sketch: tugboat

During the day, I see a nice variety of tugboats from my office window. Each one with its own distinct character, color and shape. Some are grandiose, complete with watch towers and some are diminutive. But all of them have a common daily task – to push/pull massive barges on the East River. Observing these floating workhorses is a relaxing way to rest my eyes from staring at the computer all day. When I have a moment, I sketch this small tugboat which is taking a break and coasting down river.

Have a Happy 4th of July, everyone!

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illustration: no signal (v2)

Houston, we have a problem. The Shuttle program is shutting down. This drawing, originally, was to be a simple cartoon, but I liked how the drawing turned out, so I pushed it to be more complete, painting it digitally in Photoshop. As a kid, I marveled at the art for sci-fi such as in Star Wars. So, for that as my inspiration, plus the basic structure of the Shuttle, I worked extra on the concept design for the spaceship, including windows for passengers and sleeker aerodynamics. One day, perhaps, a ship will be used as human transportation between planets. Unfortunately, this is the last year for NASA’s Shuttle program. So the dream of mankind traveling in space will have to wait further into the future. The following list details the last flights for the Shuttle:

2010 Space Shuttle Launches

February 7
Space Shuttle: Endeavour
Site: Kennedy Space Center
Time: 4:39 a.m. EST

March 18
Space Shuttle: Discovery
Site: Kennedy Space Center
Time: 1:34 p.m. EDT

May 14
Space Shuttle: Atlantis
Site: Kennedy Space Center
Time: 2:28 p.m. EDT

July 29
Space Shuttle: Endeavour
Site: Kennedy Space Center
Time: 7:51 a.m. EDT

September 16
Space Shuttle: Discovery
Site: Kennedy Space Center
Time: 11:57 a.m. EDT

Note: date and times may vary due to weather and launch conditions.
Please refer to the official NASA site for more details.

Do you agree with the government ending the space shuttle program?

illustration: whale vs squid (v2)

In the depths of the sea, two giants confront.  This is an original artwork of mine, done with pen and ink, and then color painted in Photoshop.  Prints are available for sale in my store.

photoshop CS4 tip: merge photos

In the Adobe CS4 suite, ever wonder how to merge a series of photos to create a hi-res landscape? Please note: this only works if you took a series of shots of a scenery or subject matter. (i.e., from left to right, top to bottom, etc.)

First, navigate to your set of pictures within Adobe Bridge. In my example, I am using two photos in RAW format. In the Bridge menu bar, go to Tools > Photoshop > Photomerge…

Select the Layout, meaning how Photoshop will handle the perspective and arrangement of the pictures.

Click OK.

This part of the process may take some time for Photoshop to calculate, depending on the size of your pictures. Even longer, if they are in RAW format.

In Photoshop CS4, your final merged photograph will appear.  Note: each image will be masked and in its own layer.  This allows you to save the native PSD file for later editing, if you wish.

Finally, the cleanup.  Flatten the image.  Adjust the colors and brightness.  Crop out any stretched, unused portion of the composite, and save the panoramic file as a JPEG.