Work at Home, Graphic Design Business Freebies and Discounts

By Janet Dodrill

Working at Home? See MashableShop.com for this Month’s Freebies and Discounts to Online Courses, Apps and Subscriptions.

Free: 1-Month Trial to Shutterstock

The Digital Marketing Strategy Ebook Freebie

Lessons in Entrepreneurship: Walt Disney Freebie Course

Free: Shopify 14-Day Subscription

The Top 5 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read, Free

2020 Mac Productivity Essentials Bundle $29.99

Breaks For Eyes for Mac $9.99

PDF Reader Pro For Mac $39.99

ChargeHub X3: 3-Port USB SuperCharger $29.99

WorkspacePro: Multiple App Launcher for Mac $7.99

The National Gallery Online Art Collection

By Janet Dodrill

The National Gallery (@NationalGallery) tweeted on July 16, 2015 that now images can be downloaded from their collection for personal use! That got me interested in exploring their website www.nationalgallery.org.uk. Here are a few links to good resources, I discovered there, for the art enthusiast!

Online Collection:
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings

Explore the paintings:
Collection overview, 30 ‘must-see’ paintings, paintings room by room, a virtual tour of over 300 paintings, the picture of the month, the latest loans and acquisitions, and more.
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/view-the-collection

This month, the picture of the month is Peter Paul Rubens, A Roman Triumph, about 1630, with free downloadable wallpaper:
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/upload/img/wallpaper-rubens-a-roman-triumph-ng278.jpg

Download the iPhone app:
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/learn-about-art

The National Gallery Channel:
Watch video and learn about hidden symbolism in paintings, techniques of the old masters, contemporary artists, impressionism, and more.
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/channel

The National Gallery Podcasts:
Listen to information on Cézanne, Manet, Rembrandt, Bruegel, Monet, Millet, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and more.
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcasts

Caring for the paintings:
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/caring-for-the-paintings

 

Peter Paul Rubens, A Roman Triumph, about 1630, wallpaper download from the National Gallery website.

The Effects of Waterlogue

By Janet Dodrill

Have you heard of the iPhone and iPad app called Waterlogue? The app converts your photos into beautiful watercolor-like images. It is published by Tinrocket, LLC and was co-created by John Balestrieri (Tinrocket, LLC) and Robert Clair (Chromatic Bytes, LLC). Available on iTunes for $2.99, it has a 4+ customer rating.

It is one of my favorite art apps to use. I create custom note cards using images that I first shoot on the iPad and then run them through Waterlogue.

Below are a few images (before and after) I created using various filters in the app.

iPad photo and Waterlogue app image.

iPad photo and Waterlogue app image.

Art Apps for iPad, ArtStudio and Inkpad

By Janet Dodrill

ArtStudio for iPad
By Lucky Clan
$4.99
v5.16 (Oct. 2013)
Sylwester Los
(iPhone c.2010; iPad c.2012) iPad Mini, iPod

Offers In-App Purchases:

1. Pack 1 $4.99
2. Watercolors $.99
3. Hair $.99
4. Fur $.99
5. Fire $.99
6. Oils $.99
7. Smoke $.99
8. Grass $.99
9. Markers $.99
10. Trees $.99

Selected Specs/Features:

-Raster-based
-iOS 4.3 or later
-21.5MB
-5 Star Rating
-Export as JPG/PNG/PSD to camera roll, email, clipboard, iTunes
-450 Brushes,150 free
-Sizes (In-App) 1024 x 768 iPad (approx. 14 x 10.5″ at 72ppi, 2.25MB/2.5 x 3.5″ at 300ppi); 2048 x 1536 (approx. 28 x 21″ at 72ppi, 9MB/6.75 x 5″ @ 300ppi); iPad with Retina; Max image size 3264 x 2448 (approx. 45 x 34″ at 72ppi, 23MB/10.75 x 8″ @ 300 ppi), other presets

Resources:

Lucky Clan http://www.luckyclan.com

Twitter http://twitter.com/lucky_clan

Manual http://www.luckyclan.com/artstudio_manual.pdf

Features http://www.luckyclan.com/artstudio/?page=features

Examples of what can be done in ArtStudio (videos) http://www.luckyclan.com/artstudio/?page=videos

ArtStudio Flickr Gallery (iPhone) http://www.flickr.com/groups/artstudioimages/

ArtStudio How to get started digital painting on iPad, David Allen 6:59 (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBfeKFYc5xU

——–
Inkpad
By Taptrix, Inc.
FREE
v1.2 (Mar. 2014)
© Steve Sprang (Creator of Brushes App)
(c.2011)

Selected Specs/Features:

-Vector-based
-iOS 7.0 or later
-5.1MB
-5 Star Rating
-Export as JPEG, PNG, PDF, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), SVGZ (Scalable Vector Graphics compressed), Inkpad
-Sizes (In-App) Sizes i.e. Letter, Legal, Tabloid, A4, other standard sizes, or Custom Pixel; Portrait or Landscape options

Resources:

Twitter http://twitter.com/taptrix (No Tweets!)

Inkpad Demo, TaptrixInc 3:05 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU2UFmrDGk4

Apps Tutorial – Inkpad, John Patten 14:55 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZwrecRbsRo

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Note: This material posted in preparation for Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group’s “A Quick Tour of Art Apps for iPad” presentation, March 27, 2014. Featured speakers include Nancy Dinger Aikins, Henry Lee, Janet Dodrill, Marvin Sable.

Creating Art with an iPad

By Janet Dodrill

iPad drawing by Janet Dodrill.

Drawing is something I have always loved, and trained for in fine arts school. Then came the computer and I learned the creative electronic tools to make a living as a graphic designer. Along came the iPad and I avoided it primarily because of the expense, saving for two years to afford one. After the purchase, again, I avoided it. In my mind it was not enough like the computer and required learning to use it. I didn’t really know what to do with it or what it could be used for. A year and a half later, I now pick it up regularly to reconnect with my love for drawing. After installing some art Apps, I began using them. I hope to keep practicing and improving my (digital) drawing skills. I know now that both drawing and working with the iPad do take practice! The key for me, like working towards anything worthwhile in life, is to keep practicing.

I will be briefly sharing some of my work and the tools used for it at an upcoming presentation later this month:

Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group
“A Quick Tour of Art Apps for iPad”
Speakers: Nancy Aikins. Henry Lee, Janet Dodrill, Marvin Sable
Thursday, March 27, 2014
New Horizons Computer Learning Center
1 Infinity Corp Ctr. Dr., #250
Cleveland, OH 44125
Free for CDPUG members, $10 for guests
Networking at 6pm, Meeting at 6:30 – 8pm
More information: www.cdpug.org

Digital Finger Painting, Artist Nancy Aikins

By Janet Dodrill

Nancy Aikins displays her iPad art in South Euclid, Ohio through March 2014.

Nancy Dinger Aikins paints and draws with her finger…using an iPad! Her style is very unique and she is explorative in her approach to her art. Using principles in color theory, design, use of theme and pattern, she creates visually-appealing energetic compositions. She uses art Apps such as ArtRage, ArtStudio, Paper53, Repix, Percolator and DistressedFX to make her artistic art work. With confidence and integrity, she pushes and manipulates the tools and her images to extremes, in her personal journey which she shares with us in her work.

Nancy currently has some of her work on display in a group exhibit at Coffee Phix, 4441 Mayfield Road, South Euclid, Ohio 44121 through March 2014.

You can find Nancy’s iPad art on her web site, Doodling in the Dark, at www.nancy-aikins.squarespace.com and selected pieces for sale on her ETSY site, Every Crayon in the Box, at www.etsy.com/shop/everycrayoninthebox.

(Photo: Janet Dodrill)

iPhone’s iOS6 Panorama Camera Feature

By Janet Dodrill

Have you experienced the panoramic photography option on iPhone 5’s using iOS6 (or iPhone 4S)? It can take up to a full 240-degree photo.

With little or no experience, one can create digital panoramic still pictures. With the iPhone 5, hold the camera vertically and access the camera app, press the camera shutter button and gently move the camera on a level horizontal path until you have captured the desired composition and then press the camera button again. The image will save to your camera roll. (Hold the camera horizontally and move the camera up to create a ‘vertorama’!)

These are panoramic images I created recently using the iPhone 5:

Verizon Store Panoramic by Janet Dodrill.

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago Panoramic by Janet Dodrill.

 

 

 

 

 

Kovels Antiques, Inc. Panoramic by Janet Dodrill

 

 

 

 

 

How-To Video Resources:

Mastering panoramic photography in iOS 6 (CNET)

How to take panorama photos in iOS 6 on the iPhone 5 (CNET)

Gallery One Offers Art & Technology Interactivity at Cleveland Museum of Art

By Janet Dodrill

Gallery One’s Image Touch Screen Wall, at the Cleveland Museum of Art

Like art and technology? The recently opened Gallery One at Cleveland Museum of Art offers something for the whole family.

A room with a giant wall touch screen allows you to hand-pan through over 3,500

Gallery One’s Make a Face kiosk, matches art up to your facial expression.

images from the museum’s world-renowned permanent collection. The experience is enriching, and categories and themes of art are visually presented and refreshed often. I was informed by a tour guide that each touch tile cost $8,000 and it is the only one of its kind in the country. One of the tiles was pulled off the wall for us to see the light source and electronics behind it. We were ensured that the wall screen is wiped down twice daily for cleanliness!

Gallery One’s application matches your gesture to art.

Draw any shape in the Studio Play exploring room on a kiosk called ‘Line and Shape’, and it visually pairs-up and displays a museum object using that shape, whether it’s an edge of a ceramic vase, or a design in a tapestry.

‘Make a Face’ lets you make a face in front of a kiosk which is shot by a web cam, and

Gallery One’s clay vessel creation simulation.

is matched to a face in the museum’s collection and displays them side by side. The same idea is used in making a body gesture by standing in front of the screen. A sculpture with a similar pose appears next to your image.

On the same kiosk, use the touch screen and take a slab of clay and roll it, cut it and create a vessel.

Gallery One’s image touch technology wall.

Bring your iPad or rent one there for $5 (the rentals use a great iPad case called GripCase, available at the museum gift shop or online), and run the ArtLens free app (iOS only). You can download it at the app store prior to your visit, and enjoy information and videos about the Gallery One collection even if off-site. Utilize it there and get assigned a special plastic disc with a micro-chip to pair your tablet up with the touch wall. Scroll through images with your hand on the wall and find your favorites. Press a heart shape under that image and it will save it to your iPad in a favorites list. Then your iPad allows you to share those images by email or social media, or create a custom tour which can be saved and viewed later, which includes detailed information about those particular works of art.

Gallery One’s near you now app feature.

Gallery One’s ArtLens app gives information on art.

Travel around the room in the Gallery One exhibit (I was told photo-taking works on your iPad is allowed here), use ArtLens to let your device show you where you are in the exhibit using the ‘Near You Now’ feature. Hold up your tablet lens to a work of art, and your app will bring up a detailed description of that work of art which may include audio or video. Don’t want to use an iPad? There is a floor kiosk in each area of the Gallery One exhibit floor to allow you to call-up more information on the art you are standing near, or interact by taking polls. Works in this exhibit include works by Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Viktor Schreckengost, Giovanni Panini, and Chuck Close.

A Gallery One interactive kiosk.

See all this and even more attractions at this wonderful art and technology-based interactive gallery. Also on your trip there, enjoy the space in the new atrium, visit the restaurant, and explore the fabulous new museum store.

Related Links:

The Cleveland Museum of Art/ learn/in the galleries

ArtLens | Cleveland Museum of Art

Applause (video) ArtLens at the Cleveland Museum of Art

ArtLens app at the Cleveland Museum of Art is impressive, but it has a few glitches, The Plain Dealer

Vine App, Brings 6-Second Video to Twitter

By Janet Dodrill

Three days ago Vine was launched, a six-second video creator social media app, acquired by Twitter.

The Vine App’s Twitter Page.

This will open up creative ways for Twitter users to tell a short story visually, in addition to the brief 140-character micro-logging allotment they currently have.

Currently only available for iPhone and iPod Touch, Vine (@vineapp) hopes to have an Android version, in addition to bug fixes and enhancements shortly. It is currently available free at the App Store.

Jack Dorsey (@jack), Twitter creator and Square founder recently endorsed Vine by posting tweets utilizing Vine videos and stated on January 24, 2013 about Vine, “…This one’s going to be big.”

Jack’s tweet on January 24, 2013.

The user-generated looping videos are anticipated to only improve in time, after the initial novelty has worn off and learning curve overcome.

Below are some recent articles and links of interest, which review the app and explain how to use it, with several showing examples of the videos created with Vine.

Introducing Vine (Vine Blog)

Vine: A new way to share (Twitter Blog)

Seconds of pleasure: A few cool Vine videos (CNN Tech)

Twitter’s Vine App: How to Use It (PC Magazine)

6 ways Vine’s six seconds may change Twitter (CNN Tech)

_____

Recent Vine News, April 2013:

Vine Is the Top Free iPhone App (Mashable)

‘Vine Resume’ Woman Gets a Job (Mashable)

Old Cleveland Postcards

By Janet Dodrill

Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, postcard

Recently, by going through family photos, albums and scrapbooks, these three old Cleveland postcards of Euclid Avenue, University Circle and the Hollenden building, were discovered, passed down through our family. I love old Cleveland pictures, and it is even interesting seeing the written correspondence and stamps on some of them.

People crave nostalgia, and Clevelander’s enjoy anything Cleveland! Progress in civilization changes things so quickly, which we can mostly tell by looking back.

I’ve noticed, working in the graphics industry, that back in the day of keylines, typesetting,

University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio, postcard

hand-lettering and illustration (for me it was 1970s through early 1990s), we strived to achieve a polished high end look that was difficult to manufacture by hand. Then when the desktop publishing-capable computers were introduced it seemed to be the answer to our hopes. We could generate clean text and grab clip art graphics. However, by the late 1990s fonts were being created with a hand-written or grunge look. Stock illustration was less sleek and more stroked and textured. We sought a more natural look from our computer layouts, and for the visuals to appear to be more authentic.

Hollenden Building, Cleveland Ohio, postcard

I have found a similar comparison with the direction of cameras and photography. Over time we have made many improvements to cameras and photographic imagery. From tin to plates to film to now digital cameras with ever-increasing megapixels and other features. How ironic that we get software and app filters to give us an old sepia tone or vintage look.

The innovative Instagram, available first, offered a multiple digital image filter app that could be applied from a phone or tablet and posted on the world wide web for millions to see and took off in popularity. And there are many more other apps that now do the same thing, most recently Twitter and Flickr.

Seeing old postcards is still special. That is when the imagery was the best it could be. It brings us back to a time when we had other priorities. You can just tell by these postcards that the fancy architecture shown would have drawn visitors to Cleveland, and that people were out catching cable cars, operating their horse-drawn carriages while going downtown to shop or work at their businesses, and other things of the day. It starts-off our imaginations when we look at them.

Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, postcard

University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio, postcard

Hollenden Building, Cleveland, Ohio, postcard