Phun with Photoshop

Note: no knitting content ahead, just a bunch of silly pictures.
(This was my first attempt. I'm pleased with it, I figured out shadows! The cow picture is from our honeymoon in CA. The sock you recognize.)

My current quest to learn HTML and now CSS (with Dreamweaver as a platform) is really a desire to learn more about web design.
When this fever first gripped me, I realized I would also need to learn Photoshop if I was to truly bend the blog to my will.
So I got the Dreamweaver Missing Manual and Teach Yourself Photoshop out of the library.
The Dreamweaver book is massive and I'm working my way through it. (One thing slowing me down is all these programs are on Hubby's school laptop so I have to bide my time and pounce when he isn't using it. You might remember all this nonsense started over the summer when I had open access.)
The Photoshop book isn't too big, but it's boooring. I'm not sure if that assessment is due to the book or if it is internal to me, since Photoshop is peripheral to my true goals I'm not as interested. (However the Guy In The Art Department also thought this series is boring.)

Diving In
I read the first three chapters, then tossed it aside and just started poking at the program.
You will recognize the Arrygle Sock. I got a freaky clear picture of it, so it seemed logical to use.
After attacking the cow, I moved on to trying to feed the sock to Baru.
On the left you see my attempt. As you can see, I hit some button that burned in an image of the original giant sock. I could have sworn I un-did that, but obviously I didn't.
I also couldn't figure out how to get the sock under his leg. (I showed the pictures to Boss Man the next day and he said all casual like "oh you just erase this part." Well, you might, but I couldn't figure it out!)
So I asked the Guy In The Art Department for a crash course. Since I said I wanted to "feed the sock to Baru" he started to put it in Baru's mouth. But that wasn't my original vision, so I asked him to move it.
And he did indeed erase Baru's arm, just like Boss Man said.
I think the problem was I was thinking of it as a 3D object and trying to figure out how to physically put the sock under his arm. But really it is sort of an optical illusion and negative space thing.
As you can see, he also got rid of the Demon Puppy Eye.
(oh, the pictures in the blog aren't hosted/linked to Flickr like I usually do, but they are out there if you want to see bigger versions.)

Late Night Try
My third attempt Tuesday night ran into bedtime, so it fell apart a little.
That's me(!) on our honeymoon. I was laying on a rock outcrop and was just sitting up when Hubby snapped the picture.
My first idea was to erase part of the rock outcrop so it would look like I was falling and have the sock kicking me. That didn't work out too well. I got bored with trying to wipe out the rocks, it was bedtime, and there wasn't enough room on the right for the sock anyway.
So I switched gears and just made the sock step on me. For this one I figured out how to flip the image so the foot was facing the other direction.
Boss Man threatened to send this one to a website for Photoshop disasters. He pointed out the sock shouldn't be casting a shadow on the sky. I pointed out the shadow on the sock wasn't in the same direction as the shadow on my legs.

Stalking the Laptop
I didn't get to play more last night. I had to type up my stealth sock pattern so I can get it to F to test knit. And I had to type up the corrections to my Cat's Pajamas Socks so P could keep going. That all cut into both knitting and Photoshop practice.

But Why Do I Bother?
Despite all my efforts, I'm not feeling very sanguine about the blog the last few days.
There are so many other, better blogs out there. I can't compete, I should just pull the plug.
This despair was brought on by this blog.
I think it is just so visually stunning (I haven't even read it to see if the content is any good, I'm so distracted by the pretty pictures).
The layout is lovely (but keep in mind I covet the three column layout).
And the pictures look like something out of a magazine (but I peeked at her profile and she's a photographer, so that explains that).
But even once I figure out web design, I doubt my blog will look that good. pout.
Let's see: I knit and crochet for my own enjoyment.
I blog for...uh...
I blog....
I blog because I enjoy writing and blogging is writing, and the trappings don't matter.