOfAFeather), I created the soaring eagle you see there to add context and reference to size. Hope you liked it!

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portfolio

172 of 365 is a grand sendoff in #inkscape #cyal8r

Out of here
Out of here

I had a vision of a grand exit — sort of a slammed door, thrown phone, I’m out of here scenario. Drama, that’s my thing. So, I thought about laying out some large text saying goodbye in some way, mixed with a clipped image of someone leaving, quickly. Taking those to the extremes, the text became a short text, cyal8r (see you later) and the image was one of the most iconic goodbye images I could think of. I wanted to show the gravitas of the departure and the brevity of the message. I hope you liked it!

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portfolio requests

171 of 365 says vinyl is dead in #Inkscape #music

Vinyl is dead
Vinyl is dead

This is an important image for this project — it’s the first image in a new format (809×500) that is based on the Golden Rectangle, a rectangle with sides in the ratio of 1:1.618 or one to phi. You might be more familiar with the iconic image of a conch’s curve moving through a series of squares that fit perfectly into a rectangle. It’s also a response to Craig Smith (a regular request contributor for 365sketches) and his request for a sketch about digital sound and vinyl tradition. He said:

“Much of my love of music lately has been thanks to rediscovering vinyl. I was struck a few years back when Steven Wilson (from my fave band Porcupine Tree) started championing vinyl, maintaining that digital  music has diminished music essentially, making portability the key. Music is now a file you download and used as background noise. There’s something about the warmth of sitting around a turntable and actually LISTENING to it. So I started to do this, and I rediscovered music again.

So then, I wonder if you could work into a sketch the benefits of old analog media (vinyl) vs. portable digital media (CD/iPod). Dunno if it’s something that would translate, but you’re the idea man. 🙂

I was inspired to bring this to you after a conversation I had with Ian Zapczynski, who told me that he remembered a chat he had with you in high school about Voivod’s Nothingface – your opinion was that the drums were ‘too digital sounding’.”

Thanks, as usual for the great inspiration, DJ Craig, and I hope that this is a proper combination of digital and analog ideas for you!

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portfolio

A bowl of noodles by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #Inkscape #food #illustration

A bowl of noodles by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #Inkscape #food #illustration
A bowl of noodles by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #Inkscape #food #illustration

My daily sketching friend Paul recently made an inspiring bowl of noodles at http://adailydoodle.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/33-a-bowl-of-noodles/ and it caused me to envision a similar image in Inkscape. I created the bowl using the ellipse tool, converted to path and tweaked. I made the noodles with the pencil tool set to shape: ellipse. I created the chopsticks with the rectangle tool, converted to path, and tweaked. Thanks to Paul for the inspiration, and thanks to you for taking a look!

 

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portfolio

Urban Empire by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #stormtrooper #starwars

Urban Empire by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #stormtrooper #starwars
Urban Empire by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #stormtrooper #starwars

In this sketch, I decided to bring together Boba Fett, stormtroopers, Darth Vader, some Empire iconography, and mash them all up with some urban, hip hop, vinyl, and other styles because essentially, I can.

tags: Star Wars, Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, urban, hip hop, vinyl, scratching, creative commons, design, poster, open source, Inkscape, graphic design

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professional activities professional experience research interests teaching experience

NJALA: My Top 10 Favorite Free Graphics Applications

An important distinction
Image by lemasney via Flickr

Abstract: John LeMasney shares his favorite free technologies and resources for working with digital images. Image cataloging, page layout, vector design, bitmap based image manipulation, and video capture tools rank among the top.

Venue: Burlington County Community College Enterprise Center, Mount Laurel, NJ.

Presentation: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ad-YsRMv5bPqZGNrZm05ZndfMjE0ZmNtNW01ZHA&hl=en