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100 days my Mom’s dog May

May with a tody

My mom has a sweet blue heeler dog named May. She has this funny pose she does when chewing on a toy where she uses her left paw to hold the toy down against her right leg and paw. I used Adobe Draw to quickly sketch her for #100daysofdigitalsketch, my personal challenge for the #100days project. I still find it awkward to switch to different brushes and then have to change colors. It would probably be better to set all the brushes to one color before I start. I drew with my finger instead of a stylus this time.

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100 days fire sketch

100 days of digital sketch day 2

It’s day two of my 100 days of digital sketch project. Today I sketched a fire using default tools in Adobe Draw. If you want a detailed breakdown of what I did, I have a description below the image.   I used square shape for large areas of background since currently there is no all over background color tool. I picked the basic flat brush and made it as large as I could, 60px, and chose the dark orange color. I made broad shallow curves to define the two logs on a new layer. I chose a lighter orange and laid down a few curvy triangular marks for key flames. I then picked the taper brush to define points and add more character. I alternated colors and opacity while building out the flames. I mixed in flatter blobs of hot ashy…

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100 days seltzer bottle sketch

100 days sketch #1

Created using the Adobe Draw app on my iPad for the 100 days project. I used mostly brushes 2 and 4 that come default with the app. You can follow my progress on Instagram.     I wish the brush size controls were a bit easier to use. They do not all have the same size ranges. I would also like for larger sizes.  I’m also still adjusting to the line weights of the different brushes. Sometimes they appear larger or smaller than I expect when I start using them. I used an Intuos Bamboo stylus since I was traveling and did not pack a full size stylus.

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Five Tips for Creating Better Color Palettes for the Web

Color palettes using simple and complex colors

I’ve put together five tips for creating better color palettes based on a recent talk I gave to computer science students. Faced with working on their first mobile apps or sites, they had never really been given advice on choosing color palettes. I realized this is one of those gaps in knowledge; part of the missing manual of design experience you build over time as a developer or designer. I hope you find them useful too. (more…)

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