Galaxy

Here is just one of the many examples things we can create with spheres (and gradients!).

Imagination

. . .

I have no idea what I was thinking while doing this.  I just let the pen tool guide me. . .

What do you think??? :)

(By the way, the green thing is supposed to be a paint brush.) :)

What Could Be Hiding Inside That Hat???

I don't know about you, but this man looks real grouchy, but the hat seems full of power...

Starry Night

There is a little kid looking up at the fantastic sky that night and at all the shooting stars.

Let Your Imagination Run WILD!!!

I just created a silly new font and used this font on an H.  So yes, the weird thing you see is an H.  Yet, if you're like me and you just cannot see the H, start using your imagination to create something completely new.  I see a sort of dark room with a very interesting light.  I also see a sort of director's chair against the wall.  (I see the picture from and elevated point of view.)  So use your imagination.  What do YOU see?

Mystical Forest

Our assignment was to create a design that portrayed several emotions and feelings or just one.  I'll let you decide for yourself which feeling is associated with this image.

Actually, this image looked really flat and boring until I decided to put a gradient as the background.  What I like about this gradient is how it makes you feel that even if you're in this forest that might frighten you, the light (or white) gives you hope and courage and you no longer believe that the dots and swirls are or bad magic.

The Sheriff

He will be watching...

A Middle Earth Sign Assignment

Hobbit Crossing

We were assigned to design signs that could go into the world of Middle Earth.  We first had to come up with thirty ideas, then make fifteen thumbnails for the best fifteen, narrow those fifteen down to about five, make those five bigger and neater, and finally make the best ones on the computer.  Here are a few that I came up with.

This first one is supposed to help protect hobbits from being run over since they're so small!

No Smoking

Because there are no cigarettes in Middle Earth and the inhabitants use pipes, this pipe replaces the cigarette on the traditional sign.

Making Silhouettes

Here's a little story on the history of silhouettes:  Back in the day when there were few cameras, people who couldn't afford to have a picture taken or to have a portrait made for a loved one would hire someone to do a silhouette of that person.  A silhouette, in case you don't know is a profile view of someone as if a very strong light shone from behind them, only leaving the outline of their face visible.  So for my loved one, my dog, I made a silhouette of her.  I took a picture of her, traced the edges of the face on the computer, and finally filled in the outline.  This is her silhouette shown here.

Learning to Make Stick Figures!

Today, I learned how to make stick figures on Adobe Illustrator.  Instead of using shapes, I used very thick lines to get the same look.

What I was trying to get across, if it wasn't obvious already was to show one person running, and another playing golf.  Something I learned for these silhouettes is to use as little or even no overlapping parts.  It just happened that both places where the golfer went wrong is where the arm overlaps the body and where the legs overlap each other. Oops.  :)

Little Red Riding Hood/Big Bad Wolf Exercise

Triangle Little Red Riding Hood

Here is a really cool exercise to try out!  You will need to draw three Little Red Riding Hoods and three Big Bad Wolves.  However, each model will need to have one made of only circles, one made of only rectangles, and another made of only triangles.  So you'll end up with three completely different Little Red Riding Hoods, and three completely different Big Bad Wolves.  I drew a Little Red Riding Hood out of triangles.

Triangle Big Bad Wolf

This exercise teaches you how to play with shapes and see the personalities of shapes too.  For example: Would you be more afraid of a Big Bad Wolf made out of circles or triangles?  Which Little Red Riding Hood would you find most friendly looking?  The one out of circles, or the one out of rectangles, or the one out of triangles?

Playing with "The"

These "the"s were done on Adobe Illustrator and can show you just how fun it can be to play with even the simplest word and contort it into many different fashions.

Light Through the Window

I've been pondering what to name this piece and thought maybe "Comet Emerging From Sun Breaking Glass Into Shards".  But that's far too long, tedious and boring, and not as fun as "The Super Strong Light Shone From the Sun and Broke the Glass Window".  Yet that too is FAR too long.  So we'll just have to do with a pleasant "Light Through the Window" which can't stand it so it shatters.