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Nexus Negative One cc-by lemasney

Nexus Negative One by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Nexus Negative One by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

On Early Adoption and the Nexus

I am a technologist, but I’m not generally an early adopter. Part of being a technologist for me is letting other people kick the tires so that I personally can benefit from their costs, repairs, mistakes, and teachable moments. I’m not saying all techs do this, but I do. I like stability in my software and hardware and services. I have some exceptions, and Google‘s first foray into phone software, Android, is a key example, and one I’ve not regretted.

I pre-ordered the G1 in November of 2008, and while I’ve certainly not regretted my purchase (it’s better than any handheld device I knew of or owned previous to it, phone or otherwise), I’ve been somewhat jealous as new phones running the OS, such as Verizon‘s Droid, have come onto the scene. The G1, though, has not failed me — it gives me what I need in a phone, a set of applications, and functions, generally speaking. I could use an upgrade on the camera. At any rate, this sketch is a tribute to my trusty G1 from T-Mobile, who I’ll likely stay with when I upgrade to the Nexus One or two or three, which is the point of the text there.

I feel like the G1 was a great first step towards the Nexus One, a “Negative One” of sorts. I do not intend for this to be derogatory though I am really looking forward to the release of Google’s N1. Google is doing great things in lots of areas, but the Android operating system is a killer set of apps, and the Nexus One seems like a great home for it.

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portfolio

4 of 365: An illustration of a bald guy

Bald guy illustration by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Bald guy illustration by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Number 4 has been through a few scrapes. He’s an older guy, clean cut bald head, with smart glasses, and an awkward lip. When he looks in the mirror, he wonders where his hair all went, why things turned out the way they did, and regrets a few of the fistfights he’s had over topics as silly as baseball teams. Inspired by some old fool on The People’s Court. He was made in Inkscape, starting with a square converted to path, then turned into a pill shape. Half ellipses for ears, full ellipses for glasses and shadows, arrow shaped paths for hair, eyes, and lots of other shapes. And so on. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and happy holidays to the rest of you!

 

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Illustration portfolio

Sunny side up eggs and bacon sketch by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc-by #creativecommons #illustration

Sunny side up eggs and bacon sketch by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc-by #creativecommons #illustration
Sunny side up eggs and bacon sketch by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc-by #creativecommons #illustration

Today’s sketch is a face made of two sunny side up eggs with a side of bacon. I love me some breakfast, and with the holidays come some pretty good ones traditionally. With the face theme, I just figured I’d have some fun with eggs. In Inkscape, I used the Bezier tool to make an outline of the egg, slightly blurred (not shirred) and put two yellow ellipses (and white highlight ellipses), converted to paths and tweaked them with the node tool for the yolky eyes. I then took a wavy path, applied a simple pattern to the path, then converted to a path and colored it in for the bacon.  Then I added some streaks of various colors for the marbling. I duplicated the bacon and flipped it, since I have never seen two pieces of identical bacon, and don’t know anyone who eats one piece of bacon with two eggs. Finally, I duplicated the layered pieces of bacon and made them gray and blurred, then sent them to the back to create an underlying shadow for some depth. Fun and tasty looking.

Arts, British, Color, Egg, Fried egg, Home, Literature, World Literature, Bacon, Egg yolk, Pork, Cook

 

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brand consulting portfolio

Number 2: Elf in a santa hat by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Elf in a santa hat by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Elf in a santa hat by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

While enjoying a visit from a good friend who always brings me some cheer, I was moved to make a funny little elf, just in time for Christmas. The face is mostly just a manipulated Bezier curve, with modified shapes as paths for the ears, teeth, and hat.  Festive!

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portfolio

1 of 365: A Dali based happy face #dali #dada

A surreal happy face Dali by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
A surreal happy face Dali by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

I was inspired to make a happy face that looked just a little like Salvador Dali. I used Inkscape‘s Shape tool for the face, object to path for flexibility, and Pencil tool set to 50% smoothing with Triangle shape settings for the hair, and the spiro path effect to give the curly hair effects.