Andolaurina :: Digital Art Resources

Ever wonder how to get those lovely Victoria 4 clothes to fit other figures?  Well, here are a few sure-fire tips to get those clothes to work on other figures!

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This ball gown for Victoria 4 is my contribution to the 2010 Platinum Club Challenge.

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As an artist and graphic designer, I’ve been using file compression software for 10-15 years now. I compress images, data, etc. for my customers and for my own use.

Years ago, I started out using WinZip and then migrated to the opensource software, 7-zip.  After some periodic compression corruption issues with 7-zip, I decided to give StuffIt Deluxe a try.  Initially, I was skeptical about paying good money for StuffIt Deluxe by Smith Micro when I could use 7-zip for free, but I needed something more reliable.

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Check out these gorgeous color palettes handpicked by Andolaurina.  You will find 14 designer-quality color swatch groupings, perfect for Christmas web design, Christmas cards, artwork, brochures, programs, children’s rooms and much more.  All palettes are ready to go in HTML HEX colors.

Enjoy & Merry Christmas!

It’s almost time for Christmas, a commonly celebrated holiday to some degree worldwide and especially in predominantly Christian countries. Want to spread a little Christmas cheer? Here are some tips and goodies to get you started designing this year!

 

Design Basics: Why Christmas?

If you live in a country where Christmas isn’t celebrated much or is purely secular in nature, you might not be familiar with all of the Western nuances of Christmas. (Westerners, bear with me… )

What is Christmas? Well, it all started to honor the birth of Jesus Christ (Christ means Messiah), hence the name “Christmas.” Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and came to earth to save humankind from their sins and restore their relationships with God. Today, Christmas is one of the pivotal holidays for Christians (along with Easter). 

During Medieval times, celebrating Epiphany (Theophany) was actually more popular than Christmas.  However, Christmas as a holiday was revitalized in popularity during Victorian times (1800s), in part due to the popularity of Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol.  Since then, families have adopted all sorts of traditions across the world, including Santa Claus bringing gifts each Christmas Eve, decorating homes with evergreen garland and decorated trees, hosting parties for family and friends and much more.

Most countries celebrate Christmas—the day of Jesus’ birth—on December 25th, although this date is commonly believed to be more tied to ancient Roman celebrations of the winter solstice than on the actual date Jesus was born.  Some countries such as Russia, Georgia, Egypt, Armenia, the Ukraine and Serbia celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar which places the date of Jesus’ birth on January 7th.  Some branches of Christianity still celebrate Epiphany as much or more than Christmas.  Christmas is not a formal public holiday in China, (excepting Hong Kong and Macao), Japan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Thailand, Nepal, Iran, Turkey and North Korea.

Christmas is a time…

• to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah
• to spend time with our family and friends
• to be charitable towards those less fortunate
• to go to church to worship God through mass, advent services or other Christmas events
• to give gifts to the ones we love as the Biblical Magi (wisemen) gave gifts to baby Jesus
• to appreciate the beauty of wintertime, snow and nature
• to celebrate Santa Claus bringing gifts to boys and girls
• to enjoy wintertime activities like sledding, caroling, skiing, sleigh rides, etc.

Here are a handful of places where you can learn more about Christmas:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas worldwide
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of Christmas dishes
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas Sunday
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany (holiday)
• http://www.history.com/content/christmas
• http://www.cbn.com/SpiritualLife/Devotions/Noebel_MeaningofChristmas.aspx
• Two of the passages about Jesus’ birth from the Bible: Book of Luke, Chapter 2 and Book of Matthew, Chapters 1 and 2

Design Motifs

Here are some typical symbols of the holiday season to include in your art:

• nativity scenes and/or images of Jesus
• stars
• wreaths
• Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus
• Decorated Christmas trees
• Evergreen trees and shrubs
• holly with red berries
• ivy
• bows and ribbons
• garland
• bells / church bells
• snow
• snowmen
• snowflakes
• snowballs
• Christmas tree ornaments
• Christmas tree tinsel
• Christmas lights (around trees, houses, etc.)
• angels
• mangers / creche
• Magi (wisemen) with Jesus or following a star
• silhouettes of Bethlehem where Jesus was born
• Santa Claus
• Santa’s sack of gifts
• Santa’s hat
• Santa’s sleigh
• elves
• reindeer (especially Rudolph with his red nose)
• reindeer antlers
• The North Pole (Santa’s home)
• Jack Frost
• winter cottages
• snowy nature scenes
• penguins (animal associated with the cold/winter)
• polar bears (animal associated with cold/winter)
• camels (it is assumed that the Magi visiting Jesus came by camel)
• donkeys, cows, lambs, sheep (animals assumed to be in a stable or with shepherds during Jesus’ birth)
• shepherds (received an announcement the night Jesus was born from God’s angels)
• redbirds or robins (on holly trees, mailboxes with Christmas cards)
• doves / turtle doves with olive branch (since of peace; comes from Biblical Noah)
• the Bible
• skating rinks
• sleds
• sleighs
• horse-drawn carriages
• chimneys
• fireplaces
• stockings
• gifts / packages
• gift tags
• trumpets or French horns
• gold rings (from 12 days of Christmas)
• toys (like stuffed bears, balls, wagons, etc.)
• gingerbread men cookies
• sugar cookies in Christmas shapes
• candy canes
• gumdrops
• nutcrackers
• pinecones
• poinsettias
• yule logs
• candles
• ice- or snow-covered tree branches
• mistletoe
• icicles
• winter clothes: scarves, mittens, hats, jackets, boots
• winter faeries
• little drummer boy
• toy drum and drumsticks
• toy trains
• moose or elk
• teapots and hot chocolate mugs (or tea or coffee)
• Scotty dogs (or other dogs or cats) in plaid or winter wear or antlers
• Victorian architecture and/or lampposts
• Children (especially Victorian children) sledding, etc.
• Christmas carolers (adults in children dressed in warm clothes going door-to-door to sign Christmas hymns or “carols” to neighbors (often to raise money for charity)
• snowcapped mountains
• holiday feasts, with turkey or ham, etc.
• fruitcakes

Typical Design Colors

• red
• gold
• green
• blue
• white
• silver

Ready for the Super-Freebies???

Here are a few Christmas- and winter-themed freebies to help you create some inspired artwork and designs for the holidays. Most all of them can be used commercially as well as personally, but always check the terms of use.  Some require attribution.

Enjoy, re-tweet & please leave a comment – thanks!

Merry Christmas!

 

Freebie Photoshop Brushes

SUPER-FREEBIE #1:  Cute Christmas brush pack

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SUPER-FREEBIE #2:  Christmas tree brushes pack

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SUPER-FREEBIE #3:  Christmas vector brushes and PNGs

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SUPER-FREEBIE #4:  Snow brushes

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SUPER-FREEBIE #5:  Snowflake vector brushes and images pack

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SUPER-FREEBIE #6:  Snowflake brushes pack

 

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SUPER-FREEBIE #7:  Another snowflake brush package

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SUPER-FREEBIE #8:  Snow + Flakes brushes and PNG images pack

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SUPER-FREEBIE #9:  Christmas ornament brush pack

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SUPER-FREEBIE #10:  Christmas Tweee Brushes

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SUPER-FREEBIE #11:  Coolwing’s Christmas Brushes

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SUPER-FREEBIE #12:  Holiday brushes and vectors

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SUPER-FREEBIE #13:  Christmas tree branches brushes

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SUPER-FREEBIE #14:  Frost Brushes

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SUPER-FREEBIE #15:  Christmasy Brushes

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SUPER-FREEBIE #16:  Christmas Brushes by Yasny-Chan

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SUPER-FREEBIE #17:  Snowtime brushes

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SUPER-FREEBIE #18:  Christmas Cookie Brushes

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SUPER-FREEBIE #19:  Holiday Brushes (some Hanukkah as well)

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Freebie Photoshop Patterns

SUPER-FREEBIE #20:  PS Christmas Patterns

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SUPER-FREEBIE #21:  Vintage Retro Christmas Patterns

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SUPER-FREEBIE #22:  Cute Christmas Patterns

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SUPER-FREEBIE #23:  36 Christmas 09 Patterns

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SUPER-FREEBIE #24:  Christmas Day Patterns

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SUPER-FREEBIE #25:  Gold & Silver Snowflake Patterns

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Freebie Vectors & PNGs & Clipart!

SUPER-FREEBIE #26:  19 Awesome Christmas Vectors

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SUPER-FREEBIE #27:  Christmas free vector set vol. 2 by Pink Moustache

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SUPER-FREEBIE #28:  Christmas free vector set vol. 1 by Pink Moustache

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SUPER-FREEBIE #29:  Snowflake vectors

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SUPER-FREEBIE #30:  Christmas lights transparent PNGs

 

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SUPER-FREEBIE #31:  Christmas Ribbons and Ornaments transparent PNGs

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SUPER-FREEBIE #32:  Christmas gift and background vector set

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SUPER-FREEBIE #33:  Vector Christmas backgrounds and titles

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SUPER-FREEBIE #34:  Vector Christmas ornaments on background

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SUPER-FREEBIE #35:  Christmas vector frames

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SUPER-FREEBIE #36:  Christmas vector icons

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SUPER-FREEBIE #37:  Stylized Christmas tree vector set

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SUPER-FREEBIE #38:  Christmas ornament vectors

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SUPER-FREEBIE #39:  Christmas vectors + brush sample set

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SUPER-FREEBIE #40:  Gingerbread cookies vectors

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SUPER-FREEBIE #41:  Doodled Christmas tree vector patterns

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SUPER-FREEBIE #42:  Santa vector

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SUPER-FREEBIE #43:  Vintage Christmas Clipart (Many pieces of clipart to choose from)

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SUPER-FREEBIE #44:  Christian-Themed Christmas Clipart (Many pieces of clipart to choose)

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SUPER-FREEBIE #45:  Tons of free Christmas clipart (lots of vintage Victorian)

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SUPER-FREEBIE #46:  Christmas elf vector

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Other Stuff

SUPER-FREEBIE #47:  Vintage Christmas Photoshop Actions

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SUPER-FREEBIE #48:  Gimp Animated Snowfall Action

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SUPER-FREEBIE #49:  Snow text Photoshop Action

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SUPER-FREEBIE #50:  Christmas Photoshop Styles

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BONUS: SUPER-FREEBIE #51:  Photoshop Christmas Styles

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I hope you enjoyed this article.  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Merry Christmas! Andolaurina.

Tinted black and white photos (i.e. black and white photography with zones of color) has become very popular particularly for professional portraiture. It gave give either a vintage feel or a cool modern look to a photo, depending on both the photo composition and the technique you use.

You can achieve the same look for your personal or professional photos in just a few easy steps in Photoshop!

Method 1:

Above is a video tutorial by ShadowTutorials that succinctly describes the steps needed. For those who don’t like to watch vidoes, here is the basic process:

1. Open a photo.
2. Make sure the photo is no longer part of the background but on a layer of its own.
3. Use the magnetic lasso tool to select the parts of the photo you would like to colorize. To make multiple selections, hold down on the ‘Shift’ key.
4. Right click and feather the selection by 2 or 3 pixels — just enough to remove any sharp edges.
5. Create a copy of the layer.
6. Go back to the original layer. Go to the menu at the top and choose Image > Adjustment > Black and White.
7. Use the eraser tool at 10-20% opacity to clean up anything on the top color layer that looks jagged.
8. If the color looks to intense for you, choose the top color layer and then reduce the opacity to 50% or another percentage until you achieve the amount of color you like.

You should now see two layers visible: the one with your colored bits and an underlying black and white layer.

Method 2:

An alternate method (some people find this easier):

1. Open a photo.
2. Make sure the photo is no longer part of the background but on a layer of its own.1. Copy the photo layer. (Ctrl+J)
3. Convert the bottom layer to black and white by going to the menu and choosing Image > Adjustment > Black and White.
4. On the top layer, use the eraser to erase any parts you don’t want to be black and white. Use 100% to completely erase it. Or, change the opacity of the eraser to 50% or less if you want less saturated color or varying degrees of color.

Method 3:

OK, still not what you want? The video below shows a completely different method.  In this case, you will be adding new color versus using color from the original photo.
In a nutshell…
1. Open a photo and make sure it’s not in the background but on a layer of its own.
2. If it is not already a black and white photo, go to the menu and choose Image > Adjustment > Black and White.  Note: You may want to adjust the color levels to increase the contrast of the photo for a crisper finished product.
3. Create a new empty layer.
4. Take your paint brush and paint on a color you like in full intensity (e.g. bright red for lips).
5. Change the opacity of the layer to 20% or less–to your liking–so that it barely tints the photo.
6. Repeat this process for each element on the photo that you want to re-colorize.

I hope you found a few ideas you can use to add an interesting touch to your vintage family photos or to new photos that you want to have a vintage feel. (This is an excellent idea for scrapbooked photos as well!)

Feel free to comment below if you have any other suggestions.

It’s almost time for our Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States. It’s a time of thankfulness towards God, our family and friends for all the blessings in our lives. 

Typical symbols of the holiday include turkeys, autumn colored leaves, pumpkins, cornucopias, trees as well as colors such as red, gold, green, orange and brown.

Here are a few autumn-themed freebies to help you create some inspired artwork and designs for the season. Most all of them can be used commercially as well as personally, but always check the terms of use.  Some require attribution.

Enjoy, re-tweet & please leave a comment – thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thanksgiving III Photoshop Brushes

 

Distressed Leaf Photoshop Brushes 

Thanksgiving Photoshop Brushes 

Branches Photoshop Brushes 

10 Fall Leaves Photoshop Brush Set

Leaves Brushes Mega Pack

32 Ultra Photoshop Quality Leaf Brushes

Autumn Leaves

Tennessee Leaves Photoshop Brushes

 

Branches & Foliage Photoshop Brushes

Autumn Decoration Photoshop Brushes

Autumn Photoshop Brush Set

Autumn Fairytale Photoshop Brush Set 

Autumn Wings PSD File

Turkey PSD File

Autumn Butterfly Wings PSD File

Autumn-Colored Vintage Photoshop Gradients

Autumn Photoshop Gradients

Autumn-Toned Photoshop Actions

More Autumn-Toned Photoshop Actions

Autumn Leaves – Gimp Active Brush Set

Cornucopia Stock Photo

Harvest Bokeh Stock Photo

Pumpkin Texture Stock Photo

Fall Stripes Texture

Fallen Autumn Leaves Transparent PNGs

Corn Stock Photo

Vintage Thanksgiving Postcard

Turkey Stock Photo

Squirrel & Nut Stock Photo

Autumn Mucha Portrait Photo Pack