These are posts featuring illustrations designed by John LeMasney. In general, unless otherwise noted, they are licensed CC-Attribution, cc-by lemasney, and should contain a citation and linkback.
A beach shadow-sign reminds us of the dangers of sunburn: 'The sun is a skin cell killer" cc-by lemasney
A beach shadow-sign reminds us of the dangers of sunburn: ‘The sun is a skin cell killer” cc-by lemasney
A shadow based sign reminds us of the dangers of sunburn
Today’s sketch is a sign on a beach reminding beach-goers to respect the sun. I was at the New Jersey Library Association which happened to be at Long Branch, a beautiful Central Jersey beach, and the bright sun was inviting, but even after an hour’s walk on the boardwalk, I got a little color. I also just wanted to quickly thank all of the kind people who came and saw my talks today at NJLA10.
“Sunburn — the skin reddening caused by overexposure to the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation — may seem like just a temporary irritation, but sunburns can cause long-lasting damage to the skin. Children are especially at risk: One blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles a person’s chances of developing melanoma later in life. Don’t get burned: Read the articles below to learn all about The Skin Cancer Foundation’s expert advice on sunburn prevention, treatment, and relief!” – Sunburn – SkinCancer.org, http://goo.gl/kthTTv
High contrast multi-scan self portrait in red, white and black cc-by lemasney
High contrast multi-scan self portrait in red, white and black cc-by lemasney
A self portrait for Trenton Computer Festival
This was created for my recent talk on 5 ways to enhance your digital photos at Trenton Computer Festival as a lead-in slide. I wanted to introduce myself, show something dramatic, and show people what I meant, exactly, as image enhancement, as opposed to let’s say focus brightness, and contrast, though I showed those things too.
In Inkscape, I used the trace bitmap tool to convert my image in two ways, once in threshold mode, and once in detect edges mode. As a result, I get a slightly layered deeper image, and I definitely get something that’s difficult to capture with a camera. Thanks for checking it out!
Tracing Bitmaps in Inkscape
“Currently Inkscape employs the Potrace bitmap tracing engine (potrace.sourceforge.net) by Peter Selinger. In the future we expect to allow alternate tracing programs; for now, however, this fine tool is more than sufficient for our needs. Keep in mind that the Tracer’s purpose is not to reproduce an exact duplicate of the original image; nor is it intended to produce a final product. No autotracer can do that. What it does is give you a set of curves which you can use as a resource for your drawing. Potrace interprets a black and white bitmap, and produces a set of curves. For Potrace, we currently have three types of input filters to convert from the raw image to something that Potrace can use. Generally the more dark pixels in the intermediate bitmap, the more tracing that Potrace will perform. As the amount of tracing increases, more CPU time will be required, and the element will become much larger. It is suggested that the user experiment with lighter intermediate images first, getting gradually darker to get the desired proportion and complexity of the output path. To use the tracer, load or import an image, select it, and select the Path > Trace Bitmap item, or Shift+Alt+B.” – Inkscape tutorial: Tracing | Inkscape,
Cupcake illustration with orange sugar, vanilla and chocolate frosting, and a cherry on top cc-by lemasney
Cupcake illustration with orange sugar, vanilla and chocolate frosting, and a cherry on top cc-by lemasney
Cupcake Illustration
So today’s post was just about using a few different tools in Inkscape to create some interesting effects. First and foremost, I saw the stitch sub paths live path effect as a great way to create ridges of a cake cup and so it was. I made a shadow with a blurred ellipse. I used the calligraphy tool to create the cake and the icing. I used the dot tool feature of the pencil for the confetti sprinkles. I created the cherry with the ellipse tool and the node editor, and the stem with the Bezier tool. I added some highlights for the frosting with the calligraphy tool, then blurred them a bit.
When I first read in the planned feature notes for the new version of Inkscape that it had a spraypaint tool, I was intrigued, but confused. Why wouldn’t you just use the clone tool, or the duplication features, I wondered. It’s not until you try it that you realize the amazing powers of chaos that it has. The tool has really changed the way that I look at randomness in my work, because at any time, I can introduce it without the math of the tiled clones tool or the forced manual randomness of holding down space spontaneously as you drag an object about the canvas.
Here’s a simple example. With a single no fill thin stroked circle I made with the ellipse tool, I used the spraypaint tool set to make a single path with duplicates, which creates this beautiful cellular strcture that reminds me of bubbles. The release version is coming for 0.48 — when it comes out, try out this fantastic feature.
Mozilla is openness, innovation and community cc-by lemasney
Mozilla is openness, innovation and community cc-by lemasney
My Mozilla Contest Entry
So this is my entry for Mozilla’s 2010 t-shirt contest. Mozilla is Firefox‘s parent company. You can see the entry in context at , and vote for it, if you like. They asked for a design that promoted key elements of Mozilla’s vision, which is openness, innovation, and community, all things you may know I hold very dear myself.
How I made this image about Mozilla in Inkscape
In Inkscape, I took these four words and put them in via the text tool, then converted them all to paths. Then, I used the Bezier tool and the pencil tool to connect the letterforms and create tendrils which I saw as life forms seeking out connection. I saw the design as airy, connected, and creative, things I love and respect about Mozilla. If you like this design, I’d love it if you could vote it up at
About Mozilla
“Mammon slept. And the beast reborn spread over the earth and its numbers grew legion. And they proclaimed the times and sacrificed crops unto the fire, with the cunning of foxes. And they built a new world in their own image as promised by the sacred words, and spoke of the beast with their children. Mammon awoke, and lo! it was naught but a follower.”
A group of pink balloons released into a dark sky cc-by lemasney
A group of pink balloons released into a dark sky cc-by lemasney
The origins of A group of pink balloons released into a dark sky cc-by lemasney
I saw a photo on ffffound.com of a group of balloons afloat and decided that I could do the same thing in Inkscape.
In inkscape, I made a single balloon with the ellipse and Bezier tools, then I duplicated them using the new 0.48 spraypaint tool. I tweaked the group a bit by rotating the strings toward the center, and added a background. It was an enjoyable, quick illustration, and I’m loving the new tools in Inkscape.
What is a balloon?
“A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern day balloons are made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, and can come in many colors. Some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig bladder. Some balloons are used for decorative purposes, while others are used for practical purposes such as meteorology, medical treatment, military defense, or transportation. A balloon’s properties, including its low density and low cost, have led to a wide range of applications. The rubber balloon was invented by Michael Faraday in 1824, during experiments with various gases.[1]” – Balloon – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, https://goo.gl/qmrMFb
