It’s Guest Blog Wednesday featuring Corey Barker!

Griswold Ain't Got Nothing On This!
Hello everyone and Merry Christmas! Corey Barker here and I just wanted to pop in and share a few things as we wrap up the year and get ready for what hope to be a very exciting 2014. One thing I wanted to share, or re-share is a video time-lapse I had done last year on taking a normal photo of a house and decorating it with Christmas lights all in Photoshop. It was a lot of fun and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Well here it is and is set to some rather appropriate Christmas music. If you haven't seen it yet go ahead and check it out and if you are a NAPP member then you can see the tutorial in real time over at the NAPP member website.

The Bear & The Hare Christmas Spot
Many of you may know of my friend Aaron Blaise, who is a former Disney animator and perhaps one of the best illustrators I know. He also has taught at the last two Photoshop World's and has wowed crowds with his skill in creating realistic character art all in Photoshop using a Wacom Cintiq.

Just this past year Aaron went back to his roots to do some 2D hand drawn animation on a Holiday commercial for a London based company. Aaron had told me about the project months ago but couldn't reveal too many details. When I finally saw the finished piece I was nearly brought to tears. It's a beautiful piece and has a lot of heart. It shows how 2D animation can still capture our hearts the way the old Disney classics used to.

Aaron did all the animation of the actual bear and hare characters and other animators did the rest. What is interesting is how they did it. It combines practical model effects with 2D characters and animated as stop motion. When you are done watching the video go and watch the behind the scenes of how they did it. That is as impressive as the piece itself.

In the end the spot is nothing short of amazing and big tip of the hat to Aaron and the rest of the production for making a piece of art and not just an advertisement.

A New Down & Dirty Book is On the Way

Just this past week I finished up Volume 2 of the Down & Dirty Tricks for Designers book. The first book was a big hit with designers and was filled with eye-catching images. I believe this next one is as every sequel should be, better than the first. I have completely new material throughout the book with an expanded 3D chapter that takes Photoshop 3D to the extreme. In addition to more 3D I have my Hollywood Effects chapter with a complete movie poster project from start to finish. I also have a short chapter where I use images provided me by notable photographers like Moose Peterson and Glyn Dewis.

As I mentioned the book is in post-production and hopes to be shipping sometime in late January/early Feb 2014. Be sure to look for that soon and also check out coreysbarker.com for more info as well. Here are a few examples of what you can expect to see in the book.

This was created with images shot by Glyn Dewis and is a play on the movie Looper starring Bruce Willis.

This is the poster project I referred to earlier. This tutorial is fully step-by-step starting with the raw image right out of the camera.

The 3D chapter boasts some of the most eye-catching and complex 3D you probably ever seen in Photoshop. You will see how this very logo was created entirely in Photoshop with no third party applications used at all.

What about product design? No problem, learn how to create and combine simple shapes into an elegant product shot that you can view and render from practically any angle.

As I said, these are merely a small taste of all the fun that is to be had in this newest Volume of Down & Dirty Tricks for Designers. What always drove me to write such a book like this was because these books, and the first volume, were the books I would have been looking for if I were a design student or aspiring artist. Often just seeing what is possible is enough to fuel your creativity and drive you to create something that sends that thrilling chill down your spine. I only hope this book can do that for you. Stay tunedâ¦more to come!

You can see more of Corey’s work at CoreySBarker.com, and follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube.

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  1. Corey
    People tend to do a lot of refection at this time of year.. family, seasons change, the whole Christmas thing..

    Although to some, not related, and to others, they may know of what I speak.. You are one of the largest influences and educators in the Photoshop arena today. As the year closes out, I see all things possible, and know just how far away I am from being able to see the world through the eyes of people such as yourself, with so very few years left here to do it.

    This makes me kinda sad. But, I am very grateful for yourself, Scott, RC, Matt, Pete, Brad.. and everyone down in Kelby for providing all of us such important and rich content each and every year, that provides the inspiration and hope that, some small piece of that you have inside, will rub off just a little….And we too will be able to see the world through eyes such as yours. Your work stands as a testament to the individual in and of itself. Merry Christmas to all of you down there.

    Thanks for all and everything Kelby provides.

  2. Corey, I couldn’t agree more with John_Skinner. Thanks to you and everyone at Kelby Media for all you guys do. I’m excited about your bud RC coming to OKC in February and I’ll see you next fall in Vegas I’m sure.
    Till then…
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, your family and all of your friends!

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