From Steampunk to Vintage

Sometimes I get this mad desire to throw out all my furniture and paint my place an oxidized copper green. Bring in white distressed furniture with robin's egg blue pillows and antique mirrored side tables. An antique bird cage with a pair of doves in the corner. Chuck in faded bubblegum pink objects and bits of pale yellow. Add chandeliers, and of course, the fireplace surround is limestone.

The joy of art is that you can skip the expensive reno and go there anyway. I'm moving into a vintage stage.  From time to time I think we all muse about a more civilized time. Handwritten letters versus emails. Junk mail had not been invented yet. A simple cup of tea instead of a tall double cappuccino with fat free milk and a shot of sugar free vanilla. Zen with lace.

© NeonSun Studios. All rights reserved 2010

So, slowly I move towards vintage. Try it on for awhile.

 

http://stoneangel3.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2ym7m3

Here's some free backgrounds so you can explore your gentler side.

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PNG My new best friend

After spending countless hours picking apart images from white background jpg collage sheets I'm happy to have discovered PNGs. It's the graphic equivalant to getting a dishwasher. Sometimes I do a quick look with the space bar just to see the lovely transparent background.

You may ask, "What's the big deal?" It means I don't have to break the flow to cut out an image and clean it up before adding it. Sometimes I forgo the image all together because I don't want to fiddle. I have hundreds of images, some of which I'll never use, so I don't want to break apart everything. I tried to make it easier by using the SEPARATE PHOTOS in Elements. That function sucks. So it's nice to be able to place an item. So sweet, so simple. Let's hear it for PNGs.

I thought I'd give a quick rundown of photomanips and images. I use a new layer for each element in a piece. It gives me lots of control over the project. The image below has 11 layers. Two are background layers. I can use up to 5 background layers alone. On top of that I may apply photo effects on each or all layers. Then I add shadows and lighting to each of those same layers. The umbrellas are made from one stock photo of an umbrella. They have been re-coloured and angled and sized.  Photomanipulations are very time intensive.

© NeonSun Studios. All rights reserved 2010
Umbrellas & mannequin: letinhastock.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2mgquq
Cat : best-resources.deviantart.com/gallery/?23941544#/d2xvmgj
Bird: playingwithbrushes

A shameless plug for my art:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/56212353/original-digital-art-print-vintage

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Better Download Site Here

Please take this crow away from me! I can't stop using it. :)
Flower: scrapbee.deviantart.com/gallery/#Clipart--2
Crow : www.flickr.com/photos/landofnodstudios/4639316390/in/set-...
Background: www.starwalt.com/photoshop_stuff6.html
Texture: www.flickr.com/photos/27805557@N08/sets/72157609803359307/

I have a link at Deviant Art which has all the Steampunk brushes.

http://stoneangel3.deviantart.com/art/Jody-s-Steampunk-178115951?q=&qo=

So, if you want to download all 4 brushes use this link. If you only want one or two, go to the previous links.

More brushes

Here's my latest collection of brushes. Still learning. I tried to put them in a folder and I'll give you the link. Actually they won't download as a group. Here's the individual links:

Telescope

http://www.4shared.com/file/TyJbzC4a/jodys_steampunk_telescope.html

Cog

 http://www.4shared.com/file/orOeNnzu/jodys_steampunk_cog_.html

Okay, now I get it. I can only get the folder to download as a whole if I have a Premium Membership. Sheesh! Sorry about that. One more file:

Victorian Eye

http://www.4shared.com/file/VGc8lex9/jodys_steampunk_victorian_eye_.html

The last link is in the post below. Let me know how it goes.

Steampunk Brush ready to Download

Okay, here's the link for the brush:

http://www.4shared.com/file/9QEae3OR/Steampunk_large_machine_brush.html

Let me know what you think. I'm working on some more and will add more links shortly.

Celebrate!!!!!

Help me celebrate!  Have a piece of virtual cake and watch the fireworks.

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!

YES!!!! 1000 HITS!!!

Thank you everyone!!!!

1000 hit, 1000 hits, Happy dance around my living room

While I was writing the last post I got 7 hits.
988 hits. It's so close I can taste it!

1000 Hits

As you may know I've been posting for more hits on this blog. I put out the call last night and got 41 hits! YaaaY!!!!!
If you scroll down on the righthand column you'll find my hit counter. I now have 981 hits.
Thanks to everyone that showed up.
Tell all your friends so I can have 1000 hits by midnight PST.

Now for photoshop stuff. I made a brush. It's big, 2500px. Hopefully I'll get it uploaded to 4shared in the next couple of days. The pic below was done with red ink on a metal gradient with my new brush.

As promised the brush is been uploaded. You can download it here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/9QEae3OR/Steampunk_large_machine_brush.html

Let me know what you think, honestly. I'm trying to work out any problems with making brushes. I hope you like this.