Stogie Photoshop: A Tribute to Al Franken

Al Franken is running for a Senate seat from Minnesota.
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We wish him well in his new endeavors and are sure his new comedy act will be even funnier than his stint on Saturday Night Live.
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Of course, his believability might be enhanced if he could learn to stop sucking his thumb.

Stogie Art: McCain Country

I spent several hours yesterday learning a 3D graphics program called Bryce. Luckily I found an excellent tutorial online that really helped.

Bryce is designed to create realistic landscapes, including skies, clouds, mountains, terrain, vegetation, etc. I decided to create an Arizona scene just for practice. Here it is - "McCain Country" by Stogie.

The mountain, sky and sandy terrain are all created from Bryce. The weeds were created with Photoshop CS3 using a couple of brushes that come with the program. The cactus, skull and horse were found on the net and inserted into the scene with Photoshop.

The best way to learn any computer program is to have a goal or project to work on -- you have to give yourself a reason to learn it. I could have stopped after creating the mountain and the sandy terrain, but the picture would have been stark and uninteresting. The finishing touches (the cactus, weeds, skull and horse) really bring the scene to life. I learned a lot creating this picture and added to my skill set. Enjoy it and use as you see fit.

Click on the picture to see it full size.

No Blogging Today - the Internet Was Down

My internet connection was on the blink today, but it just came back up, in time for bed!

So I have no time to write anything sagacious, witty or insightful. Just enjoy this Photoshop I did for practice: I put a Japanese Zero into my digital ocean scene. The plane is real, the ocean and sky are not. Still, it looks pretty cool if I do say so myself.

It also makes nice Windows wallpaper for your desktop. Click on the image to see it full size.

More Stogie Art!

This graphic is something I've planned to do for some time: create digital art using several graphic programs at once. The image on the left was created using four different graphic programs.

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The lady figure was created in Poser 7; the seascape, sky and clouds background was created with Bryce 6.1; the lady's clothes and hair were created with Photoshop CS; the stony ledge on which the lady stands was created with Xara X Pro; and it was all put together with Xara X Pro to create the final image.

Another Day, Another Graphic

My latest experiment. The figure is supposed to look like she is made of bronze. I think the simulation is not too bad. What do you think?

Sorry boys, I removed certain aspects of her anatomy. No more nips.

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I like the hair. You can make great hair in Photoshop if you can figure out how to make brushes. It is surprisingly easy.

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This week I upgraded three graphic programs: Photoshop, CS to CS3; Poser, from 5 to 7; and today I upgraded Bryce from 5 to 6.1.

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Bryce is also a 3D graphics program; it can make landscapes, incredibly lovely skies with very realistic clouds; seascapes; lightning, and buildings (temples), mountains, trees, etc.

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If I keep at this, I should be able to produce some truly mind-blowing art in a couple of months. Stay tuned.