Moku Hanga: Outstanding Japanese Woodblock Print App

I recently downloaded the iphone app, Moku Hanga, by JixiPix Software. This app does an excellent job of emulating traditional Japanese woodblock printing. Moku Hanga is actually Japanese for woodblock. JixiPix also has iPad and Mac versions of their apps, so I downloaded the desktop version since I was so impressed with the iPhone version.

Moku Hanga handles high-resolution files with ease. I can even feed it Photoshop PSD and Canon RAW files with no problem. The app is supplied with presets for instant gratification, but is totally user-customizable. A set of paper backgrounds and edges fill out the app.

In the spirit of Japanese woodblock subject matter, I used a photo of a pagoda I shot in Sydney, Australia (of all places!). I did do a bit of prep work in Photoshop, using the Adaptive Wide Angle filter to eliminate camera lens distortion (see the original image below).

The best feature of Moku Hanga is the price: $7.99 (the iPhone and iPad versions are $2.99). JixiPix has several very nice image-filtering apps with highly reasonable pricing.

I have a feeling I'll be getting some more of these!

John's Dry Media User: Thomas Brissot

Paris-based concept artist Thomas Brissot has been using my Dry Media tool presets for Photoshop CS5 & 6.

Thomas writes:

I purchased your dry media brushes for photoshop, and I wanted to thank you. It is very helpful to me, I always looked for something that could do a bridge between Photoshop and Painter. I now can do extremely playful and fun stuff with Phosothop (and of course, if I have fun doing my work, the result is much better).

John's Artists' Brushes and Dry Media for Photoshop CS5 & CS6 are each available for $19.95. If you have Photoshop CS5 or CS6 and are into painting, this will be the best investment you can make!

John's Artists' Brushes for Adobe Photoshop CS5

John's Dry Media for Adobe Photoshop CS5

If you have an image created with my brushes, send me a JPEG and I'll feature it here on the PixlBlog!

Don't Adjust Your Display!

The above image may appear to be waving and composed of parallelograms, but it is actually made up of squares.

Akiyoshi Kitaoka, Professor, Department of Psychology, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan, studies visual perception and optical illusions. A favorite subject is the "anomalous motion illusion", in which our visual system is provided contradictory information causing apparent motion when there is none.

Check out professor Kitaoka's website for a dizzying array of visual illusions.

WARNING: Viewing these illusions might make sensitive observers dizzy or sick.

John's Smart Brushes User: Terry Sita

John's Smart Brushes user Artist Terry Sita writes:

I am sending you two photos of painting I did with your Leroy brush. We raise Thoroughbreds so there are always a lot of horses around to photograph. The foals are born usually between Feb. and May.

I rather like the look of the smart oil, since I am a realist painter, but I am trying to loosen up and get more color in my work, so I thought you would like these better.

After auto painting, all I did was bring back the eyes and a little of the hair on the head. If I used the smart oil, I would have to do a little more work to put color into the piece. I hope you like them. I am still a beginner at Painter 12 and these brushes eliminate much of the work.

You can see more of Terry's work on her website. Terry mentions using the Leroy brush. I named this brush after artist Leroy Neiman. and attempted to imbue this brush with some of the vibrance of his paintings.

Mr. Neiman passed away today at 91.

John's Smart Brushes come with installation videos for the different versions of Painter, as well as a tutorial video to help you get the most out of these interpretive brushes.

John's Smart Brushes are $24.95. You can purchase them using the PayPal link below. Major credit cards are accepted if you don't have a PayPal account.

Seeing from a Different P.O.V.

Click image to view larger

My brother-in-pixels, Mark Zimmer, provides a unique commentary on his Relativistic Observer blog about looking at the world:

What you see depends upon where you are. But it also depends upon who you are. If you are here you will see day. If you are there, you will see night. Sometimes there is a sun, sometimes there is a moon. An ocean surrounds an island, but dry land surounds a lake.

The post is accompanied by Mark's playful digital illustrations. If you haven't added Relativistic Observer to your blog reader, you owe it to yourself to do so...now!

John's Smart Brushes User: Karen Bonaker

Artist and Digital Art Academy webmistress Karen Bonaker painted Sedona Canyon View utilizing John's Smart Brushes.

"I started with a painting that I had just completed free hand and thought it may be fun to play with the brushes using it as a source.

I started the cloning on four separate layers (using the Impressionable, Smart Oil, Smart Chalk, and Impasto Oil brushes) and then resolved each one until it all seemed to work in harmony.

Finally added a layer and filled with a Canvas pattern. Wonderful brushes!"

John's Smart Brushes come with installation videos for the different versions of Painter, as well as a tutorial video to help you get the most out of these interpretive brushes.