monuMental

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Date	Title	Body
30 weeks 6 days ago	It's a Texturization Demonstration	Thanks for the nice words. I'm not sure how familiar you are with Photoshop (so some of these terms might sound like gibberish) but here are some step-by-step images with descriptions showing how the layers are set up for each card. Build order is from bottom to top layer. –––––––––––––––– 1. Vintage paper photograph. –––––––––––––––– 2. Vector Mask for the outer shape; layer styles for the outer glow, drop shadow and top/left edge highlight; Levels Adjustment layer to tweak brightness & contrast. –––––––––––––––– 3. Distressed paper texture with Color Burn blending mode and Layer Mask with different areas painted in for each card with the airbrush. –––––––––––––––– 4. Optional water damage photograph with Normal blending mode Layer Mask with the corner painted in with the airbrush. –––––––––––––––– 5. Illustration with Multiply bending mode (except the white chinstrap which is set to the Soft Light blending mode). –––––––––––––––– 6. Distressed paper texture desaturated, inverted, set to Screen blending mode and clipped to the illustration shape with a Vector Mask. –––––––––––––––– 7. Illustration Layer Group duplicated to make colors a bit deeper. ––––––––––––––––   8. Steps 4-6 repeated for the text.
31 weeks 3 hours ago	Eraser stuff	Good point about the eraser. Here are a few candidates for the justification I will use to soothe my obsession with getting the details right and therefore excuse myself from posting a revision. Pick the justification you like best, or recommend one of your own: The pencil owner is not intelligent enough to recognize mistakes and therefore never erases anything. The pencil owner only uses the pencil for mindless scribbling. The pencil owner is a serial sharpener. There was always that kid in elementary school who didn't really need to sharpen his pencil but just liked the grinding sound from the manual pencil sharpener bolted to the wall.
34 weeks 5 days ago	Well done	I almost did something similar with a Lucky Charms box. I like this better than what I had planned. Nice work. I love all of the little details on the box (toasted defensive backs, etc.).
34 weeks 5 days ago	Go forth and multiply	Yes, you may alter to your heart's content. Thanks for asking.
37 weeks 1 day ago	Yes, you are correct	Yes, your memory is good and I'm still working on that ambitious project. It got away from me a bit but I will publish a series of wallpapers later in the season based on an idea that I think is awesome and that my 9-year-old will think is awesome and that I hope you think is awesome.
37 weeks 2 days ago	Thanks for the heads up	I guess the loss hit me harder than I thought. I'll have a fix later today.
37 weeks 4 days ago	My daughter says "OMG"	My 9 year-old doesn't throw around "OMG" lightly but she dropped one when she saw this. She's a huge Avengers and Captain America fan. Your layout and character design are solid and your Blockhams drawing style is fantastic. I don't always use other people's wallpapers on my computer, but when I do, I use Six Zero.
1 year 20 weeks ago	Thank You	I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who became Acres Football fans on facebook yesterday. We gained 70 new fans in one day. We had people all over the country (and in Canada) "like" our page. Our kids will really enjoy this. Happy New Year and enjoy the Sugar Bowl!
1 year 32 weeks ago	Thanks. Your Michigan State	Thanks. Your Michigan State wallpaper is pretty epic too. Looks like we were both thinking along similar lines - I was trying to find a way to incorporate a variation of the 300 logo but couldn't find one. Proof that you are cleverer than me.
1 year 32 weeks ago	This looks really great. The	This looks really great. The awesome work you and cjm have done this year have me contemplating retirement from wallpapers of the schedule variety. Wallpaper-hungry Michigan fans are in good hands with the two of you.
1 year 33 weeks ago	Nice use of color and the	Nice use of color and the execution on the pupil is great. Keep up the good work!
1 year 36 weeks ago	Laughing, outwardly and with volume	I'm really glad my business partner was away for the day because I am having diffultly controlling my laughter. That is beyond awesome and way funnier than anything I've ever come up with. Your execution is really good, too.
1 year 36 weeks ago	Well done. The placement and	Well done. The placement and angle of the ND logo is great.
1 year 36 weeks ago	Nice job! I really like the	Nice job! I really like the concept and the execution looks right-on.
1 year 36 weeks ago	Lighting: yeah, a bit of	Lighting: yeah, a bit of artistic license. Technically there should be 4 angled shadows for each logo (two visible sets of light from the back side of the stadium and two sets of light that you can't see shining from the other side of the stadium (behind the camera). I tried to strike a balance between accurate and attractive in the lighting/shading of the logos. Post-game wallpaper: by all means, feel free to use my wallpaper as a starting point. I really like your idea.
1 year 36 weeks ago	The fam and I laughed hard at	The fam and I laughed hard at this one. Probably the best compliment I've ever received on MGoBlog.
1 year 36 weeks ago	Two more things that are	Two more things that are awesome: first, when I read your "ahhhhhhh" I pictured Denard saying it and second, your Under the Lights wallpaper.
1 year 36 weeks ago	Reading your list made my	Reading your list made my wife laugh and had me thinking "yeah, you know what, this is Nebraska's first year in the B1G. I can justify the time for a Nebraska wallpaper. Right?" (crickets) Seriously, it is very difficult for me to resist.
1 year 36 weeks ago	Take a look at photograher	Take a look at photograher Scott Maez's web site. I used one of his images for this wallpaper and plan to use others in the future. http://www.smaez.smugmug.com/Galleries/Michigan
1 year 36 weeks ago	Thanks for noticing the	Thanks for noticing the details - I spent more time obsessing about the texture and lighting on the Block M than any other aspect of the image. I seriously almost scrapped the whole thing because I just couldn't get it to look right. Further proof that I have more stubborness than  talent.
1 year 36 weeks ago	Maybe you downloaded the	Maybe you downloaded the wrong version. Give this a try... http://www.theartthearttheart.com/wp-content/downloads/michigan-football...
1 year 36 weeks ago	I blushed just a little shade	I blushed just a little shade darker than my daughter when I read that to her.
1 year 36 weeks ago	I read this to my daughter	I read this to my daughter and she laughed out loud.
1 year 37 weeks ago	Nice work. The lights look	Nice work. The lights look fantastic and the placement of the event logo is perfect.
1 year 37 weeks ago	Well done! Good concept and	Well done! Good concept and execution. The gray sky background sets everything off nicely.
1 year 38 weeks ago	I can promise you that if	I can promise you that if Denard is holding a Heisman at the end of this season his action figure will get a major upgrade.
1 year 38 weeks ago	Thanks for the kind words.	Thanks for the kind words. Sorry to disappoint. The Iowa wallpaper was one of my favorites too.
1 year 38 weeks ago	You got it exactly right	Life is a little busy this Fall and I can't create artwork that is up to standards in the limited free time I'll have. I'm trying to set aside time, though, to create a wallpaper for The Game and maybe one other rivalry game.
2 years 21 weeks ago	Next year I'll have to try a	Next year I'll have to try a block M jello mold with cat food in it.
2 years 21 weeks ago	Not sure what is awesomer,	Not sure what is awesomer, that my diary was hijacked by "Christmas Vacation" quotes or that your avatar is the Cobra Kai logo. I'm calling it a tie. I love both movies and am happy that my diary was where the inevitable Vacation quote throwdown took place. Tonight my wife asked if I had received any good feedback on today's wallpapers and I told her that over half the comments were movie quotes. I said, "You know that thing that my friends and I do where we start endless movie quote conversations that drive you and the other wives crazy? Picture that on mgoblog." She said, "Oh" and rolled her eyes knowingly.

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