Amazing Chalk!

I found this graphics designer who does amazing custom chalk lettering! I am so inspired to create my own amazing chalk art. The other day I went out and bought a small chalk board and started practicing. I am not even close to her level, but I am trying! Check out her site and be amazed.

This is her website http://www.danatanamachi.com/

Ingredients Used Today: Smooth Skin!

Ingredients Used Today: Smooth Skin: 

Today I learned how to make a picture of someone have smooth skin! 

This is the before

This is the after 

Photoshop makes it so easy to alter little or big imperfections. I am never going to look at magazines anymore and think "I wish I looked like that" because 99% of all photos are retouched.  God loves us no matter what we look like and that is all that matters. 

I think it is pretty amazing how easy it is to alter photos and I think it's sad to think about how many girls are out there who are trying to live up to a "photo shopped" picture. Spread the word! Every magazine photo is retouched to look perfect. 

Digital Painting: The Manga Couple

So this is my first digital painting. Last week I drew these people on actual paper and painted them using watercolors. I thought to myself "I should practice painting digitally" so I sat down and took a crack at it. My school also recommends I get familiar with digital painting since the skill will come in handy when I become graphic designer someday. I used this picture as a template after uploading it to Photoshop. It's not expert status that is for sure, but it was good practice.

It is truly amazing how Photoshop is an endless supply of tools for all my creative needs. :) I can't wait to learn more!

Ingredients today: Clipping Masks

Clipping masks make yummy graphics. :) I am currently in the middle of a class project where I have to use a bunch of pictures I am given and put them all together using all the techniques I have learned this far. I decided to show off one of the cool things I learned called the clipping group. I found a picture of a lemon and a strawberry online and made them into a collage type thing and clipped them into the L in Leah.  All you do is hit a couple buttons and it's instantly inside any font you want. Photoshop is so cool. :)

Ingredients Used Today: Channels and Texture

I recently learned how to take a picture and use it as a lighting effect. So I decided to try it out with a picture of Mike and I. It looks really weird but I think learning how to do this can be pretty useful in a design of some kind. You can do this with any picture using Photoshop and the Channels tab. If anyone has a picture they want turned into a lighting effect let me know. I can do it for you. :)

This one looks a little bit scarier because I used a purple background and made it black around the edges. I used a cupcake shaped paint brush in white and stamped it around. Looks like cupcake shaped clouds...Now that I think about I should make a graphic where the clouds in a photo are cupcakes! 

Ingredients Used Today: The Clone Stamp with a Dash of Levels

So the other day I learned how to use a tool called the Clone Stamp. The name always makes me laugh. You know how you can "Photoshop" people or things out of a photograph? Well I can do that now! It's is actually a lot easier then you would think. I wanted to show you how I Clone Stamped a recent photo of Copper when we were at the bunny field.

I also made the grass a little greener and the sky a little brighter using the levels feature. Using levels you can easily darken and lighten by moving arrows side to side. SO easy. Do you see what I took out? It's a subtle fix but now the picture of Copper looks delish!

A New Beginning

Have you ever wished you could do something but decided it sounds to difficult to pursue? That is exactly how I felt about learning to be a graphic designer. I have always wanted to go to art school but never acted on that wish (for various reasons) until know. My name is Leah and I am currently a student at Full Sail University for graphic design! I started in January and so far have learned the basics of Photoshop and Illustrator. I have always wanted to learn Adobe programs and here I am, learning to be a graphic designer. I am so glad I decided to bite the bullet and go for it.

I made this heart in Illustrator using my new skills.

I call this blog The Flavors of Graphics because while I have been learning I have noticed that Photoshop and Illustrator remind me so much of learning to bake. Everything in Photoshop is like little pieces to a recipe. When you put all the ingredients together it can make a really good design. So I hope you enjoy what I cook up. ;+)