Tag Archives: texture(s)

Freebie – Gesso-Look Canvas Textures

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Hiya!  I wanted to pop in with some things to share with you!  Yay!  One, right off, is my ‘logo’.  I ‘slipped’ it in on the first parts of the Dec freebie.  My friend, Su, from StarSunflowerStudios, actually commented on it.  Thank you, Su!  The two hands holding a card with my name on it was too big.  It covered too much of a preview.  So, I looked to do something else.  Since my nickname was one I picked up in my ‘hippie chick’ days, I thought about something along those lines.  The ‘whirling dervishes’, as they were referred to, were the chicks, and a few dudes, who would dance and spin around to the music at the live events.  Yeah, I was one of those!  LOL  I had seen the ‘gypsy’ silhouette at 123RF stock, so, I used one with some paint spattering and texture.  It takes up a lot less room on a preview, yet, I think, it still stands out.  I had hoped you would like it!

logo grunged-out-bordertransp600

Looking back, still, ever since my teen years I have kept some kind of journal/sketchbook.  With journaling, if I was in a dilemma over something, by the time I transferred my feelings to paper, I had usually ‘worked through’ what ever it was.  That happened a lot!  I think that, with me giving the matter(s) their due while writing, I would mull it over and, more often than not, find answers or, at least, some measure of resolve.

Journaling carried over to my adult years, writing about my children and the ‘occasional issue with my hubby’.  (What an understatement!  LOL)  Family, moves, jobs, schools, friends, I always had something to write about.  I know some of you can relate.  It wasn’t until I started learning digital art, though, that ‘art journal’ came to me.  That was just what I wanted to do!  I saw all the beautiful, impactful pages others had done and I liked it!  I love art anyway, but, coupling art with the written word was perfect!  Most of all, though, anything goes – just about.  Using bits and scraps of my life and the world around me is, to me, the greatest form of art!   Whatever is ‘relevant’ works in art journaling.  Hell, it doesn’t even have to be that!  LOL

The ‘free’ spirit in me has always bucked tradition and art journaling was built to order for this chick!  I just haven’t ever set out to do a ‘journal’, like in a book format, yet.  I’d like to.  So far, though, I have just been creating art, and only occasionally adding some prose or text expressing a feeling.  After my most recent drama, here, at home, I could really use the opportunity to work through some of it via my art and/or writing.  To get it out in an art piece, or, in a little journaling, I think, would do wonders for me!

  There are some awesome kits and sets available for journaling anything and everything.  One look at almost any scrapbooking site and there is a section on journaling.  But, they were designed by another for whatever use they had in mind.  They just aren’t my own.  I knew I wanted to use a ‘canvas’ for my base and went in search.  There aren’t very many available and those that are, well, they are quite pricey.  So, I decided to start totally from scratch and make my own.

The very first need was a canvas/page.  ‘Gesso-smeared canvas’ is a look that is really popular, perfect for art journaling.   I couldn’t find much along those lines, though.  So, that is what I made.  Five(5) of them!  They are free to use any ol’ way your little hearts desire!  Well, other than harmful.  LOL  Click on the preview to download!

su GessoTextures 600

Here is a close-up of one of the textures so you can see what the canvas and gesso look like.

su GessoTexture close-up

Like the one above, the rest of the textures are all neutral, 3600X3600px in size, 300 ppi, and free to use, no credit necessary!

Have fun and enjoy!  Until next time,

Smile Graphic #9

Hugs,

Su

“The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out” – Freebie and Tut

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Greetings, All!  I’m back to share a little more gross-ness with ya for the spooky holidays coming up!  If you saw the QP’s for this month’s freebie, “Goth-n-Gore”, last week, one of them had a dirt background with grub worms crawling throughout.  I meant to include just the background in the kit, but, I forgot it.  So, I am going to go ya one better!  I will give it to you here, plus, I’ll show you how I made it, complete with resources!

Here is a preview of the QP’s from last week’s post:

Click on image to visit post.

Here is a preview of the ‘dirt’ texture I made:

The ‘grubs’ are from an ‘.ASL’ file from Sonarpos at DeviantArt.   Here is a preview of what it looks like:

Here is a zip of the texture and the pattern:

http://www.suruha.com/download/su_oct12/su_DirtWorms.zip

And, finally, the tutorial for the wormy-dirt background!

1 – In Photoshop, open the 3600X3600px ‘Dirt Texture’ from above.  Load the ‘.PAT’, Pattern, file.

2 – Create a ‘New File Document’ at 3600X3600px, 300DPI, RGB, Transparent Background.  Copy and paste the ‘Dirt Texture’ into this ‘new doc’.

3 – Create a ‘New Layer’ in the Layers Palette and fill it with the ‘Worm’ pattern.  I increased the ‘Size’ of the pattern to 200% for a better look.  This pattern is not seamless, but, since we are only showing several of the worms, it won’t matter.  Just avoid any ‘lines’ where the patterns don’t match.

4 – Slip the ‘Worm’ layer down underneath the ‘Dirt Texture’.

5 – Add a Layer Mask to the ‘Dirt Texture’ layer.

(A Layer Mask is white when you first apply it.  The image it is fully visible.  By painting over it with black, it ‘erases’ those parts of the Dirt Texture the mask is on.  This allows the image/pattern beneath to show through.  The beauty of masks is that, if you mess up, simply paint back over the area with white and start again!)

6 – Lower the Opacity of the ‘Dirt’ layer enough to see the Worms underneath.

7 – Click on the Mask to activate it.  With a soft brush, using black, ‘paint over’ several of the worms to expose them.  I lowered the ‘opacity’ of my brush to 15% to let the worms peek through gradually.  Brush over the lighter areas more than the darker areas, following the highlights and shading of the worm pattern.  You can vary the strokes to achieve a more random look.  It will appear as though the ‘worms’ are coming through the soil.

8 – Raise the Opacity of the Dirt Texture layer back to 100%.

9 – Add any enhancements or adjustments to the overall image, merge the layers and save!  That’s it!

Finally, here is one background I made if you don’t want to make this yourself.  Click on image to save it full size.  It is 3600x3600px @ 1.6mb.

I hope you understand my directions.  If not, post a comment and I will get back to you.  Have fun!

Hugs,

Su

 

Final Parts – ‘Vintage Garden’ and Texture Panel for PS

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A good morning to you!  I hope everyone is well and in good spirits.  Me, I’m so lost!  LOL  That’s really nothing new, tho!  Seriously!  Lately, there have been changes in my life.  Big changes.  I feel like I am struggling to stay sane!  Ah, well!  “Life goes on!”  “This, too, shall pass!”  And, finally, “What doesn’t kill us will only make us stronger!”  I have been reminding myself of these ‘catch-phrases’ over and over.  It is helping – somewhat.  LOL

So!  I have been looking at Adobe Exchange and some of the new features of CS6.  Wow!  Did you know you can download an ‘Adobe Exchange Portal’ that would enable you to visit the Exchange while inside Photoshop?  I am finding things to do with PS that will help in design and my art.  There are all types of things you can add on to PS!  I wanted to tell ya’ll about one ‘Extension’ that I have used since CS5 that I love!

Textures appeal to me!  I don’t know what it is, but, there is something about adding a texture and tweeking the ‘Blending Modes’ that just thrills me.  You can come up with some awesome designs/effects!  I am a sucker, too, for downloading about every ‘texture freebie’ I see.  When I first started playing with PS, I looked for the panel that had the textures.  LOL  You can add a style, a pattern, even create a ribbon with an action, but, there was not a panel/feature that would bring up and apply textures.  There’s the ‘Texturizer Filter’, but, I am speaking of something that would give the artist complete control as to what kind of texture we want.

Then, I read something about an extension that brings textures in to PS.  I went on a search and found it!  It’s called ‘Texture Panel’ and it works in conjunction with ‘FlyPaperTextures.com’.  I know it works in CS5 and CS6, but, any other versions, I do not know.  You can find the script on Dr. Brown’s Script page.  Russel Brown is such an awesome guy!  He’s funny and smart!  I am fuzzy on who came up with the idea and all that, but, I know it is a gem!

When you download it, which I do through the Extension Manager that comes with CS, and open PS, you will find it under ‘Windows’>’Extensions’.  It will open as a panel.  You’ll see something like this:

The textures that come installed are from FlyPaperTextures.com.  The assortment is very nice!  I use them a lot!  For a while they were the only textures you could use in this extension.  Now, though, they have added the capability, with Texture Panel open, to navigate to your hard drive, so, now, you can use all of your own textures!  Talk about easy-peasy!  LOL  On Dr. Brown’s Scripts page, he warns you about size.  I guess larger textures take a really long time to open.  It’s best to go with smaller size textures.  As with anything, you’ll have to experiment.

What is cool is, when you want to use a texture, you open the Texture Panel window/palette.  Either select one of the FlyPpaperTextures that comes installed, or navigate to your own with the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner of the palette.  Once you decide on a texture, and bring it into Texture Panel, just double click on the desired texture’s thumbnail.  Wallah!  The texture not only opens up, but, it goes on top of the stack of layers you currently have open.  What ever layer you have selected, it goes on top of it in the Layers Palette.  (I have not tried to open a texture as a stand-alone document, yet.) Then, it applies a Blending Mode; ‘Multiply’ is default, but, you can always change the mode.  Then, once the texture is applied, it closes.  You are left with your creation plus a texture!  You really must see it!  It is awesome!  While I have interspersed this article with links, I repeat them here:

Texture Panel (download is second in the list) – http://russellbrown.com/scripts.html

Fly Paper Textures –  http://flypapertextures.com/

Adobe Exchange Panel – http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/exchange/

Now, the final two parts to ‘Vintage Garden’.  This wraps up the kit.  Next month, we have something neat!  So, do plan on coming back the second week of September!  My previews are linked to the downloads.  The first preview, the ‘elements’ lead to Part 5, and the second preview, the papers, lead to Part 6.  Then, if you haven’t already been to Miss Edna’s Place, click on her preview to go to her blog to download her two parts.  If you missed it, I made a layout using Miss Edna’s goodies for the photos we took of the children’s first day of school.  I shared it a few posts back or click on this link.

Part 5

Part 6

Miss Edna’s Preview and Link (click on image)

There ya go!  You’ve learned something and been able to download a freebie!  So, kick back and enjoy!  It has been raining here in sunny Florida for weeks!  So,

until next time…

Hugs,

Su