Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe

Giveaway Winner Announced!

Random.org says that the giveaway winner is:

Congratulations, Cor Mariae! I can't wait to see what you pick out!

You didn't leave a contact email, so please write to me at ShealynnsFaerieShoppe{at}gmail{dot}com!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered! :)

1 comments

, by Shaylynn

Last Chance! Giveaway!!!!

Today is your last chance to enter the giveaway!

Check out { this post } to see how you can enter! Don't forget to let your friends know!

The winner will be chosen late tonight and announced tomorrow!

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, by Shaylynn

art

Digital Coloring { Guest Post }

I'm am so excited to introduce Elenatintil! You've probably heard me talk about her before. Although I haven't met her in person (yet), she has been a huge inspiration in my life! She runs the Fairy Tale Forum, edits and produces I&F, directed the Shadow of the Bear-- The Movie, helped get me started on the whole writing-is-actually-really-really-fun, and more.

Elena is a wonderful artist, and I've been amazed by her coloring skills. Today she is sharing a tutorial on digital coloring. You don't have to buy a fancy software-- Elena uses GIMP, which you can download for free here.

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Elenatintil is a writer, artist, and costumer who regularly blogs on art, film, books and life at www.elenatintil.blogspot.com. She also is an occasionally ambitious filmmaker, whose latest project is a feature length film based on Regina Doman's "The Shadow of the Bear." You can find out more about the film by going to www.theshadowofthebear.blogspot.com. In her spare time Elena writes for and produces the (FREE!) e-magazine "Ink and Fairydust" under the name "Elizabeth Hausladen." You can read back issues and more about about the magazine at www.inkandfairydust.com.

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Have you ever wondered how to color a picture on the computer? Believe it or not, digital coloring is fast becoming one of the primary color mediums for artists today. Nearly all comic books are colored digitally, and most fan creations feature the medium as well.

I really enjoy digital coloring. It's a flexible, forgiving medium that can be easily reproduced, shared or tweaked, and you can get started for free. I use the software GIMP (which this tutorial will be using), which is a free online software that functions like a slightly less sophisticated version of Photoshop.

You can also color using a mouse (I actually got started using my laptop touchpad!), but if you really get into it, I highly recommend investing in a digital drawing tablet. Top of the line is a Wacom, of which I have the Wacom Bamboo Pen. At $70 it's a good price-range for a Christmas or birthday gift.

So, lets get started, shall we?

For this picture I will be using an inked sketch of X-Men leader Cyclops. Comic book art these days has gotten so good that it's worth studying for the technique alone. It's also the perfect platform for digital drawing.

#1 – Open your black and white inked drawing into GIMP (or the software of your choice).

#2 – Under the inked layer, add another layer of pure white. Then, set the inked layer to “multiply” (as shown in the photo below). Multiple automatically makes all white pixels transparent, so that any coloring you do underneath the inked layer will show through everything except the black lines.

#3 – Then, between the inked layer and the white bottom layer, insert a transparency layer (as shown below). You will need one transparency layer for every main color involved in your drawing. In this picture, there are four main colors (skin tone, blue, yellow and red), thus I will need four transparencies.

#4 – First off is to lay down flat color. Flat color is a single tone, with no high lights or lowlights. I start with the skin layer, and work my way upwards through the clothing layers – skin, blue, yellow and finally red.

To lay down flat color, I chose a solid brush and color close to the lines, but it's okay if I go a little over – I'll fix it with my eraser later.

#5 – I repeat this step with each layer until I've laid down all the flat color for the entire figure.

#6 – now it is time to add highlights and lowlights! To do this, I start with the top layer. The reds dont' need much, so I'm going to demonstrate with the blue uniform. First off I use my color picker tool (pictured below) to select the blue tone.

#7 – I then open up my color palette (pictured below) and select a shade of blue slightly darker than my flat tone.

#8 – using a feathered brush (pictured below) I paint in the shadows.

#9 – for added depth, I repeat the last few steps with an even darker shade of blue, coloring a smaller portion of the shadows. This creates dimension.

#10 – time for highlights! Highlights are created the same way as lowlights/shadows, but using progressively lighter shades. Highlights should go on the protrusions that would be well lit, using pure white to create the shinest effects.

#11 – time to polish things up! I take my smudge tool and blend the edges together, creating a smooth, almost painted effect.

#12 – After adding highlights and shadows to all of my layers, I decided that Cyclop's face was too pale for such a man of action. So I opened up my curves graph and adjust the dark and light values.

#13 – this still isn't a rich enough tone, so I head over to my hue/satuation options and up the satuation a bit.

#14 – now it's time to add a background! (I add backgrounds before doing the final erasing because it is easier to see the edges this way.) To create a background, I add another layer below all the transparencies, but just above the bottom white layer. For Cyclop's background, I decide to go with black, and jazz it up with a few brushes in the same colors as his uniform.

#15 – next I go through all the layers (starting with the top) and erase any sloppy edges. I then merge all the layers together and save the image as a new file (so that my layers are still available if I want to make changes later on).

#16 – I'm not entirely happy with the colors yet, so I make a copy of the picture. I then use the colorize function to turn the top layer blue. I lower the opacity of the blue to about 34% so that most of the original color still shows through.

#17 – now the colors are a bit too cool – I want some more warmth. So I repeat this step with red and yellow layers. Now things are looking snazzy...

#18 – I adjust the curves and saturation one last time and voila! I have a completed picture!

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, by Shaylynn

random updates

A Bloggerly Questionnaire (and jewelry)

Hey, everyone! Thanks to Ashley, who did a questionnaire over at her blog and thus inspired me, I spent my entire (really limited) computer time yesterday writing up a blog ~~interrogation~~ questionnaire for y'all!

You can take it { HERE }.

Thanks!

(By the way, I keep spelling "questionnaire" with two r's instead of two n's).

Wondering what I've been up to? JEWELRY! Oh, yeah! In the past week or two I've made... I don't even want to bother counting. Take my word for it-- I've made a lot of jewelry.

Taking the photos, editing, uploading, pricing, and writing descriptions takes a very long time, and I'm spending most of my time studying for 7 tests I get to take next week. (yay me). However, you should see these up in the Shoppe in a week or two!

I meant it when I said "a lot"

6 comments

, by Shaylynn

guest blogger

Earring Display { Guest Post }

I am pleased to introduce you to my newest guest blogger-- Katy Sue!

She has been a follower of my blog for quite some time, so I am glad you all get to meet her! Today she is sharing how to make a DIY Earrings Display. Don't forget to check out { her blog }, too!

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Hi everyone! My name is KatySue Pillsbury and I blog over here at http://katysuepillsbury.blogspot.com/. I am a Jesus loving, tea drinking, hopeless romantic who loves to sew and cook. I am also a wanna-be-writer and jewelry maker. I dabble in all of the home arts and am a complete failure at music except for loving to listen to it! I found Shaylynn's blog through the Ink and Faerie Dust website and fell in love with her beautiful jewelry designs! Thanks so much for letting me guest post and good luck on your blog fast! =)

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My Mom had been wondering how to better store her earrings as they were all muddled in a box in her drawer. Next thing I know, she's taking me to the store and asking me to make her an earring holder. I went along with the idea and was left with a couple different kinds of beads, some wire and a picture frame.

After wrestling with it for a while, I decided I would have to string each strand separately and attach them as I go, one long strand would have worked, but she wanted different colors every third strand or so! Thoroughly poked, discouraged and bleeding I put it away after the first 4 strands.

I picked it up again today and after the break of a few days found that it was going much better this time! I finished in about an hour and hot glued some bias tape over the picky ends on the back to protect the wall and fingers from being scratched!

Here is a tutorial!

1 comments

, by Shaylynn

lists

Blog Events

So... I'm starting to compile all of the online events I have participated in. Here goes!

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, by Shaylynn

art

Easy Celtic Knotwork

I know, you're thinking, "Does such a thing exist?"

Today is St. Patrick's Day! Time to wear some green, get pinched if you don't, and watch some parades.

Oh, yeah, and it's also a day to celebrate and remember the holy life of this missionary saint. Have you read his beautiful prayer yet?

I saw this video a few days ago (in a roundabout way it is thanks to a blog commenter). Some very fancy mathematical thingamabob called graph theory makes simple Celtic knotwork extremely easy. I just had to share! And what better day than the Feast of St. Patrick? :)

Those of you who have said, "Wow, Celtic knotwork looks cool, but way to hard for me" (which would be everyone who said anything)-- you now have no excuse. :)

You, like me, are about to be captivated by the beautiful art of drawing Celtic knotwork... without the tangles of headaches.

This video is by Vi Hart, a "recreational mathemusician." You might have to watch the video a few times, because shetalksasfastasIdowhenIgetexcited (translates to: she talks as fast as I do when I get excited.)

Basically, all you have to do is draw a random squiggle-- but make sure each loop is obvious and that the ends are either connected or very obviously seperate.

Next, use that squiggle as a guideline to make the "over-under" pattern.

One very neat thing-- when using this method, any direction that you go and any amount of branchings that you take always make a perfect "over-under" pattern, assuming you are starting off of one point.

I'm sure that there is a mathematical reason for that, but I just think it's neat.

Now, finish drawing your knot and "decorate it."

TaDa! Super easy, what did I tell you?

You can use Sharpies, markers, pencils...

And if you have a very thick marker, it's even easier to draw the knot. Just make your squiggle-rope with one swish of the marker, and then trace the over-under pattern.

Now, there are some obvious limitations to this technique. The main problem is that freehand drawings of such geometric patterns always turn out somehwhat lopsided. As long as it takes, grids and compasses are useful.

Also, using a scribble like this makes it neigh impossible to draw more complicated knots. You can only use one strand (or a couple if you are talented), and if you want a structured look with no spaghetti, you have to be able to visualize it beforehand. For complicated patterns or spaces, the grid method is better-- as much as I detest grids!

If you are really getting into knotwork, please check out the post where I share my favorite (beginner) tutorials.

But why am I going on about the limitations? The "scribble method" is so easy! I highly doubt you Fairy People are as insane as I am. You probably don't care much about complicated knotwork. You probably aren't writing your next English paper on the history of Celtic knotwork.

Don't ask. The left page is true spagetti knotwork, and the right is what I do when I am bored...

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I love Vi Hart's videos. I wish all math could be taught this way. I would learn so much more! This reminds me of non-Eucledian geometry... I liked it because M.C. Escher did a really neat drawing with it that got me interested.

Seriously... I don't like numbers-- I prefer shapes and finding the little patterns in things (but only after I know the big picture-- I'm all right brained like that, and the rest of my family doesn't understand me). This is why I loved geometry (except for the proofs) and detest Alegbra II with vehemence.

Here are a few more of her Math Doodle videos:

This is seriously cool. I love these ideas... math can be neat. (I did not just say that.)

Hehe. Check out this video that's a bit of a spinoff of Vi Hart's. Very funny for the camel/needle joke. Bit more math than I can follow at bullet speed, though.

Does this remind anyone of M.C. Escher? Here he combined tessellations and the hyperbolic plane.

image source

Random fact: Did you know that the hyperbolic plane can be make out of crochet? It's the only medium that works...

Wow-- art, math, and Greek mythology? This girl isn't a mathemusican but a mathemagician. (Yes, I think I'm punny).

This is as of two weeks ago: "Let's say you're in math class. You're supposed to be learning about exponential functions, but you're having trouble caring about exponential functions."

I still don't care about exponential functions-- at least when logarithms and other bizzare things are concerned-- but do you know what? This visual description of exponential growth is both fun and makes much more sense than a graph with an asymptote.

Now go check out Vi Hart's website. She does many random artsy-mathsy things.

Since I'm on the topic of artsy-things, I thought I'd share this link with you. A very nice set of articles. A friend of mine (curse you, Perry the Platypus! *cough* I mean "Sir Humnus") made me spend an entire week pondering dimensions and tesseracts and whatnot. Seriously, he gave me one link and managed to take over my mind. I had a strange dream concerning a box that is a nail suddenly appearing in the middle of my room... Oh, and read the book Flatland. I got it free on my iPod. It's like... extreme awesomeness.

I wish math classes could be taught like this!!!

...okay. This post went on a LONG tangent. :)

(edit: I did a video about drawing celtic knots here!)

4 comments

, by Shaylynn

guest blogger

DIY Beaded Star Earrings { Guest Post }

I would like to introduce you to my very first guest blogger, Joanna.

Joanna has been an online friend of mine for quite awhile. Back when we were working on the Shadow of the Bear fundraiser, she made this dazzling necklace.

Today, she will be sharing the instructions. Aren't her diagrams beautifully drawn?

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Star Pendant Earrings

This design was inspired by The Bead Monkey

This is a fun craft to create, and not only can you make beautiful earrings from these pendants, but also they can be attached to a necklace, or you can use your own creative imagination to think of something different!

3 comments

, by Shaylynn

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Giveaway Winner Announced!

Last Chance! Giveaway!!!!

Digital Coloring { Guest Post }

A Bloggerly Questionnaire (and jewelry)

Earring Display { Guest Post }

Blog Events

Easy Celtic Knotwork

DIY Beaded Star Earrings { Guest Post }

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