Obsidian Dawn

BannerSnack & Tech/Gears Contest Winners

2009-05-27T17:13:10Z

First off, I’m finally announcing the winners of the Tech/Gears Contest winners from last month. Here are the winners and their prizes. They will be contacted (or have already been contacted) shortly.

Tech/Gears Contest

First Prize
Winner: Italian Statuary, by Jo
Prize: Five free commercial licenses of your choosing & a free copy of the Obsidian Dawn Compilation CD

Second Prize
Winner: Future Primitive, by Shannon
Prize: Commercial licenses for the Tech & Gears brushes, and a copy of the Obsidian Dawn Compilation CD

Third Prize
Winner: The 7 Deadly Tech Sins, by Lazaros
Prize: a copy of the Obsidian Dawn Compilation CD

BannerSnack Contest

For the BannerSnack contest, 3 winners were chosen randomly from the comments using Random.org. The winners were Tammy, Mary, and Katrie. They will all be emailed shortly with their BannerSnack premium codes!

Thank you to all who entered!

Transferring – Please Bear With Us!

2009-05-20T18:17:20Z

So, you may have noticed that Obsidian Dawn has been going through some strange times lately. Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down, sometimes the downloads weren’t working, and now it’s back to how it should be, minus some comments. What in the heck is going on, you may ask?

Well, it’s about time that we moved to a dedicated hosting account, and that’s just what’s going on. From now on, Obsidian Dawn won’t be sharing bandwidth with anyone…. so we should be running much more smoothly from now on, and without many hitches. However, while this transition period is going on (and while I learn the in’s and out’s of the wonderful world of dedicated hosting), you may notice some odd goings on.

So, please bear with us for now, and thank you so much for your patience!

Note to those of you that commented on the BannerSnack post: If your comment has disappeared, HAVE NO FEAR! I saved them all, so even if it isn’t showing up under the post anymore, you will still be entered into the contest. Feel free to re-post if you’d like, but it isn’t necessary (and won’t double your chance of winning, since there’s only 1 entry per person).

Creating Faux Bokeh Backgrounds in Photoshop Tutorial

2009-05-24T20:04:29Z

First off, sorry to those of you that are on the mailing list or RSS that get this twice. I’m finally moved over to a dedicated server, and in doing so, this post was lost. So, I’m re-publishing it.

This tutorial will walk you through how to create a faux bokeh background in Photoshop. For those of you that are unsure about what bokeh is, it is a Japanese term used in photography. It is used to describe the qualities of the area of a photo that is out of focus, and is used to help draw your eye to the subject of the photograph. Some pretty cool things happen with bokeh, too. Especially where lights or heavily lighted areas are concerned. Have you ever looked at a photograph or been watching a movie, perhaps where it was dark out, and the lights in the background are all blurry, but instead of just being blurry they appear as these odd gatherings of circles and/or polygons? I didn’t notice it all that often until I started looking, and now I see it everywhere!

You’ll need to grab my Bokeh Photoshop & GIMP Brushes to follow along with this tutorial. This tutorial is specifically geared toward Photoshop users. If you’re a Photoshop Elements or GIMP user, you should still be able to follow along, though the steps may not be exact for you.

Let’s get started!

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Bokeh Photoshop & GIMP Brushes

2009-04-29T02:40:57Z

This comes from several requests that I’ve gotten in the last few months. Some of you will know what bokeh is, and some may not. But ALL of you have seen it at one point or another, as long as you look at photographs or watch movies. Check out the preview image below for a visual example.

Bokeh is a Japanese term used in photography. It is used to describe the qualities of the area of a photo that is out of focus, and is used to help draw your eye to the subject of the photograph. Some pretty cool things happen with bokeh, too, and that’s what these brushes will help you to create. Also, keep your eye out for a bokeh tutorial that I’ll be coming out with, hopefully in a few days.

This set of Photoshop & GIMP brushes is composed of various bokeh designs. It comes with several brushes for painting your own bokeh, as well as some that are already put together into scattered groups like the ones you see in my preview image. Some are circles, some are polygons, some are more blurry than others. They are all high resolution, with an average size of about 2000 pixels.

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© Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2009. | Permalink | 32 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Brushes, Designs, GIMP, Markings, Photoshop

BannerSnack Flash Banner Creator Free Giveaway Contest

2009-05-25T20:33:41Z

As a big “thank you” to all of you loyal Obsidian Dawn resources users out there, we’re offering 3 FREE Premium Plus Subscription to BannerSnack. And it’s easy. Read on!

As an aside, I haven’t forgotten about those of you that entered Obsidian Dawn’s first contest – those winners will be released soon!

So, what IS BannerSnack, you might ask?

BannerSnack is an online tool that allows you to create watermark-free flash banners – without needing to know or understand Flash programming! Here’s some of BannerSnack’s features:

It contains tens of transitions, effects and filters that will enable you to easily create text and image animations.
It has editable banner templates.
It works like a presentation software.
No flash programming is required.
It works 100% online.

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Grass Transparent PNGs

2009-04-21T19:01:25Z

If any of you out there still have links to me under my old URL (www.brushes.obsidiandawn.com), I’d really appreciate it if you could change them to the base domain (www.obsidiandawn.com). Thanks so much!

This set of various photos of grass as transparent PNGs can be used in any program that will support *.PNG files. Photoshop, GIMP, PSP, and many more. These images average about 2500 pixels (square-ish) in size @ 300 dpi.

Included are various clumpings of grass, as well as a few blades of grass on their own. They all have a transparent background, and can be very easily copy/pasted into your own work. There is also a large grouping of the grass that I’ve already put together in various layers for you, for use as a foreground. You can use them on their own, layer them to give them a bit more depth, etc. etc.

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© Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2009. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: All Programs, Images, Nature, PNGs

Grunge -n- Swirls Photoshop & GIMP Brushes

2009-04-15T03:56:45Z

Here’s a set of Photoshop & GIMP brushes composed of various grungy shapes intermingling with some pretty swirls. You’ll find shapes like a skull, butterfly, several “strips” of grunge, some circles, rectangles, corners, as well as some top and bottom frames or borders. They are all extremely high resolution, with an average size of about 2300 pixels.

Some of these are vectors, while others have some softer, grungy edges. This is a fairly large download. Enjoy!

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© Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2009. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Brushes, Designs, Markings, Photoshop, Vector Brushes

Wacom Intuos4 Tablet Review & Contest Update

2009-04-05T05:00:25Z

Just a quick post to let you all know that I’ve done a review for Photoshop Support on Wacom’s newest tablet, the Intuos4.

Any of you that use tablets out there should really check out my review – and then go buy yourself an Intuos4! It’s well worth the upgrade, moreso than any other time in Intuos history, I’d say.

You can check out my Intuos4 review for Photoshop Support here!

I probably should have chosen some different brushes for my very first contest. Something with glitter or swirls, perhaps, rather than the Tech & Gears brushes. As such, I’ve not gotten nearly as many entries as I would have liked. I’ll fix that for the next contest. But, in the meantime, here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll keep the contest open for one more week, and also let you all use the Gears Transparent PNGs, as well. You can enter as many times as you like. I’ll keep the entries up through next weekend, so you must submit it by Sunday, April 12th at midnight. Read more about the Obsidian Dawn’s Tech & Gears contest here!

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Stonework II Photoshop Patterns

2009-04-15T02:28:34Z

A set of Photoshop & GIMP patterns composed of various stonework textures. The reference photos were taken from walls, but would certainly work equally well for stonework floors. These are all entirely seamless and extremely high resolution, with most of the images averaging around 3000 pixels in width.

These are mostly made up of the tan toned stones. If you’re looking for more tones, of the more gray variety, check out our Stonework PS Patterns. (There is no image pack available for this set yet, but it will be available under the images section soon!)

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© Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2009. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Patterns, Photoshop, Textures

Glittery Swirls Photoshop & GIMP Brushes

2009-03-30T23:49:44Z

And finally, some brushes again. Here’s a set of Photoshop & GIMP brushes composed of various glittery swirls and flourishes. If any of you remember my “Dangling Glows” set, many of the swirls are made up of similar types of glows, while others are comprised of glitter and sparkles. They are all extremely high resolution, with an average size of about 2100 pixels.

This set combines the ideas of two of our most popular sets here at Obsidian Dawn: Glitter and Swirls & Flourishes II. Hope that you enjoy!

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© Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2009. | Permalink | 46 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Brushes, Designs, Fantasy, GIMP, Photoshop

Seamless Micro Web Backgrounds

2009-03-27T16:56:41Z

This set of web backgrounds is made up of various lines, grids, dots, etc. with kind of a “tech” theme. All of the images are GIFs, and they are all extremely small in size. Most of them are only about 25kb. So, these are great for anyone looking to have a fast-loading website.

There are three different sets – blue, green, and gray. You can download them each separately below.

Don’t forget about Obsidian Dawn’s first contest! We need more entries! I’ve seen some extraordinary stuff done with the Tech and the Gear brushes, so I know you guys are out there! You can submit anything that contains EITHER the Tech or the Gear brushes… it doesn’t need to have both. And it can have been created at any time. We’re accepting entries up through April 5th. Submit your entry now!
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Seamless Stonework Stock Images

2009-04-28T04:19:10Z

This set is comprised of various stonework textures. The reference photos were taken from walls, but would certainly work equally well for stonework floors. These are all entirely seamless and extremely high resolution, with most of the images averaging around 3000 pixels in width.

These are mostly made up of the gray toned stones. I’ll be coming out with a second Stonework Patterns set soon that features the more tan colored stonework.

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© Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: All Programs, Images, Stock

Contest!

2009-04-05T04:52:04Z

First off, a big “thank you” to all of you for being patient with me for the last few months while things were slow. Any of you who read my posts regularly knew that I was moving, but things have been crazy this year even beyond then. After the move, there was unpacking. After the unpacking (which still isn’t done) comes gallbladder pain – which was misdiagnosed as acid reflux for the last 3 years, and which kept me lying down most of the day. Then comes one surgery to clear out some gallstones that had gotten stuck in my bile duct, and the recovery. Then comes a second surgery, to take out my gallbladder (I had 53 stones!), and the recovery for that. Lastly, a week and a half ago, my grandmother passed away and I was out of town to help my mother through it and for the memorial. This has been a very busy year. :P

However, with all of that behind me, I think things should begin picking up once again here at Obsidian Dawn. I’ll have Obsidian Dawn CDs available again sometime this week, so for any of you that have been waiting for them, check again soon!

I’d like to start things out with a contest. I’ll be holding these every so often from now on, as long as this one goes well. They will all be based around one or a few of Obsidian Dawn’s resources, where you’ll be asked to submit entries for products and designs that use a particular brush set, pattern, image, etc.

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Stonework Photoshop Patterns

2009-04-03T23:16:48Z

These are mostly made up of the gray toned stones. I’ll be coming out with a second Stonework Patterns set soon that features the more tan colored stonework.

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© Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Patterns, Photoshop, Textures

Alchemy Vectors II Photoshop & GIMP Brushes

2009-02-27T17:54:00Z

Here’s a set of Photoshop & GIMP brushes composed of various alchemical (alchemy) symbols, all as vectors. These are all very high resolution, about 2000 pixels in size.

These are made up of alchemical symbols for the various materials used in alchemy. If you’re looking for the symbols for weights and measurements, containers, Spirits (or elements), seasons, and processes, you can find the first Alchemy Vectors Photoshop & GIMP Brushes set here!

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© Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: GIMP, Photoshop, Symbols, Vector Brushes