Sunday, December 30, 2012

Words of Encouragement - Romans 5:8


Last post of the year! A poster for your encouragement! Romans 5:8 - "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

Just wanted to thank you all for reading my blog. You all are such a blessing. Just in the first year of my blog running, I have had over 300 views. What a blessing! 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Digital Art - Dandelion


Here is some digital art I did a while back. Took me quite a while to put it together. The most challenging aspect of this project would probably have been getting the textures to match. In the bottom right, you can see the text from my logo but the actual logo just stuck out too much. Sorry for not posting more in December! I have been taking a break from design but have lots of projects coming up!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Free Phone Background (Wide) - Elephants


Today, I had a request to make a phone background from a very special friend! She wanted an elephant phone background. Here it is! It is made for Android phones, which allow you to scroll through the backgrounds side to side. Usually, I make iPhone backgrounds because I know many of my friends have iPhones. I can make backgrounds for anyone who sends in a request so comment away with at least your phone type so I can make a version for your phone too!

The look I was originally going for was a bright and colorful background with multicolored elephants. They had colors splattered all their faces. But, then Victoria, my friend, tried out the background but I mixed up the dimensions! To fix this blunder, I mixed up the colors and the image to create a new look that would fit her phone. In the end, I like the collage look better than the other image. The logo even fit in perfectly! 

Like the photo? Share it with your friends!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving - Celebrate with Pi

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'm thankful for all of my friends and family, which includes my church family too! You guys are such a blessing to me. Love you all! The list of the people and things that I am thankful for would take up three whole blogs so I'll just say, you all are great and I don't know what I would do with out you guys.

To celebrate Thanksgiving, have some pi. Or to be specific, have one hundred digits of pie. (Note: some may be covered by an actual pie...)

 Pumpkin pie is my favorite pie on Thanksgiving but pecan pie is a close second. Of course, it is not like I would pass up too many types of pie either way. I'm not really picky.

Here is a verse to encourage you on Thanksgiving Day: Colossians 3:15 (NLT)
“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” 

Oh, and pies are not square.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Free Phone Background - "No Shave November"

Free iPhone background for all you guys out there in support of No-Shave November. Are any of you going to participate? Even if you don't, show your support by sporting this free phone background!

Free to use and share, as always, I appreciate you passing my blog link along to those you share it with.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Artistic Editing and NEW LOGO!



Two important features of this picture: editing that took me quite a long time and a NEW LOGO! After reading several design magazines and seeing the breath taking editing, I decided try my hand at artistic editing. I took a regular picture of a rose and turned it into something that I would be proud to hang on my wall as artwork. Believe it or not, the editing on the background took me longer than the rose itself. First, I recolored the background due to the fact that it was a much darker green than what I desired. Quite a few brush strokes and filters later, I had a finished background. The rose stumped me for quite sometime. I feared the rose would blend into the background too much. My goal was to have the background compliment the vibrant tones in the rose. The outline around the rose blended the whole picture together to complete the image.

As for the logo, I originally was going to go with something more round. However, I am pleased with the final product. I plan on editing the colors as needed for each picture. The original can be seen below in a grey version. I am really excited to finally have something to brand. You can be sure that you'll be seeing this little guy in the future.



Friday, September 28, 2012

Fall Editing - Photography

Fall is upon us! The cool weather, fresh tea, and a toasty fires are just a few of my favorite aspects of this season. I absolutely adore the warm colors of the falling leaves all around us. These colors make for perfect pictures filled with lovely reds, oranges, and other golden tones. In this post, I am going to share how I brought out the bright fall tones in this picture so you too can have gorgeous pictures this autumn.

This picture was actually taken with the sun brightly shining like a summer day. So, how did I get the reds, oranges, and pinks to really stand out? Editing! For this picture, I used Picassa but I imagine that most photo editors could do the same editing. First, I fixed the colors to make the picture seem a little brighter. Then, I tinted the picture slightly red. I used the brightest red setting and faded it to about 70% or so. Next, I added a little brownish yellow by increasing the color temperature. If you'd like, sometimes a light vignette finishes the picture and adds that extra touch, completing the autumn feel. In this picture, I chose not to add one because I liked how the focus framed the picture.

Don't be afraid to adjust the colors. Editing should be entertaining and filled with experiments. Just be careful not to over edit pictures. Only a few alterations are necessary to draw out the exquisite fall colors usually. Adding a few intensely colored fallen leaves, an enchanting sunset or other unique fall features make editing quite simple and rewarding. Well, like I said, fall is upon us! Before it disappears, take your fall pictures! Fall pictures make terrific family portraits, gifts to friends or just wonderful reminders of the merry times shared with people you love this season.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Hand Drawn Art - "Save a Life"



Today, I am not going to post much. I am not going to discuss any art techniques. I am not going to lecture or discuss the art. Just going to ask one question. With all the evil and brokenness in the world, what are you doing to save a life?

Think about it.

While you're thinking, feel free to listen to, "Save a Life" by Manic Drive, who inspired today's post/art.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

First Phone Background - Jesus Loves You

Today, I have felt really inspired to do art and graphic design. So, I decided to work on some projects I promised my readers.

Without further adieu, here is my first ever iPhone background! Feel free to download it and share it! All I ask is that you do not claim my artwork as your own.

Remember Jesus loves you!

P.S. - If your friends like the art, please send them here for more!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Hand Drawn Art - Awakening

Worship inspired me today to draw a bit on the back of the sermon notes as I was listening. His Place's worship band preformed one of my favorite praise songs, "Awakening" by Hillsong. I appreciate the song, "Awakening" because it reminds me to rekindle my passion for serving God everyday. I wake up everyday, so why not reawaken my passion for the Lord everyday?

 Unsurprisingly, I find hand drawing entertaining and relaxing. Although computer art is fascinating and enjoyable, it doesn't allow my mind to wander hand drawing does. Lately, I have wanted to experiment with cross-hatch shading for a while and so I did today! For those who don't know, cross-hatch shading is a type of shading using lines that aren't smoothed out. In my picture you can see the cross-hatch shading most in the word, "Awakening". Cross-hatching shading is usually used to show depth. I used cross-hatching to make the words seem almost 3D. Well, that is all for today!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Up Coming Projects!

So, I wanted to post on this blog at least monthly but because of some recent events I have not been able to. However, I do have some exciting news! I have new project ideas to work on!

What I'll be working on soon:
  • Inspirational iPhone backgrounds (IE: Bible verses, quotes, etc.)
  • Videos... Tons of videos! 
With all the craziness in my life right now, I need a bit of assistance. I would love to have lots and lots of input from everyone. What you can do to help me: Feedback!

Comment with your favorite:
  • Bible Verse
  • Inspirational Quote
  • Cool saying
  • Joke (Maybe?)
  • Whatever other text you'd like to see on a background
  • All of the above!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Graphic Design - HisGeneration

Currently I do some graphic design for my church HisPlace Family Church for the youth group and periodically I will post some of the flyers I make for the events.

Here is my favorite flyer that I have put together recently:

Graceful By Design

My Name is Grace. I believe that everything has a purpose and a design. I dream of creating designs to share with the world. Designing is an art and is where my passion lies. Everyday, I am learning new media techniques and developing my skills.

What I do:
  • Currently, I am an amateur graphic designer and videographer. I will be posting my designs, video clips and thoughts here.
My interests:
  • I am passionate about art, animation, graphics, HTML, anything having to do with Microsoft Office, and videos. My dream is to graduate with an Animation and Graphic design degree.