Jupiter All Over

Ever have an idea you think is relatively simple and can be knocked out quickly, only to find that once you've begun, it's much more complicated than you ever imagined? That's exactly what I experienced this week.

I dare say that aside from our lovely Earth home, Jupiter is the most beautiful in our solar system. Named for the Roman king of the gods, it certainly is the largest, and astrologers refer to it as the Greater Benefic," some condering it a significator of good luck or at least of expansion. I'd been admiring a photo of it when I thought it would make a lovely print for a shirt. All it needed was a little editing... enhance the color, maybe try some filters to see how they looked.

Er...not quite. The project, at least, surely expanded.

Since I wanted to be sure to include that identifying feature of the Great Red Spot to one side of the shirt, I had to search for an image that matched that placement. Those were fewer than I'd hoped. But after finding this and verifying that it was in the public domain, I downloaded this one:

I started with some basic color adjustment, mostly increasing the overall saturation. It helped me to see more of what needed to be done with the rest of the image.Part of the image was in shadow, and I needed as much colorful canvas area as I could get. Playing with the light adjustments was not enough. So I duplicated the image and adjusted the shadowy part to be as bright as I could without making it look unreal. I then put a mask on it, and a gradient within the mask to hide all the parts that were too bright. I then combined these layers and trimmed the ragged edge. The shadow wasn't gone, but was significantly less.


After this I enlarged the image to be more suitable for printing via a method called step interpolation. I increased the size and pixel density by small amounts repeatedly until it got to where I wanted it to be. Normally this does not work well on a photograph, often resulting in fuzziness and distortions, but I often use it in my artistic edits where the images are more forgiving.

At this point I noticed the image appearing as if it was composed of many squares. I hadn't had this happen before, so I magnified the original and saw that they were there as well. I was unable to find out for certain, but I'm guessing that the originals were a composite of many pictures taken by the space probe, with minute differences in angle and time accounting for the difference in lighting in each. (Please leave a comment if you can confirm this or some other reason for the image's appearance.)

But as the final result of this was intended to have a more artsy appearance anyway, there was something I could do about it. I zoomed in on the squares and started blending them together with the smudge tool, one by one. I figured these were all pictures of clouds swirling together, so running the colors together a little more would not detract from the final impression. If anything, I think it made it look better, much like layers of paint dabbed and smeared together in a stormy cosmic marbling. Once this was done (and my hand uncramping), I decided any further transformations through filters would be overkill.

In the final phase, I tried a mockup and decided the color needed more work. This time I focused on the reds and yellows to brighten the oranges. The lower portion of the image was also in a bit of shadow, so after applying enhancements to the whole image, I used the selection tool to work only on the lower third, and then smaller sections as needed to bump up the color impact in these. I also increased the sharpness by a small amount and lastly, distorted the image slightly by increasing the width. This was necessary to be sure there was more than enough to cover the entire canvas of the shirt, but not enough to be recognizably stretched out.

Could this be your lucky shirt? Score it on Threadless and give it a chance! In addition, Threadless is trying something new with this particular competition. Not only can you score the entries, you can also opt to "fund" them. This essentially means filling out a pre-order form to buy the shirt IF it prints. If at least 50 people fund a design, it will print. If it doesn't print, you pay nothing.

And here's some luck for you already, as appreciation for visiting my blog...I'm giving you a coupon code to get $5 off, good for this design only. It's:  KJXEXW

Scoring is going on now through the evening of September 2, 2014 (Eastern Time). And if $5 is not enough, you can earn a rebate by signing up for Ebates and going to Threadless by clicking through their site or downloading their extension (as well as for purchases on many other shopping sites). Thank you for your support!

Thanks for visiting, and please come again!

For the Love of Music

Music is very much a temporal art. How many pictures can you glance at in any moment? How fast can you read? Some DVD players let you watch a movie at increased speed without losing the sound. And while it's true that you'll enjoy these things more at a leisurely pace, listening to music is one pastime that can't be rushed.

I have a strong background in music and love nearly every type. From classical, rock, pop, and New Age to folk musics from around the world, it's all good. I hate driving without some tunes and listen at my computer as long as I have the RAM to support it. Even when it's quiet around me, there's usually a tune inside my head. And with all the wonderfully talented and creative musicians in the world spreading their art faster and further than ever before, there's just no way anyone can take it all in.

That's the inspiration I felt when I made this design, "So Much Music, So Little Time."

I wanted it to be fairly simple and show how music enriches our minds and fills our world with "color for the ears." While I adore bright colors, sometimes they have the greatest impact when contrasted with neutrals. In this design, the music is what it's all about, and that's where the color is.

Threadless.com is currently running a themed competition called "Make Your Statement," and this particular statement of mine has been accepted for scoring now through the morning of June 5, 2014. If you have an account with Threadless, please click over there and put in your two cents worth.


Thanks for visiting and please come again!

"Savoy" is up for scoring on Threadless

A while ago I saw a Savoy cabbage for the first time, and fell in love with the pattern on it's leaves. Succulent veins webbed across this vegetable creating deep enclaves of darkness that seemed to tunnel into eternity. And it was green--a fresh, spring green that I absolutely love! My immediate reaction was to reach for the camera.

Initially with this image I did some basic editing to enhance the color, lighting and sharpness. After that, I inverted the colors, which not only turned the yellow-green into a soft purple, but turned bulging veins into chasms and bottomless depths into mountainous peaks. Suddenly it became some other-worldly canyon.

I tweaked the lighting a bit more then desaturated the color, colorizing various copies with turquoise and deep red. From there, I played around with various filters, my favorite ending up the plastic wrapped effect. Looks rather like a close up of some ruby colored reptile, don't you think?

I may yet use this particular image, but as I've developed an interest in repeating patterns, I had to mirror it on itself to create one. Once again I desaturated the image, then colorized it in a variety of hues. They were nice, but with the intracacies of the texture minimized, it needed something more. When I used the color blending mode to add a reflected gradient, I felt I'd found the secret ingredient to give it that BAM! factor.

I'm not really sure how to describe the flavor of the overall design. Something about it looks tribal to me, as if it's a carving, perhaps from an area in the South Pacific or Southeastern Asia. If you have other impressions, please comment and share!

Anyway, the gods at Threadless.com had deigned to accept this design for scoring by their community (from now through the morning of April 25, 2014), and perhaps even consider it for printing. If you have an account there, please take a moment to score it and perhaps leave a comment. If you're not familiar with Threadless, do visit and browse their many designs on shirts and other products.

Now I really ought to find out how a Savoy cabbage tastes.

Thanks for visiting and please come again!