As you all know, my plans for this blog was to grow as my knowledge in Photoshop grew. Since I wanted to start writing tutorial and things. I found a host where I would not run out of space with pictures for the tutorial and bought the domain pursuingphotoshop.
So I would like to welcome you all to the new and improved Pursuing Photoshop Blog. I hope to see you there soon.
SoI found another tut that just looked really interesting and had to find out how they achieved that look. As I learn the basics of PS I am starting to break out of my shell and experiment. Filters are turning out to be a very wonderful thing! So the first picture is what the orginal tutorial should look like when you are done.
So as I sat there looking at it I wonder what I would ever use it for. That is when I started experimenting to see where I could take this tutorial and I accidental turn it into what I think looks like a vortex! I was so excited with the end results that I just had to share it with the rest of you.
Now to achieve this affect once I was done with the original tutorial I then went on to selected the smudge tool. I then proceeded to dragging from the inside out in just a random pattern around the swirls. Not really sure if I like the look but as I said I was just experimenting.
(Next I wonder what it would look like with a pattern under it. So I went down to the create new fill or adjustment layer in the layer pallet and choose pattern. Ack! My whole design turn into a big bubble or something so canceled out of that. I realized now as I type this what I was actually thinking about was another filter under artistic. Well, I am glad I didn’t think of it then or I wouldn’t have ended up with my finish work. )
Your next step is to go down to your create new fill or adjustment icon in the layer pallets and choose Gradient. In CS3 it is the second one down.
When the Gradient Fill Dialogue box appears. Choose Black to Transparent.
Style/Radial.
Angle/90.
Scale/100 and make sure Align with layers is checked. Then click ok. Then change your blend mode in the layer pallet to color burn. (Remember your blend modes are in the drop down box beside the opacity box in your layer pallets.) And TADA! You are done.
I Would just like to give a big shout out to Tutorialbeach.com. This was a really neat tutorial and I had a lot of fun doing it. Follow the link to create your own Energy Twirl!
As you know, I’ve been posting some xmas tutorials for the coming season. Well, I was really looking forward to trying some of them out. So last night I fired up Ole Blue and open PS and got down to business. Only to find out that there are a few major steps and explanations left out. Ok, so I keep wading though the rising tide of aggravation that was starting to boil, and start to try different things because I really liked the finished picture they had. After much grumbling and several bouts of naughty words I finally get to the end of page one and am starting to feel better about things because my little project looks like it should. Click the link for page two to read you will need the following brush set for this next step. Ok, but wait. Wheres the link? Click on the name of the brush. No, it’s not a link. Scroll back up. No, not there either. Oh I got it, they put it on page one and I just over looked it. Go back to page one. Can you guess what came next? You got it. More naughty words! Because, there certainly was no link for the brushes needed for this tutorial. By now I am in melt down city because I had just spent over an hour to work though this crappy tutorial to begin with but now this? So I run off to twitter ranting and raving to blow off some steam. With in 2 minutes my mentor Firgs comes to the rescue with not only the brushes I need but the encouragement and support I needed at that moment. I am telling you all she just RULES!!! So off I happily go to finish my tutorial. And finish it I did. It’s not perfect and I need to figure out a better way to do it but I was still really tickled with how it turn out considering everything I went though to get it done.
So I would like to give a shout out to adobetutorialz.com. Get your stuff together before you write any more tutorials for people. You put me though hell last night and it didn’t have to be that way. Take some lessons. Go read other people tutorials, observe. Your heart may be in the right place. I really don’t know. However, people with your skill level for writing tutorials do nothing for the profession. You help no-one with an ill prepared tutorial. If your going to do something at least try to do it right or better yet. Just leave to those that can.
Yes, Yes. I have finally got everything settled and reinstalled on Big Blue tonight, and so far everything seems fine and dandy!
I have some more xmas goodies for everyone. The first one we will start with is a Christmas Candle Bridge Tutorial.
http://www.dwphotoshop.com/photoshop/CandlebridgeTut1.php
Icy Background Tutorial. I see all different kinds of ideas with this one.
http://www.dwphotoshop.com/photoshop/Icetutorial.php
Here we have some Vector Christmas Trees.
http://www.vecteezy.com/vf/694-Xmas-Tree-08-Vector-Trees-with-Snow
http://www.vecteezy.com/vf/280-xmastree
Create Footpints in the snow tut.
http://www.tutorialallstar.com/photoshop/drawing/creating-footprints-in-the-snow-in-photoshop/
Free winter snow and ice textures
http://slconceptual.wordpress.com/2007/10/11/free-winter-snow-ice-textures/
Christmas Illustrator Brushes
http://melsbrushes.wordpress.com/2007/12/06/christmas-illustrator-brushes/
Well thats it for now. Have fun.
Now I’ve not been able to try any of these yet. I am still working Big Blue. So, as with any 3rd party stuff. Use common sense, scan it with your anti virus software before installing. I am just posting what I find. I do not know any of these people.
Holiday (Christmas & Hannukah) Photoshop & GIMP Brushes
http://www.obsidiandawn.com/holiday-christmas-hannukah-photoshop-gimp-brushes
Snow & Snowflakes Photoshop & GIMP Brushes
http://www.obsidiandawn.com/snow-snowflakes-photoshop-gimp-brushes
http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tools/photoshop-brushes/free-holiday-photoshop-brushes.html
30 holiday brushes
http://www.brusheezy.com/brush/82-Assorted-Holiday-Brushes
Grunge Snowflakes (These say they are res brushes)
http://www.brusheezy.com/brush/1019-Grunge-Snowflakes
Well I think that is enough for now. Enjoy and have fun!
I’ll not go on and on here. Most of you have been with me though the last company of months. My up and downs so you can guess how happy I really am. So lets just move on to some photoshop stuff shall we? Hell yeah!
First off I have to draw attention to one of my mentors new site. Freebies by Firgs. You all should know Firgs by now. I’ve mentioned her enough on here. Make sure you check out her download page. She has some great twitter themes going on that she design herself. I look forward to the day that I can battle it out with her on the NAPP boards and hold my own. Then she’ll be sorry that she mentored me. hehe.
http://www.freebiesbyfirgs.com/blog/
I do have some more Christmas tutorials and brushes for you. However, they are on the laptop and I am on Big Blue. haha, but here is something that I found by Dave Cross ” Background Experiments with Photoshop and Illustrator“
http://www.layersmagazine.com/background-experiments-with-photoshop-and-illustrator.html
Don’t forget to check out the Newest episode of Photoshopuser TV, and I will be back tomorrow with more goodies.
Oh yeah its that time of year again. For the next couple of weeks I will be hunting down some tutorials and brushes for everyone so you can create your own xmas cards or family photos to show off your new skills to your family and friends. Besides, you never know. It may lead to some side jobs for next years holidays seasons. Wink, wink. This first one I absolutely love and can’t wait to try it myself.
Creating a Lighted Christmas Wreath.
http://www.photoshopbuddy.net/Christmas_Wreath.html
Well thats it for now. Don’t worry I have more coming.
On the home front, I installed my new motherboard and video card. Put Big Blue all back together with much excitement. Plugged him in and well, nothing again. Yeah I know. So tonight I order a AMD Athlon 6400x 2 and 4 gigs of OCZ Reaper HPC Edition memory. I have to give a big thank you to Joe and one of my best friends Mary because I just wouldn’t of been able to get it without them. I wub you guys. Sooo hopefully these will get here sometime early next week. Newegg is pretty fast if they have everything in stock at their Memphis warehouse and then hopefully all this drama will be over.
If anyone of you happen to do the tutorials that I’ve found. Please, post a link. I would love to see your work and maybe the different creative ways you have put them to use. That’s it for now and I wish you all a great Friday.
Now to get big blue back together and hope he runs. Oh please let my CPU and memory be ok!
On the Photoshop radar…
I just received my Issue of Photoshop User Mag. This months is Scott Kelby’s 3rd Annual Gonzo Holiday Gear Guide. Its just full of goodies, but don’t worry I have another Annual Holiday Gadget Gift Guide by my friend Erik Bernskiold for those of you who aren’t NAPP members. Just follow the link below. I would suggest you email this one to your loves one with HINT, HINT in the subject line.
http://www.bernskiold.com/bernskiold-com/my-annual-holiday-gadget-gift-guide-is-released/
I also have a nice tutorial for you that just happens to be written by Erik too.
Shiny Blue Line Text Effect
http://www.planetphotoshop.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2043
I have another little gem for you from another twitter buddy @AnnieCushingcalled PDF Extract. It is a freeware program that lets you, you guessed it Extract images from a PDF in many different formats including Jpeg, TIFF, PNG, GIF and so on. This little baby is going to save some people time if you have alot of images you need to extract because you can do it all at once and not just one at a time. All I can say is thank goodness Annie is a wee bit obsessed with links and is sweet enough to share them with the rest of us or I would have missed this one!
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/software-reviews/extract-images-from-pdf-files/
I like to give a shout out and a virtual hug to my friend @NAPP_News. Her sea monkeys have all passed on to sea monkey heaven. May they RIP. They might of had a better survial rate if they didn’t have a nasty habit of eating their females mates. Oh yeah those little suckers are major carnivores. My Mama always said, a way to man heart was though his stomach.
As everyone knows, big blue my desktop went BOOM over a month ago. Since then order a new PSU which arrived DOA! Return that one. Received the second one and couldn’t wait to plug her in. When I did…. All I got was a big fat NOTHING! I did notice that the green light on my motherboard was on. So I start googling the manual for my mb. Well it seems that pretty green led should be the red light of death ! It means my board is in a soft shut down and I have no way to wake it up. So off to newegg I go to order the exact same MB because I love the set up I already have but of course being 2 years old there no way I can find another one. Not even at amazon. SOB, SOB. So I find one that is close to it minus the sli. I don’t game so who cares.
There, there, settled down. I hear all you gamers hissing at me. It is nothing personal, I just don’t need to spend extra money on something I don’t use. I knew you all understand. 
So the motherboard came Tuesday I believe. I had already moved the PSU, and was removing my cards from the case when I noticed my video card compasitors were bowed on top instead of flat. On closer inspection they are not just bowed 4 of the 6 big ones are blowed apart on top. The plastic cover that goes over top of the fan is even cracked open.
At this point I am just ready to sit down and cry because I know I won’t have big blue up and running tonight happily playing in PS. So I’ve order me a video card tonight from ebay. I got the PNY Verto GeForce 8600 GTS no it is not top of the line, but this one does fit my budget and I am hoping that it is good enough for PS CS3. So hopefully by the end of next week, the drama with my desktop will be over.
Until then let me share so other stuff with you. Since last time we spoke, I’ve join NAPP and am now a MOD of Planet Photoshop. NAPP really is a great place with so much to learn there, and I am very happy with how much the Planet Photoshop Forums are shaping up. It is a great free resource and the forums are very people friendly no matter what skill level you are at.
Well it is getting late so I think I shall call it quit for tonight. However, I will be back tomorrow with some good tutorials for you guys to try.
Hi everyone, so I’ve not been here lately but I’ve been really busy with other things these last week or 2. Plus with no desktop I’ve not done much photoshop. sniff sniff. Anyway on to happier thoughts.
Planet Photoshop is having it first design contest in the forums. I am the happy and excited host. Yeah, I told you there’s been a lot of stuff going on. So I would suggest you run over and check it out and actually participate.
http://www.planetphotoshop.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1938
I’ve also been posting some cool stuff. Some real nice high res free brushes, custom shapes, and some great tutorials!
On the home front, as I stated earlier desktop is still down. The DOA PSU was return and a new one sent. After being installed big blue still didn’t respond. I went in for cpr but Joe pulled me off at the last moment. So I will have to wait a little bit before getting a new motherboard now. However, I have order a new VGA cable and hopefully that bad boy will be here Monday. I will be able to use my Acer 19 in monitor hooked up to my laptop. I think if I shut down all apps running I will hopefully be able to create and conquer the world within photoshop again! (insert evil laugh here).
Before I go I would like to give a shot out to one of my favorite twitter buddies. mcawilliams, while he is not into photoshop yet (napp_news and I are working on that) he is great person that lives in Ireland and has a photoblog that I just enjoying surfing though. Check it out. I think you will really enjoy the beauty of his Ireland Deers. Because I am Irish, 2ndgeneration here in the states. I just appreciate that he shares his little piece of Ireland with me. So swing by and enjoy a piece of Ireland today. Have a great Friday everyone.
