what is happening
what is happening
My Latest Projects and What I Have Found
Waving Flag Tutorial
Adobe Stock
Youtube ain’t the only place where you will stumble across some GREAT tutorials to help your tool box get bigger. I’ve come across some amazing designers on Instagram, as well, and I need to dig into their tutorials more. I’ll try to share some of their tips here on my blog.
Image Matching
COMPOSITES
for your
This is me attempting to reteach a lesson I learned from Jesus over at the Photoshop Training Channel. He’s 10x’s smarter and savvier than me. GO subscribe to his Youtube page here: Photoshop Training Channel.
How to use Luma Maps, Saturation Maps, and Color Maps to match pictures in your composites
You can find the tutorial in Photoshop Creative, Sept 2018, Issue 169, pg 68
I used Adobe Stock for the pictures in my composite.
lava mermaid
What if Movie posters
A large part of keeping your skills fresh is practice, practice, and more practice.
(Sorry Allen Iverson, I don’t have the natural talent you have)
It’s a great way to take the skills you already have and mix them with the skills you are learning and learn even more skills to make what you know look better. I don’t know if that makes a lot of sense, but just go with it.
I used the 12th Doctor, Ahsoka Tano, the luchador Charro Negro, and a Samurai I found on a free stock photo site from Japan, pluse an alien ship hovering overhead.
Interdimensional rescue team?
Captain America, an Onna-Bugeisha, John Wick, and…
Ewoks??
This one was tough to find high quality pictures to work with for the characters since the Ewoks were done in the early 80s. I wound up using an action figure for Cap, an AI female Samurai, and adapted a smaller John Wick picture. I used a technique for IRT to make it look both hollow and 3D removing the fill. I used four of my neon sign photos for this poster, some stock neon signs, and the original alley was barren of any neon signage.
WHEN TUTORIALS COLLIDE!
Who says you cannot take two tutorials, mix them, and make them into something that will work for you? I recently discovered Scripts for Illustrator (I know I know I know… better late than never, right??). Then I discovered an embossing tutorial. The font I used (an extremely EXTREMELY psychedelic font) didn’t work with the embossing tutorial, but I could adapt parts of that tutorial to what I was wanting to do. I rolled the dice, found a trippy quote from the movie “Waking Life”,
Seems like everyone’s sleep-walking through their waking state, or wake walking through their dreams.
and Bob’s your uncle!
Here’s links to the tutorials I used:
I love flags. When I was a kid, I’d get the World Atlas for the world flags and for the facts about the different countries. It didn’t mean I’d remember them all, or it doesn’t mean that I know much about flag terminology, etc. But I really do love flags. Sometimes I’ll get lost on r/vexillology or Flags of the World and just enjoy the designs I find there. Over the past few years, I’ve delved a little bit into Pirate lore. Pirates such as Benjamin Hornigold, Blackbeard, Black Sam Bellamy, Black Bart Roberts, Olivier Levasseur, Anne Dieu-le-veut, and others. Some I’ve forgotten, others which maybe etched into my brain forever.
And with that, I have dabbled in pirate flag design and also trying to recreate flags for some known pirates, and “What If” flags for other Pirates who’s time on account were cut short.
hoist yer colors, yar!
Ingela Gathenhielm - “The Little Hunter”. Married to a successful merchant/privateer. When he died, the businesses still thrived. Accused of piracy amongst Sweden’s allies, as well. Commanded quite a fleet of ships.
Hypothetical Flag
John Bear married a woman from Havana that one of the local British magistrates did not have much to say for. She sailed with the Buccaneer crew and wore pants just like the guys.
Hypothetical Flag.
Flora Burn - Only thing is known about her is she joined a Privateering ship out of Boston from New York just after some riots broke out in the early 1700s where Slaves and Prostitutes were arrested. She was paid just like the other men on the ship.
Hypothetical Flag.
Mary Critchett - Tidewater, VA. Indentured Servant, fell in love with another servant, decided to run away. Her and her little crew overtook a ship in a tributary north of Williamsburg. She wanted to kill the two men on the ship, but the others let them go. They were snitched on and as soon as they made it into the Chesapeake Bay; the authorities captured them.
Hypothetical Flag
Jean David-Nau - François l'Olonnais - The Flail of the Spanish. One of the most RUTHLESS Buccaneers of the 1600s. He and his men took the city of Maracaibo in Venezuela, and his means of torture were awful. He even earned the hatred of the natives who ripped him limb from limb in Panama. I combined the Catholic Heart and the symbol for Brittany on top.
Hypothetical Flag.
Olivier Levasseur - One of THE most successful pirates of all time. Used to be a part of Hornigold’s “Flying Gang” until he and Black Sam Bellamy mutinied. I need to finish the book I was reading about him. It was originally written in French and poorly translated into English.
Recreation.
Ching Shih is one of the MOST successful pirates of all time. I believe she led a navy of almost 1800 ships and 80000 men. She ruled the waters of Southeast Asia. She died in 1844, believe it or not. I recognition of her, I decided to create my own “pirate flag” based on the Qing Dynasty’s Army of the Eight Banners. One is a standard Banner while the other is a Pennant. The knives on the forehead of the skull are Butterfly Swords which may have been used by pirates of that time.
Hypothetical Flag.
Black Dawn - NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE BLACK SUN! You hear “It’s always darkest just before dawn.” Well, what if the Dawn is Black? I used Javan influenced Kris Daggers for the swords that act as sun rays with blood droplets interlaced in them.
Hypothetical Personal Flag.
Our Flaming Lady - One favorite past time of a pirate is blasphemy. Instead of “Our Holy Mother” how about “Our Flaming Lady” with minions from hell paying her homage. Her hair is also in flames.
Hypothetical Flag.
Jewish Revolutionary Patriots Flag - Remember the summer of 2024, I believe, when people were up in arms over Justice Alito flying the Revolutionary War flag “An Appeal to Heaven” on his property? Well, that got my wheels turning and I did a deep dive into the flags of America’s War of Independence. There are some rather neat banners the Colonies flew. This one pays homage to the few Jewish Patriots who helped the American cause. One such man was Haym Salomon who helped finance the war. I believe he died penniless because of his sacrifice and was never paid back.
May his Memory ALWAYS be a Blessing!
Hypothetical Flag. - used Adobe Stock for the Snake.
North Carolina Fifth Regiment - There are NOT a lot of flags representing the North Carolina regiments from the Revolutionary War. The NC 5th had folks from the Edenton District which included Tyrrell County. Why is that important? I grew up in Washington County which, I believe, split off of Tyrrell County in 1799. I believe my people would have been in pre-Bertie County during this period and would have possibly fought in this regiment before eventually migrating to Georgia.
Hypothetical Flag. - Used Adobe Stock for the Snake, the Banner, and retooled a cool design Bing AI made in passing for something else I was fooling around with for the background symbol.
hillbilly effigy
As you can see, I enjoy making faux-Movie Posters. This one is poking fun at the goofy conspiracy theory that somehow Vice President JD Vance killed Pope Francis since he was the last one to meet with His Holiness. I also played off the name of Vance’s book/movie Hillbilly Elegy.
This got me thinking: This would make for an AWESOME MOVIE! Plus, it would be the best excuse to bring together two of the greatest conspiratorial movie franchises of the past two decades.
DaVinci Code and National Treasure.
I mean, you’d have Tom Hanks AND Nicolas Cage, plus a slew of other cameos from famous stars to make this the movie of the first half century. Throw in El Hijo del Santo, Hechicero, some Samurai, Vin Diesel, Tarantino car chase scenes for no apparent reason than to have them, and maybe Samuel L. Jackson?!?!?
Why isn’t Hollywood making this movie, yesterday?
Original
I’ve stumbled upon some pretty cool minimalist Japanese posters and I wonder if I could somehow recreate it. I just noticed that there is a slight gradient on the original one I found on Pinterest and I’m going to try and figure out how to recreate that in my Blend in Illustrator. This is going to be interesting. I added some Risograph effects, Old Paper overlay, and some Halftones.
I tried to use a circular gradient and it didn’t do so well, so I decided to do a “freeform” gradient and it did a better job. If I had a better paper overlay, and maybe kill some of the saturation I think I could make it look better. I love this design style even though I don’t think it’s truly constructivist or pop-art, but it’s a dang cool minimalist style of Graphic Design.
JAPANESE STYLE POSTER
My Attempt