Boo hoo! This is the last week of class. I can't believe how much I learned to do and how much fun Janee made it. Well, all except for the snowflake. I think that was included to test our patience. (grin)
I did this in PS Into Art and have used the action sooooo many times since then. Really handy.
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Gradients are among my favorite tools. So what did I do to make this graphic, you ask? Good question. Wish I had the answer. (grin) I followed the lesson and added tons of layers, played with blend modes, made some new gradients, and tried out all the options on gradients and then played with the results. I turned layers on and off to see how each would affect layers on top and below. This ended up as more interesting than pretty.
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This was my favorite part of the lesson. How cool PS is to do the calculations for us! I started out with a
rectangle, rather than a square. I added a gradient to the center and a stroke to the outside. I copied the rectangle to
a new layer and rotated it 90 degrees. Then I merged the layers for my new shape.
Then the fun began! I did the iteration to both rotate and copy the new shape many times. Due to the shape I used, I got
an interesting outline. Then I added a gradient to the background.
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Isn't this a gorgeous snowflake?
What? You're having trouble seeing it? Well, not nearly as much trouble as I had
trying to make it. (sigh) There is no snowflake graphic here.
I must have made 10 flakes - made my 30 degree triangle, cut out portions via subtracting
paths. No problem. Copied and flipped and combined. No problem.
However, each and every doggone time I would lose track somewhere along the line and end up with non
mirror images. I'd look and copy again using new layers. I'd get to the point where I'd have 1/3 of the *&^%% flake
done and the sides wouldn't fit the other thirds. Somewhere in the 20 or so layers I'd created lurked the proper parts.
I learned the technique, but got to my frustation point, so I moved on. Buh bye, flake!
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Lots of cool techniques in this part. Thanks for the protractor, Janee. That's a very handy tool to have on hand. We drew lines (spokes around a center) using the protractor to get even sections. Then we filled the sections with colors. The lesson called for the Twirl filter, which I used, but I also used Twist and/or Wave in mine. I think this looks sort of like a pentunia.
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Since I shorted you on a snowflake, I've added another spiral. On this one I let the unaltered Twist show through the top layer to give it a quilted look.
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I followed the lesson up to a point, but didn't use the liquify filter. I've played enough with it outside of this class to feel comfortable with it. So I went for a nice design instead. I loved the effect we got with Noise and Crystallize. I enlarged sections of that to make my designs. Then I played around with the Ripple filter.
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