Trying New Things…
One of my major art goals for 2019 is becoming more profient in using Photoshop. I feel like I only ever tap into 5% of what it has to offer. So to correct that I’ve been taking a lot of Skillshare classes, watching Youtube videos, and pouring through artists’ tutorials. One thing I’ve been playing with is the Content Aware fill. Can’t say I’m an expert (or anywhere near it) but having fun incorporating stock photos and my art. The photo of the lovely yellow wild flowers is from Unsplash user Jeremy Bishop.
Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019
I did this back in early January. It was meant to symbolize a few different things like starting it in 2018 and finishing it in 2019, doing it mostly in Procreate and Photoshop, and finishing wip pieces. Artistically 2018 was a good year. I put out more art than I ever have. I started doing more landscapes and work entirely from my own imagination, broke a bit out of my comfort zone, and did a lot of interesting studies. Mostly I think I built a lot of artistic momentum to push me into 2019. I feel like 2018 was a bit of tiny hill- long plateau rinse repeat cycle. The…
Quick Photoshop Color Adjustment Trick
I picked up a great Photoshop trick from Twitter user @Treatscraft. This is a quick and easy way to try out different color ideas based off of another image. Simply go to Image_>Adjustments> Match colors. From there choose the opened image you want to sample colors from. You can find the informative post here –> Tweet.
Cinematic Paintings
Stumbled across this great site full of scenes from movies. A lot of these make for great reference as well as studies. Check it out at- Cinematic Paintings.com
Photoshop Tips & Tricks
I’m getting a head start on my 2019 resolution to ‘master’ Photoshop. I feel like ‘master’ is perhaps an overly ambitious resolution but it sounds more goal worthy than ‘get to a point where I don’t rage quit in frustration because PS doesn’t do YY like app ZZ.’ With PS coming to iPad as well it seems a good time to put in the time to really get familiar with the software. So with that in mind I’m going to be posting frequently a condensed-ish post with tips and tricks I am picking up and sharing them here. ViewsTips 1 and 2 come courtesy of the incredibly skilled Goro Fujita.…
Holiday Update!
Originally there were some cookies planned but well- that got ‘eaten’ 😉 I do have some other cute icons to add to your bullet journal/etc. I’ve updated my Gumroad page (https://gum.co/pixelsnplay) with the Christmas-y holiday goodies. Happy holidays!
Bullet Journal Updates Coming Soon!
A little while ago I made a Skillshare class on digital bullet journaling on the iPad. (https://skl.sh/2NUrzbB) For the class I created a bunch of stuff to help with keeping a journal and adding some color and personality to it with icons and assets. I’ve created some holiday items and will soon update both the class and Gumroad. If there’s interest I may even throw in some cookies and milk!
Dell Canvas Review- 1 Year In
I’ve had the Dell Canvas more than a full year now and I have some feelings about it. A lot of feelings. Hands down this is the best hardware purchase I have ever made for art and the most expensive. For the mount, arm, and Dell it came out just over 2k. I wanted to get more serious about my art and even though I had a good pen enabled monitor with the solid, Ugee 2150. I wanted something with a larger screen, better display capabilities and touch. The Dell delivered in every aspect. I use my Dell almost daily for 2 or more hours- painting/drawing, gaming, web browsing, video…
Forest Lady Blue- Walk-through and Thoughts
I initially started with a rough sketch idea. Some of the sketch is still visible. Prior to this when it is just a sketch I feel pretty excited and hopeful about the piece. In my head it is full of light and feels and most importantly finished. The next step shown above is where I start to lose all hope of that. This is usually the point where (at my current skill level) I realize my vision and current skillset don’t match and HOLY CRAP I don’t know how to paint or draw anything. Then I pull out one of 100s of brushes that are like stamps and play around.…
2018 iPad Pro Update- *sigh*
It’s been nearly a week since Apple had their big release conference. I used to be a huuuuuge Apple fangirl in that every update I made plans to upgrade phones and tablets (they couldn’t pry my mammoth of a beast first gen 17inch pro ‘laptop’ from my hands until the battery looked like it was going to explode).Then I got bored and needed a pc. So I made the leap and ended up loving my Galaxy note and tablet. When Apple came out with the original pros with pencils, I knew it was time to come back. 3 years on it still works and looks great but as any tech…
