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

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Cityscape rendered in Grungetastic for the iPad

Magic stuff – it is thanks to Grungetastic for the iPad. This 99 cent app has a wealth of features including some great borders like the one here.

It has plenty to like about it including multiple sets of grunge effects, borders and styles to use to colour an image. You can also fix an image and save the changes as a preset. Then (and the program doesn’t make this clear) you can see the preset in the Style list and apply it to any image again in future.

This app is much more powerful than it might first appear and so many textures they will blow your mind.You can colour the styles with any colour you like so you can tailor any effect really nicely.

If there is anything to dislike it is that it is designed for the iPhone and it’s small on the iPad but that is a small complaint.

This is a tool I’d use for photos as well as for artwork, it makes my pictures look something completely different – love it!

Labels: cool ipad apps, drawing apps, grunge artwork, grunge effect, grunge effects for photos, Grungetastic, grungetastic app for ipad, ipad app, iPad apps, painting, sketching

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

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

OmniSketch images – iPad app

OmniSketch iPad app so totally rocks. I really like the lines you can get and I’ve been experimenting a lot with it.

You see one issue with it is that there is really no way to shade a drawing in the traditional way except with a brush line and you can’t draw windows in a building as the procedural brushes don’t really lend themselves to this as much as you might want.

Instead you need to get shade and light by using dense and open brush lines – it’s a work in progress, but it is totally fun and I love the colours I get to work with.

Here is a second cityscape done with the app – maroon this time and pretty much all drawn with just two brushes.

Labels: cool apps for the ipad, cool drawing apps, omnisketch ipad app, sketching apps

posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:51 am0 Comments - links to this post

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Cityscape frame effect from Picfx iPad app

I’ve been working with this image for a few recent posts. It started out as an OmniSketch image and then I took it into Dynamic Light to apply an Orton Effect and one to add some Mysterious Light.

Then, on the basis of why use 2 apps when you can use 3, I took it into an app called Picfx which is a $1.99 app for adding effects to pictures. Here I’ve applied a fairly heavy handed Texture effect to the image but one I like – it is called book and it’s in the texture group of effects – not border where you might expect it to be.

The image has come a long way and it’s really just a case of experimenting with some really wonderful apps to turn a drawn sketch into something so much more. Gotta love this iPad!

Labels: borders, cool ipad apps, grunge effects, ipad app, Picfx, textures

posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:39 am0 Comments - links to this post

Monday, November 7th, 2011

7 best draw, sketch and paint iPad apps for artists and designers

I’ve been trawling the iPad store to find cool apps for designers who want to draw, paint, sketch and generally do stuff on their iPads. I’ve also read a lot and seen way too many reviewers who think it is ok to pay $9.99 for an app with one brush, no layers and no eraser. Seriously you have to wonder why people write that stupidity much less develop a following for doing so.

All these apps I’ve paid for and I use. In fact, I use them regularly – that’s why they are on this list, and I recommend them because they work, they are good value and I think you’ll love them too. They all have strengths and weaknesses, let’s face it you won’t get Photoshop or Illustrator for $4.99 but what you will get are some cool apps for doing great stuff on your iPad.

Here is my list, not in any real order just 7 killer apps for Designers, artists and anyone who wants to be creative on their iPad.

OmniSketch $0.99

This, hands down is my favorite app. It has 48 brushes – you get 24 and can buy 24 more. I has NO layers which is a downside and, while you can set the background color you can’t find white easily so you can’t set it to blue then go back to white easily. I know the developer realizes this is a problem so I’m hoping we’ll get a fix soon. I use this for drawing and for painting Seurat style images. I love its geometric and procedural brushes. It is a wonderful app and for 99cents it really rocks – it is way more deserving of attention than its current rating would suggest.

ArtStudio $2.99

This is a painting program but with so much more. I use it a lot to assemble images because it has layers and blend modes. It also has sophisticated selection tools so it is so much more than a painting program, in fact I treat it as a lightweight Photoshop wannabe app because it really has some very advanced tools for working with photos and for creating digital art. It is totally smart so it’s a must have app in my book.

InkPad $7.99

This is a vector drawing application and it is great even though it is at the pricier end of the scale. The benefit of vectors is that, although they are harder to create they can be sized very large indeed without being pixelated. This app has moveable toolbars, some sophisticated drawing tools and layers. If you’re a lover of illustrator then think of this as a cutdown version of Illustrator for the iPad. It is fun and full of tools you will love.

Sketch Club $1.99

Don’t let the funky icon of this app put you off it is a super cool app and one of my go to apps. It has layers and a huge array of blend modes. You can merge layers too so it’s as good for drawing as it is for photo manipulation and art. It has some procedural paint brushes as well as a cool text brush. It’s an app that I’m sure you will keep coming back to and it’s extremely good value.

Paintbook 0.99 cents

Warning! this is a fantastic app but you will have to spend a little time learning how to use it. There is some good program help and some great videos – do yourself a favor and watch them! If you don’t – you won’t know a fraction of what this great app can do and you’ll be missing out on so much. I love it’s layers and the ability to add an image as either a layer or as a shape on a layer. This app is one of the most powerful you will own – just spend a little time learning how to use it and you’ll be glad you did.

Sketchbook Pro $4.99

Do yourself a favor and shell out for the pro version of this app to get the extra layers – the lite version is good but this one is a must have. The app is from Autodesk and it’s great. East to use and very powerful. It has heaps of brushes from brushes that paint to ones that smudge and ones that paint halftones and splats and flowers. You can customize the toolbar so it shows the tools you use most often – I totally love this app and come back to it time and time again.

ArtRage $6.99

From the folks who made the PC app this is ArtRage for the iPad. It paints and it paints with everything from water color style to thick acrylics you slap around with a palette knife. It has layers too and blend modes and you can even have a reference image which gets pinned to the screen so you can see it to paint from it or you can place it over the canvas so it’s always there. You can use it to paint an original work of art or paint a photo using the smudge brush to turn photo pixels into paint – it is way too much fun and, for the price a “must have” app.

Labels: 7 best ipad apps, art rage, art studio, artists, ArtRage, artstudio, designers, drawing, illustrator for the ipad, ink pad, inkpad, omni sketch, omnisketch, paint book, paintbook, painting, Photoshop for the ipad, sketch book pro, sketch club, sketchbook, sketchclub, sketching, vector art

posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:22 pm5 Comments - links to this post

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Cityscape from OmniSketch into Dynamic Light app

I’ve been humming and haa-ing lately about an app called Dynamic Light. It is only 99 cents so it’s not going to break the bank but it seemed more photographic than artistic and I’m going the art direction right now so I wasn’t sure it had anything I wanted.

How wrong can you be? Apparently quite a bit wrong. This is a really nice app and it has an effect I really like – this Orton one. It is an app designed for the iPhone not so much the iPad so the interface is tiny phone size but that complaint aside it does a wonderful version of the Orton Effect as you can see above.

Then I took the resulting image, clicked Save and chose to Save the Result Image then I applied the Mysterious Light effect so I had two effects on the one image. Totally wonderful. I love the OmniSketch starter image and this app lets me add some simple colour and blur effects to the image.

Labels: cool painting apps., dynamic light art effects, ipad, ipad app, OmniSketch app, orton effect

posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:28 am0 Comments - links to this post

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