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8 of 365 is a new header for 365 Sketches

New header
New header for 365 Sketches

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.

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7 of 365 is a family with rainbow #GIMP

 

Family with Rainbow
Family with Rainbow

 

Karen Sue, who I’ve not yet met but consider a friend and supporter of this project, asked if I could take a pole out of the middle of an otherwise beautiful photo of her and her family under a rainbow when I asked for suggestions and ideas for this project. Thanks, Karen! So I did most of this work with the clone tool on a Wacom tablet, where I would sample parts of the image that held interesting or appropriate imagery (sky, trees, rainbow) and use it to replace parts that were neither (unknown people, houses, poles, etc.). I also brightened the photo just a bit and used the dodge/burn tool to brighten their faces specifically. Her original photo is above my edit.

tags: photo, repair, rainbow, family, Karen Sue, 365, postaday2011, GIMP, GNU, GPL, Open source, creative commons, sharing, tutorial

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portfolio

6 of 365 is an homage to Atlas #GIMP

 

Atlas
Atlas

 

This is an image I created of Atlas, the mythical figure who held the world upon his shoulders. I most often depict him after he has dropped, thrown, or cast the world off, which I think is an interesting concept. I also wanted to show the Gestalt visual principle of closure, where the human mind will create an image of something that is not present if given enough clues. You’d agree that I have not actually illustrated Atlas himself, but rather the negative space that Atlas might fill. I decided to focus on designing the background space to help you to see the figure Atlas in the negative space. In the GIMP, I used an image of a bodybuilder to create a selection to mask the figure’s space, then I hid that image’s layer. Then, I began painting on a few overlapping transparent layers, all the time keeping the selection present to keep the figure’s contour. The result is what you see here.

tags: fantasy, myth, mythical, atlas, world, GPL, GNU, GIMP, open source, creative commons, sharing, free, lemasney, postaday2011, 365

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5 of 365 is a very pretty Martian #gimp

 

Pretty Martian
Pretty Martian

 

What? Your Martians don’t look like this? Sad… for you. This is a morguefile photo brought into GIMP, with a duplicate layer that has been offset so that the left eye of one photo overlaps the right eye of the other. Once that’s done, you can use layer masks to hide and show parts of both faces. After I blended the two faces together, I used the clone tool to recreate a third set of lips. Then, I used the blur, smudge, and clone tools to smooth out the skin, make it continuous and believable, and to bring all the various parts together in a sensible way. I hope you like it a lot!

tags: face, Martian, girl, three eyes, GPL, GNU, Open Source, Creative Commons, postaday2011, 365, GIMP, fun

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design principles Illustration insights open source photography portfolio

4 of 365 is a disjointed triptych self-portrait

Self portrait in triptych
Self portrait in triptych

I decided to use the GIMP to make a disjointed self-portrait. By starting with the base image on the far left, I duplicated the layer twice, then I resized the canvas to three times its original width. I moved the images into three equal positions on the canvas, then on the second and third portions, I began making rectangular selections with the marquee tool of the eyes and other features and copying and pasting as new layers, then rotating, lowering opacity, and otherwise playing with those layers.

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3 of 365 is a profile pic #GIMP

Profile pic
Profile pic

So, GIMP has this cool trick where you can animate a series of images as a GIF by placing images as layers then saving as GIF and choosing to save layers as animation in the resulting dialog. Simple, and with a little practice, probably successful design.

tags: GIMP, GNU, GPL, open source, creative commons, self-portrait, animation, motion, postaday2011