Artist, graphic designer, & tech consultant in Nelson County, VA
Category:requests
These are design or consulting jobs that rose out of a request from the audience. I am always looking for prompts for new content, so if you have a need, please reach out.
My very good friend Tim McGee asked me to bring balance to a photo of his dog, Maisy. I said I’d be happy to. Today, here’s a screencast of what I did to improve the photo in a few ways. Thanks for the opportunity, Tim!
So Val showed me a great profile pic with only one thing wrong: her nose was overexposed, and couldn’t be seen anymore. She asked me if I could give her a nose, and so I did. The only problem is that I created her nose by superimposing another picture of her at a similar but not an identical angle, and drawing in her nose according to that picture. And so, I had to guess at where her nose would actually be. Honestly, I think her original overexposed shot has some charm to it even if it doesn’t have a nose, and while it was fun to try to give her one, I think she’s better off without it. You see, Val is a super-cutie.
This self-portrait is a result of a great suggestion by my friend Angel who said:
“Pick any photo image you have (can be yourself) and make it look like an oil painting on canvas.”
Thanks for the suggestion, Angel! I used my webcam to capture images of myself from some interesting angles and lighting situations. Then, I used one as a base image in the GIMP to first color-pick then paint into with different brushes using a Wacom tablet. It was a lot of fun to ruin the perfect forms of photography and replace it with the warmth and approximation of painting. I’ve done this a few times before in different ways, but this was a very direct, very freeing method.
Blawenburg Band (original)Blawenburg Band (modified)
My friend Laraine wrote me recently with a request:
“I need help with the attached photo…it is the Blawenburg Band at the Hopewell gazebo, being directed by clarinetist, former member and my dear departed friend, Rich Hill, who died this past spring at 51…
I want to use the photo as the cover of a thank you card, 5 x 7, to people who contributed to a band scholarship in Rich’s honor. I am choosing and writing the thank you cards; I’m secretary of the band.
But the problem with the photo is that Rich’s clothes looked rumpled… (maybe) shadows from the gazebo cut outs…
I feel the spirit of the photo is just right for the memorial thank you’s. (Do you think so?) But Rich looks rumpled…”
He was a bit rumpled, but that was easy enough to take care of with cloning, burning and dodging tools. I moved on to restoring the gazebo, band members and audience members with the burn dodge tool to bring out the shadows, highlights and midtones after doing some work on the picture overall to improve brightness and contrast. A bit overworked perhaps, but I really enjoyed the challenge. Thanks Laraine!
