This is yesterday’s post (for the 12th) and I’ll put up today’s a bit later. This is another image that needed repair from my friend Alma. Of particular interest was the missing bits of his shirt which was a fun challenge. I used the clone tool to do most of the repair work, as you might expect.
A guide to common cigar types, lengths, and diameters by John LeMasney via lemasney.com #poster #design #cc
A guide to common cigar types, lengths, and diameters by John LeMasney via lemasney.com #poster #design #cc
So this poster is my way of saying that I’m not ready to stop using Inkscape for daily sketches, and that other open source applications might be used to complete an idea. I could have done this in the GIMP, but because of the text heavy and hard-edged content, it made more sense in Inkscape. From time to time, I enjoy a cigar, and when you walk into a cigar shop the first thing you note aside from the aroma is the vocabulary and culture of cigars. I wish I had this poster when I was learning about the different styles, but hopefully others will benefit from this.
So, today I decided to make a new header for the project to show the difference in the new series. I started off by importing the older blue header with the open location import tool to get just the right size. After making a text layer with my project name and choosing a font and applying kerning, I added a few transparent layers underneath it. On each of those layers I used the paintbrush or eraser and various brushes to make the marks you see here. Using the palette color selector and a built-in fiery palette was especially helpful to create a cohesive color scheme.
With just a few minutes to spare to get in today’s sketch (Easter) I’m thrilled to share this portrait of Oliver Giller. Oliver is the person to first introduced me to the concept of Open Source. He is easily the largest philosophical influence on my life, and helped to form what I list amongst the most important beliefs that I have. I lost touch with him after he graduated from Rider University about 9 years ago, but always remembered the things that he introduced me to, including the GNU Image Manipulation Program, Linux, and the GNU General Public License.
Withing the last 2 years or so, though, we’ve reconnected, and I’m happy to say that we are even doing a project together, which I’m doing this sketch for. I’m less happy to report that Oliver had to undergo brain surgery recently which left him with a scar, and in Oliver’s work to recover he donated a picture of his new stitches and asked that I do something creative with it for our project, essentially a journal of his recent health issues.
In Inkscape, I did a bitmap trace of Oliver’s face, in which you could clearly see the scar and stitches, but without explanation, it looked only as though he had a bad haircut on one side. I decided in the interest of clarity and also of not offending anyone with the graphic nature of the subject to take a highly stylized approach to the scar and stitches. It was fun to stitch a pattern using the Bezier tool, and I think I may use this technique again.
I’m of the firm belief that Oliver has all the best chances to make a full recovery, including a beautiful wife and family, parents who have supported him forever, and a strong network of friends. Thanks, Oliver, for all you’ve given me in life, now go kick this thing’s ass, so you can get back to the important stuff.
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