Lesson 2 — Love Your Pen

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This is the most success I've had using the Pen tool ever. And I'm only on Part 1 of a five-part lesson. Rate me "Quite Pleased."

Looking to our left, travellers on this happy voyage of discovery can see the well-known Grassy Swoosh, in which your guide explored the use of unusual brushes when stroking the path. The tutorial directions were (mostly) followed, with many side excursions, including the use of the Dune Grass brush twice (@112 pixels, using color 009998, and @52 pixels, using color 00A350) followed by the Fuzzball brush (@192 pixels, using color 2E5907).

Out the right window is a Giant Pear, in which your guide explored the use of layer effects. The basic shape was laid out and adjusted using the Pen Tool, filled with CAC900 and stroked with Hard Round brush @ 9 pixels. It looked flat and unfortunately phallic. The layer effect Bevel and Emboss was applied with the emboss set at smooth; 181%; Up; 131; 4; -34°; 69° Gaussian with the Highlight at 75% Screen and the Shadow at 75% Lighten (which effectively removed all shadow). This made it look less flat, but too monochromatic to be a pear. Therefore, the Pattern Overlay was used with the White with Wood Fibers a blend mode of Normal, 36% opacity, and a 61% scale. This allowed the variation in color without the fibers taking over the pear. I think it looks appropriately colored.

What I Like About This Piece

The fact that I was able to get anything done at all using the Pen Tool. The ability to use the "intelligent" brushes (I can't remember their official name) to stroke a path. The fact that it is a vector creation will allow me to use it later on as a "Monster Mouth" when I learn how to select a vector, copy and paste it, and then resize it in another piece.

The fact that it's not just the lesson re-done.

What I Don't Like About This Piece

It is so obviously a novice piece. The fact that I am displaying such an inchoate work.

Overall Comments

I usually wait until I've got a little more control of a technique before showing anything, but that's what the class is for. I feel sure that the comments of our instructors and of the other students will allow me to get further ahead faster than I could were I to hide in my upstairs room working in isolation.

What I Like About This Piece

The fact that I was able to create a shape that actually used a number of anchor points working together to result in a fairly realistic shape. The ability to move the highlight and eliminate the unwanted shadow in the Bevel and Emboss layer effect. The recognition that the monochromatic effect could be modified by the use of the Pattern Overly layer effect. The fact that I could get the little imperfection on the right side near the top while still usng the Pen Tool.

What I Don't Like About This Piece

I am still a novice. And it shows.

Overall Comments

In both these pieces, my comments have been primarily technical, rather than aesthetic, which clearly indicates I'm not even close to adequate control of the techiques. Therefore, I'll continue with the lesson.

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Yes, boys and girls, it's a pair of scissors! I hope that you are more thrilled than I, but somehow I feel that would be pressing my luck.

Janee said that she hoped we wouldn't do a mushroom. In the true spirit of the thing, I chose something else: an air-freshener. I laid down the basic anchor points, adjusted the curves, and begin to add the base. Then I realized, Boy, does this look like a squat mushroom with a short stem.

As a result, The Scissors.

What I Like About This Piece

Once again, that I was able to do it. There's nothing spectacular about it, but I was able to remove the thumb and finger holes from the basic black blob-shape. Hey, when you've spent as long as I have thinking you can't do anything representational that doesn't involve type, you settle for small victories. The fact that I went back later and applied a stroke, selected the path, and applied a stroke in a layer.

What I Don't Like About This Piece

It's a small victory. Nobody, I hope, is going to look at this and go, "Wow! That's really creative. How do you think of such things?"

Overall Comments

I am making progress. I am making progress. I need to remember the literally thousands of seat-hours I've spent working with the other Photoshop tools. I need to realize that there's a whole lot of seat-time required before I begin to feel more than marginally competent with this set.

For extra credit: Take the text in this discussion. Count the words. Now count the number of times the first-person singular pronoun is used. Take another text. Count that many words. Do the pronoun thing. Compare the percentages. Discuss why Der Alte Mensch is becoming so egotistical as he wanders into unfamiliar territory.

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People who have read Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 are now looking behind them, wondering if Silent Trystero's minions have somehow snuck into the room. Yes, dear friends, it's the WASTE symbol, the acronym embossed on alternative mailboxes in every major city in the English-speaking world. We Await Silent Trystero's Empire. The dropping-off spot for secret communications between members of a secret society that pre-dates the Illuminati and even *gasp* the Masons! Right in plain sight, for everyone to see.

What I Like About This Piece

It's a path; I can sneak this in the back of all kinds of things, shrunken to such a extent that folks will hardly see it. Except of course for the tin-hat crowd, who'll be looking for it; but they can't do a thing about it. More seriously, I'm quite pleased with the work around the mouthpiece; I even managed the slight flatness at the bottom of the handle. Without resorting to my usual dupe-and-flip technique for getting symmetry. In fact, I like my mouthpiece better than the original: that's why I made it that way.

What I Don't Like About This Piece

I have a sneaking suspicion that it will need to be modified, because the mute in the bell of the trumpet is not its own object and, therefore, when I go to fill it with an appropriate gradient and pattern to give the proper shadows and texture, the mute will just "blend in" with the rest of the instrument. I'm leaving it for now, because I'm happy with a rare victory and because I have to get up to six hours to go to work.

Additional Comments

For comparison's sake, the original of this logo is shown below my logo.

With a Little Help from a Colleague

The last iteration was the result of looking at Ellen's work. I took one look at what she had done, slapped my forehead, made unflattering references to my mental abilities, and set about to add layer effects to the fill and stroke layers. The stroke layer, topmost, has an Outer Bevel, Chisel Soft, 100%, Up, 5, 0 structure, and a shading of 120°, Global Light, 30°, Linear, Screen, #FFFFFF 75%; Lighten, #000000; 75%. The fill layer has three effects:

Inner Glow, Color Dodge; 75%, 0%, #634116. Softer; Center; 0; 24. Rounded Steps; 33, 0
Bevel and Emboss, Inner; Smooth, 100. Up; 5; 0. 120°; global; 30°. Screen #FFFFFF 75; Multiply #000000 75, and
Pattern Overlay, Kraft Waffle; Overay 100%, Scale 80%

Finally, I added a layer just above the background and filled it with Gold Vellum pattern.

Thanks, Ellen!

George Plays With Pen

Sometimes, things just work out. A friend of mine is going through some tough times. She's in England, so I can't just hop on by with a bottle of wine to help cheer her up.

But I had some good news from work, which I shared with her. In between my sending that message and her response, I got even better news. I shared that.

Her response:

hee! buy a big pink top-hat. dare ya :)

Well, I just happen to have an old beaver top hat, shown at left. And, thanks to this course, I now have the skill to make it pink — and put Burne-Jones's "Briar Rose" on the hat band.

So I thought I'd share it here, as well.

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