Thursday, March 27, 2008

I Make Computer Graphics, You Can Too!

I make many things. As the last post attests to, I make videos (occasionally), but I also make computer graphics. In fact, I mentioned a computer graphics program and a couple of processes in the previous post.

I started out tinkering with computer graphics and photo manipulation back when I was in high school with a version of Paintshop Pro 7 I downloaded off Kazaa (yes, I know, not exactly a moral thing to do, but I was a kid, I wanted something, and I couldn't pay for it). I don't know why I didn't go with Photoshop, but that's not the point. I learned the basics from that program, and I still miss its interface from time to time :D

Anyway, after playing with that for a good while, and learning of the dangers (and immorality :D) of filesharing, I decided I needed a change. I had read on a forum somewhere about this thing called the Gimp that was free (and opensource), and decided to check it out. I absolutely hated it at first. It was nothing like Jasc's PSP 7, and I couldn't do what I wanted to do with it. I decided to stick with it just because I couldn't afford anything else, and started to relearn how to do things in the Gimp that I used to do in PSP 7.

Fast forward a few years to now, and I can say I'm definitely satisfied with the Gimp. I don't use all the features available, but I can usually get the results I desire. I've also added Inkscape (another free and opensource graphics program) to my arsenal to handle vector graphics.

As for things I've created with these programs, all the images used in the design of this blog (and my other blogs) were created with the Gimp and Inkscape. This banner I used for my travel blog (that hasn't been updated in a while :D) was made from a bunch of images that I chopped up and mashed together. And I made the backwards New Zealand sign in Inkscape. Here it is without the text:


I recently designed a banner for Cmae's blog:


And although they haven't decided to use it, I designed a web 2.0 logo for ...shot then.com (my first real attempt at a web 2.0 style logo):
shotthenlogo

I made this for a friend:
Then there's my avatar:


And then this for another friend's avatar (that Cap'n text wasn't originally there):
Made this for another friend:


Another thing made for a friend:


I made this just for fun:


This one was for a friend (the guy actually in the image :D He doesn't look like that in real life :D):


Oh, and that image I made for Valentine's Day:
Spear Thru Heart (C) Fat Lazy Guy

All images Creative Commons License where applicable.

Haha, this turned into a gallery of sorts. I just wanted to show off some images I'm proud of.

So yeah. I make computer graphics, and you can too!

2 comments:

Leanne said...

Randomly stumbled upon your blog..nice graphics.

I like the first one--You wanna come to the states? I wanna come to New Zealand. Let's switch places, haha

Cool blog, none the less.

Apex Zombie said...

Ah, thanks, and welcome!

Yeah, I'm planning a trip to the States eventually. Haha, I'll think about it ;)

Cheers. And thanks for the comment, it's much appreciated.