The Bottom

I thought all the other parts were hard, but then came the bottom, which required a phrase that was not in keeping with the rest of the piece.  So I had to find a way to set it apart yet still keep it from looking like it was set apart.  In other words, it had to flow with the rest of the piece.  I figured I could use some sort of a frame.  I tried several before deciding on this one, and then used the chalk to fill in the frame and "removing" the text by using black for the color.  At first I was using "Kindly remove your shoes." but then I changed it to say "Please" and "Thank You" to tie back with the first phrase.

The second phrase

Here is the second phrase that needed to be worked in.  This part took the longest, only because I needed to break up all the text with something, and everything I tried just looked lame.  Finally I thought of using a sun to play off the word "morning."

The middle of it all

There are two phrases I was supposed to work in.  Here is the first:

There was no real inspiration for this part, just playing around with fonts and spacing.

From Top to Bottom

After doing a rough sketch, I organized the project in sections:  Top, upper middle, lower middle, and bottom.  Here is what the top ended up looking like:

Here is what it started out looking like:



And here is the inspiration:

Fonts, fonts and more fonts!

They drive me nuts...especially in this project.  In fact, it's almost like a collage of fonts!  I think I spent almost as much time searching for and trying out fonts as I did designing the project.  I used Font Book to collect and organize the fonts I downloaded.  Along with some basic fonts I already have, you can see the list of fonts I used in the screenshot:

"Welcome" Chalkboard Sign

My next project is to create a welcome sign for an entryway/porch area.  The measurements are 12" x 32" which is a weird size for a chalkboard, but you have to go with what you're given.

The project will not be a real chalkboard.  Instead, it's a board that will be painted black and then a printout of the sign adhered to the top.  It will be covered with a polyurethane to protect it from the weather.

Chalkboard signs are very popular now, so instead of trying to take a picture and fit the background to my needs, I found a free one someone had generously posted online.  I also gathered up some different fonts and brushes and frames that I will want to have on hand as I am designing the piece, as well as several images to serve as inspiration:

 

Adding elements

I really wanted the elements of the chalkboard to look hand drawn, and I found this image of a Popular Mechanics magazine cover.  I opened the image in a new document and traced the ribbon, then copied the paths into my working document.  The great thing about paths is that you don't have to worry about file size or resolution, since paths aren't "real" until you do something with them.  I haven't decided how to use the image yet, but this way I'll have it when I need it.

Finished

I finally finished this project a few weeks ago and sent it off to have it printed on canvas.  I'm very happy with how it turned out, although I'm not so happy with how long it took to get it done! 

Technique

After experimenting with the wrinkles, I realized I loved the look the technique gave me.  I wanted to get away from using outlines, and the fx I was using allowed me to do that.

Create Wrinkles??!!

When I think of Photoshop and wrinkles, I think "how to get rid of them," not "how to create them." But when it came to this bulldog, I needed to create them, and not with the pen tool.  Simple lines were not creating the look I wanted.

But when I was playing around with the layer effects in another project, I realized that with a combination of blending options and the smudge tool, I could "paint" the wrinkles in on the bulldog.

I used the pen tool to create a few shapes that followed the shape of the lines and filled them with the color of the dog.

Using the bevel blending option gave me the shadows and creases I needed, but too sharp a curve.  And using the smudge tool only moved the shadows around. 

What I needed was to be able to "flatten" the layer like you can "raster" a type layer, so that the layer effects were flattened.  To get around my inability to do that, I created an empty layer beneath the effected layer and merged the two.  (I copied the un-rastered layer first so I'd have a protected version.)

Then I was able to use the smudge tool to move and soften the edges and the dodge tool to lighten the shadows without worrying about the effects.

All I needed was a little work with the stamp tool.

 

 At this point I realized that I had found a way to create the natural folds that occur in the dog's face. 

Seal

Creating the seal was so far the simplest part of this project.  A few circles, get them just the right thickness, the paw, and text on a path.  They all received some sort of FX treatment.

Portrait #2 & layers trick

The second portrait was much easier and just needed a few things done. 

Here is one thing I like to do that makes life easier when working with layers: learning the shortcut for combining all visible layers into a new layer.  

Let's say I have a layer in which I want to blur the skin.  I make a copy of the main image, blur the skin, then reduce the opacity to 20%. Then I want to darken the eyelashes.  I can't do that on the 20% opacity layer.  And I can't do it on the layer underneath, because I want to be able to control the opacity of the eyelashes layer as well. 

So I make a layer that combines the main image and the 20% blur layer.  That way I have a new 100% opacity layer to work with.  There is no place on the menu to find this, you just have to memorize the shortcut:  Command, Option, Shift, E.
So:

• Command E:  merge down or merge group
• Command, Shift E:  merge visible
• Command, Option, Shift, E:  merge visible into new layer.

When you look at your history panel, you'll see that it actually calls this "Stamp Visible."

Here are the before and after.  Not much of a change, but still enhanced:

before

 

after

Portrait Enhancing

before

 

I took a break from my other project to enhance a portrait.  Below are the before and after, and a screenshot of my layers.

after

layers

 

Realism

A few days ago a student asked me how to make something look more realistic.  I wasn't really able to help, but I realized later, when I was faced with the problem in my own work, that the answer is texture.  Whether it's created with filters, blends or layer effects, texture is what "flat" images lack, and what "realistic" images are rich with.

So, in an attempt to create a more realistic bulldog, while still retaining its artistic beginnings, I went looking for texture.

I found it in two different places:  a fur effect (tutorial), and the motion blur filter.

Sounds simple, right?  Took a bunch of trial, error and experimentation.

OMG, an Inspiration!

At this point I did something terrible.  I had an inspiration!
Never, never, never deviate from what the client wants!
I know this.
I've learned it the hard way over and over, but apparently I haven't learned it well enough.
But it happened again.
While researching the art style, I came across some images showing the animal actually holding and/or drinking from a bottle or glass.  So, I thought, I had this area to the right of the image that was pretty open, I could do the same.
So off I went, spending my own time, (because you can't bill a client for time spent on something she didn't authorize) on what some people like to call deviation heck.  (Feel free to insert a different word.)
And here is what I came up with,
after finding several paws and legs and bottles, etc.,
and penning them, outlining, filling, etc.
and placing, warping, manipulating, liquifying, etc:

And.....

I hate it.

Well, I don't hate it, but I don't particularly like it either.

Poop.

Bulldog poop.

Typography-Yay and Boo

Next comes the part I equally love and hate:  choosing a font.
I love working with text, like making text portraits and playing around with individual letters, but when it comes to choosing a font I'm hopelessly indecisive.  So, here's one tool I sometimes use to help:

Unfortunately in this case it was no help at all.
So I went browsing through DaFont.  I wanted something a little retro, but heavy (it's a bulldog, after all).  I came up with a few possibilities.  Some I knew right away were not going to make the cut, but that's what choosing a font is like, you see a sample, but when you get it into your project you wonder how you ever could have looked twice at it.

Here they are:

Anchor Jack

Captain Swabby

Capture It

Market Deco

Scorched Earth

USSR Army

Walrus Gumbo

Still can't decide.
Captain Swabby and Scorched Earth are definitely out.

At first I almost tossed Walrus Gumbo, but the longer I look at it the better I like it.
Someone else might be tempted at this point to ask the client their opinion.

Let me tell you:  DON'T EVER DO THAT!
Just trust me.

As if I wasn't clueless enough, I went back for more:

Black Hawk

Chippewafalls

Muffaroo

Titulo

Immerman

What do you think? I like Muffaroo because it's dog-worthy, but I'm not sure it goes with the style I'm looking for.  The other two I'm leaning toward are Anchor Jack and Chippewafalls.  ...maybe Immerman...

Aaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhh!!!!!

Bulldog Brewery: Main image

The client's dog is an American Bulldog, and the only full-face photo she had was this one:

 But the quality didn't really matter, because I only need the image for tracing.  And this is what it looked like after I used the pen tool to outline her:

 Then I filled her in with white:

I placed the filled layer on top of the original (which I made black and white) and turned the opacity of the filled layer down just slightly to use the original for shading purposes:

 But it wasn't enough shading, so I added extra with a textured brush, keeping the opacity light and building up so I didn't overdo it:

Colored the eyes and added some lights:

Filled in the collar and stroked the paths with a thin brush:

I'll come back to her later and add some detail, but for now she's finished enough to use for placement.  By the way, I'm up to 15 layers and a little over 2 hours (including the background).