Craft
How to crochet a slip stitch and chain stitch
Steel and Stitch teaches the fundamental stitches you'll use in nearly every crochet project
The largest community of creatives.
June 2020
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Illustration
How to Use Archetypes to Create A Graphic Novel
Add meaning to your graphic novel by using thousand-year-old archetypes with Charles Glaubitz In Jungian theory, an archetype is described as a primitive mental image inherited from our earliest human ancestors, concepts present in our collective unconscious. Multidisciplinary artist and graphic novelist Charles Glaubitz (@mrglaubitz) explains how we can use these literal and visual archetypes that have been used throughout the history of human literature to create a comic. The most famous and widely-used archetype theory in storytelling is Joseph’s Campbell Hero’s Journey: a concept that describes the basic archetypes of any story.
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Creativity Tutorials
Photography Tutorial: Why You Should Have an Artist's Sketchbook
Learn the basics of creating an artist's sketchbook and awaken your visual curiosity with Dara Scully
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What is
What is an icon? And how does it differ from a pictogram?
Learn how to recognize an icon and what distinguishes it from another graphic symbol: the pictogram
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Photography
How to Get an Image Ready for Print in Photoshop
Learn some tricks from The Nobody Photography when finalizing your editorial photo for your client
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TOP 10
7 Amazing Documentaries on Creativity
We asked the Domestika community to name their favorite documentaries that focus on creatives They don’t just document history, they can change what comes next. They touch our hearts, raise awareness, and promote change. They remind us of forgotten struggles. They teach us about lives we’ve never lived. They entertain us, inspire us, and make us think. They move us. We’re talking about documentaries, a genre of cinema as varied as human nature itself. We asked the Domestika community to name their favorites, and these are the titles that received the most votes. Paris is Burning (Jennie Livingstone, 1990) Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, this documentary chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities involved. These groups of artists started their own balls as a form of protest in response to being excluded from those hosted by white, upper-class communities.
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Creativity Tutorials
3 Free Tutorials to Become a Great Photographer
Learn and practice your vision as an artist with these easy-to-follow photography tutorials Whether you’re starting or you have a lot of experience in photography, you’ll find it useful to learn more from three talented photographers to improve your skills with the camera. Photography tutorial: how to freeze motion One of the endless possibilities that photography offers is to capture the movement, that is, capture objects or subjects that pass very fast in front of our camera. At first glance, it may seem like a challenge, but following some simple steps, we can freeze an entire scene or even just the most dynamic subject on a photograph. We will explain these two techniques, and how to use them on your SLR camera, guided by Spanish photographer Jesús G. Pastor (@jesus_g_pastor).
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Illustration
A Guide to Children’s Book Categories
Natalia Méndez explains the different categories used for children’s books in the world of publishing When it comes to illustrating or publishing a children’s book, understanding its category will help you to plan your project, not only in terms of content but also the format, illustration style, typography, as well as other factors relating to the editing process. All of this will help define what type of book you want to publish. Categories are also useful when choosing books and deciding on the direction in which you want to take the project. On the publishing side, you’re thinking not just about the content, but also more technical questions to do with the physical object itself–the shape of the book, the front cover, the design, and more. These steps may seem like a small part of the process but, in the world of publishing, they are vital. To better understand the differences, Natalia Méndez (@natumendez)–a children’s book editor and writer–talks us through the main categories for children’s book: Books for babies and young infants: Small books that can be explored by small hands with little mobility. The pages might be made from card or some other thick material that can be easily turned or even put in the reader’s mouth or bitten or sucked.
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Cinema & Filmmaking
Essential Shortcuts for Ableton Live 10
Discover the basic keyboard shortcuts of one of the most popular digital audio editing programs Ableton Live 10 is a complete digital audio editing studio. It's incredibly popular among musicians, editors, and audio professionals because not only is it an excellent tool for composing, creating masters, recording, and mixing; it also allows working with live music, both for DJ sets and instrumental music. The different view modes allow you to use samples or MIDI files, control live sessions, and edit or produce music using the tools of a classic sequencer. Get to know the most used shortcuts that will allow you to improve your productivity and save time. You can download a PDF with these shortcuts at the end of this post.
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Illustration
5 Great Illustration Apps for iPad
With virtual pens and brushes and an infinite number of colors to choose from, these apps allow you to create digital masterpieces Any iPad can become a complete art studio with the right apps and accessories. Its nimble weight, powerful processor, and high-resolution screen, make it the perfect virtual canvas, one that can almost feel like a real piece of paper and that you can take anywhere. But with hundreds of sketching and drawing apps in the Apple Store, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. These are the 5 best ones for digital artists and creatives in search of apps powerful enough to handle professional-grade projects. A first or second generation Apple Pencil -depending on your iPad model- will certainly help, but it's not required. Your finger, and your skill, are all you need. Procreate Many illustrators, designers, and artists rely on Procreate when drawing on an iPad or iPad Pro. It's so good that it has become the baseline for judging any other sketching app. Using an Apple Pencil makes it even better, almost like drawing on real paper. It supports a wide variety of brushes (even customized ones), offers tools for animation, and has the option to export a time-lapse video of every drawing you make.
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Creativity Tutorials
After Effects Tutorial: Basic Path or Stroke Vector Graphic Animation
Experiment with typography motion with this simple After Effects technique with Holke 79 Small animations, gifs, short videos with animated texts and other multimedia content can make the difference to your social media posts. With After Effects, the Adobe software used to create special effects in post-production, you can create simple and attractive pieces intuitively and with the use of fairly few resources. In the following tutorial, motion graphics design Borja Holke (@holke79) explains how to add movement to a simple composition of image and text, turning it into an basic animated graphic using After Effects. Learn more in the video below:
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Photography
Domestika Diary: Aaron Walls
The photographer shares how to take photos without having to leave the house Being a photographer doesn’t always mean counting on the best equipment or circumstances: photography depends on the eye of the maker and their capacity to see the expressive possibilities of their surroundings, regardless of their limits. In today’s Domestika Diaries, the portrait photographer Aaron Walls tells us how his work as a professional photographer is developing every day. Walls doesn’t stop looking for opportunities to create content from his home and remain active on social media. Learn more in the following video:
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Illustration
3 Illustrators That Have Influenced Emma Hanquist
Swedish illustrator Emma Hanquist shares the illustrators who inspired her editorial work
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Interviews
A Rival for After Effects? We Talk to Zenzuke About Cavalry
The motion graphics director and animator shares his thoughts on Cavalry now that the open beta version is available Adobe After Effects has established itself as the leading software for creating motion graphics, and with good reason: its variety of tools, stability, and ease of use have made it an essential program. But this robustness can make the app feel too rigid, or drift away from more organic or dynamic workflows. After Effects has almost everything you want, but it's not perfect. To fill this gap, a few months ago, a new app emerged: Cavalry. Its marketing strategy has rested mainly on convincing us that it will be capable of doing some of the same tasks that After Effects does–working with a large number of objects, simplifying data graphics or creatively warping texts, for example–in a fraction of the time. Now, its creators have just announced that an open beta version is now available. But we wanted to know first hand about the advantages and disadvantages of using this program created by Scene Group. So we turned to motion graphics director and animator Carlos "Zenzuke" Albarrán (@zenzuke), an everyday user of Adobe After Effects and one of the lucky ones who have been able to test the closed beta of Cavalry.
May 2020
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Pro Photography
Cleaning and perfecting skin in Photoshop
Alain Perdomo goes through a series of editing methods for fantasy portraits in Photoshop The process of retouching skin in a photo can achieve a professional result if it’s done with care. The following methods to correct details of the face and skin in a portrait will ensure spectacular results in your photos. Alain Perdomo (@alainperdomo) is a digital artist, photographer, and editor, focused mainly in cinema and advertising photography for fashion and beauty. In the following video, he shares his methods to retouch and perfect the skin to accomplish a fantasy effect:
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Cinema & Filmmaking
7 Film Editing Tips from an Oscar-nominated Editor
Niels Pagh Anderson, the editor of the Oscar-nominated documentary The Act of Killing and Ai Wei Wei’s latest film shares his philosophy and tips on how to edit a powerful film Niels Pagh Anderson is a master film editor and has worked with some of the world’s greatest artists and directors, including Joshua Oppenheimer and Ai Wei Wei. His ability to understand, collaborate, and challenge their visions has earned him his place in the documentary film halls of fame. This week, DocsBarcelona hosted him–online, of course–for a masterclass in film editing. You can watch Niels for free on the DocsBarcelona website. Niels is adamant about the importance of stories and storytellers: “We live in chaos, we need to make sense of it.” The notion that every civilization has used stories, from creation myths to archetypal struggles, to make sense of the chaos is what informs Niels approach to editing, well as the title of his soon-to-be-released book: Order in Chaos.
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Creativity Tutorials
SketchUp Tutorial: How to Import a CAD File to SketchUp
Basic tips to convert an AutoCAD project to SketchUp with Fernando Neyra Moreta An architectural project made with 3D resources allows potential clients to visualize important details such as the distribution and proportion of the spaces, as well as the forms and textures of the materials that will be used in the work. For this reason, it is essential to know how to correctly import a 2D design from AutoCAD to SketchUp tool, a program that allows projects to be made in 3D. In this tutorial, architect, illustrator, and educator Fernando Neyra Moreta (@fn23grafica) shows us the process step-by-step, highlighting important tips, such as creating layers and reference objects, and the SketchUp commands for executing the different tasks. Find out more in the following video:
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Illustration
5 Beginner Courses for Digital Illustration
Use digital tools to create unparalleled works of art In recent years, digital drawing has ceased to be a discipline reserved for design software experts. There are more and more user-friendly options, and advances in technology have meant that anyone can achieve amazing results, with a little practice. Regardless of your level of drawing experience, these courses will teach you everything you need to create spectacular digital drawings and paintings. Creative Portrait Illustration with Procreate, a course by Samuel Rodriguez This course will show you how to create colorful compositions using lettering and abstract elements. Make spectacular digital portraits in Procreate and use this method to incorporate abstract elements in your pieces, like letters, shapes, and colors.
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Art
BCN Rise & Fall: The Street Art of Barcelona
Watch this documentary on the golden age of Barcelona street art In the nineties, Barcelona became an unmissable destination for urban artists. Suddenly, the city walls were flooded with the art of internationally renowned creators such as Banksy, Space Invaders, London Police, and Os Gemeos, among many others. The documentary BCN Rise & Fall reviews the golden age of street art in Barcelona and reflects on its current state. It is an important analysis of how the peculiar graffiti and urban art scene was created in the city.
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Typography
The Amazing Letters of James Lewis
This British artist’s lettering projects certainly stand out, literally and figuratively If you are interested in typography and lettering, it is very likely that you have stumbled upon some of James Lewis' videos on Instagram or TikTok. This British artist has become one of the most viral lettering artists on social media thanks to his amazingly precise and totally hand-drawn 3D characters. Learn more about his work watching his Domestika Live chat. James (@jamesllewis) makes a live logo painting and also discusses the impact that working from home can have on creativity.
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Masters & Creatives
Domestika Masters: Tom Geismar
Tom Geismar, one of the most important graphic designers of the 20th Century, took us through his career and his life-long commitment to design Founder of the influential agency Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, and the creator of the visual identities of many of the most well-known brands in the world, such as Mobil, Xerox and PBS, the story of design would look very different if it weren't for Tom Geismar. Over 50 years in design have confirmed Geismar's place as one of the greats of modern logo design and visual identity. Always up to date with the most recent trends, Geismar guided us through his most recent achievements such as the visual program for National Geographic, making it clear once more that good design doesn't depend on eras or styles but timeless principles. Find out what he had to say in the video below:
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Interviews
How to develop a unique style, according to Marcelo Vignali
An interview with the wonderful art director and concept artist Marcelo Vignali is a well-known name in the animated film industry. He has been involved in titles such as Hotel Transylvania, The Smurfs, and Lilo & Stitch, to name a few, and his particular way of thinking about art can give us insight into our own training as artists. We recently interviewed him about how to cultivate a personal style and find our own voice. We also chatted with him about some ideas that we can use to market ourselves better.
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TOP 10
Follow These 7 Tips For Your Next Personal Project
Starting a big personal project from scratch can feel overwhelming, here are some strategies to help you along the way Embarking on a personal project always brings mixed feelings. There's the excitement that comes from starting something from scratch knowing you will have total control of the process, and the joy of spending more time doing something you feel passionate about. But there is also the fear that the results will not live up to the initial expectations or, if we are talking about a very complex project, of the stress that comes with organizing the multiple tasks involved. Fear no more. These tips will make working on any project, big or small, much easier so you can focus on letting your creativity flow.
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Downloads
Download Free Presets for Adobe Lightroom
Rafaella Bertorini shares the tools to improve your photographic post-production processes Rafa Bertorini (@rafabertorini) got into photography thanks to her mother. Her most vivid childhood memory is taking photos of everything around her with her mother's camera. It was her first hobby, and over the years it became a much greater passion. Now, it's her profession, her full-time job. These days, Rafa is a professional photographer and instagrammer focused on fashion, portraits, and travel.
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Creativity Tutorials
Weaving Tutorial: Macramé Carpet Knot
Learn how to make a carpet knot step by step following the loom tapestry technique with Belén Senra Loom tapestry techniques are useful for creating pieces of decoration. The carpet knot is one of them: its simplicity and versatility make it an ideal option for your macramé practice. The textile artist Belén Senra (@belensenra) teaches us how to make a carpet knot step by step, so that you can use it to decorate your macramé pieces. You can see the tutorial here:
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TOP 10
Top 10: Films for Sound Design
Check out the list of the Domestika community’s favorite films for their music and sound design Sound design is a key element of cinema. It doesn’t just accompany the pictures, but it evokes what can’t be done with images alone: moods, effects, emotions, and more. Made through audio effects and composes soundtracks, it can ruin or save a film. We asked the Domestika community which films they considered to have the best sound design, and those nominated remind us once more that great cinema isn’t just about what you can see. Here are the films your top nominations: Star Wars —complete saga— US, 1977-2019 Sound design by John Williams et al. The George Lucas saga is a classic, not just for its story, character development, and memorable visual moments, but for recognizing sound design as a foundation of production. Firstly, John Williams’ immortal soundtrack has become a classic of pop culture–it was voted the greatest of all time by the American Film Institute. Secondly, the Imperial March became the leitmotif of the franchise’s films. Finally, the sounds of lasers, wookies, and spaceships were created through real-life recordings of everything from elephants and planes to walruses. 18 of the saga’s 44 Oscar nominations are the result of music and sound, winning three of Star Wars’ ten Oscars.
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Typography
15 Free Typographic Resources
Discover free websites and tools for your typographic design projects Typography is an essential element for any design project. Regardless of your degree of experience, the sites and resources we have highlighted here will help you research, create, and play with different fonts. Research and inspiration What The Font Have you ever seen a typeface that you like but cannot identify? This site solves this problem. It allows you to upload an image match your font with one of over 130,000 fonts in its database. It will also find similar fonts you can use in your projects.
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Typography
Do’s and Don’ts When Choosing a Corporate Typeface
The team at Bauertypes share some basic thoughts about the use of typeface for brand identity
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What is
What is Blackwork Embroidery?
We explore the history and characteristics of this traditional English embroidery technique With embroidery being one of the most ancient arts in history, it’s not really surprising that every culture, country, and even region, has developed their own types and techniques. Blackwork is a traditional English embroidery technique which has been very popular. Originating around about the 15th century, here we explore its history and learn more about how it is used.
April 2020
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Pro Illustration
Useful Tips for Drawing Comics
Salva Espín shares some tips to deal with particular aspects when drawing comics Starting a few decades ago, comics have started to gain more strength and relevance in the creative world. This special language mixes the art of storytelling with graphics, allowing spectacular and exciting narratives. If you like drawing and are a lover of stories, you will discover an exciting outlet for expression in comics. Salva Espín (@salvaespin) is a prolific illustrator who has worked for Marvel Comics since 2007 and is one of the few Spanish-speaking cartoonists who has given life to more than twenty comic books of characters such as Deadpool, Wolverine, or Hulk. Below, Salva reveals some of his secrets to dealing with certain aspects in your comics like a professional:
