I am a very lucky person when it comes to friends. I have met some of the greatest people in my life from being on this blockchain I call home. My friends are kind to me in many ways. They know I need laughter and are there to help in that category when they can.
Over the last month with Winter coming, the world still broke, the Presidential elections in the USA, and now after putting so much 'on hold' until times went back to normal, which it never will, everyone is on edge. I have been trying to stay away from people as much as I can. I do not want to take my frustrations out on someone that doesn't deserve it.
I found myself going back to basics and teaching myself to draw. Like really drawing. Drawing things I like. Maybe someday I can use my art in a book I write. 馃樅
It feels good to sit quietly and try and make something with a pencil on a piece of paper. I can now draw okay. You can at least tell what it is that I have drawn. That is a huge improvement. 馃檧
Four lessons I did for a 'How to Draw for Beginners'' class from SkillShare.
Minding my own business late Saturday night I checked my Discord messages. @Guiltyparties left me the message below.
Hmmmmmm..........
The other thing about my wonderful friends is they think I am more talented than I am. My first thought was to just type 'No'. but I couldn't make myself do that to Guiltyparties. He never asks for much and is always there if I need an answer to something. He never asks for anything except when he really needs it.
I got out my sketchbook, drew a shark, swore at my printer because it is still not working, grabbed my phone, snapped a photo of the drawing, and sent it off to Guiltyparties.
There! I had done what he asked. It was getting close to dawn on Sunday. I should have gone to sleep. I didn't. It was Guiltyparties asking. I knew he could not use the photo I sent him. I could not paint anything because my printer doesn't scan all of a sudden. I took a deep breath and opened the free GIMP software I have. I said a prayer I would remember how to use it.
Going back in time over 30 years ago I could have made the shark with my eyes closed. This is what I did for a living. I worked in Adobe Illustrator twelve hours a day. I am not an artist but I could make someone else's art printable on a flexo press. The jobs that were recreated from scratch went to the real artists to do.
I said a prayer and uploaded my hand-drawn shark into GIMP.
I made two more layers in GIMP and outlined the body of the shark. My fingers were like WTF! We have no idea anymore what shortcut keys to use.
My hands and I had a long talk...
Sharks are grey right?
Making more layers in GIMP I added the colors from the reference photo from the movie Jaws to the shark. I would post the reference photo but it is copyrighted hence why I was now handmaking my own shark.
Highlights
Lowlights
Eyes and Shadows
Now came the really scary part. The part where I had to take all the layers and make it into one layer so I could moosh the colors around and make it look pretty. I was alert enough to make copies of the layers first in case things went horribly wrong. This way I would not have to start all over again.
The mooshing went well and I liked how everything blended together. The shark had some dimension to it and the eyes popped well.
Last on the 'How to make a homemade shark list' was teeth. My scary baby shark needed teeth. I found myself back at Google searching for shark teeth. I found one. Yes, one stinking tooth I could use for a reference.
After I made the tooth and put the first one in the shark's mouth it hit me that I was going to have to place each tooth in, rotate it, and make it the right size. Yeah, that took a long time and a lot of layers. Finally done with the teeth I took a good look at the shark and had no idea if it even really looked like a shark anymore.
A Zillion Layers of Teeth
I sent the photo below to @Brisby to ask her what this photo looked like to her.
Thank the Lord she said it looked like a shark. It was 9:45 AM and I had not been to sleep yet.
Happy @Brisby was able to see a shark I sent Guilty the photo hoping it was what he needed. While the photo was uploading I realized I had totally forgotten about the Hive logo and the shark's nose(s). I will admit to swearing. I was tired but I also knew if I didn't fix it right then and there I never would.
If you are going to do a job or help someone, do it right. Never do a half-fast job for anyone. It is just not right even if you think so at the time.
An hour or so later I had cleaned the shark up a bit more, added his nose(s), and the Hive logo. I really liked how it turned out. I sent it off to Guiltyparties in hopes he would like it too. I then proceeded to give my Hubby a kiss and tell him Good Night as he was already up for his busy Sunday.
I slept for ten hours.
The question of why in the world would @GuiltyParties need a Baby Shark with a Hive logo on it does need to be answered.
Guilty is going to be running a Poker Tournament called "Baby Shark Poker Tourney" and he needed a logo. I am just going to assume the first three people he asked were busy and he was left asking me. 馃樄
I am not sure of any of the Baby Shark Poker Tourney details but now that he has a logo I am sure he will be making a post soon. Keep your eyes on his blog for that post. It will be wonderful to get back to playing poker again. I have really missed it.
I also want to Thank Guilty for making me go out of my comfort zone. I never would have done this without knowing you were counting on me to do it. I will admit it was a lot of fun to make and see it all come together as it did.
I will also say I can wait another 30 years before trying that again. I am now off to sleep for 12 hours, I hope. Someday I might sleep at night and be awake during the daylight!
I would not hold your breath though! 馃檭
Help someone smile today. It can not hurt you.
Snook
All photos are mine unless otherwise stated