Tag: Graphics

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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
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
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,

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portfolio

A design for a paper airplane, a winning glider style by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #Inkscape

A design for a paper airplane, a winning glider style by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #Inkscape
A design for a paper airplane, a winning glider style by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #Inkscape
A design for a paper airplane, a winning glider style by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #Inkscape
A design for a paper airplane, a winning glider style by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #Inkscape

So this is the fold design for a paper airplane that I learned when I was about 7 years old. It’s a great flier, a long-lasting glider, and you may even know how to make it, but if you don’t, I wanted to try to convey how to make one using Inkscape to illustrate. What I found was that the imprint of how to do it in my mind is no match for trying to illustrate that. Try to make it, and if you have trouble, let me know in your comments!

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affiliations brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration photography portfolio research interests

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 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 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.

A lot of fun to make!

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brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration photography portfolio

Bubbles texture cc-by lemasney

Bubbles texture cc-by lemasney
Bubbles texture cc-by lemasney
Bubbles texture cc-by lemasney
Bubbles texture cc-by lemasney

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.

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brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration insights photography portfolio professional activities

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
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
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

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portfolio requests

120 of 365 is a shredder truck in #Inkscape @janieh

Shredder Truck by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Shredder Truck by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Shredder Truck by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Shredder Truck by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

This was a very special request from my good friend Janie Hermann who was recently advertising a program at Princeton Public Library, a part of which involved a shredder truck, which would come to shred bulk paper and sensitive materials in order to prevent them from being seen by unintended eyes, but I imagine also as a way of recycling paper. At any rate, when I read “Shredder Truck” all I could think of was a huge black rig running though the streets at midnight with heavy metal guitarists all riffing at each other in a wild cacophony, all with their Marshall Amps turned up to 11. So I replied to the post with the idea, and the next thing we knew, it was an idea for a sketch.

Because of the shape required to properly render a tractor trailer, this is the first drawing in this image to break the square format for these sketches. I won’t do it often, but I’d rather break the format on a special sketch than keep the format and break the image. Also, because of the detail in this sketch, please consider taking a look at it full size.

In Inkscape, I got the 4 shredders and the tractor itself separately from MorgueFile and bitmap traced them. I created the trailer using the rectangle tool, converted it to a path, and roughed up the shape a bit with the node tool. I worked to overlap the 4 shredders and have their color and tone fade gracefully into one another. I created the moon with the ellipse tool and blur effects. The rear wheels of the trailer are a copied and modified set of the back wheels of the tractor.

I hope you like the image. I love the nighttime feel, the dangerous color scheme, and the visual volume of the shredders. Thanks to Janie for the spark and the request!