Jan Kriwol‘s Photography is very creative, he has an urban, skate style. Jan has worked for advertisers such as; Canon, MTV, McDonalds, Red Bull and plenty more. To see more of Jan’s work check out his site.
      

  

In todays photography post I have a great selection with animal photos made by Claudia Del Rivero, a photographer from Cancun, Mexico. According to the description of this post, animals have showed Claudia how to become a better photographer and the reason for that is simple, but very true if you think about it… They do not pose, you can’t ask them for a smile, you have to wait for the perfect moment. They challenge you to become a hunter with your camera as the gun, and these are the shots Claudia ‘fired’.

Rado Javor is an illustrator coming from Slovakia. Inspired by history, in the past, boats, technology and the airships. This works shows an awesome technique and use of the color with a great details.

Preview

Here are various preview images of what we will be making.

Step 1: Draw the Cracked Eggshell Components

In Illustrator, open up a new document by going to File > New (Ctrl/Command + N). Select the Pen Tool (P). Start by drawing an egg shape. Afterwards, use the Pen Tool again to draw a zigzag line that will later be used to create the cracked edges of the eggshell.

Important: Make a copy of the eggshell shape because we need two of them (one for the front and one for the back of the eggshell).

Position the zigzag line at the top of the egg shape and then press the Divide command in the Pathfinder panel.

Once the egg shape has been divided, select the top part with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and delete it as we don’t need this component anymore.

The resultant object will be the back part of the cracked eggshell.

Repeat the process above with the other egg shape (which will be the front of our eggshell), but create another zigzag line so that it won’t look identical to the back. Place the zigzag line lower than the first so we can use the resultant object as the front of the eggshell.

Step 2: Fill the Shapes with the Gradient Tool

Select the first eggshell shape (which, as stated earlier, will be the back of the eggshell). Click on the Gradient Tool (G) in the Tools panel to make it the active tool. Turn on the Gradient Annotator by going to View > Show Gradient Annotator (Alt/Option + Ctrl/Command + G) so that you can easily adjust the gradient even after you have applied it. Create the linear gradient with the settings shown below.

Repeat the process with the second eggshell shape (the front); use the same colors as the previous gradient, but modify the direction and angle.

Step 3: Build the Cracked Eggshell

Now we have the basic eggshell shapes. Since we created the front and the back eggshell shape using the same shape as the starting point, we can overlay them easily.

Make a copy of each shape and fill it with a light blue.

Place the light blue copy of the back eggshell shape and the light blue copy of the front eggshell shape behind each, and then move the blue copies slightly to the left. This creates a thicker edge.

Group the two back shapes together. Group the two front shapes together. Place the front group on top of the back group.

Step 4: Add Surface Highlights

Duplicate the front eggshell shape (without the blue shape behind it) by copying (Edit > Copy) and then pasting in front (Edit > Paste in Front).  For the front eggshell shape duplicate, use the Transparency panel (Shift + Ctrl/Command + F10) to set the Blending Mode to Overlay and Opacity to 33%. This gives the front side of our cracked eggshell a nice highlight.

Step 5: Adding a Shadow

Create an ellipse using the Ellipse Tool (L) and place it underneath the egg. Fill the ellipse with a radial gradient that goes from black to transparent (see the settings for the radial gradient in the image below).

Step 6: Create a Custom Symbol

Let us create the nest. Select the Pencil Tool (N) to create vector paths as shown below. Group the paths together. Then duplicate it twice (so that now you have three groups). Make the other two groups slightly darker colors.

Place each group on top of each other. Group the three groups into one group called “nest symbol”.

To make drawing the nest easier, we’re going to take the nest shapes to create a symbol.

To do this, have the Symbols panel open by going to Window > Symbols (Shift + Ctrl/Command + F11).

Drag the “nest symbol” group into the Symbols panel.

Step 7: Drawing the Nest

Adobe Illustrator has several tools that allow you to apply and modify symbols. To start, select the Symbol Sprayer Tool (Shift + S) to apply our custom symbol on the artboard. Try to keep the symbols close together.

Once you have a few overlapping symbols, select the Symbol Shifter Tool and shift the symbols around. Consider also using the Symbol Scruncher Tool, Symbol Sizer Tool and Symbol Spinner Tool until you end up with something you’re satisfied with.

You can make several copies of the above and overlay them to make the nest thicker and fuller.

Use the Warp Tool (Shift + R) to continue shaping the nest. If needed, you can make more copies and build up the thickness and fullness of the nest.

Step 8: Adding a Dimensional Effect to the Nest

We want to make the nest look three-dimensional as much as possible. I’ll show you a trick for this.

Start by creating two ellipses using the Ellipse Tool (L) — these ellipses shouldn’t be much bigger than the nest. Fill both ellipses with a brown color and position them on top of each other (as shown below).

Click on the Minus Front command in the Pathfinder panel so that you are left with a half-moon-like object that’s facing upward.

Give the object a linear gradient using the settings shown below. Give it a Feather effect (Effect > Stylize > Feather) with Feather Radius set to about 8.46 pt (or more).

Place the feathered object on top of the nest shape and, in the Transparency panel, set the Blending Mode to Multiply and Opacity at 100%.

Step 9: Compose the Nest and Eggshell

Place the nest shape and the feathered object in front of the egg. Duplicate just the nest shape (without the feathered object) and place the duplicate behind the egg.

Now we have our little eggshell inside the nest.

Step 10: Adding Light Effects

Let’s say we want the composition on a dark background (like black, for example). In order to do this, we want to highlight the bottom of the egg to make it more interesting and so it doesn’t blend in too much with the background.

Start by creating an ellipse using the Ellipse Tool (L) and then fill it with a radial gradient going from dark blue to lighter blue using the settings shown in the image below.

Once created, place it underneath the nest.

To add some shine to the egg, make a copy of the front eggshell shape and add a radial gradient that’s blue and white, then use the Transparency panel to set the object’s Blending Mode to Overlay and Opacity at 100%. When you place the shape on top of the egg, we get a nice highlight effect.

Last but not least, add a black background.

Step 11: Creating More Eggs in Different Colors

Now we are going to create two more eggs, but with different colors. To start, make a copy of the egg and nest.

Select only the egg shapes, leaving out the nest and other elements. At the bottom of the Swatches panel, click on theNew Color Group icon — doing this will add all the colors of the egg in a color group.

Select the color group by clicking on the small folder icon next to your new color swatches (I just named the new color group “Color Group 1″), and then click the Edit or Apply Color Group icon at the bottom (the icon looks like a color wheel). Make sure the egg is still selected in the artboard.

The Recolor Artwork window should appear, and from there, we can easily change the color of your egg.

Click on the Edit tab and move the color handles around until you’re satisfied with your new egg colors. Click OK to apply the recolor artwork edit (when asked if you want to save the new colors to the group, click Yes).

I went for a pink/dark pink color for the second egg. Then, using the same technique, I created one more egg with an orange color.

Here are the eggs:

Optional Step: Add a Twitter-Like Bird

I created a small Twitter-like bird with simple shapes and placed it into the middle eggshell.

Tutorial Summary

We have finished creating our bird’s nest in Illustrator. Feel free to comment below with any question and/or suggestions that you may have.

In this post I have a selection with creative calendars created by graphic design studio by Yurko Gutsulyak, a studio from Kiev, Ukraine. Graphic design studio was established by Yurko Gutsulyak in 2005. The main activity of the studio is visual communications. With each new project, they challenge themselves and define new high standards of quality. It is not only the quality of performance, but also the quality of established ideas…

Trash Calendar
Every calendar day is a new trash bag. Every month is a roll of 31, 30 or 28 trash bags. The Calendar consists of 12 rolls and is divided into 4 quarterly sets with 3 months-rolls. The date is printed on every bag so that you can see it when the bag is placed into the trash bin.

Tyre Fitting Calendar
An “asphalted” box contains an envelope with component parts, and on the envelope there is a detailed printed guidance on calendar assembly, application, repair and warranty service.

Walking Calendar
They created the idea of two “baby’s feet”, that move along the page imitating the baby’s steps and showing the current day. This method faithfully represents the freedom of motion, the processes of baby’s development and learning. Every new day is a step forward.

Talisman Calendar
Talisman calendar unveils Ukrproduct holding image as a company with rich Ukrainian traditions. Discovering of traditional Ukrainian symbols, amulets and talismans are at the heart of the calendar.

Color calendar
They suggested the idea of “Colour calendar”, each page of which is dedicated to a particular colour and its energy. This very idea allows to represent and explain the symbiosis of Energy, Business and Art.

Energy calendar
The idea was to create as unique a calendar so that the process of its presenting would become an outstanding event. Alongside with this, it was important to expose the idea of “energy”, as it is predetermined by the name and logo of the company. Each page is a month and it looks like a comb made of matches that correspond to the days. The matches are real and the construction of the calendar is absolutely safe.

In ‘The Portfolio of…’ I give you, the photographer/ designer, a chance to share your work with the world. Everyone likes to get some attention for their works, and we’re here to help. Submit your portfolio to us and we’ll try to publish it. Today it’s time to show you the work of Maarten Kleyne.

In ‘The Portfolio of…’ I give you, the photographer/ designer, a chance to share your work with the world. Everyone likes to get some attention for their works, and we’re here to help. Submit your portfolio to us and we’ll try to publish it. Today it’s time to show you the work of Kervin Tan.

Amazing Photography by Cranbrook, Canada based artist Joel Robison. Joel lives in a valley in British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains, as close to the forest as he could possibly be!

Falling or jumping

The whole world in his hands

The great pumpkin

Refreshed

Off with your head

Have wheels will travel

Good to the last drop

Burst the bubble

Bike love

A change is gonna come

Today I bring the edition of vexel inspiration, showcasing some extremely talented artists making wonders with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

But first, what is vexel art?

Vexel is a neologism for an entirely pixel-based form of raster art that imitates the visual appearance of vector graphics technique (i.e. sharp-edged lines and areas of flat colour or smooth gradient fills). The word itself is a portmanteau derived from a combination of “vector” and “pixel

Please note that clicking on the vexel illustrations below will take you to the full sized version and will also give you the opportunity to visit the artists full portfolio.

Slave beauty by lilipaddinako

Red rose by so ghislaine

Princess of the illuminati by stigmatan

Orange by peaceonearth

Maple fairy by picong

Finished tutorial vector by lekiluv

D kampangan collab by yanski

Collove ruthless x zldz by ruthlesschiq

Cesz by picong

Back to basic by httpruthlesschiq

Babe cop by 2frombox

Amy winehouse by cashpawz

Alert by lilipaddinako

15 tone vector by khapo

The girl with the red frame by monsteronabox