Creating Art on Photoshop: A Basic Tutorial

So, for this post I am going to show the basics of how to create and post digital art on an art blog, using my Gulliver's Travels illustration. First of all, you'll probably want to use a fancy thing called a tablet. It's a kind of plasticky pad you draw on with a stylus like a pad of paper. The points on the pad correlate to pixels, so its like you are drawing straight onto the screen. A must have for any digital artist. It can connect via USB ports to the computer. Here's mine a Wacom Intuos 3:

These can get pricey, so if you don't have one, go take your ID card to the media lab in the basement of the HFAC (provided you are a BYU student, of of course), and you can try one out for a few hours. For this tutorial I am using Adobe Photoshop CS4, but any of the recent photoshop versions will be great, this is a pretty simple tutorial.

Production Photos

Hello! I don't think I ever formally announced this, but I am a part of a work in progress film for our Digital Civilization Final Project. That was the sole reason I left my comfortable bed on Saturday morning at 7 am to go out into the cold, moody Provo canyon. The waterfall was forming icicles! Okay, here's some awesome photos of our team at work:

Good morning, P-town.

Peer Evaluation - Trevor Cox

Trevor Cox’s blog is enjoyable to critique, based on its user friendly appearance. As I started evaluating it, it was clear to me that he has had experience with blogging. One of the things that stood out to me most about his interface was his to-the-point posts. They show great brevity, but they also say important things. I commend him on this, as I tend to take a much longer space to say something. 

Through his articles and frequent posts, it is very clear he is doing his readings. It is also clear that he, like I, is trying to find tidbits of certain subjects that really interest him. For instance, instead of recycling a wikipedia entry about Freud, he brings in a pop-culture reference to a TV character who was obsessed with Freud. This is a funny way of incorporating himself into his readings, and I appreciate that.

Self Evaluation: The Sequel

         Seeing as this is an experimental class with experimental expectations, I feel like my posts have been more meaningful this time around. Meeting with Dr. Zappala really helped me to direct my learning. His big three pieces of advice were that I should (1) use more historical data and that I should (2) incorporate illustrations into my blog and (3) use diigo more often to document my self-directed learning. 

As far as Historical Content goes, I have a few rules when it comes to learning something new from a class. I am a firm believer that I should be able to find something exciting or interesting in every topic. (Yes, that even means economics =) ). With that mindset, I have truly been able to see some cool sides to math and to the complex systems of our world. I have posted various blog entries where I try and think things out and I try to see things from my own angle. See the Alan Turing post for an example of this kind of historical post.

    

Economics for the Greater Good.

Its probably the Harry Potter nerd in me, but I often think of Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic whenever I hear "For the Greater Good." To me, this saying always has communist connotations, so I'm always looking at it in a negative light. But that is not necessarily the best. Honestly, Marxism aside, isn't it a perfect ideal that we should all aim for? If everyone replaces their selfish ways with acts for the greater good, wouldn't we all be lifted up by eachother? 

Algorithms and Art

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, discussing how there is this part of me that really is repelled by order and practicality and therefore...mathematics. It really has been my worst and most frustrating subject all through my educated years. However, there is this strange part of me that could kind of see a possible romantic side to mathematics..

 And this British mathmetician Alan Turig, was from my reading, a brilliant an innovative thinker. He was way beyond his years in the way he imagined computers and memory. Whenever mathematical geniuses like him are discussed, I am truly interested and a part of me is in incomprehensible awe.

Systems

We humans love order. Let’s face it, compared to the other animals in this world, we embrace it so fully. We hope for order in our schools, our churches, and our homes. Sure, some of us might be slobs in our rooms, but there is this human part of us that adores a clean room. 

It’s in our nature. It’s also in our nature to search for order in seemingly chaotic ideas and things.

I bring up this theme, because it's something that occurs to me as I read about this Sigmund Freud guy. I know a lot of his work was innovative and different. I know he probably had some truthful ideas, but I can’t help but think, so what? He divided human’s actions into life-centered or death-centered. Great. Now, what would a hypothetical patient seeking help with an addiction do with this information?