By Moonlight…

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:31:44 +0000

So…it’s been a VERY long time since I’ve last updated my blog, and since I did a new piece last night, I decided now would be a great time to add a new post to go with it. Without further adieu, I give you Moonlit. It’s based on a tutorial I saw over on PSDTUTS.com, and quite stunning the way it turned out. Enjoy!

Diversification

i_strad — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:57:55 +0000

In an effort to diversify my portfolio as well as to expand my skills, I have started doing odd projects, such as this piece posted below. I saw a tutorial on PSDTuts.com and decided to try and emulate it as best as I could. The end result turned out fairly nice. I really like the textures and how it all came together.

My dream has always been to get into game development. Perhaps someday I will.

What is iStradling Design?

i_strad — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:07:22 +0000

Ok, so I’ve graduated…my college career is over and it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. So the biggest question of all?

Where do I go now?

For the time being, I find myself starting a new chapter in my life and my career. Growing my business to a successful level is my new goal, and one that I will have to focus my energies on. What can I offer to potential clients?

Quality - A drive to make every business card the best business card I’ve ever done, every wedding invitation the most beautiful that a bride has ever seen, every web page the most professional and stylish site that a CEO could have ever hoped for, and every ad the most stunning and eye catching ad that an audience could ever view. When is a piece done? In the words of Blizzard Entertainment, “It’s done when it’s done”
Integrity - A firm adherence to a code of moral values. What do I value? Honesty. Being able to look someone in the eye and mean everything I say is a profound virtue and one that is very appreciated in the business world. I can look you in the eye and tell you without a shadow of doubt, that I did the very best work that I could for you.
Value - Do you want to spend thousands of dollars for some cheap website or business collateral that is not really what you wanted in the first place? I don’t, and neither should you. When you come to me for your graphic and web design needs, I pledge to give you what you feel that you need, and not what I feel that you need. My advise, my training, and my skills come with the purchase. I will give you an honest and fair quote that I feel my services are worth, and then I will give you the best of my ability, nothing less.

Quality. Integrity. Value. That is me. That is iStradling Design.

For The Horde!

i_strad — Sat, 16 May 2009 21:54:25 +0000

Love Mountain Dew. Love the Horde faction.

Mountain Dew combined with World of Warcraft and the Horde?
Absolute bliss! For the Horde!

Mistakes and Inspiration

i_strad — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:31:42 +0000

Many times, inspiration for a piece of art comes from different sources. Sometimes I see a work that someone else has done and I want to try and create the same sort of effect in Photoshop. Occasionally I succeed, but most of the time I fail and in the process of failure I end up creating something completely different. This is not always a bad thing!

In Disney’s movie, Meet the Robinsons, the main character spends a majority of the movie wallowing in his own failures. The Robinson family that he meets shows him the truth about failure. When you fail, you can learn from your mistakes and try again. Much can be learned from a failure, from success…not so much. This is not to say that you cannot learn from a success, because you can. I just feel that you can learn much more from a failure. Patience and perseverance are in my opinion two of the most important things you can learn. As the old saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try again”.

Embrace your mistakes and your failures. Take your weaknesses and turn them into your strengths. Some of my favorite pieces have been a result of a mistake and the unintended consequence of pushing a wrong button or using the wrong filter.

For today, here is a list of tutorials and art pieces that I have recently found to be inspiring.

Break Apart Effect
Digital Surrealist Art
Out of Bounds Illustration
Fantasy Photo-Manipulation
Force Bubble / Mental Wave

Force Bubble: How to make it…

i_strad — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:37:01 +0000

Some folks have wondered how I did the ‘force bubble’ in my previous piece, so I decided to create another wallpaper using it and give a link to the tutorial I used create the bubble, which can be found Here. The tutorial goes into a lot of detail and is somewhat different than the overall effect that I use, but if you follow steps 6 through 14, you can achieve the same style.

Here is the finished piece:

In this piece, I wanted to create a foreshadow into the future.

Thanks to B-Squared-Stock on Deviant art for the stock desert scene, found here.

The city scene can be found here.

Forceful Emotion

i_strad — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:20:05 +0000

When I designed this one, it took a while to get just right. Things didn’t fit in certain places, and it just didn’t feel the way I wanted it to feel. A few accidents later, everything just kinda fell into place and it was finished.

I really like the raw emotion that emanates from the center of it all. The force of emotion in humans is very powerful, and the effects ripple out causing unintended consequences much of the time. Overall, I think it turned out really nice.

The stock images used in this piece can be found at www.deviantart.com. As per request and under the license for usage, the composition is Copyright 2009 by Ian Stradling, all rights for the composition are reserved. The stock images are not owned and were not created by me. Please do not distribute or re-post this piece anywhere. Special thanks to Colourize_stock, spiked_stock, and M47R1X on DeviantArt who created the stock images, I am very happy to be able to work with their fine creations.

Another new wallpaper

i_strad — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:38:17 +0000

Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? I created a photomanipulation that you can use as a wallpaper for your desktop. It’s a surrealistic depiction of a grieving girl. I felt that the water pouring out of an empty picture portrayed a never ending sorrow for something she lost.

I hope you like it!

Typography Design

i_strad — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:19:39 +0000

I created a wallpaper that really takes typographical design literally. I tried to go with a theme for each letter, and overall it turned out really nice.

What do you think?

Blip.fm

i_strad — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:52:32 +0000

What a fantastic idea! Streaming music from just about anywhere…this little wonderful social networking tool allows you to be a DJ for any of your friends that choose to follow you.

Check it out!