A Design Experiment.
Actual shirt used in my design experiment.
A few years ago when I was in the middle of developing my texture book I thought of an idea. I liked how traditional t-shirt design wear out over time so I asked a friend who worked at a local screen printer if they could simply print a rectangle on a shirt for me. The shirt could be a scrap shirt but I wanted it to be a dark color and the ink printed to be white.
I gave the shirt to my wife and told her every time she did the laundry I wanted her to include this shirt in the wash. She thought it was kind of dumb washing something that wasn't dirty. (She's practical) I assured her there was a reason and reminded her to just keep doing it and periodically I'd check it to see how it was degrading over time. Well it's been a little over two years now and the shirt has that wonderful natural distressed look.
Close-Up of finalized texture file.
All I had to do is scan the shirt in and using the same Photoshop actions I set up for my book I created the final texture file I can now use in a design or illustration project. Even though my wife thought it was a waste of time I assured her it ended up looking even better than I had hoped.
It only took two years to accomplish this design experiment, but good things come to those who wait. I hope you enjoy using this texture in your own design and illustraiton projects.
"Well Worn" Texture File Specifications.
The following formats are included in this download.
- Layered Grayscale PSD File (Hi-Resolution, 10x15 inches @ 315 ppi)
- Bitmap Tiff Image (Hi-Resolution, 10x15 inches @ 300 ppi)
Download "Well Worn" Texture Files. (File Size: 10.7MB)
I can't skate.
"Eastern Prowl" and "Scorcher" Board Designs.
A little over a year ago a company by the name of Zazzle.com contacted me and asked if I'd be willing to let them create an online store on their site using my artwork. I originally told them I didn't have time to set it up and they actually said they'd do it for me. So I pulled together a bunch of artwork from my archives and sent them what they needed.
Over the past year I've worked on several projects for them and I've been impressed with how they've grown their business and expanded their services. I've ordered custom designed products from them and I've been really impressed with the quality.
Zazzle.com offers a wide variety of various products you can customize like tees, shoes, bags, stickers, ties, posters and now the newest member in their arsenal of offerings is skate boards.
"Tribal Splash" and "Grinder" Board Designs.
So when Zazzle.com contacted me to pull together some skate board designs to help them kick-off their new product offering I was happy to help out. The timeline was truncated so I just dusted off some archived work and re-formatted and enhanced it for these board graphics.
Repurposing is OK, but I always prefer to create new work but unfortunately that won't happen in two days. If you read this blog frequently you'll notice I have repurposed the skull art once again for a board graphic. That is the third repurpose this month of that art and now I have to enforce a self-imposed creative moratorium preventing any further usage of that art. It's off limits. (I apologize for my creative bad habit)
List of all the skate board graphics I created:
- Eastern Prowl
- Scorcher
- Tribal Splash
- Grinder
- Ultimate Bonehead
- Serpent
- Lionheart
When I have some free time I plan on creating some completely original art for this new product offering. Even though I don't skate board and my motor skills in that regard are about as well honed as a small neck clam, I find the subject matter and genre one of the best to design for. Anything goes.
Oregon Exposure
An original set of textures by Dickie Adams.
My fellow panelist on the "freelance radio" podcast is an avid photographer and during his most recent trip to the Oregon coast he shot some cool textures.
Knowing that I am into textures he sent me his pictures and allowed me to create this set and offer it as a free download. Thank you Dickie!
It's said the perfect number is "7" and that's how many textures you get.
Source File Specifications.
Each Texture Includes the following formats for each of the "7" textures.
- Source Photo (Hi-Resolution RGB jpeg)
- Layered Grayscale PSD File (Hi-Resolution, 10x15 inches @ 315 ppi)
- Bitmap Tiff Image (Hi-Resolution, 10x15 inches @ 300 ppi)
Download Oregon Exposure Texture Set. (File Size: 187MB)
The FBI Needs You!
The FBI is here to investigate and solve illustrative crime.
I've seen a lot of case study sites. Most are kind of boring and far too serious so I wanted to avoid that. I am happy to announce the launch of a new micro-site for my own case studies called "Federal Bureau of Illustration."
The site is done tongue-in-cheek playing off the metaphor of the FBI. There are a total of seven case files in the archive right now and I'll add more as time goes on so subscribe to the sites RSS feed to be notified of new case files being posted.
The site is also geared to allow anyone to become a field agent and earn a cut of every lead they submit that turns into an actual case being opened. For all the specifics about becoming a field agent just visit the site.
FBI Headquarters, Pacific Northwest.
Back in September of 2007 I replaced my studio door with one shown above. This was the spark of inspiration that led to the "Federal Bureau of Illustration" and serves as the headquarters and Oregon field office.
I hope you enjoy the new site and consider becoming a field agent in your territory. The FBI needs you!
We All Have One
"Ultimate Bonehead" Skull Submission. (Click to see larger image)
An illustrator by the name of Ryan August started a collaborative art project a few years ago called "IWantYourSkull.com."
He has published a total of five books already and I've participated in three of them. This submission is for book number six.
So once again I find myself working on a project centered around one of the top ten favorite themes of artists, that is "Skulls." If you want to know more about the top ten themes you can read another blog post I did on it called "The Themes We Love."
I repurposed this skull art from another project I had done. You can see the tutorial about that entire project at "IllustrationClass.com."
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