I wrote this post several years ago about trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property tips for designers. Since then, some things have changed, so I’m updating it. For a while, everyone’s artwork was being stolen, and trying to stop the thefts was next to impossible. It has taken a lot of work by many designers–and some
One of the Photoshop tools I use frequently when promoting my artwork is the magic wand. It’s this tool:
It’s easy to select and delete backgrounds where there’s a clear difference between the background color and the product, but where I tend to run into trouble is with images where there’s a white or light background, and a white or light product design. If you click on this image, you can see that the “marching ants” have selected parts of the hair tie as well as the white background that I wanted to delete on this layer:
I’ve come up with an ingenious solution, and I thought I would share it with you.
What turns an imperfect photo into an opportunity to create great art? Would you believe me if I said–just about anything? These white tulips were so beautiful, and I didn’t want to ditch the photo, but there was this spot, this discoloration… and nothing I tried was going to blend it in! What an imperfect photo!
When it comes to capturing Christmas lights with a point and shoot camera, it helps to find the right setting. It has taken me a while–years, actually–to find the right setting on my current camera. I used to know exactly how to take night shots with lights on the old camera. It was easy. But
I fall in love with color all the time. The vibrant color of a blazing sunset; the soft grays and blues of rippling lake water reflecting a cloudy sky; the shiny black-green leaves and blacker berries of an ornamental pepper… I fell in love with colors and shapes all over again when I was creating
Another designer asked what my design process was today–how I create my designs–and I realized that my answer was so good, I had to share it with you.
My answer: it depends on the design and the technical difficulty of what I’m trying to create. For instance, take the illustration above. I wanted to draw cartoon character girls in astronaut suits with princess crowns.
How to convert a rectangle into a circle (tutorial) When creating surface designs, sometimes it’s useful to convert a rectangle into a circle. Have you ever wanted to take an image like this one…And turn it into this? Or maybe convert this….into that? I wanted to use photographs of snow scenes that I’ve taken in