Gnumoon's Stuff

EVERYBODY PANIC ABOUT THE SWINE FLU!

I was playing with CS4 yesterday (read: cursing at it and trying to find things), and whipped this up for the panicked masses. Enjoy!

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

When I heard there was to be a live-action Where the Wild Things Are movie, I was kind of pissed off. Fine, Hollywood. Between this and the Transformers movie and the "hipping up" of Strawberry Shortcake, go ahead and exploit my childhood some more. But then ... I saw the trailer. And I teared up. Seriously. I almost cried (and I don't even really like the Arcade Fire, but that song is perfect).

Here it is if you haven't seen it yet.



I grabbed one of the production stills, and made a quick photoshop with my little Wild Thing, too:
And yes, she does have a wolf suit. And yes, she often makes mischief of one kind and another.

Git Yer Goth On

OK, here is the first entry in the "Goth Challenge."  This is LBP, and here is the original.

If I get more, I'll post a photo gallery on the side over there>. Just FYI, my self-imposed rule is no headswapping. It's just too easy.
So send em in, you mopers. And pictures where you aren't smiling work the best. But if that's all you have, I'll do my best to turn it into an angry grimace.

I won't steal all the fun: if you lurve to PS as well, goth yourself up and send it to me and I'll post it as well. Remember to send the original.

Just remember, the abyss also looks into you

Give me photoshop and 10 minutes and I can give you a goth.
Seriously, if anyone wants to be gothed-up, just send me a picture. The one thing you should know is that I may post them if they turn out as funny as this one did. I may not shit bats yet, but I'm def. delving deep into Lydia Deetz territory here.

The only thing un-re-touched in this picture is the eyes. Not the lashes, the eyes. Also, I didn't add anything to the original picture...if you send me one I may be forced to give you piercings, tattoos, and possibly brandings.

Photoshop Cartoon Phun

So some people were wondering how I made the “Captain Obvious” graphic- did I draw it freehand or did I somehow find a Superman-esque drawing that inexplicably looked exactly like my husband? Neither, really. I just used the magic of Photoshop to create a composite image that looks like a cartoon of DJ flying around. It is easy to do- here’s how.  (Note- This requires an amount of Photoshop savvy, because it uses layering, transforming, and other not-quite-intuitive PS tools)

For the purposes of this tutorial, let’s turn our good buddy Leah into 80’s cartoon pop icon Jem. Why? Because I have a picture of Leah dressed in 80’s garb for a party, and, like Jem, Leah’s husband’s name is Rio. Well, it's really Brian…but let’s call him Rio for now. And Leah does have magic earrings and a supercomputer named Synergy. So she basically is Jem.

OK, here we go…click HERE for the illustrated step-by-step process.

Let's Make Leah TRULY TRULY TRULY OUTRAGEOUS!
Step 1 – Open the source image (“Leah”) and create a new layer over the original one (make sure your new layer is selected)
Step 2 – Select a brush that matches the “cartoon outline” look…I chose a 5 px, hard-edge brush, in black. On your new layer, trace the main features of your subject. It needs to still look like the person it is, just in a more posterized, simple form.
Step 3 – In a new document that contains your second source image (“Jem”), erase the features of the face you want to replace. Fill it back in with “flesh” coloring.
Step 4 – Copy and paste or drag your drawing layer from the “Leah” document into document #2.
Step 5 – Free transform until it matches (hold down shift to maintain proper ratios)
Step 6 – I added gnarly 80’s makeup, and I removed Leah's “Madonna” hairdo in favor of Jem’s famous pink locks. Be sure to clean up any stray lines to make it look seamless- details make the difference between a good Photoshop and a not-so-good one.

Currently Listening to: Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns 'n Roses (With 100% 80's hair band goodness!)
Currently Reading: Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton

Max is 2 Cool 4 Skool

Our Office, South Park Style

If my office was populated with 2D characters drawn in the style of South Park, this is most likely what we would look like. Want to know what you and yours would look like? Check it out here.

I'm getting ready to leave work to run some errands before the all-out nerdfest this evening. That would be not one, not two, but three Star Wars flicks. I, II, and III all in a row. Hubby will be the first person I can think of who will see them all in order. Yeah, yeah, he's married to me and he's never seen a SW movie. How strange. Well, I've never seen a Rocky movie. And God forbid we mix up our mp3 players. We work through our differences.

And a big shout-out today goes to D. for hooking me up with tickets to the midnight show. It is "unlooked for altruistic act involving Star Wars #2." He just called me up last week and said he had something for me- when I showed up he presented me with the tickets and told me that hubby and I have seemed stressed because of work and that we needed a break. What a very cool thing to do! May the force be with you always, D. :P I'll have a review tomorrow, like every other damn blogger on the planet.

Currently Listening to: Same as it Ever Was, by the Talking Heads

Fiddleheads and F-Stops

I got a very detailed message from my dad this morning about how best to capture a sunset, and I realized just how much the digital age has changed photography. Before, every little setting, every bit of lighting, and each part of the processing was vitally important. Now, it is so easy for to think “Well, I’ll just fix that in Photoshop” or “I can look at this one as soon as I take it, and if it’s bad, I can take 900 more on this card.”

I admit to backing into photography as a profession; I am a graphic designer by education and trade. But one day I found myself thinking, “why should all my layouts be dependant on the pictures that other people take? If I take them myself I can get exactly the shots I want.” And so I picked up the camera and haven’t put it down since. Annie Liebowitz I ain’t, but I’m getting better, and I can shoot sports all day long. I could use some work as far as the technique and science of it goes. That is my goal for the summer: become a really proficient “off the court” photog. (That and learn to play the guitar.)

Speaking of my dad, he and my step-mom are both in an art show opening tomorrow. Good luck guys- I’m proud of you for finally getting into this again, dad!

Today’s picture is an unfurling fiddlehead- the yard and woods are full of them, stretching out sleepily after a long winter.

PS- I must share this link from Snidely's site.  Where oh where will the stoned Wookies go now that Trey Anastasio and Co. have hung up their muumuus?!  Viva Bonnaroo!

PSS- "muumuus" is statistically the hardest first-move Bingo word to pull out of the bag in Scrabble.

Currently listening to: Revolution Earth, by the B-52’s
Quote OTD: from Armageddon (on TV last night- we all watched it. Admit it- you watched it too. And admit you shed a tear when Harry died.)
General Kimsey: The fate of the planet is in the hands of a bunch of retards I wouldn't trust with a potato gun.

OMFG! BritBrit and Kev are like preggers, Y'all!

Sorry for the posting drought- I have been too busy to blog. So sad. Today I want to congratulate Britney Spears and Mr. Britney on their baby news. The Fark photoshop contest was “Photoshop a baby shower present for Brit and Kevin.” So…what better white trash gift than a customized Precious Moments figurine? This one is specialized with Marlboros, Cheetos, Red Bull, and, of course, no Kev to be found (I read on a celeb gossip blog that he’s been out in Vegas with some stripper. Links on websites are dangerous, because I just follow them forever…).

In a related story, I abhor Precious Moments stuff. If I could send a rocketship to the sun, it would include all PM stuff ever made. It would also include Thomas Kincaid (How can he claim to be the “Painter of Light”?! How elitist is that?), Vehix commercials, and Ford Festivas, aka “Those tiny-ass cars that always take the good spots at work but the cars are so small that the spots look empty and get your hopes up only to find a damned Festiva there.”
And Hot Topic, of course. Can’t forget to put them on the rocketship to the sun, which would be an ironic ending for a store committed to the stygian blackness of an angst-ridden soul.

I would also send tax day. Urgh. There’s a long story for a bottle of wine (whine?).

Currently Listening to: Closer to Fine, by Indigo Girls (the anti-Britneys)
Quote OTD: From Thomas Kincaid himself:
"I am the nation's most collected living artist." Read this article to learn more about his vomit-inducing auto-fellating marketing ventures.

 

PS- I am not as bitchy as this post makes me sound…it’s just been a really busy, tiring week. I’ll write about puppies and kitties next time, I swear. Oh, wait…I already did that in my last post (poor kitty).

ARGHHHH- my whole post just got erased. I suck.

OK, trying this again. I do these Photoshop contests, at fark.com and elsewhere on the web. They keep me in creative shape for work tasks. That is my spin and I'm sticking to it. I call them my "projects", so conversations can exist thusly:
Boss: I need you to make a poster and then have 40 (billion) printed and then help the interns decide where to put them. Can you do that by noon?
Me: Wellllll, I'm in the middle of this project right now. I'll try to get it done, though.
Boss: Wow, what a talented woman you are! Here, have a big raise!
     So sometimes I do one that I think is good, ie: it is funny or I spent wayy too much time on it. But then no one votes on it. So sad. It happens just as frequently that I'll do one that I think is really sub-par and it will win. So who knows what influences the minds of the farking voters? (well, besides boobies and star wars references)
     This is an example of one that I thought was good, but really didn't do well at all. The theme was "Re-imagine" cartoon characters from your youth for a "fresh, cool and hip" new look. Great theme too, since most of us are big nerds. I did He-Man and She-Ra...here is their original look for a frame of reference. He-man lost the godawful hair, put on some jeans, and got himself a whole new badass look, "black Vin Diesel". My favorite details are the sweet timberlands and the spinner chestplate. And She-ra is lookin hittable and fine in her Steve Maddens and Knicks jersey-dress, but watch out boys- she looks like she might hit back!
     There were some fabulous entries in the thread, so I'm not upset that I didn't win. But for the record it still cracks me up. So here it is. I have one coming up tomorrow with Tasha Yar in it...

Currently listening to: What Would Brian Boitano Do? - gimme a break. My iTunes is on random.