A series of graphic buttons I created for the NLB book blog, High Browse Online, but never really used. Created them more for practice, as I was trying out my pen tablet. Cyan 100 x 30 pixels
I think this was inspired by a Star Wars Tie Fighter pilot action figure that belonged to my brother. Or to be specific, I built upon the helmet and the chest plate design.
In the sketch, I added a weapon in the left hand, a truncheon in his right, body armour-plating, and armoured cables (the idea was that the weapons and other equipment were hooked to his armoured suit’s control systems).
Coloured with watercolour pencils (i.e. water-soluble colour pencils) and inked over with black and a little of red (I remembered I only had these two ink colours available).
A sketch was made on plain A4 paper, in pencil. Then it was outlined with a marker point (with a heavier point) and then scanned (as JPEG file).
Using Photoshop Elements, the outlines were picked up using the Marquee tool as a separate layer. Colour fills were made over several layers (with colour gradients), then finishing it off with a photo-filter (”Render->Lens Flare” effect).
This picture was used for the Fantasy Fiction Genre Guide for the NLB’s Fiction Advisory Service.
This version was enhanced using Photoshop Elements to brighten the colour tones. I realised the original colours looked rather faded so for the re-prints of the guides, I cropped the image from the original Hi-Res scan, then adjusted the Brightness and Contrast.
I was experimenting with the various settings in Audacity (freeware — a must-try) and discovered that you could speed up the recording under the Set Rate feature (see screenshot).
After toying with a few settings on the rate, I settled at about 70,000 Hz as it gave the best overall sound — the piano keys now sounded like an electric banjo or Sitar.
Ref: Music Experiment: January Skies
Play a few bars, take sample recordings, adjust the volume controls… try a few takes… sounds OK.
Fiddled with sound editing software — that took a longer time but it was easy enough.
Happy with edited recording? OK, find a audio hosting service, create an account, upload file — and hey, I’ve become a published musician in less than a day!
Only minor editing involved — cutting out the front and end (where there was just silence), increasing the overall playback volume, and adding a “Wah-wah” effect to one small part near the end of the track.
Cyan 100 x 30 pixels
Cyan on Black 100 x 30 pixels
Plain Cyan 100 x 30 pixels
Green 100 x 30 pixels
Fuschia 100 x 30 pixels
Red 100 x 30 pixels
Red Neon 255 x 75 pixels
Neon Purple 255 x 75 pixels
Neon Blue 255 x 75 pixels
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Posted by Ivan Chew
