This is a modified photo from 1913 of a woman named Geraldine Ferrar, of whom I have no knowledge other than the photo. I found it in the public domain, which I assume is kind of obvious. All I did to it was bring it into the GIMP, duplicate the layer to create a background image, remove the background content of the original with a soft edged eraser brush, then create a new transparent layer between those two layers to paint on. I then painted the rays you see on the transparent layer using a brush in the shape of those rays. A simple effect, but it certainly gives some focus to Ms. Ferrar.
tags: public domain, photo, photo manipulation, GIMP, GNU, GPL, creative commons, open source, eraser, rays, dailypost2011
Happy new year everyone! I decided to start the new series with something I’m very familiar with in the GIMP: Compositing images. I have three layers here: a background which I shot myself with my phone at a park, plus two images from Morguefile, which allows for no attribution at all. It’s a great resource. At any rate, I made all three images into layers. I used the select by color tool to select and delete the background from the girl’s face. I used the same tool to select and remove the background from the robot. They both had very clean simple backgrounds, which made them especially easy to remove, especially with a wacom tablet. I applied a blur to the girl and the park background, so that the viewer “focuses” on the most surprising thing: the robot. Hope you like it, and I hope even more that you try it.
tags: postaday2011, gimp, photo, photomanipulation, open source, creative commons, lemasney, robot, omg, wtf, run
A penguin made of text by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #typography #design #Inkscape #cc
A penguin made of text by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #typography #design #Inkscape #cc
One of my favorite animals, chosen by Linus Torvalds as a representative ideological animal for Linux, popularized as the plush penguin named Tux. This is the latest animal in my text-based animals series.
So just a few nights ago, I was giving a talk about 365 sketches and it’s origins to the Princeton PC Users Group, and a friend of mine from Linux Users Group in Princeton, Kim, was in the audience. There’s a sequence in my talk where I show a whale deep underwater, preceded by a sheet of web 2.0 logos collected as a way of showing the style of web 2.0 logos. At any rate, when Kim saw this progression, he said that he thought at first that I was going to show a Nascar whale, a whale covered in logos. Yhis struck me as funny, and it was exactly the sort of thing I might do. I decided to do it with a cheetah, in order to stay in the analogic idea of advertising and fast vehicles. So, here it is, and thanks very much to Kim for the spark!
Event: New Jersey Library Association 2010 Conference
Date: April 28th, 2010
Venue: Long Branch, NJ
Discussion:
Abstract: This session will introduce and demonstrate five useful techniques using open source technologies that you can use to manipulate, improve, clean, brighten, clarify, and positively enhance your digital photography. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop with Windows, Mac or Linux so that they can start playing right away. Digital photography enthusiasts, novices, and professionals are all welcome to attend and add to the discussion.
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.
