Here they are, features for NOVEMBER.

I've created myself a blog over at Wordpress. Now. I was wanting to set it up so that when the MY BLOG banner is clicked it takes you straight over to my blog. For some reason I've had a total blank and can't seem to work out how to do it. Can anyone help me?

Not alot happening with me atm. I'm trying to get my blog up and running. I am just so hopeless when it comes to CSS. I don't get it. I probably never will I seem to be spending so much time on it, yet getting no-where.

Cheers!

So this is what I've been working on lately



It's been nice to step back from covers and lose myself once again in my artwork.  However, I've been having problems with this one. I don't know what it is about it that makes it feel 'unfinished'. Well, probably because it is unfinished Is it because the woman just seems to be standing in the middle of no-where and with no purpose? Or is it where I've placed her? She's on the edge of the image, looking out. Is that it? What is it that screams ADD MORE??? (yeah, I know the castle looks crappy but I am just playing around with things atm )

I've also been trying to understand Textures and how they work to make your artwork really come alive. Seems I just ain't going to get it   No matter what textures I attempt to apply, they all seem to make the artwork look messy.

I've tried to study other artists that I admire, like *kayceeus They manage to have really eye catching tones whilst not losing their artwork behind a myriad of distracting scratches and swirls. Perhaps I'm not lowering my opacity enough? Am I meant to erase sections so that it doesn't stand out so much?

It's times like these that I really wish I had someone leaning over my shoulder telling me what I should do. But unfortunately I don't so if anyone out there can give me some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.  Oh, a tutorial on Textures for Idiots would work a treat .

Cheers!


SPECIAL FEATURES

Congratulations to the winners of & 's amazing Nemoralia Contest!

















UPDATE - Just a quickie to let you know that I managed to renew my sub. As someone suggested, I selected 'Subscribe a Friend' and just entered my own name there. Easy peezy



Is anyone able to tell me how I renew my subscription?  Yeah, I know you go to the subscription page but for some reason there isn't a 12 mth option. When I put 12 into the qty box .. well, let's just say that I ain't paying THAT much for a sub If I put in 4 (3mth subs) it ends up as $36 but the 12 mth sub for newbies is $33.

I'm confused Can anyone fill me in?




Here we are folks. October features. I'm pleased to have stumbled across a bit more photography and traditional artworks as well as a fantastic CSS tutorial for idiots (like me ).

Been doing a bit of reading of late. Right into the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward. Talk about hot! Lots of bad ass vampires. Just my cup of tea Anyway, it's inspired me in the art area so hopefully I can get time to finish and add some more artwork to my gallery.

I've also been trying to teach myself how to do life-like scars. It's amazing how many people seem to think that scars should be open and bloody Personally I'd call these wounds, but going by my searches on the internet I must be wrong

Anyway, enough of me. Below is another feast for your eyes. So get yourself a cuppa, sit back and enjoy

Edited to add:  Aaaahhh My favourite just got voted off Australian Idol ... nnnnoooooooooooo ... I don't know if I'll be able to continue to watch the show now. Although, I do like Daniel. I reckon Matt's going to win it though. He's got all the tweenies behind him However, I can't deny the kid is talented *sigh* I can't believe Mark's gone Time to go drown my sorrows

I've just purchased a 1 month subscription with Shutterstock and have been dabbling in making some brushes for personal (cover art) use. However, I was wondering where I would stand adding these brushes to my gallery for download . I mean, I've purchased the images but I'm not sure if me just cutting them out and making them into brushes would breach copyright.  Does anyone have any idea if I'm able to do this. I couldn't find what I was looking for in the Help section.  It's not like I'd be making money from the packages or anything, but if an artist uses the brush and then sells a print ... well, you get the idea. I'm confused

  

So I've been thinking that I would like to get myself a better camera. And since Christmas is on the horizon I thought I'd better get my act together and get a few details together

I currently have a ' point and shoot' (aka Canon PowerShot A520 4.0 mega pixels). Yeah, pretty pathetic I know, but it does the job for capturing shots of the kids and texture stock, etc.

I'd like to increase my pixel size mainly but would also like to be able to eventually do very simple studio stock (objects and possibly even people) with the aim to perhaps one day sell them on Istock, etc (yes I have a lot of learning to do before I get to this point).  SO if anyone out there who knows a bit about cameras could point me in the right direction considering brands, etc or even explain all the technical jargon to me. I would really, really appreciate it I don't claim to be a photographer but would certainly like to learn more.

Oh, just a quickie on another topic. I recently ordered a couple of calenders from DA (getting ready for Christmas ) and I just have to let everyone know how EASY the whole process was. And to top it all off, I received my calenders within a week of placing the order. Pretty damn good considering I'm in Australia (it usually takes Australia Post 4 days to get something to Sydney - 600km's away ) So there you have it! DA's postage service rocks!!

OMG I can't believe Robert Jordan has died [link] What a sad day for WoT lovers. And before anyone asks, NO he didn't get to finish the series

RIP Robert. Perhaps I'll do a manip in honour of your wonderful series. What a sad day.

UPDATE: Well, knee #2 has packed it in now. Both look like balloons and I can barely walk. Went back up to the hospital because it takes days to get into our local GP but they still grumbled that it should have been a GP consult. Yeah, well, I'm sorry but I can't walk and I have 2 kids 5 and under to look after and a husband that works 7 days a week. So sue me!

Anyway, they finally got their asses into gear and did an xray and some blood tests. Now they're thinking that I may have Ross River Virus or some other similar mosquito borne bug. It's all just co-incidental that my knees happened to flare up after slipping down the stairs. AND to top things off I've gotten a 'stress' rash which I seem to get when I get megga stressed or really sick.  I feel depressed but thats possibly because I've had a scotch on top of my meds *tsk tsk I know*. I'm well and truly over it now. There was a 70 yo man who had terminal cancer up there with a possible dislocated shoulder so I need to tell myself that things really could be much worse. Still I guess I'm allowed to feel sorry for myself every now and then



Yesterday I slipped down the front stairs. I managed to catch myself before hitting anything thank goodness and then went on to walk my daughter to the bus stop. Nothing hurt so I thought I was doing pretty well. I went on to do the usual daily chores and then around 3pm in the afternoon my knee started to feel a bit stiff. By 7:30pm I couldn't walk and my knee looked like a balloon.

Hubby, who'd been in New Zealand for work for the past 4 days was arriving home at about 9:00pm so I had to use a kitchen chair to walk around and get the kids ready for bed. I decided to phone the hospital and they recommended that I come up. Just in case the swelling got so bad as to compromise my circulation. So up we trundled, me, hubby and the kids Hung around for what seemed an eternity, as the Dr had just ducked out to get himself some dinner.

He finally came back and decided that he couldn't really do much as there was too much swelling so they bandaged me up, gave me some crutches and drugs and said come back in a few days time.  Talk about an anti-climax

Anyway, I'm resting today and am supposed to be keeping my leg up and I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.  I can't believe how something like this can really screw up the household. It took me an hour to make up two school lunches this morning and DH has had to run the kids around. At least I have an excuse to be sitting on my butt doing nothing

And yes, the stockist in me has already taken photos of the crutches I'll get around to loading them up to my stock account some day Anyway, that's my little update



So, lately I've been considering doing a course in Graphic Design as I've noticed that many of the cover artists I talk to/watch hold a degree in this field. I feel like a bit of a 'wanna-be' when it comes to my cover art as I left school at the end of Year 10 and only ever did a Secretarial certificate. Of course I've been employed ever since, well, up to the point of us buying our own business But I can't say the hardware business is something that I'd ever aspired to. Still, anything I know about art/cover art/photoshop, I've pretty much taught myself.

Anyway,  I've been looking to see if I can do GD as a mature age student or via correspondence as the local TAFE doesn't have the course on campus. It would be nice to finally have a qualification other than Secretary

So I was wanting to ask if anyone watching me has done a Graphic Design course. If so, how did you find it. Has it helped your career? Or thinking back do you think you would have learned it all anyway? Is it advisable to be 'in class' for such a course? Or is it possible to complete it successfully via correspondence? Did you pick up any part time jobs  that helped/aided your studies? What programmes did you use in the course?

The course I was considering uses Adobe InDesign CS3. How does this differ from Photoshop?

Well, I guess I should quit with the questions for the time being. I'd really appreciate any suggestions/tips from anyone out there