Shakespeare Text Illustration Tutorial
Posted 31 Dec 2009 - 12 Gratefully received comments
I created this text illustration of the ‘Bard’ as an ironic play on the idea of making pictures out of words. Something Shakespeare is one of the best at.
Tutorial Details:
Programme: Illustrator CS2
Difficulty: Beginner – Intermediate
Time to completion: 4-6 hours
Files that might help:
Shakespeare reference picture – istockphoto
Ink Blot Vectors – I have provided these for download in an earlier post.
Il Shake Fest Font – DaFont
Shakespeare Quotes – Available from many sources on the internet.
Resolutions – The Importance of Goals when Freelancing
Posted 28 Dec 2009 - No Comments - leave yours now!
2010 is upon us. I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, the year 2010 seemed like the distant future and I expected personal jet-packs and silver jumpsuits by then. In fact I imagined that we would all be living in a world similar to the Jetsons, I just hoped that all small boys wouldn’t be as annoying as Elroy!
I’ve never been a great fan of New Year celebrations. I don’t really see all that much to celebrate. It’s just a marker in time, the turning of a calendar. People seem to give the event a lot of undue attention.
Don’t get me wrong, I won’t turn down an opportunity to have a good time. I just see it as a lot of fuss over nothing.
The turn of the year always makes us stop and reflect of the year that has just gone, and more importantly, look forward to the year before us. This is a wonderful thing, but I don’t see why this activity has to be contained to the beginning of January?
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My Life as a Cartoon #17
Posted 24 Dec 2009 - 3 Gratefully received comments
Free – Illustrator Ink Vectors
Posted 21 Dec 2009 - One gratefully received comment
These ink blot vectors are free to download.
These should compliment the photoshop ink brush set I put up a few weeks ago.
I’ve put these up as well because they feature quite heavily in a tutorial I’m working on and hope to publish here in the next few weeks.
Other than that I hope they are useful to you. I’ve made the set available as an Illustrator CS2 file and an Illustrator 10 file.
To download the CS2 .eps file, click the link below:
Download Vector Ink Set – Ilustrator CS2 .eps file
To download the Illustrator 10 .eps file, click the link below:
Download Vector Ink Set – Ilustrator 10 .eps file
These brushes are completely free for personal and commercial use. The only thing I ask is that if you do find them useful let me know. I’d love to see your final results, and then display them within this post.
- leave a comment!My Life as a Cartoon #16
Posted 17 Dec 2009 - 2 Gratefully received comments
Time Management Tips for Freelancers
Posted 14 Dec 2009 - No Comments - leave yours now!
Life is pretty hectic. There are only so many hours in a day and they seem to fill up quite quickly. There are thousands of variables that make the situation worse each day. You have to find time to sleep and eat but most days are full with the exercise of doing something to make enough money so you have a decent place to sleep and nice stuff to eat.
Most people have a nice, clearly defined block of time to earn that money called a job, but it all becomes a little more complex when you work freelance.
The beauty of being an employee is that someone else tells you what to do, when to do it and gives you your reward at the end of the month if you manage to stick to the rules. To some that doesn’t sound all that nice, maybe not but it is quite easy when you compare it to working for yourself.
When you work for yourself you have to make your own rules the hard bit is sticking to them so you still get your reward at the end of the month. Being able to manage your time is the key to success when you work for yourself. Below are a few tips that I believe will help you when working for yourself.
- leave a comment!Free – Photoshop Ink Brushes
Posted 10 Dec 2009 - 3 Gratefully received comments
I’ve made these Ink Blot Photoshop brushes available for download.
- leave a comment!Ken Reynolds is a graphic designer, illustrator and blogger. Contact me if you'd like to work with me, ask any questions or just say hello.
Recent Articles
- Break Time
- Is Design Becoming Invisible?
- My Life as a Cartoon #35
- The Great Design Myth – Exposure
- My Life as a Cartoon #34
- Why I set up a Facebook page for my Business
- Finding First Gear – Returning to Work after a Holiday
- Kustom Graphics – Book Review #7
- My Life as a Cartoon #33
- 7 Tips for Freelancers Arranging a Holiday
Recent Tweets
- New Blog Post: Break Time! - I'll be taking a break from blogging for a few weeks. http://fb.me/FjooVmR0
- New Blog Post: Is Design Becoming Invisible? - An article with plenty to think about, but very few conclusions.... http://fb.me/I6H6ZDyv
- Morning all, hope you are all well. Hope to hear about my new flat today!
- @designthatrocks @print24 @ukgraphicdesign @topleftdesign Thanks for the RT's
- New Comic Strip: What does a designer do, anyway? - http://bit.ly/bsg1cq - Please RT if you smile!
- @Designbloguk @tbwcf @imrogb @78Degrees_US @trotz98 @Readysalted A few people I connected with last week.
- @Designbloguk Thanks for the RT!
- New Comic Strip: What does a designer do, again? http://fb.me/DQPn6emF
- You can see this comic on my website and add to the comments thread if you like it.... http://fb.me/FBueHaID
- Blog Post: The great design myth - exposure - interesting comments thread developing, please join in! - http://bit.ly/9RimrO
I'm a freelance graphic designer living and working in Suffolk.
I've been using Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign & Quark Xpress since 1999 but I've been using pens, pencils, paper and most importantly my imagination for a lot longer. I'm always looking for new clients to work with and interesting projects to work on.