Saturday, March 24th, 2012

Blog or Website – is it an either/or choice?

Recently someone on a creative group I’m part of posed the question as to whether, seeing as Blogging is the new “big thing” there is any reason why they should not scrap their web site and just blog in future.

It was an interesting question and since there was a feeling that this might be “a good idea”, I felt it necessitated a strong reply on the negative side.

Here, for more public consumption is a summary of my feelings:

Don’t make the mistake that because a blog is “the thing” it is the only thing, it isn’t – far from it. A blog and a website are two very different things.

One (the blog), is like an ongoing journal and the other (your website), is your way to show your products to the world.

To see how they differ and why you should ideally have both, do this simple exercise. Ask yourself, if you were a manufacturer or editor wanting to know more about my work and if it would suit your needs, would you rather view my blog or my website?

And, if you were me, do you think my skills are being showcased better in an easy to view way by my blog or my website?

If you seriously put on a manufacturer’s or editor’s shoes for just a minute and try this and then think about what you’re really seeing from their point of view and given what they need to find out about you – and if you do this from your own point of view as an artist/designer as well – you’ll see that clearly that they are in no way alike. Having one does not and should not exclude you from the need to have the other.

For most people the concept of discarding a functional and very informative website and replacing it with a verbose mix of everything which is what a blog is, is not a recommended choice.

I like to think of a website as like a nicely organised and categorised library and a blog as like a dump of books all in a pile on the floor – both might contain the same information but one is significantly easier to find your way around than the other and both appeal to different audiences.

However, that said, blogs do get indexed very quickly and they are easy to update, so, the “better” solution is to link blog to website and vice versa so they feed off each other not destroy one to replace it with the other.

Labels: artist, blog or website, choose one or the other, designer, Website or blog, what is the difference

posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:49 am1 Comment - links to this post

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Draw a Cityscape in OmniSketch on the iPad

OmniSketch is one of my favorite iPad drawing apps. It really has just so much and the developer Richard is adding more effects at the moment and even better, he replies to posts on his blog which you can find at Omnisketch.com.

This image I created with OmniSketch using a range of brushes from the original set. I used the Standard brushes Open Square for the building faces and also these other brushes that I’ve circled.

I’m really enjoying building up lots of color by first getting a dark color and laying down the building outlines working from front to back.

Then I select colors such as pale yellow, pink, blue and green and choosing very low opacity brushes and use them to fill in the details. Buildings toward the front have more opaque brushes used on them and those in the back less opaque. One of the nice things is that the brushes tend to splatter a little bit into the background to give you a really neat background effect. Here too I created a darker foreground to tie the bottoms of the buildings in and darkened around the edges with a view to adding a vignette later on.

One of the most recent updates to OmniSketch was the ability to buy more brushes with an in app purchase. There are 24 brushes in the new collection and it costs 99 cents. The brushes that are included are shown here.

Some of the brushes anchor when you start drawing so that they spin around creating almost spiral images. These are mathematical brushes and they look totally spectacular.

One of the brushes I like is circled here. It looks very different when drawn down and drawn across. It changes to look something completely different.

The new circular brush is fascinating and so too are the dot brush, the one that has dots and sticks and the one that’s made of dots and dashes (circled in red l-r below).

These brushes are a welcome addition to OmniSketch as I really think you can never have too many brushes particularly when the procedural brushes here work in such interesting ways.

Labels: art apps, drawing, ipad app, mathematical brushes, omniscape, procedural brushes

posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:21 am0 Comments - links to this post

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

Use Photoshop to Resize a Knitting Design

I had an opportunity to use a pattern for knitting a project recently. The pattern is one for a character called Shaun the Sheep and the original knitting project was for a Nintendo case. I don’t have a Nintendo but I do have a small camera and it seemed to me that this would be a cool use for this particular design – it really is totally cute.

The problem is that my camera is a lot smaller than a Nintendo so the entire project needed resizing. The first time I did this I tried simply knitting less stitches and fewer rows. The problem was that while the project looked okay it was still way too big for the camera. I had shaved stitches off the pattern for the sheep’s face on the right where I could do without them and didn’t stitch all the rows required for the front but even so, I still knitted too many stitches horizontally and too many rows.

The only option really was to totally resize the pattern – and the problem is how to do it quickly and efficiently. My solution was to grab the pattern as an image. It was shown on a web page so all I needed to do was to go and take a screenshot of it. Having done this, I pasted it into Photoshop by choosing File > New and then Edit > Paste. Choosing File > New after you have taken the screenshot (press Prt Scr) sets the new image size to match the clipboard image size so you don’t have to do any guessing and you can paste the clipboard in very easily.

At this point you need to crop very closely around the image. You need to crop the image so that all you have is the stitch grid and nothing else.

You’ll also need to know just how big the original pattern is in rows and stitches. In my case, it was 36 stitches wide by 26 rows.

In Photoshop I resized the image to these proportions using Image > Image Size. I set it to 36 pixels wide by 26 pixels tall and then clicked Ok. This resizes the image so that each pixel is a knit stitch.

Having reduced the image to this small size I enlarged it again using the zoom tool. At this point, I made a copy of the image so that I could compare the original design and the new smaller one. To do this I chose Image > Duplicate and then clicked Ok to create a second version.

I then reduced the colors in the image by File > Save for Web and Devices and then selected GIF. I set the Color Table to 3 colors to reduce the colors to the 3 colors in the pattern- you would reduce the colors to the number of colors in your pattern.

Reducing the colors now means that when you size down the pattern only these colors will be used and you won’t get a lot of ‘in between’ colors.

Save the image and then reopen it. Choose Image > Mode > RGB Color. This is the version that you’ll be working on.

In my case, I wanted to knit a project that is more square than rectangular so I saw I could eliminate some stitches from the right side of the pattern without losing any of the sense of the character. I cropped off 8 pixels from the right of the image – this reduced it by 8 stitches.

Now choose Image > Image Size and set the size of the pattern. You will want to enable the Constrain Proportions checkbox so you don’t skew the shape of the pattern. I wanted my knitting to be 20 stitches wide and when I set this Photoshop calculated that the appropriate height would be 19 – making this 19 rows. I clicked Ok.

In the process of resizing, Photoshop is forced to reduce the number of pixels in the image so it discards some of them – so it is redrawing my pattern for me at the smaller size.

This is where the duplicate image comes into play. If you line this up beside the shrunk down version, you can see if there are portions of it that you think could have been drawn in better. For me there were one or two pixels that I wanted to change. So I selected the colors from the image using the Eyedropper then selected the Brush tool, sized it down to 1 pixel in size and then clicked on the image where I wanted to change a color. This allowed me to fine-tune the design to suit my needs.

After you have done this, you can scale the image up again and print it out. Then draw using a ruler over the image to create the grid that you need to use to make your pattern.

Alternately you can make your own grid. To do this, scale this image up by 1,000 percent by choosing Image > Image Size and set the Width and Height to 1000%.

Now, to create the grid image, choose File > New and make an image that’s 10 x 10 pixels, RGB color, with a transparent background. Zoom into it so you can see it clearly. Make a 1 pixel wide selection down the right of the image and fill it with black. Then make a 1 pixel deep selection across the top of the image and fill it with black. Choose Select > All and then Edit > Define Pattern, type Grid as the name and click Ok.

Now back in the pattern image, add a new layer by first choosing Layer > New > Layer to create a new layer and then choose Edit > Fill, choose Pattern from the Use list and from the custom pattern dropdown list, select the last pattern in the collection and click Ok. This drops a black grid over the image.

If the colors in your pattern are such that you can’t see the black grid over black stitches, select the grid layer and choose Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Adjust the Lightness up, click Colorize and then locate a hue that can be easily seen over the top of your grid. You may want to adjust the Saturation slider and then click Ok. Now you can see the stitches and you have a pattern that is resized to your own needs ready for printing.

Labels: knitting, knitting pattern, resize a design, shaun the sheep

posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:24 am0 Comments - links to this post

Monday, February 27th, 2012

How to Block Your Knitting

Whether you’re knitting a scarf or, as I have just done, a small bag for a camera you’ll need to consider blocking it.

Blocking involves wetting the project – I use hot water and a good wool wash and then laying it flat to dry. When you do this, place the piece on a strong surface like a clean towel and pin it into place to shape the project.

The camera case that I made had a pattern knitted into it. One of the wools used was a fluffy wool which caused the piece to bend out of shape appallingly. In fact, at the end of the knitting process I had a scrunched up little ball and it didn’t remotely look like a camera case.

By pinning it to a clean towel, shaping it and allowing it to dry, I now have a piece of knitted fabric that has all the softness of the original but none of the bizarre shape. It actually looks like what it is.

The next step will be to sew in the wool ends and sew up the piece. I may even consider blocking it a second time to shape the project even more square than I got it the first time.

While blocking seems like just another step in the knitting process and one that in your enthusiasm to get the project finished you may think you can avoid, blocking a project really does give you a much better result.

Use blocking to get rid of curly edges of a stockinette stitch scarf and use it to reshape any knitting project to make it the shape that you want it to look like – not the shape that it comes off the needles.

Blocking is simple; all you need is a good clean surface such as a large bath towel and some good quality dressmaker’s pins – the sort that won’t rust and leave marks in your project.

Then rinse the project, squeeze it gently to remove some of the water and then, while it is still wet, lay it on the towel and pull and push it into shape it until you get it the way you want it to look. Use the pins to pin it into position and then leave it to dry.

It really does give a very professional finish to your work. It’s great for scarves, essential for stockinette stitch scarves if you don’t want them to roll and useful before sewing up bags, sweaters and the like.

Labels: blocking, crochet, knitting, pin, reshape, shape knitting

posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:57 am0 Comments - links to this post

Saturday, February 11th, 2012

Stuffing dark amigurumi animals

A problem I’ve encountered as I have been making and stuffing Amigurumi animals is that it is impossible to get black polyester fiberfill. It seems that they just don’t make this stuff. I did find someone who could get it manufactured for me – but they would have to get it specially manufactured and I would have to purchase it in 2,000 pound quantities. That is a lot of stuffed cuties! Needless to say, this wasn’t an option for me.

My solution is to buy black, brown or colored wool top or roving depending on the color of the animal I am making. I get my roving from Alpaca Direct. I can buy 4oz of black alpaca top wool for around $11.99 to stuff the little critters. I estimate it will stuff around 4-5 small Amigurumi dogs. So I’ll be able to stuff my animals really easily with good clean alpaca wool roving which is environmentally great because this stuff is wool and in some cases it it wool that would otherwise be discarded but here it is being recycled, it is clean and natural – what’s not to love about that.

Other alternatives to dark fiberfill

There are other options too that I like. At Knitpicks you can get a Furry Friends Wool Roving pack comprising 1/4 oz each of 8 colors of wool (making 2 oz in total) for $11.99. There are heaps of different color combinations here.

You could dye your own white wool tops/roving so you can make it any color you like and white wool is easier to find that colored.

At Knitpicks you can also get Special Reserve roving – 3.53 oz for $6.49 – there is no black but there is brown, and light and dark grey which will suit many projects and you can’t complain about the price.

Overstock.com is always worth trying to see what they have.

Outback fibres has mixed bags 8oz weight with a minimum of 8 colors per pack of merino fiber for $20 plus shipping but you don’t get a guarantee of color – just the palette – there is a natural palette that looks good.

Mohairandmore.com has mohair and more! I found Corriedale Cross Wool in ecru color for $1.15 an ounce and other wools are priced upwards of this. If you want to dye your own, this is good value.

Weirdollsandcrafts.com has a lot of cool stuff including wools and their 4oz natural wool roving is $7.50. The site is great so make time to browse around it.

Mielkesfarm.com has dyed merino tops which are very inexpensive and available in a range of colors for $7.50 for 4oz. and dyed corriedale for under $8 for 4 oz.

Take care and calculate value

One thing to watch is that wool roving is typically priced by weight. A very tiny amount of wool can look enormous on the web! And you don’t want to unwittingly pay a lot for a small amount of fiber because it might look huge. Check the weight in oz in the pack and compare – expect to pay from $8 up to triple that or more for 4oz of wool.

Why you need dark fiberfill for toys

The reason I need black or dark fiberfill to use with dark designs is because if I use the white fiberfill it will show through the crochet stitches.

There are some other options – you can line the project with something black such as felt or a recycled stocking and then fill the shape with fiberfill. In that case, you could use the white fiberfill if you line the project with a dark lining.

For my money, finding a good source of black wool fiber in place of impossible to source dark polyester or Dacron fill is going to work a whole lot better. Amigurumi animals and similar tiny projects are just too difficult to line with something additional in the way of stockings or felt – it adds an unnecessary layer of complexity to the project. Considering my dogs’ legs are a mere 5 crochet stitches around there is precious little room to move in them.

For me, wool roving is inexpensive enough that I can buy it for the projects that I need it for and it really does offer the best solution.

That said, if you find a reliable online source for black or dark brown polyester fiberfill or Dacron, I’d be interested to know.

Labels: amigurumi, black, dark, fiber fill, fiberfill, fibre fill, fibrefill, green, polyester, stuffing

posted by Helen Bradley @ 12:02 am2 Comments - links to this post

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Toast your pix with PhotoToaster

This cityscape was taken from OmniSketch into Photo Toaster.

Once there, I applied the floodlight effect by clicking the Brightness button and choosing Floodlight. If you see sliders and not named effects, click the icon in the top left of the slider box to go to the named effects so you can click a preset and use that.

For Vignette adjustment (it shows as an icon with three stars), I applied Medium Black.

For the Texture, I applied Antiqued.

And for the frame the Torn Edge frame.

What’s to like about PhotoToaster

PhotoToaster has lots of options to choose from.

You select Lighting effects, Vignette, Textures and/or Borders for your image using the options along the foot of the screen.

When you’re done with one, you can click the sliders mode switch in the top left corner of the thumbnails and apply a specific adjustment based on the choice that you’ve made.

There’s plenty to like about this program. It allows you to try out options by simply selecting the one that you want. If you don’t like it, go back to None or select something different and it’s immediately applied.

There’s a Randomize button in the bottom right corner that you can use to randomize effects.

After you’ve applied a change to your image, you can simply click the button such as the Vignette button and you’ll see immediately which effect you’ve applied as it has a red checkmark in the corner.

You can output to the Photo Library, Email, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Instagram, via SMS, Twitter, the clipboard or send the image to another app such as SquareReady or other apps you might have that can send and receive images.

Click Help to get access to explanatory screens such as what you’ll find on the tools menu—Crop, Rotate, Flip and Straighten, the global presets which give you access to all the settings and then the individual settings.

Save a PhotoToaster preset

If you use the Global Settings option, you get a set of presets that combine multiple options in one which you can use either as a starting point or a finishing point for your image.

If you like a look, you can save it as a preset by clicking the Global button, click the dial until you see the Add New Preset and then click to add a new preset and give it a name. You can then apply that preset to an image by simply selecting an image and select that preset.

Of all the grunging apps that I use, I really like PhotoToaster a lot.

Labels: app, border, frame, grunge app, instagram, iPad 2, photo app, photo toaster, phototoaster, vignette

posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:30 am0 Comments - links to this post

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

An Apple a Day – Layers and selections in ArtStudio

This apple started out as a Substrate background. I’m really enjoying this program because it creates great backgrounds that I can use for my art.

What you do with Substrate is to choose an image that it will source it colors from and then it renders this interesting background that you can take a screenshot of and use as a background for your art.

Having finished in Substrate, I took a screenshot and then brought that into ArtStudio.

Art Studio is an application I use a lot because it allows me to use up to six layers in an image. This image is layered so that on the bottom is the Substrate background.

I then used the Selection tool, which is another of ArtStudio’s features to draw an apple shape.

Move this selection over the background layer and use the copy feature to make a copy of the apple shape from the original background.

I added a new layer and pasted this apple shape onto a new layer.

I duplicated this so I could have a version of the apple at the very top so I could see what I was doing.

I then selected a color from the Substrate background, a sort of dark red brown and I made another selection of the apple layer this time using the Magic Wand tool to select the background which of course is empty.

I then used Inverse to invert the selection so the apple shape itself was selected and then I expanded the selection by 10 pixels.

This area was then filled with the black background.

I then did the same thing but this time only expanded it by 5 pixels and filled it with white.

The layers go, from the top down:
1 patterned apple
2 white apple
3 black apple
4 background

Then I transformed the black apple shape using the Transform tool on that Layer.

I dragged it so it was offset and so it would look like a drop shadow.

The white layer is a solid fill of 5 pixels around the apple so you still get the sense of the apple even where the drop shadow isn’t visible.

The result looks as if the apple is somehow raised up from the original background.

The combination of Substrate for the background and ArtStudio for putting all the layers together works really well.

The powerful Selection tools and layers really set this app apart, it’s like having much of the convenience and features of Photoshop on the iPad for making cool art.

I used the multiply blend mode on each of the white and black layers so that you would see some of the underlying image through these layers. The opacity of both reduced to around 50 percent. The white layer blend mode is screen and the black layer blend mode is multiply.

Labels: an apple a day, art studio, artstudio, ipad, layers, making art on the ipad, selections, substrate

posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:00 am0 Comments - links to this post

Monday, January 30th, 2012

A twist on the Potato Chip Scarf

A friend a couple of nights ago showed me the basics of the potato chip scarf. I’ve never seen this before and she was having problems with the first few rows as it looked as if the process wasn’t working.

One of the secrets of the potato chip scarf that we have now learned is that you need to do plenty of it before you’ll actually see the twist start to occur.

Once I’d seen how it worked I went back to look at the first few inches of my scarf and decided that I wanted mine a little different.

So, I undid and reknitted it this time not in garter stitch which it seems most people knit the scarf in but instead in stockinette stitch. I wanted my scarf to be more finished at least on the front side and the fact that stockinette stitch has a tendency to curl didn’t really make a lot of difference here.

So, here’s my twist on the twisty potato chip scarf.

Cast on 20 stitches

Row 1: Knit 20 stitches

Row 2: Purl 8 stitches and turn (you have 8 st on one needle, 12 on the other)

Row 3: Knit 8 stitches. (you have 20 st on one needle)

Row 4: Purl 6 stitches and turn (you have 6 st on one needle, 14 on the other)

Row 5: Knit 6 stitches (you have 20 st on one needle)

Row 6: Purl 4 stitches and turn. (you have 4 st on one needle, 16 on the other)

Row 7: Knit 4 stitches. (you have 20 st on one needle)

Row 8: Purl the entire row

Row 9: Knit 8 stitches and turn (you have 8 st on one needle, 12 on the other)

Row 10: Purl 8 stitches. (you have 20 st on one needle)

Row 11: Knit 6 stitches and turn (you have 6 st on one needle, 14 on the other)

Row 12: Purl 6 stitches (you have 20 st on one needle)

Row 13: Knit 4 stitches and turn. (you have 4 st on one needle, 16 on the other)

Row 14: Purl 4 stitches. (you have 20 st on one needle)

Row 15: Knit 20

Repeat rows 2 to 15 until the scarf reaches the desired length.

The pattern is a simple repeat so it is easy to remember when you’ve done it a few times. However, don’t expect to see any curl until you’ve repeated the entire pattern at least twice all the way through.

I am still knitting this scarf but I am thinking I will finish it with a crochet edge when I’m done. I just bought the book Around the Corner Crochet Borders: 150 Colorful, Creative Edging Designs with Charts and Instructions for Turning the Corner Perfectly Every Time buy Edie Eckman so I will find a simple design from it to use.

How the design works

The logic of the potato chip scarf design is that you’re knitting the first 8 stitches of every row more times than you do the middle 4 stitches of the scarf. Then you also knit the first 6 stitches of each row and then the first 4 stitches more still than that.

Because the edge stitches are being knitted up to six times more than the middle stitches you will get more knitted fabric at the edges than in the middle. The result of having more fabric at the edges than in the middle is that the edges are going to curl up – hence the “potato chip” look.

This design is also referred to as a “rigatoni scarf” I guess because it starts to look like a piece of pasta and I’ve also seen it referred to as a helix scarf.

You can do the scarf in garter stitch so you knit every row and I have one scarf done like this, it’s bumpy because of the garter stitch and it looks great, but I still like the contrast between the two sides of the stockinette version so it’s worth trying it to see if you like it too.

Working in multiple colors

In addition as you can see in the image, I’ve started to build in some color change into my design. For this I knitted the entire 15 row repeat in a second color before starting back in another color.

This gives me a small fan shape at either side that is knitted in the second color with just two rows in the middle of the scarf in the same color.

Love or hate the holes?

The potato chip scarf design creates small “holes” every time you turn after having knitted the 8, 6 or 4 stitches.

If you don’t like the holes you can avoid them before you turn in the middle of the row. Before you turn, wrap the yarn around the stitch that would be the next to be knitted if you weren’t about to turn your work. Now turn and continue, the holes won’t be as visible if you do this.

However, I happen to like the holes because they break up the surface and add more texture to it.

I’m knitting this in Gems Lt. Worsted Wt. wool to match my mittens which I knitted one of which is a solid color hand and one which is striped.

For the potato chip scarf it doesn’t really matter what you knit it so you’ll find that an average weight wool and a reasonable size set of needles makes the process pretty quick and easy to do.

Free download – pdf of variations of patterns for the scarf

Here is a cool link I’ve since found which includes a lot of variations on the scarf including some with delicious fluted edges. It is at http://static.knittingparadise.com/upload/2011/10/19/1319064498069-_handspun_gallery_of_helix_scarves.pdf

Labels: free knitting patterns, helix scarf, knitting, potato chip scarf, rigatoni scarf, variations

posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:00 am1 Comment - links to this post

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Cool photo frames in ArtStudio on the iPad

Learn how to create fun and useful photo frames with ArtStudio on the iPad.

ArtStudio is one of those applications that just totally rocks on the iPad. In this post I’ll show you how to create photo frames on the iPad. These frames are reusable so you can, once you’ve created them, use them for any image any time.

Start out with ArtStudio and create a new image. You’ll need to use the Custom option and make it 2048 x 2048 in size. This is the maximum size for ArtStudio images. Set the Start With Layer to White and click Ok.

From the menu, select the Layer option and you’ll see you have one white filled layer. Tap this and click Add New Layer to add a new blank layer on top.

Select the Pencil icon, select an appropriate color such as black or a dark gray and then set the size of the brush to around 50 or more. Now with the image on the screen, draw your frame.

Once you’ve hand drawn your frame, select the Select tool and click the Magic Wand. Click inside the frame so that you have the inner area selected.

From the Select options select Expand and expand the radius by around 10 pixels.

Now click the Layers option again and add a another new layer. If necessary, drag it between the two layers and make sure that it is targeted, in other words it should have an orange border.

Return to the Select tool and choose Inverse. This inverts the current selection so everything except the frame is selected.

Select a color to use for the frame and the edge outside it, in this case I chose a pale orange, return to the select tool and choose Fill. This will fill the frame edge leaving the white backing inside.

If you want a different colored area outside the frame itself, click the select the Select tool and choose Deselect. Choose the Magic Wand again, click on the frame layer and click outside the frame with the Magic Wand. You may need to select the Add to Selection option and continue to select around the outside until you get a good selection of everything there.

Again, expand the selection by 10 pixels, add a new layer and place this one under the frame and above the colored surround.

Now choose a different color to use – I chose a turquoise, and again click the Select tool and choose Fill.

When you’re done, click the Select tool and click Deselect.

You now have a frame that has been assembled on layers.

You can import an image by clicking the Import button and select an image to use. If necessary, click the layer with the new image on it and use the Transform option to move and scale the image.

When you’re done, drag the photo layer underneath the frame and the frame edges so that it is just above the background layer.

Choose the File tool and save the image to your gallery. At any time you can come back to ArtStudio, open the image, remove the layer containing the photograph and add a new photograph in its place.

Of all the iPad applications available, ArtStudio is one of the most powerful if you can get your head around it being much more than a painting tool and recognize just what possibilities it has for photo editing as well.

Labels: art studio, artstudio, cool apps, drawing apps, how to, ipad, painting apps, photo apps, photography apps, tutorial

posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:00 am2 Comments - links to this post

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Why multiple Apps are a wonderful thing

The iPad has a few things going for it in comparison with a PC and one of those is cheap apps and another the convenience of saving images to the Photo Gallery and instantly switching between applications. Things that can be done on the PC just seem to be much easier at times on the iPad.

Take this image. It started out in PaintBook. I like this app because it has some good tools for creating basic shapes and cutting shapes out of others and its layers feature makes it very easy to work with.

Here the basic teapot shape was created on one layer and then the handle created as a white shape on a second layer. On a third layer, I created all the dots and then saved the finished project to the Photo Gallery.

From here, what I wanted to do was to make the edges of the shape darker so it looked like it had been inked or shaded. For this, I used the ArtStudio app. What I did in ArtStudio was to duplicate the now flattened image so that it was on two separate layers. I selected the topmost layer and using a darker color of the basic orange I painted around and over the edges of the teapot with a semi-opaque paint.

At this stage, I wasn’t concerned about the fact that I’d painted all over the edges and over the white background. All I wanted to do was to get the effect I wanted on the teapot and ignore everything else. Having done this, I then set the blend mode of the topmost layer to Overlay as this effectively masks out the over-painting leaving just the resulting image.

I chose to merge visible layers to flatten the effect and then I duplicated the flattened layer and used some of the blend modes to craft the image that I wanted in terms of color and effect. Each time I merged the layers then duplicated them again and used more blending. I finished off by using the pencil tool in ArtStudio to draw dark lines around the white dots on the teapot. From here, I saved the resulting image into the Photo Gallery.

The next step is to PencilSketch HD. I swore blind I wouldn’t buy the full version of this app but I use it more than I like to admit so I sprung for the 1.99 that it cost. I brought the teapot into this app to create it as a pencil sketch. There are no tools here you just get the sketch it gives you but it does a really good job and it is probably the most realistic pencil sketch tool that I’ve found.

From here, I saved the image back into the Photo Gallery. I now had the colored image and a pencil sketch exactly the same size so I opened up SketchClub and grabbed both images, one on one layer and one on the other. I then blended the two layers together using blend modes to get this effect.

From here, I saved the image back into the Photo Gallery.

Now it was onto Pixlr to add a grunge effect and border to the image. From Pixlr it’s a simple process to save the image back into the Photo Gallery and then hit it with the full force of the Grungetastic app for this final result.

When you consider how far we’ve come from a basic sketch to either the Pixlr or Grungetastic results and that it was all done within a short period of time, you can see the possibilities of creating art using a variety of apps.

Each apps was used because of its strengths. ArtStudio makes it easy for me to make blended edge effects. I love SketchClub for its ability to blend layers and PaintBook is just such a cool tool for creating basic sketches. Pixlr and Grungetastic just add the finishing touches.

Labels: artstudio, blend modes, blending, cool apps, drawing, Grungetastic, iPad apps, layers, paintbook, Pixlr, sketchclub, sketching

posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:02 am0 Comments - links to this post

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