Combo Maker - Free and Fun!

Okay. I will not lie to you. These past few months have been some of my best and at the same time, some of my worst. I have had so much to deal with, that I barely had time for painting and designing. I felt like a limb had been sawed off. There is still a lot to work through, but little by little, I am getting back into my element. As life as been so stressful, I decided to look for a program that was just plain fun! You can find it here: Combo Maker

I think there are many palette generators out there. All are valuable. What makes Combo Maker stand out from the crowd is the fact that you can take your palette and show it off in the way that would most help your site, blog, etc. Here are some examples on the different options that you have:

As you can tell, I changed the background colour of the first image (the balloons). That is another option available to you. Sometimes you need a very simple, clean presentation such as squares or circles. Other times, you need to invoke a sense of fun! With this palette generator, you have options. Its web-based, so no stress on your hard drive. I have not had any issues or trouble loading it up when I need it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :)

Keep Creating,

Jannina

New programs I found: Harmony and MyPaint

I've got some more goodies for you! These are some fun programs. You can use them to help you get over artists block or create some amazing masterpieces with them. Have fun!

Harmony: Open Source Digital Sketching Program

This a free web-based program that is basically a blank canvas. You have certain elements you can use such as sketchy, shaded, chrome and fur. What I liked about it is the fact that I can use it to help with artists block. As a writer might use stream of consciousness writing (or free writing) to get past a block, I can use this to just sketch away. Most items might be jibberish and not worth saving, but when you do come up with something good, you can save it.

MyPaint: Open Source Digital Painting Program

Free brush kits for MyPaint

MyPaint is fun. It's a light-weight program with brushes. I use my tablet and pen with it, but you can use a mouse and keyboard. It feels like painting. The same techniques you use in "real life" painting, you can do with the digital painting. The brushes can be made bigger or smaller, more opaque or translucent. I like that you can have it open side-by-side with a reference picture. It doesn't take a lot of space for the tools.

Did I mention both are free? :)

Another cool program

This is another cool program. It creates bezier flowers. It opens up in a web page, so you don't need to download anything. Once you are done with your picture, it saves in .png file format. Have fun!

Openrise.com Flower Power

Just an update on free programs

I just read an awesome article that describes 5 free tools used for photo-editing. I think you will like them. This page includes links to these programs: Picnik, Aviary, Splashup, Snipshot and PSE. I have mostly been a GIMP/Inkscape, Photoshop/Illustrator person. I am having great fun finding these programs.  You can find the article here:

Lightstalking.com

Although I love doing this, it would help others quicker if people who view this blog help out. My goal is to help as many people as I can. Feel free to add links to interesting, free programs you find. If you do comment with a program, please add if this program is free for non-commercial or commercial use. Thanks! :)

Truly Free Resources for Commercial Use

One of the biggest difficulties that I have had as a freelance artist is finding resources that I can use to create my commercial compositions. I am not wealthy. I love digital art and photo-manipulation, but the mainstream programs are usually out of my means. Many would say, use a torrent. I respect the work that has gone into these products, so I do not agree with pirating. Others say, if you are truly serious about your art, then you would purchase the programs.

I do agree that someone serious with their craft needs to learn the proper tools and should, at some point, purchase them. The issue is, how do you get started? You need to create artwork to sell it; use the software to create it; create the artwork to make money; make money to buy software. Its a vicious cycle. In an attempt to assist artists everywhere, I am going to compile a list of resources. These are resources that do not require a purchase. They are not shareware. They are not non-commercial freeware. They are truly free resources for commercial use. Here is my disclaimer: In no way do I disapprove of any software that charges for its use. I am simply trying to assist other artists. If I have left out any programs, please comment to this post. Thanks!


2D and Illustration Software

Gimp - GNU Image Manipulation Program I have used this program for years. It is a program similar to Adobe Photoshop.

Inkscape Open source SVG graphics editor. I recently started using this program. It is an alternative to Adobe Illustrator.


3D Software

Blender Open source 3D content creation suite.


Photo-manipulation Software and Other Resources

Beneton Movie GIF Software

PF Color Tool I LOVE this tool. I use it all the time. Anytime that I find a color I absolutely must use for a design, I use it and then find out the HEX code or values. I input that into GIMP, and voila – instant reproduction of the color!


This is a beginning. As I find more tools or resources, I’ll post a blog about them. Thanks for visiting!

An Introduction

Hello, everyone!

My name is Jannina. I have been involved in the creative arts for most of my life. I have worked in theatre, film, tv, concerts, tours and create my own art. I love discussing my craft and learning from others. As far as I am concerned, everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?

My blog is simply a place to voice ideas and learn from others. In this first blog, I'll give you a quick tour of my site. I called my site .::MoonDreams::. Designs for two reasons. The first one is that was the name I chose way back in the day when I joined Cafe Press. The second one is that .::MoonDreams::. Designs is all about daring to dream and then shooting for the moon.

This site is also a place where I can centralize all my artistic ventures. As you can see, I have a list of the sites I participate on. If you are on one as well, feel free to friend me. :) You can subscribe to posts, comments or follow this blog.

Other than the chance to get to know others, the other favorite thing about this site is my Amazon.com page at the end of the blog. It's huge! I am a total girl and I love to window shop! No offense to the guys - you can love it, too! ;) I figured others might enjoy it as well. So, I decided to gather up interesting and important products dealing with the creative arts - all in one place! This is simply a sampling to show others. Some of the products I have used, others are simply something I might want to try down the road.

I hope you enjoy your time here!

Jannina