Monday 18 March 2013

What I Learnt From a Revamp...And a Great Book

If you've followed BoundingSquirrel for a while, and today's image post seems familiar, you'd be right. The first version of this image appeared in a previous post.

"Shoot for the Moon" inspiring sogan against a twilight sky and bright moon.

Trouble was, the original never felt quite "right", somehow. But I couldn't identify what was wrong. How could a simple picture and some text still not feel "right"?

Or at least, I couldn't identify what was wrong until I read the rather wonderful Digital Art Wonderland, by Angi  Sullins and Silas Toball. In case you're wondering, the answer to my problem was that I needed better, "authentication of text"...A.k.a playing around in much more detail with the composition and blending options of text within Photoshop. (Ever keen to put learning into action, I also applied these principles in the images in this post and this one.)

But whether you have this or any other digital art problem...or no problem at all, but you'd still like to drool at lovely images, this is a fabulous book.

Yes it's already been out for a year or so. (I think I heard about it before, but didn't feel ready for it as an absolute beginner).  But if you already know at least some of your way around Photoshop, I couldn't say enough good things about it. In any event, many of the techniques described seem reasonably, "evergreen," no matter how much Photoshop gets updated around them. And the encouragement in the text would inspire anyone with even an ounce of desire to create digital art, whatever the year happens to be.

A point to bear in mind

BTW, I bought the Kindle edition, but only because I can read it on a colour tablet. This book is crammed with colourful images, so if your e-reader is black and white, a hard copy really will be a good investment.

Finally, yes, the link to the book below  *is* an affiliate link, and if you decide to buy it that way, I will get a (tiny) percentage of the cover price. But if you enjoy creating digital art, get hold of this (in whatever way works for you). It's a lovely, and inspiring, read.


Sunday 17 March 2013

Happy St Patrick's Day...

We live in a part of London that celebrates St Patrick's Day very seriously indeed. Which of course means there will be as much merriment as possible tonight.

So, although I only have Irish ancestors, it seems appropriate to get into the spirit of the thing with this little picture. The basic idea was, "Why not create the look of a sampler for a traditional Celtic blessing, in the same way that people have always done for biblical verses?"

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back. A traditional celtic blessing, with 3 and 4 leafed clovers, and a St Patrick's day pattern in the background.


Anyway, enjoy. As ever, although I created this a couple of weeks ago I *still* didn't get my act together in time to put it on sale anywhere for March 17th. Maybe March 17th 2014, instead...

However, you can send and enjoy it as a free ecard whenever you wish, and not just on St Patrick's Day.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Free Inspiring Wallpaper

(With thanks to mensatic  for the Morguefile photo I used as a reference for the
sketch part of this photomanipulation).
You are amazing. That's an absolute fact, even if it can feel tough to remember at the end of a long day.

So I've created this free wallpaper to make it easy for all of us to remember that.

It's made to look best and load quickly on a screen,  for your personal use.( Please *do* share it too, but please link back to this post if you do. Many thanks!)



Have fun, and please do let me know what you think about this wallpaper, the download process...or BoundingSquirrel in general.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Digital Painting: Sunset over the Sea


I'm enjoying using Pixarra Twisted Brush Pro (not an affiliate link, BTW...I just like it).

But I'm not enjoying London's grey skies quite so much.

So it's started me dreaming about tropical sunsets over the sea...

To get a taste of this in your life or as  gift, have a look here:


Painted Tropical Sunset Samsung Galaxy Nexus Covers
Painted Tropical Sunset Samsung Galaxy Nexus Covers by BoundingSquirrel
Find other case for galaxy s5 at zazzle.com

PS. 08/08/2014: This design is also the part of the cover art  for "Meditation Music: Ocean Lullaby" available at CDBaby.

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Blossom Fights for Spring...

Winter is fighting with Spring here. One day the wind is still bitter, and the next it's, "I really don't need a coat today".

This ornamental almond blossom (I think it's almond blossom?) knows which side its on.

And it reassures me that everything blossoms eventually, as I work my way through making this site with many more options for you.

Keep watching...Not long now...

Friday 1 March 2013

Changes are afoot...

Changes are afoot here. It feels like spring cleaning, but without the spring. (Sometimes here in London, you just can't wait for that, or you'd be drumming your fingers for a very long time...)

Anyway, you might have notice an absence of posts and an abundance of small changes in layout and the like.

The first change is that if you have already subscribed to this feed (for which, many thanks!) or do so from now on (hint, hint...using the box on the right-many thanks also...) the little squirrel whose image is at the top of this post should appear amongst your feeds...Which just makes BoundingSquirrel that bit quicker to find.

It's a small change, but the first of many aimed at making BoundingSquirrel more focused *and* more fun...(I keep reminding myself that these two things *can* go together...)

In the meantime, have a happy weekend.