Photoshop update

It's time to push on now, go that extra mile and finish the job off. Some decisions have to be made so here we go.

I think I'll go for the green interface.

I may also look at making the tree in the background sparkle, if not on the main page then elsewhere, perhaps in miniature form, if I have time.

In addition it's time to do something I've really been looking forward to, designing my own "CD covers" to place on each song page.

Finally, I experimented with sound levels on the songs last night. And guess what? Yes they sounded bloody awful but there is a smidgeon of hope, deep in my heart, that I can make the tunes listenable and ridicule proof at the very least.

For the boys

My dad and brother, who run a building business, require a website and a banner for their 2009 calendars.

I played around in Photoshop and produced the above, jokey effort which they liked. It's something to work on.

And I feel good about it because this is far more professional then the headers I was producing a few months ago.

My domain

Haven't been able to do much since last week but will endeavour to rediscover lost momentum tomorrow.

All I've done is by the Startree domain name which is a positive in itself.

I mean if you're going to do something you might as well go the whole hog.

The Flash course begins tonight which is excellent, it's another step nearer to my aim of being able to produce really good sites.

A flukish joy!

A flukish joy this.

I added some roses and played around with the colour. I then added a shape, filled it with a colour and, by chance, instead of the shape being filled the page turned into this psychedelic confection!

If only I could repeat the trick with different shades.

Uh-oh, Jamie once warned me of my addiction to bright colours....

Blue man

Improving all the time now, once this page is complete I can move on and put up a demo site with tunes.

Today I cut out a picture taken of me yesterday and pasted then scaled it down. I experimented with blending options and found that "inner glow" and "linear light" gave the effect seen above.

Adding text

I like the above a lot though it might be a bit text heavy?!

I'm so glad to have added the rose. It came from one of my favourite self-taken pictures "The Lonely Flower of Coedcaemawr". I simply cut it out with the pen tool and then pasted it on.

To achieve the blue rose effect I chose the blending option 'colour burn'.

I just need to add an image of me and the homepage will be complete (at last!)

(I've thought of making the options bar a rollover but I don't think there's a real need for it).

Much more professional

Now we're getting somewhere! The above is a marked improvement on my previous work.

Although I liked the simplicity of the previous design I noticed that the longest tree branch did not give me much room to play with in regards of the sky.

As I couldn't draw a new tree I was happy with, or satisfactorily extend the existing one, I cut out a new image (from the web) using the pen tool and then pasted the image onto my page.

I had to make the tree bigger using the Transform function.

Then, to my delight, I discovered quite by accident that placing the tree underneath the gradient layer resulted in a good gradient effect not just for the sky but for the tree too!

Once this stroke of luck was absorbed I decided that the picture might look good if I added some extra but minimal shots of colour.

That's why I made the bird a dark shade of gold and added, via the glory that is custom shapes, a nice ivory moon (I've always adored the moon!)

Now I need to add some introductory words to the home page and add some kind of image of me. I have a very good idea on the latter...I hope I can make it work.

When those tasks are done the music shall begin (gulp) and the song images will follow.

Rough guide to song page

One of my songs is called War Criminal, it's about the day Tony Blair left office.

The above is a guide to how this and other songs will look on my page. The image will be in a circle and those wishing to hear the tune will be able to press play on an MP3 facility at the foot of the page.

Taking flight

I didn't go to class tonight, I think it's better for me to play around on photoshop in private and only call on Jamie if I'm really stuck. I also become inhibited when I work on projects in class whereas at home I can work at my own pace, not panic if I get stuck and be far bolder than I would be at Chapter.

I'm really pleased with what I devised tonight. I hadn't worked on my project since last Friday so I was a tad rusty to start with.

This image builds on the previous one of this kind.

The bird in the middle is a custom shape I used (what a world of shapes I've discovered in that facility!).

I was going to put a picture of myself in the middle but I need the right image.

This will do for now.

It's very simple but that's the way I want it. Simple and consistent.

I'll look to do more advanced designs etc when I devise the images/covers that will go with each song.

Cut out

A simple cut out for my soon to be updated freelance website.

Not sure placing my image on the banner works. May have to think of something different. I could use it as a side image on the page or as a transparency. We shall see.

Progress!

I felt fed-up yesterday, really despondent by my lack of progress.

I decided not to attend class because apart from the front page sun animation which I've yet to properly crack, I had little else from which to build on.

As I worked on the "Hello Sunshine" banners I began to think they looked cheesy and that an eternally optimistic name for my music/photoshop project conjured up awful images of hyper holiday camp reps and false jollity.

The banners I worked on, I thought, would jar with the content I half envisioned below and on the rest of the page.

So I decided to skip the class and just experiment again, just to keep things really simple and stark.

To my relief I'm quite pleased with the above sketch, which I devised at home, for a lot of reasons.

It's just a simple experiment with the freeform pen, like the animation page so there's a consistency of site design and I think the images will tie in with the music which is very simple (just me and guitar/keyboard).

When I've honed the above I'll explain the thoughts behind it in more depth. For now I'm just grateful that I've got some design consistency and the roots from which my work can grow.

Rose-coloured sky?

Oh God, the possibilities photoshop offers!

I think once I've got my banner sorted everything else will flow.

The banners above represent progress. The one with blue sky would be the obvious one to use, of course I'll have to work on the rays, mabye put an animated GIF in the sun's centre.

However, I really like the alternative banner above. I cropped my rose picture and used it as a background for the layer.

Well, there is such a thing as a red sky.

Since it's a farmer's delight it could tune into the themes of this site which is nature and music...with a twist.

Slow progress

So much work done and still so little to build on.

My consolation is I'm putting the hours in along with the view that when you're starting out you sometimes have to work through a lot of rubbish before you start getting good.

I've been experimenting with the introductory front page (with the sun rising) and the web banner for the main index page.

I've made progress with the (demo) animation but there are two problems.

The first is when I mask out the sun it won't always disappear completely, this could be due to the brush I'm using, I don't know.

Secondly, the thought has occurred to me that it's no use having an introductory page that's stylistically very different from the web banner, I need some uniformity of design.

Where the banner is concerned I've been playing around with two different styles. One is based on the old Sun record label, I thought it might look nice to have a semi-circle kind of record-like sun at the top of the page.

However, I do like the original banner I came up with, the one with the lovely dark to sky blue gradient.

I think I'll stick with and adapt that one for now I'll try and build some simplicity from that.

A few more things

I had one of those "Where have you been all my life moments?" the other day. I discovered speech bubbles in the custom shapes section as well as musical notation and sun shapes. Oh well, better late than never.

Despite my slow pace I am, as I say, putting the work in.