Photoshop special effects are amongst my favorite things to do with photographs.� I recently found a tutorial over at psdtuts.com that shows you how to convert a regular portrait photo into a Michelangelo-esque statue using a few photoshop tricks.� You can see my two attempts at following this tutorial below. One statue looks more like stone, I then added a column and some lighting.� I made the other statue look more like marble for a sleeker surface texture, I then added some angel wings.

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I just love ancient artifacts. So I was very pleased when a family member gave me the gift of a sculpture he made. It was one of a series of three sculptures, all slightly different… all excellent. The figure is a rendition of traditional Peruvian/Pre-Columbian artifacts. Hand crafted of clay and painted with gold accents, it has become a favorite item of home decor. It’s truly a museum quality piece from the hands of a very talented artisan hobbyist, who seeks no acknowledgment here for the work.

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It’s been quite a while since we posted some textures. I found these free wet sand textures while researching for a cd design project. They are from a site called Colorburned, which has some nice downloads you might want to check out. There are actually 2 volumes of the free wet sand textures, for a total of 54 high resolution images (2816 x 2112) in all. Read the rest of this entry »

This free vector download contains four versions of a spiral leaf flower – two vectors (B&W and color) and two layered Photoshop files.

The PSD files show two variations of layer blending modes, layer effects and masks on the vector to create softness and drama. Play around with the layers to see how they interact to create different looks. The files are Photoshop CS format.

The EPS vectors are for Illustrator 8 or higher, or any other vector based software.

Like all of our free vectors, these files can be used for any and everything, except posting for download on another website. So both personal and commercial use is OK.

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Bond, James Bond or shall I say Designing, Keep designing.com. Penguin Books UK has recently released the complete collection of Ian Flemings 007 series, starring everyones favorite British spy James “I never met a girl I didn’t shag” Bond. The cover art of this book series exemplify a perfect synergy betwixt illustration and design. The type treatment is beautifully composed in unison with the watercolor illustrations by Michael Gillette– creating some eye catching book cover art. I’ll probably purchase the series just to adorn my book shelves, they’re just so pretty, the the artwork- as well as the ladies. Read the rest of this entry »

I just discovered a resource for excellent quality free wood textures for 2D or 3D use. The resolution of the scans are very high – all around 2100×3300 pixels. They range from subtle, light colored grains to some dark knotty woods. It helps to speak german if you’re looking for a specific type of wood. Below are just 3 samples of the 90 currently available files that you can find here at defcon-x.de.