Create a Realistic, Burning Sparkler Using Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial we will create a photorealistic image of a sparkler. We will learn how to create vector textures using the standard bitmap filters. We'll create complex lighting from two light sources using gradient fills, Blending Modes, and Clipping Masks. Let's get started! Step 1: Sparkler Handle Start by creating the handle of the sparkler. We will create the sparkler on a black background in order to select the best colors right away. Step 2: Round Sparkler Cap Now create the shape of the burning part of the sparkler. Combine parts of the burning fire area and align them vertically with the help of the Align palette. Step 3: Form the Burn Area Take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move the lower point of the upper part of the sparkler straight down. Remove the lower part of the upper shape, select the upper shape, take the Pen Tool (P) and join together the points A and B. Step 4: Heading Text Apply the same technique to the burnt piece of the sparkler. Step 5: Color the Burning Part
Understanding & Growing Your Creative Mind Pt. 1/3 This is a very difficult and abstract topic. Even though it’s one we know well, there is no question the core aspects of this concept are difficult to grasp. Creativity is a foundational and highly celebrated part of our reality and a critical factor of many modern-day careers, passions and hobbies. Many of us desire and celebrate this phenomenon, but the foundational aspects can be elusive. How does one become creative? What is creativity, and how do we build the creative part of our mind? As we wander into this abstract wonderland of thought, we need to prepare to deal with some rather grey areas. It’s worth nothing that as a direct and independent topic of study, the concept of creativity as a whole effectively received no attention until somewhere around the 19th century! Unfortunately, I cannot tell you these will be your keys to creativity because it is something that relates to every person in their own unique way. 1) Am I Creative? 2) Break Down The Process
101 Short Stories that Will Leave You Smiling, Crying and Thinking post written by: Marc Chernoff Email Since its inception eighteen months ago, our sister site Makes Me Think (MMT) has truly evolved into a remarkable online community. As stated on the MMT About page, sometimes the most random everyday encounters force us to stop and rethink the truths and perceptions we have ingrained in our minds. I believe the 101 stories listed below perfectly fulfill that description. What do you think? 30 Days Of Creativity & Design Inspiration The book "Unstuck" features 52 exercises, divided by time commitment, to help you beat creative block. Here we sample 5 for a work-week's worth of inspiration. Creative Bliss is a web series that pools together 30 creativity exercises. No. 30 challenges you to shift your perspective to that of a beginner. Creative Bliss pools together 30 creativity exercises. Creative Bliss pools together 30 creativity exercises. Creative Bliss pools together 30 creativity exercises. Creative Bliss is a web series that pools together 30 creativity exercises. Creative Bliss is a web series that pools together 30 creativity exercises. Creative Bliss is a web series that pools together 30 creativity exercises. Creative Bliss is a web series that pools together 30 creativity exercises. Creative Bliss is a web series that pools together 30 creativity exercises.
15 Famous Quotes on Creativity The Sifter spent last night poring over hundreds of famous and inspirational quotes on creativity. Below is a collection of our 15 favourites. Let us know which ones resonate with you the most, and feel free to counter any you disagree with. There are infinite views on creativity, here are fifteen famous ones for inspiration on your next endeavour :) Pablo Picasso “Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” – Pablo Picasso Vincent Van Gogh “If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced” – Vincent Van Gogh Salvador Dali “Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it” – Salvador Dali Leo Burnett “Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people” – Leo Burnett Jack London “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club” – Jack London George Bernard Shaw “Imagination is the beginning of creation. Dr. Charles Mingus Voltaire
Ray Bradbury Gives 12 Pieces of Writing Advice to Young Authors (2001) Like fellow genre icon Stephen King, Ray Bradbury has reached far beyond his established audience by offering writing advice to anyone who puts pen to paper. (Or keys to keyboard; "Use whatever works," he often says.) In this 2001 keynote address at Point Loma Nazarene University's Writer's Symposium By the Sea, Bradbury tells stories from his writing life, all of which offer lessons on how to hone the craft. Most of these have to do with the day-in, day-out practices that make up what he calls "writing hygiene." Watch this entertainingly digressive talk and you might pull out an entirely different set of points, but here, in list form, is how I interpret Bradbury's program: Don't start out writing novels. Related content: Ray Bradbury: Literature is the Safety Valve of Civilization The Shape of A Story: Writing Tips from Kurt Vonnegut John Steinbeck’s Six Tips for the Aspiring Writer and His Nobel Prize Speech
The Keys to Design Business Success: Belief, Opportunity, Capacity What leads to design business success? The first path is a deeply held belief or confidence about your value to your clients. In spite of the fact that nearly everyone espouses this to be true, the evidence tells a different story. But some, indeed, have an uncanny, even unwavering belief that their work is worth a certain amount and they escape the normal equivocation that comes when discussing fees. Their body of work, often over more than a decade, commands significant fees (regardless of its effectiveness). These people are rare, but they don’t depend on external validation for their business value, and that confidence becomes self-fulfilling in the marketplace (clients are drawn to confidence and can sense a lack of confidence on the flip-side). The second path is benefiting from many opportunities that come your way, either accidentally (being in the right place at the right time), or intentionally (you’re really good at marketing your services). Bringing More Success
15 unusual words that make writers swoon In a previous post, I wrote about the value of using simple words in place of complex words. Readers are not impressed by the use of complex words; they're frustrated by them. Though I strive to use simple, clear terms in my own writing, there are some words that I am just dying to use. Archaic, unusual words that I have stumbled upon in fiction. Words that have drawn me in. If I could only find a way to work them into my next article on surgical checklists. Vex. Example: You take delight in vexing me by deliberately using bad grammar. Portmanteau. Example: That portmanteau will not fit in the overhead bin and must be checked. Naught. Example: Her behavior tends to set propriety at naught. Foible. Example: She loved him in spite of his foibles. Parvenu. Example: He was treated like a parvenu at the country club dinner. Sentinel. Example: Bennett heard a strange noise and asked the sentinel to stay close. Moribund. Example: Kathryn was unsure how to save her moribund career. Beslobber. Forbear.
One Is Not Enough: Why Creative People Need Multiple Outlets - Design I can still remember the satisfaction I took from dragging a crayon against a particularly toothy piece of paper in a coloring book when I was very young. Unlike the cliché, I was trying to stay in the lines, but even then, it was the creation process that gave me the most pleasure, not the results. A year or so later, I began to draw freehand, and from that point on no blank page, post-it note, page margin, envelope, or napkin was safe. Needless to say, that compulsion was what led me to become a graphic designer. Some people specialize in ideas, constantly scheming, iterating, finessing. I prefer doing. You'd think this would be a non-issue—after all, I'm lucky enough to be paid a salary to design all day. For as long as I can remember, I've associated creative pursuits with other activities. Fortunately, my coworkers understand the concept of auditory learning, because I didn't stop doodling after I left school. Creativity in any form is healthy, as study after study has shown.
Stocking Stuffers: 13 Writing Tips From Chuck Palahniuk *Editor's Note: This column is part of a collection of 36 total essays on the craft of writing by Chuck Palahniuk. They were submitted starting in 2005, so this essay will refer to thinks in the past and therefore be on an older timeline. Twenty years ago, a friend and I walked around downtown Portland at Christmas. The big department stores: Meier and Frank… Fredrick and Nelson… Nordstroms… their big display windows each held a simple, pretty scene: a mannequin wearing clothes or a perfume bottle sitting in fake snow. She said the perfect comment at the perfect moment, and I remember it two decades later because it made me laugh. For this essay, my goal is to put more in. Number One: Two years ago, when I wrote the first of these essays it was about my “egg timer method” of writing. Number Two: Your audience is smarter than you imagine. Number Three: Before you sit down to write a scene, mull it over in your mind and know the purpose of that scene. Number Four: Surprise yourself.
17 Designers Dish Their Best Advice Terry Lee Stone asks a group of seasoned design pros: If you could give young designers one piece of career advice what would it be? In other words: early in your career what do you wish someone had told you? Their thoughts may surprise you… 1. Sean Adamswww.adamsmorioka.com “What did I know? “What did I not know? 2. “Almost any situation gets better when you ask yourself this: How can I be most useful right now? Find More Advice: 29 Things That All Young Designers Need to Know. 3. “Emphasize your peculiar talents. “Also, think about your portfolio as a whole design statement and try to make the presentation format fit the work. 4. “Early on, if anyone had been able to tell me exactly the right thing, I would have dismissed it as preposterous because the world has just changed too much in unforeseen ways. “However, here’s my advice: get a second degree in something totally different— neuroscience, medicine, linguistics, or whatever feels right. 5. “Fortune demands being a professional. 6.
8 Words You Should Avoid When Writing by Chuck Palahniuk