One of our cats, a Ragdoll/Highlander cross, spends 80% of her life on her back, and at least 50% of that on her favorite pizza-bed.
Click images to zoom.
Before
After
Photo: Before and After with Adobe Camera Raw—Cat on Pepperoni Pizza-Bed
Now Available on Amazon: Christmas Toys & Joys: A Coloring Book For Kids
I’m pleased and proud to announce the publication of Christmas Toys & Joys—a festive coloring book for kids—created by three talented young illustrators: Crystal Underwood, Devin Williams, and Hannah Drennan. These three artists are founding members of Draw the Line, a mentoring project created to enrich the skills and portfolios of junior illustrators.
Christmas Toys & Joys is the debut publication of Draw the Line project.
Thanks to our sponsors Rochelle Forrest, Shelly Shines Books™, Terrabyte Graphics, and Jammie Cats™.
All proceeds support future Draw the Line projects.
Please join me in welcoming and supporting Crystal (@CrysteU), Devin (@devinrexes), and Hannah (@handrennan).
Crystal is an illustrator from Florida, she received her Associate in Arts for Digital Media from College of Central Florida, and her B.F.A. for illustration at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. Devin is also an illustrator from Florida, she received her B.F.A. in Animation from the University of Central Florida. Devin is the cover artist for Christmas Toys and Joys. Hannah is an illustrator from Ontario, Canada. She studied illustration, pre-animation, and concept art at Algonquin College in Ottawa.
Their complete bios are below. Click here to view or buy the book on Amazon.
Exploring the Nikon D750
Over the last month, I’ve been exploring a new way of seeing: through the lens of a Nikon D750. The amount of product information and photographic techniques and tips online is staggering. In future posts, I’ll share those that have been most helpful.
For now, here are a couple of images enshrining my husband in black and white as he tailors a mushroom-and-herb cream sauce to complement caramelized chicken-thighs.
My workflow is Adobe Camera Raw to Photoshop.
Rochelle Forrest Hankins’ “Shelly and the Pollywog” Children’s Book
Below are a few illustrations from Rochelle Forrest Hankins’ children’s book Shelly and the Pollywog, just one book from her Shelly Shines series.
Continue reading “Rochelle Forrest Hankins’ “Shelly and the Pollywog” Children’s Book”
Adobe Animate: Drawing Objects, Groups, and Symbols
On the toolbar:Drawing Object
Group
Symbol
Continue reading “Adobe Animate: Drawing Objects, Groups, and Symbols”
Adobe Animate: Creating Shapes
I’m pleased to introduce animator, illustrator, and graphic designer Patrick Macauley and his upcoming tutorial series on Adobe Animate. Patrick is a recent graduate of the University of Central Florida, acquiring a BFA in Emerging Media, and is the owner of Mythic Design Graphics.
Updated March 4, 2019.
Almost* everything you can create in Animate is a referred to as a Shape. All the following tools are used to create Shapes:
Pen (P) 
Line (N)
Rectangle (R) 
Oval (O)
Polystar 
Pencil (Y)
Brush (B) 
Paint Brush (Shirt+Y)
* The only tool from this section that does not create shapes is the 
Text Tool (T). To convert text to shapes, you must first 
Select (V) the text box and then Break Apart (Ctrl+B). Breaking Apart a text box once will split the letters into individual text boxes. Breaking Apart a second time will turn those letters into Shapes.
Advertising for the children’s book “Jammie Cats™ Count!”
Jammie Cats™ Count! The Magical Forest, a preschool counting book that covers counting from 1 to 10, launched nearly a year ago. In addition to writing the rhyming story, I illustrated, formatted, and self-published the book. Marketing is an ongoing and arduous task for any self-published writer because you need marketing materials plus an intelligent sales strategy. At least, as a graphic designer, I have the easy half of the battle licked.
Below are a few of the marketing materials and images I created for Jammie Cats™ Count! The Magical Forest.
For more information, visit the Jammie Cats™ website.
Continue reading “Advertising for the children’s book “Jammie Cats™ Count!””
Adobe InDesign: How to Create and Edit a Text Wrap
How to Wrap Text Around Images
Display the Text Wrap panel by choosing: Window > Text Wrap.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Display or toggle the Text Wrap panel:
Windows: Ctrl+Alt+W
Mac: Command+Option+W
To display additional options, click on the top-right corner and select Show Options:
Continue reading “Adobe InDesign: How to Create and Edit a Text Wrap”
Adding a Favicon to Your Site
Including a favicon on your web site helps visitors recognize your site-brand in both their browser tabs and as a desktop icon, if they happen to drag your url onto their desktop.
I found a terrific Favicon & App Icon Generator on Dan’s Tools site. It’s just one of many amazing (and free!) webdev tools he provides. Click here to use the Generator.
