Snowman Wallpaper Made in My New Art Program

This was a picture I whipped up with my new ArtRage program. It's sort of all I have to use until I buy Photoshop and Illustrator with my tax return eventually. It's a pretty cool program for being a package deal with a drawing tablet. I didn't get the one with Photoshop Elements since I will be getting the full version later. I hope to draw more and more skillfully later.

Creative Commons: For personal use, or for use in another work that will not make profit. So go nuts!

I also have a tumblr!

Anger

Lately, I've thought of certain people and I get angry. These are people from the past who opened their mouths and said something so ignorant that I still think of them with nothing, but dislike.

There was Jeff at college who had a fit at me not being able to afford materials for a certain project, shouting that because I was an art student like him, I should have set aside money for supplies instead of books. Little did he know I was at college on a wing and prayer with the maximum loan that my credit would allow me to take out.

There was also Cassandra who called me stupid for not buying my products ONLY if they were products of the USA. Her wealthy parents bought her a new BMW for her birthday. I have to buy my own groceries, and yes a penny here and a dime there makes no difference, but when that little bit of change can add up to save sometimes a couple hundred dollars over the course of a semester, that can be the difference between eating and not.

There is also a certain family member who claims to love gay people and thinks they're so fabulous, but then says they shouldn't be allowed to marry because that is spitting in the face of God. First, not everyone believe the same as you. Second, if you love homosexuals, then why aren't they allowed to have the same rights as you, but you have the same expectations that they go to work, pay for their own homes, buy their own food, not murder or rape, etc.?

I've just been angry lately, and I keep thinking back on the times when people have opened their mouths without having any idea what the world is like for other people. I'm not saying I'm not guilty of this crime, but I make an effort to be mindful of the fact that not everyone lives like me, but I can't help feel that most of the people surrounding me are small-minded in their beliefs and publicly make themselves look foolish and uneducated.

China Dragon Pattern

I made this pattern very quickly with Illustrator. It's a repeater, so it should tile well (though I didn't test to be sure.) Yes, the grey lines are slightly "off" on purpose. It adds a little more interest to a very rigid even pattern.

New Uses

Everyone knows you can do cool things with photo filters, but what about putting something in front of the camera lens itself? This picture was taken with some weird kaleidoscopic glasses. You can also achieve crazy pictures through water, cellophane, and anything else see-through. Some things, like these glasses were fine to hold right up to the lens itself, but if you have something with shapes on it you want visible (such as cellophane with a flower pattern), you might need to enlist a second person or some sort of stand with clips to hold it so that the shapes don't blur. This can result in a blurred background as well if your camera focuses on the foreground shapes and it is still too close for both layers to be focused on.

Shapes and Shadows

Sometimes the best photos aren't of an actual real object. This was captured when I noticed it on the front porch on my way to work. Now, I'm not calling this an amazing photo, but it's an amazing example of how looking at objects doesn't always give you the best shot. Sometimes it's the way light, water, or other things play with the objects to make whole new shapes. This was water and stains on the side of the porch wall that look like a skull. I haven't seen this happen ever again, but I managed to catch it the one time it has happened. Shadows are much easier to play with since the light comes back each day and you can move the objects or light sources to make things the way you want them.