This tutorial was made in another version of Illustrator, but it could still be made in CC 2015. I, however, used the new automatic pattern functions. I thought the pattern shown was too busy, so I made a simple pattern. I am not totally satisfied with it, but got tired of working with it. You are shown how to make the owl and other autumnal elements in Illustrator: berry twig, leaves, acorn and mushroom (which I chose not to use in my final design).

I used the owl and other design elements to make a new Facebook cover and profile.

NOTE: I often had trouble reaching the Zombie Dream web site (technical memory problems), so I finally made a pdf of the tutorial. Remember, this tutorial is the property of Zombie Dream.

As mentioned in a previous post, Laura Coyle’s tutorials are very good. She is truly a great teacher. Both her classes and tutorials are free at Illustratoring.com. The following is the introduction from the class:

Learn about Calligraphic Illustrator brushes, the Paintbrush Tool, and the Blob Brush Tool. You’ll learn the settings for getting the most out of these tools with a pressure sensitive Wacom tablet. Create a set of Illustrator brushes to use for linework and coloring, then follow along as Laura guides you through a complete, fun, floral art project, complete with tracing art and a custom color palette. Get into freehand drawing in Illustrator with this complete project!

Subscribe for password access (The password unlocks all of our classes), then you can watch the video lessons and download the files on our Ink & Paint private class page. Pay What You Wish if you use the classes.

This tutorial took some time to complete but the final result made it worth the time. I didn’t, however, follow the tutorial for the beach background. I used an action by PSD Dude that you can find HERE in the Envato market.

This was a fun and fairly quick tutorial. I’m not entirely pleased with the colors from the original tutorial, but after playing around with them I decided not to change them.

Right now at work I am truly as busy as a bee, as we are in the midst of arranging exams. I am truly thankful for all of the room invigilators that we have. Without them, I would not survive this time of the year.

As mentioned in Cartoon Creature Design: 1st Monster, the course “Cartoon Creature Design” consists of 11 videos that teach you how to create a set of fancy cartoon characters with various facial expressions and body shapes. This is my second friendly monster after completing lesson 2.3 and 2.4.

Only one more left, and then I plan on getting my creative juices going and make my own designs. :)

This is part 1 of the course, where the goal is to make a line art style portrait. That is, all of the details are drawn either with the pen tool og brush tool. The only coloring is the background and eyes for contrast. In part 2, which I will soon start, the goal is to color this line drawing and add simple shading.

The tutorials at PSD Box are almost always have nice end results. I can't say that I learn a lot of new things, but they do inspire me. Usually, I find a final image that says something to me, like this one, where I changed the title from "I Walk Alone" to "The Journey of Life." I like to believe that no one needs to walk alone. We just need to be able to ask for help, support or advice from family and friends.

I have to try out as many Envato tuts as possible since I am paying for a subscription. :) This was a cute idea, but I didn't learn very much. The design of the icons caught my eye and I decided to use them in my recent facebook cover/profile.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have a subscription at Envato Tuts+ (tutsplus.com) where there are a lot of really good tutorials and courses. The course “Cartoon Creature Design” consists of 11 videos that teach you how to create a set of fancy cartoon characters with various facial expressions and body shapes. This is my first first friendly monster after completing lesson 2.1 and 2.2.

The course continues by showing you how to create two new monsters, and then how to create new monsters from the faces and bodies created in the first lessons. Finally, the course gives some tips on recoloring the monsters. I will post my new monster in my blog. :)

I have a subscription at Envato Tuts+ (tutsplus.com), where there are a lot of really good tutorials and courses. The image above was the final product from the course “Creating a Retro Illustration in Illustrator”. The course consists of 7 videos showing you all the details for creating the image while teaching you important skills that can be used for creating other artwork.

This course has enough details so that you can easily follow along. As usual, I had to rewind a lot, but that’s how it is with video tutorials. Most of this course was a review of what I already knew, but I did learn about using the “roughen” effect (under “Distort & transform”) both when creating a brush and by applying it to existing strokes. The use of the roughen effect helps create a more organic look to your artwork.

I really like Blue Lightning’s tutorials. The pace is just right for me and all the instructions - both verbal and visual - are very clear.

Even before I moved to Norway I was somewhat fascinated by Vikings. I found the quote at The Viking Rune, "My Top 10 Favorite Quotes from Icelandic Sagas". The site has a fun page where you can type in your name and get it converted into Runic symbols. You can read more about this in my blog article, Vikings.

The Photoshop Training Channel tutorials are really, really good. They have all the necessary details and are explained very well. Jesús Ramirez gives general tips here and there also. He just doesn't say "do this, then do this". He explains why and this makes these tutorials so educational. 

This is the introduction to the video tutorial, which outlines what the tutorial covers:

In today’s tutorial I’m going to show you how you can use Photoshop CC’s 3D features to create a realistic composite between a 3D model and a Photograph.

You’ll learn how to place the 3D model in the right perspective and how to apply materials to the various pieces of geometry. Then you’ll learn to use IBLs (Image Based Lights) to help illuminate the scene and create reflections.

We’ll finish off the tutorial by using adjustment layers to adjust the brightness and color of the 3D model, and to create lights to further enhance this image.

After watching this tutorial, you will be well equipped with the knowledge to import 3D models into Photoshop and composite them in into your own Photographs.

This is my first tutorial using Paint Shop Pro X7. I must say my first impression is not that good because the program crashed six times while doing this tutorial. This was, however, a fun tutorial. I did, however, use Photoshop a little as I found a Photoshop custom shape for the silhouette in front. It was brought into Photoshop and converted into a psd and then copied as a new layer in my Paint Shop Pro image.

This was a very good tutorial. It was easy to follow and all of the steps were well-explained. The tutorial is a 47-minute tutorial where you learn the following (taken from the introduction to the tutorial):

03:34 – Extract foreground from background using the quick selection tool.

04:20 – Use the quick mask mode to refine your selection.

05:44 – Use the “refine mask” panel.

06:20 – Add a “movie look” to your image.

09:25 – Create a smokey background using the “clouds” filter

09:58 – Use the warp transform tool to shape the smokey background.

13:40 – Add film grain to your image.

17:00 – Use vector masks to create black bars.

24:03 – Add a slogan to your movie poster.

33:57 – Create the Bourne Legacy logo.

40:55 – Add the actor credits to your poster.

Links to materials are provided. If you have a VIP membership you can download the tutorial writer's final psd. I would consider this an intermediate tutorial. It took some playing around to get the final image like I wanted it. I added text and grunge edges based on the tutorial "Photo Grunge Edges" at pshero.

A really fun tutorial where composition is in focus. Links to the resources used in the tutorial are provided.

Links to materials are provided but some of the links are "dead". A link to the author's final psd is also provided. In my opinion, the final composition is eye-catching and inspires reflection. This tutorial is not for beginners to image editing but as a noobie to Photoshop I had no problems following the tutorial.

All materials are provided. Note however that the extra video is not accessible. I liked the composition of this tutorial but didn't like the text, so I changed the text and added some text effects not included in the tutorial. Also made some other minor adjustments to get the image to look like I wanted it to look. :) This  tutorial is not for beginners to image editing but as a noobie to Photoshop I had no problems following the tutorial.

I made this for my mother for Mother’s Day in 2014. A really lovely tutorial.

Despite the tutorial being written in French, it was easy to follow – with the help of Google translate, of course. Nice colors and design.

A very original tutorial by Jillie. It was easy to follow. I love the setting and the quote.

The use of texture brushes creates a great mood. I love this photo of my daughter and two of her friends when they were in Thailand.

A very fun tutorial with a great message.

Hunting eggs on Easter is one of my fondest memories, in addition to, Easter baskets full of candy. I probably should have had more candles and less candy. :)

I really enjoyed this tutorial. I hope to try it again with a different main image and colors. There are so many posibilities.

Wishes for a prosperous new year to all my family and friends.

Previously you had to have a paid membership to access Ann's tutorials but now ASD Webdesigns has exclusive rights to publish these tutorials. Ann’s tutorials are really creative and most of them do not require a lot of external plugins, which makes them quicker to complete.

Previously you had to have a paid membership to access Ann's tutorials but now ASD Webdesigns has exclusive rights to publish these tutorials. A nice tutorial that looks so elegant.