dekeBlog

Nothing about Day 2's spiral encounters in Ireland was younger than 1000 years old and the oldest was over 5000. Yet, we could still find connections to our personal experience in the modern world. It was easy to make the connection, especially if we squinted and drove by too fast.

One of the sights I wanted to make sure we visited in Ireland was Newgrange, a neolithic monument in County Meath that predates the pyramids at Giza and the ring at Stonehenge. It's not just that Deke likes old (really old) stuff, or that you can actually go into a carefully engineered passage tomb. It's that this kerb stone below was to the carved over 5000 years ago:

Look familiar? Remember Deke's Techniques 085 from just last summer?

Deke's Techniques crossing the graphical span of multiple millennia!

Our second adventure of the day centered around an attempt to see the high cross at Monasterboice in County Louth. It's supposed to be one of the best examples of this sculptural form in existence. But it's hidden in an almost abandoned monastic graveyard on the back roads, and if you miss the roundabout exit, which we may have done more than once, you are left having to make a several-kilometer spiral to get back and try again.  Read more » 

Day 1 (I refuse to count what is now nostalgically known as "Tow-Truck Day") brought pilgrimages to two sacred sites of equal but disparate sanctity. 

Trinity College is the home of the Book of Kells, a painstakingly illuminated Latin manuscript of the Gospels created sometime around the year 800. There's no doubt the monks who labored intensely over their exacting graphical work are Deke's spiritual artistic forebearers. 

There's no photography allowed in the room where two pages of the manuscript lay open, so I can only include an iPhone shot from a book in the gift shop. Those familiar with Deke's vector-based Celtic Knot project in Chapter 17 of Illustrator CS5 One-on-One: Advanced will notice the familial resemblance. 

Note, Deke revisits the Celtic Knot project in Chapter 18: "Live Paint and Interlocking Paths" of his Illustrator CS6 One-on-One: Intermediate course, which is due out this very week. Read more » 

Welcome to Part III in our design-absorbing adventures in Europe during the slow season, in which we stuff our suitcases full of warm clothes, gladly endure a little chill in order to avoid hordes of tourists, and share inspiring bits of design that we find along the way. 

If you missed Parts I (Amsterdam) and II (Venice), it's because I never quite wrote them. Don't let that stop me!

Read more » 

Here in The States, the presidential election draws nigh. I have my opinion. You have yours. Let's grab a pint and throw darts for luck.

What I think is funny is how much attention has recently been drawn to what a polarized nation we are. For example, in 2008, the electoral map looked like this:

The Upper-East Coast went Blue. As did The Slim West, Florida, my state (CO), and my state's southern buddy where my family comes from (NM). Some procedural thing with Nebraska. Everything else is Red. Read more » 

It's been a while since my last video course. Roughly 7 weeks to be exact. What have I been doing with myself? I blame Deke's Techniques. And That Darn Challenge. And then, of course, my personal life. Which has been a blast lately.

Even so, last Thursday (September 13) marked the debut of my 55th video course for lynda.com, Photoshop CS6 One-on-One: Advanced. Which I believe to be quite good and also educational in nature. Watch the video above to decide for yourself.

Photoshop CS6 One-on-One: Advanced comprises a total of 12 chapters. About half of them are of special interest to photographers, and the other half are of special interest to designers. And, of course, all of them are of special interest to people who don't mindlessly label themselves. Read more »