First Free Desktop Background - Fist

What is a mix of photography, awesome editing, and procrastination? The free image in this this post! This week I was inspired by something I heard at a seminar to create this image. I believe it was my pastor who said, "Never quit on a bad day". To view the full size and download the background you can use this link. This is my first free desktop background to ever create and I want to share it with all my readers. It is 1200 x 1600 and will probably fit most screens. If you just play around with the settings, you should be able to get it centered just right.

It took me about 80 tries to get the right photo of my fist. Yes, that is my own hand, which made it quite difficult to take the picture. What is more, I used my right hand for the picture. After struggling to get my left hand to take the picture correctly, I recommend finding a hand model for anyone interested in doing their own photography with hands.

Pictured left is the base for the background. Editing the photo took quite a lot of trial and error. I used Photoshop for the majority of the editing and Picasa for the final touch ups. The background seen in the picture is my sister's black blanket, which meant that background inherently had wrinkles and a cloth texture. Using the magic wand in Photoshop, I removed the background completely and refilled it with black. Next, I added a new layer and filled it with red. On the same layer, I changed the layer setting to difference. Then, I added a paper texture to the image. Lastly, I fixed the lighting and added in some grungy effects. The font was an easy choice but getting the size right was tricky, due to the number of words on each line. Overall, I'd say the whole thing took maybe around three to four hours.

Hope you guys like the background! Share it with your friends!

P.S. - Just wanted to let you all know that my blog has been viewed on 3 of the 7 continents! Thank you all so much for taking time from your day to read my blog!

Free Phone Background - Love in the Air

Lately, I have been experimenting with creating clouds in Photoshop and here is the product! It is a vertical phone background and it will work for iPhones. Today, I am going to share how I made this background. Although I usually just post the backgrounds for everyone to share, today I feel like writing a more lengthy post.

To create the appropriate blue hue for the sky, I started with a light blue and a slightly darker blue. Not too different because the difference would have been obvious. The background is a gradient of the two different blues. I wanted it to be the same hue of a Texas sunny day.

For the clouds, while they appear white, they are actually a lighter version of the sky blue. It is close to white but not quite. All clouds are pretty unique so I tried to make each cloud as unique as I could. Except for the cloud hearts above the, "I"s in the words, "is" and, "air" because I wanted those to match.

Lastly, I added the words on top of the picture. This time, they started out white. To get the cloudy color on the words, I faded the words until they looked as desired. Placing the words was a bit more challenging because it was difficult to read the words when they were placed on top of the clouds. I also wanted to keep in mind the iPhone tool bar at the bottom of the screen. If placed too low, the words cannot be read. To finish the picture, I added my logo and faded it a bit to ensure it doesn't distract from the whole picture.

The inspiration from this picture actually comes from all the engagements, weddings, and babies that have been happening in the lives of my friends and family. (Well, no babies in my family... yet.) Seeing all my friends and family grow up, move out, and start families of their own has made me think that there must be something in the air.

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1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

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!

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.

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!