The secrets on how to make artwork of the Sam/Jack ship family thread

[jasminaGo]

And what I actually came in for before Jasmina threw me into the gutter I've been playing with PS again. This is just another practise piece.......

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...xtredframe.jpg
I'm finding my way around a bit better now. I love that I can put text in shapes and on weird lines
The mistake I made was in putting both Jacks on one layer, because I think it would have looked better if the left Jack was a bit lower to hide the line. *shrugs* If at first you don't succeed, try try try try try try and try again

I distracted you and threw you in the gutter? *blinks* Oops

You're learning fast. Awesome Did you use that "wraped text" tool on the comand line?


And I tried again on the wally, with smaller letters, different font and I also like the color better



The old ones for comparison

[madaline_7]

I distracted you and threw you in the gutter? *blinks* Oops

You're learning fast. Awesome Did you use that "wraped text" tool on the comand line?


And I tried again on the wally, with smaller letters, different font and I also like the color better

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/jasminaGo/photoshop/wallpaper/th_391.jpg

The old ones for comparison

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/jasminaGo/photoshop/wallpaper/th_394.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/jasminaGo/photoshop/wallpaper/th_39.jpg

Yeah... that one is better!

[josiane]

Yep, that one's much better Jasmina! Lovely!

[Luvnjoe]

Love it, Jasmina!

Okay, ready for my silly, simple tut? This is for Despair...


TBC...

[Luvnjoe]

Despair tut continued: Do you feel the angst? Feel the angst! Be the angst! LOL!

Start a new project in Gimp (CNTRL+N). I did this tut in a 600x500 size.

I used a dark background. I always us a background. For this tut, I just put a plane black background. Then I opened this pic as a layer (CNTRL+ALT+O).

Spoiler:

Add a softglow on a very low brightness and sharpness setting...just enough to bring out that lovely cheekbone *drool* Ahem. This is what you get....

[Jumble]

I distracted you and threw you in the gutter? *blinks* Oops

You're learning fast. Awesome Did you use that "wraped text" tool on the comand line?

Er, I don't think so I used the Ellipse Tool at the top with the Path Tool selected to make a circle, then selected the T and just typed it in. After that I used the Direct Selection Tool to move it round the circle. Make sense?

And I tried again on the wally, with smaller letters, different font and I also like the color better

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/jasminaGo/photoshop/wallpaper/th_391.jpg

The old ones for comparison

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/jasminaGo/photoshop/wallpaper/th_394.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/jasminaGo/photoshop/wallpaper/th_39.jpg

Brilliant! Please tell me you like this one?

[jasminaGo]

Er, I don't think so I used the Ellipse Tool at the top with the Path Tool selected to make a circle, then selected the T and just typed it in. After that I used the Direct Selection Tool to move it round the circle. Make sense?

Yas it does. I was refering to a little T with a line underneath it, next to the color box, on the line under the menus. (at least that's what it looks like in my version)

Heh, you're using PS only few days and you're telling me how to do things I never would have tried ((((jumble))))

Brilliant! Please tell me you like this one?

Well, it is Jack, and it is "The Fifth Man", so what's not to like.

[Luvnjoe]

Despair tut continued (again)

Next, add this pic as another layer

Spoiler:

Again softlglow, low brightness, low sharpness. And desaturate.
(Didn't save this step. Sorry!)

Now comes my favorite part. I hope you all downloaded Arrogence II from my last tut. What!? You DIDN'T!? *is aghast* Get it here. I use this brush in all my angsty sigs. Um...I used the second one and used it as an eraser on the Sam pic layer. I used it here as a brush, too, with a low opacity...like 20%

[Jumble]

Yas it does. I was refering to a little T with a line underneath it, next to the color box, on the line under the menus. (at least that's what it looks like in my version)

No idea what that is.

Heh, you're using PS only few days and you're telling me how to do things I never would have tried ((((jumble))))

ROFL! I guess what each of us tries first depends on which tuts we find and what appeals to us. I was having trouble putting text in at all (don't know why, because its very simple ) so I just googled 'using text in PS' and up came the circle one You can also use the Pen Tool with Paths selected to create pretty much any line and then put text on that, use the Direct Selection Tool to modify the path or move the text along the line, and then go to the Layers box and select the background layer to get rid of the line. Sooo easy when you know how (can you tell I'm copying this straight from my notes? )

And thats the reason we're all learning so much from each other here, we all discover different things and then add them to the knowledge pool. Cool huh?

Well, it is Jack, and it is "The Fifth Man", so what's not to like.

So true

[Luvnjoe]

Tut part...whatever...

I found my quote for the text here. I've tried other quotation sites, and this one has the most satisfactory search, in my opinion. I type it "despair" and I get quotes on despair.

I put the text in a font called "A Charming Font" that I got from www.dafont.com. And I finished it off with a foreground-to-transparent color gradient at 20%.

All done!



Thu end

[madaline_7]

LOVELY tut Luvnjack!

Now, I have a question if you don't mind...

When I change pics over to greyscale, the whole thing goes greyscale. Now, that didn't happen because you just changed the desatuarate?

(BTW... I downloaded those brushes.... and use them... just on nothing that gets past the first stage. LOL)

[Luvnjoe]

LOVELY tut Luvnjack!

Now, I have a question if you don't mind...

When I change pics over to greyscale, the whole thing goes greyscale. Now, that didn't happen because you just changed the desatuarate?

(BTW... I downloaded those brushes.... and use them... just on nothing that gets past the first stage. LOL)

Yes. It's in the "colors" menu. It should only desaturate the layer you're working on. I don't merge or anchor my layers (if possible) till the very end. You never know when you'll want to go back and switch something up.

[Sarai]

*headdesk*

some seriously droolworthy pics of Jack around here ladies...Struggling. To. Form. Coherent. Thought...

Well said Jumble! Having said that, I do think it's useful to learn by trying to imitate (I learnt lots of stuff by trying to do a Jann or an Oma, for example), and the tuts here have been great for sharing knowledge. But when you come to do your own stuff you should take what you're happy with, incorporate parts of what you've learnt from other people, not the whole kaboodle. I think the key concept here is 'idea' - you can learn by copying other people's techniques, but your ideas are your own, and you pull in the techniques you are familiar with to realise them.

And, we might not feel all mojo-ed up and happy with things all the time, but sharing experiences and tips and ideas and trials and finished work here is so useful in so many ways. New things to learn, help if you're stuck, a confidence boost if you're not happy. If someone had told me when I first opened up gimp just over 4 months ago that I'd be able to produce some of the things I have done I'd have laughed myself silly. And it's seriously all thanks to this thread and everyone on it.

well said Josi and everyone that's commented on this. If you look back to before this thread started and the early days we've all come on so far and we have a seriously talented bunch of shippers around here.

It's very easy to get bogged down when a piece of artwork isn't going right, but it's such a comfort to know you can pop on here, get some advice or a tut or even just have a good old rant about it and then eventually get things back on track again.

*huggles gimPS*

And what I actually came in for before Jasmina threw me into the gutter I've been playing with PS again. This is just another practise piece.......

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg122/jumble65/walls/th_ContinuumJackwpcirculartextredframe.jpg
I'm finding my way around a bit better now. I love that I can put text in shapes and on weird lines
The mistake I made was in putting both Jacks on one layer, because I think it would have looked better if the left Jack was a bit lower to hide the line. *shrugs* If at first you don't succeed, try try try try try try and try again

Looks like your getting the hang of PS Jumble, can't wait to see what you come out with ! And hey, if you get to try try try try again with pics of Jack, where's the bother?

[josiane]

Great tut luvnjack, thanks!

[Jumble]

*headdesk*

some seriously droolworthy pics of Jack around here ladies...Struggling. To. Form. Coherent. Thought...



well said Josi and everyone that's commented on this. If you look back to before this thread started and the early days we've all come on so far and we have a seriously talented bunch of shippers around here.

It's very easy to get bogged down when a piece of artwork isn't going right, but it's such a comfort to know you can pop on here, get some advice or a tut or even just have a good old rant about it and then eventually get things back on track again.

*huggles gimPS*



Looks like your getting the hang of PS Jumble, can't wait to see what you come out with ! And hey, if you get to try try try try again with pics of Jack, where's the bother?

This is true Actually, if you look back over the last few pages it looks like we're all practising mainly on Jack It does make for such a pleasant evening

Edit: Thanks for the tut Luvnjack, I will study it closely............especially the Jackpic