Skatedeck Design - Dragon

It all started with a mindmap...

This project was based on the theme of a predator.
Colored the Dragon in Adobe Photoshop  but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it.	I liked this version instead. It was edited in Adobe Photoshop and showed my pencil version with the other marks that got added when I scanned the image and therefore it had this effect when I changed the levels.
Used live trace in Adobe Illustrator and then expand. Next I used the simplify tool to get less anchor points and a nice effect was also created with this as the dragon's outline became more smooth.	I used the pen tool and created the eyes, putting them behind the outline.
This is a shot I took of one of the bricks used to make my house	After playing with the levels in Adobe Photoshop to give it a darker look, I added to it with the burn tool.

To create flames, I looked up an Adobe Photoshop tutorial on how to create them. Using RedHeadStock's( ObsidianDawn.com ) Fire brushes tutorial, I was able to create realistic dancing flames.

Created gradient in Adobe Photoshop since I couldn't figure out how to create a transparent to black gradiant in Adobe Illustrator. This gradient was put into place to create a balance between the top (gate) and the bottom (flames).

To create the grate, I used the pen tool to draw out the arch and then used the line tool with a drop shadow. To make the triangles, I used the star shape tool but changed the amount of points to three.

For the font, I used Franklin Gothic Book in different styles to give emphasis on the words. For the H drop cap, I simply made it bigger than the other letters and behind that I used the Symbol Sprayer Tool and chose Impressionism. I then gave the text a dark drop shadow. I then also added a white glow and blurred it so that the text would stand out from the background and would be readable.

Couldn't forget my name. Added KiwiShowers there as well. To get this, I just changed the opacity of the text layer, so that it had the watermark effect.

Final Design exported as a PDF in high quality print

Printed on a large vinyl sticker for $35

Made sure to measure it before working on the design.

Went to a print shop recommended by an old boss. While waiting for my sticker to print, I was offered a job from the print shop manager to work on future clients that would want a logo designed. I gladly accepted the offer.

I stuck half of the sticker on and then the other half and cut the excess with a sharp exacto knife.

TA - DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

So what do you think? Leave a comment down below.

Soysauce art!

Did you guys know that there's a such thing as soysauce art and there's even a museum dedicated to it? Well I didn't. This is something we did in class and it was a very fun experience. I'm allergic to soy products but I don't mind having a sore throat for a day or two if it means I get to eat it. It was very tempting as I painted with the soysauce to just take the tiny cup and drink it.

For this assignment we were to create pictures in class with soysauce that would work with a japanese restaurant's menu.

Can you recognize some of the Japanese items that I've painted?

Raptors logo traced with pen tool in Adobe Illustrator

Chose a complicated Raptors logo for one of my Illustrator Assignments. Using the pen tool I traced parts of the logo in layers starting with the back and then hiding those layers to work on the others. Using the handles with the anchor points I was able to get an accurate curve. When using the pen tool, to continue on with the with the tracing without getting that extra curve when using the handles, I just clicked the last used anchor point and I would have a straight line again. After that I had taken away the strokes at the appropriate places and filled in the logo with the original colors. My last step was to rearrange the layers in the proper order.

[ Free Textures ] My Texture Library

This post is the beginning of what will become a huge collection of textures. Once I setup my own website, I'll be putting them up in higher resolutions. These, of course are free, and if you take them, you don't have to give me any credit for them- although I'd be interested to see the finished work of what you would be using them for. You can contact me through the contact link down below or connect with me on twitter ( @kiwishowers ).

Natural Textures

Urban Textures