Stunning High Speed

Not done much Photoshopping recently but have been looking at some stunning photos on the net. Another great collection of photos I have come across are 35 stunning high speed photos such as this one above. Well worth a quick look!

This is just the latest collection I have highlighted on DBGLINKS 

Learning Photoshop Part3

 

 

 

Now this was more fun. Continuing the Design Reviver suggested How to Learn Photoshop in 24 Hours I attempted the next tutorial: Number 6: Paint Graffiti on a wall
You will be using custom brushes to recreate the graffiti wall, and working with multiple layers.

This was the best written and most detailed tutorial yet. Everything was well illustrated and all the downloads needed were also linked to. This included the wall texture, and several brush sets. Brilliant.

My first effort, following the tutorial fairly closely

The only bit I missed out, well I completed and then ‘hid’ the layer, was the green glow which I didn't like. I probably overdid it really so I just left it out.
After that I decided to have a bit of fun and make my own image, only this time not referring to the tutorial to see if I could remember all the steps and techniques.

I quite like it, but I think the font doesn't really work as well as I had hoped. Really needs a fatter font to make it work properly but I do like the penguin which I found in another brush set I had on my computer.

All in all this is a tutorial I can recommend to anyone who want to get a good basic introduction to using brushes and layers.

Learning Photoshop Part 2

 

 

 

The plan was to work through the list of tutorials listed in DESIGNREVIVERS How to learn Photoshop in 24 Hours. Looking at the task more closely I don't think its going to be quite that simple!
Today I had a go at the second tutorial

: Grass Texture
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a nice-looking grass texture. This tut covers Filters, Rotating an image, Brightness and Contrast and working with Hue and Saturation.
Well its simple enough and I completed it nice and quickly but it just didnt do it for me. Not quite sure why but somehow the end result just didnt look right, even though it was fairly close to their example.
So on the Tutorial 3 which looked more promising: Underwater Effect
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an underwater scene from scratch, using Gradients, Transform and Filters. As well as getting started with Brushes.
The effect looks great, but for a beginners tutorial it wasn't very well written and some quite complicated steps were brushed over very quickly. I managed something fairly similar to the end image but wasn't really happy with it. If you are going to claim a tutorial as basic - for beginners you need more detail. Never mind…

Tutorial 4: 2D Mirror Effect 
In this tutorial you will learn how to Duplicate, Flip Horizontally/Vertically, Feathering and Blending. Simple, yet effective.
Bingo! Nice and straight forward and easy to follow. I altered it slightly at the end in that I used a gradient mask rather than a feathered selection but I think it looks ok with either.

I could have also squashed / compressed the reflection layer slightly but was happier with this version.
Looking ahead I will probably skip the next one and go straight to number 6 which looks a lot more interesting and is well written with lots of detail.

Learning Photoshop Part 1

 

 

 

I am trying to be a bit more proactive in my learning of Photoshop so I am going to be working my way through various Photoshop Tutorials I have found on the net. The first batch will be as recommended in a blog posting from DESIGNREVIVER from March 2009: How to learn Photoshop in 24 Hours.

Quite a bold statement, Learn Photoshop in 24 hours. Its simple and you can.
Stepping into Photoshop at first can be quite daunting, were do you start? With these 20 tutorials we have given you some direction, you will start of with some very basic techniques and build towards the more advanced. By the end of it you will be an expert.

I will be working my way through most, if not all of these tutorials as and when I get the time. I will then stick the result here. Hopefully I will learn something useful along the way and maybe even produce a few decent images too.

Tonight I have completed Tutorial 1 Combining two photos for new effect.

We’ll start with something basic. In this tutorial you will learn how to use the Marquee Tool, how to adjust the Opacity, working with Layers, creating Paths from a Selection and using the Text Tool. Let’s get your feet wet

This is my version of the end result. The main point of the tutorial was to use the selection tool to get a perfect circle selection of the globe and then use a layer mask to bring the hands through in front of the globe layer. All to often I take the lazy approach and just delete the bits I don't need. I must learn to use these techniques more often!

I used a photo by Malweth under creative commons and the globe came from Nasa

Found: Teach Yourself Graphic Design

Fortunately, it isn't required to go to design school in order to be a graphic designer. A good foundation in graphic design history, theory, and practical application will help you hit the ground running. There are plenty of resources available in which you can learn graphic design on your own. Don't set your expectations to high at first, as it will take enthusiastic study for years to become great. You can do it though!

If you would like to learn graphic design from the ground up, through self directed study, then this article lists some great resources that will get you started with your design education. Also, even if you do go to design school, at least three-fifths of your education will be through self directed study anyway

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This is a great article on PSD Tuts+ which lists lots of quality online resources that together will give you a grounding on graphic design. These are broken down into several categories:

Understanding the Principles and Theory of Graphic Design

Standing Strong with Historical Graphic Design Grounding
Internalise the Graphic Design process, Conceptual Solutions, Real World Experience and Creative Application
Consider Advanced Study and Development
Learn from Professional Graphic Designers
Developing your Proficiency, Intuition and Flow
Put Together your Portfolio and Blog
Participate in Online and Professional Graphic Design Communities
Keep in mind that Graphic Design as a Discipline Doesn't Exist in Isolation
Finding Work as a Freelance Graphic Designer
Evaluate if Self Study or Graphic Design School is Right for you

This is an extremely detailed and well research article.

Teach Yourself Graphic Design: A Self-Study Course Outline