100 Styles 8 - Gradients - Wood

Wood grain effect (Click the image to see it bigger)

Today it's all about the Inner Glow filter, at least for the main effect, which consists of two shapes, each with an Inner Glow layer style applied to them, one with a gradient and another without. Read on for more info on how it (and the background for that matter) was done as well as to be able to download the style file to experiment with yourself.

Experiment 132: Stairs

Created in Artrage 3.0.5 using a Wacom Intuos 3

Created in Blender 2.49

I wanted a background image for my new blog: oneruleaday.com [Discontinued, the image can still be interesting though.] and thought an image of stairs would be fitting. I first created a simple model in Blender to help me decide on an angle and lighting, and then used the render as a guide for the painting I created in Artrage. The Artrage painting was done with its new watercolor simulation, which in my humble opinion is great (Artrage 3 is the first version that's got the watercolor simulation so I'm sure it'll improve even more, and I wouldn't say my image is the best when it comes to showcase how realistic it is, but I still find it really nice to be able to do all these things in a computer program. It doesn't dry in the same way real paint does either so it's easier that way as well ;-) One don't get all these edges all over the place that one does in real life if one isn't quick enough.)

Experiment 117: Medieval birds

Created in Photoshop CS4 Extended using a Wacom Intuos 3

Recently I happened to stumble upon a list of online versions of Medieval Manuscripts and since I really like that kind of style I started to take a look at a few of them (I cannot say I can read Medieval Latin so I'm mostly looking at the pictures ;-) ). After a while happened to find an interesting pattern, and thought I'd do something with it. I've more or less just traced the pattern and put it on a different background, so why do I call it an experiment? Well, one thing about the original image is that the library where the manuscript is put its exlibris on the image (as you can see in the original ), the most important reason is that compared to doing the stuff I usually do, which is far more loose and mostly just throwing lines around and see what I get, this is something I'm not used to. Doing something interesting with a pattern that already exists, and trying to "make it my own". (Not in the sense that I'm trying to say that I'm the original creator, but in the sense that I've added something of my own style, something of myself, in this picture.)

I gotta add that it was kinda contemplative to sit there tracing those lines too, so it sure was a nice experience. I can recommend it ;-)

Experiment 110: Planet 2

Created in Photoshop CS3 Extended using a Wacom Intuos 3

Some experiments inspired by these tutorials: http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/tuts_arts/making_a_star_field.html and http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/tuts_arts/making_a_planet.html . As usual I want to add that this is not a finished piece but rather an experiment to learn stuff ;-) (Though, also as usual, that doesn't mean that I don't hope that you enjoy looking at it)

Experiment 107: Gentium Book Basic

Created in Photoshop CS3 Extended using a Wacom Intuos3

Image two in a series. More info to come later.

Day 48: Earth dragon

Created in openCanvas 4.5 using a Wacom Intuos 3

Number three in the element dragons series: The Earth dragon. I though earth would be really hard to portray, but I'm satisfied with this, though it could double as a tree trunk dragon too =)