more graphic/photoshop projects that I've been doing as part of my online graphic design course...

Photoshop movie madness

And heres one thats taken far too long ...and the title text is still not quite right but never mind

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Photoshop tutorial part 2 ...

And here's another one in the same style ... plus a Soviet style poster from another tutorial...

Photoshop

So in an attempt to really get to grips with Photoshop, I'll be working through some tutorials. This is the first one I've tried and I'm really pleased with it. I've seen a few "stencil" tutorials for Photoshop before, but this one really looks good.



More of my efforts to follow...

So tea at the Ritz seems like ages ago and now the weather has dropped by a good 15 degrees the time for eating petit fours is definitely over. Its time for real food and by real food I mean meat. preferably red meat too, anything that you can cook for a long time on a low heat.

As heavy and heartwarming as German food can be, I tend to draw back to the English classics when the temperature drops. Funnily enough these weren't recipes that were made at home when I was young, but somehow I have developed a nostalgia for the England that I never had. The Spanish have a word for this longing for a time that never existed in our past ... but it escapes me at the moment.

On a mild october day I spent the afternoon in a hotel which is mentioned in such phrases as " putting on the ..." and "tea at the...". I was involved in the later activity, finally getting round to using a birthday voucher I got in May, which I promised I would save until I had something to celebrate - aside from just my birthday. Well that something had finally happened.

So tea for two in the tea lounge at the Ritz in Berlin. I went with English rather than German as my language of choice, it just felt right when dealing with such a typically English custom. And it was the right choice, it made the whole experience much more pleasurable. Anyway, what is the German for scone?

After sniffing out the tea of our respective choices, followed by an onslaught of petit fours I was settling nicely into the role. However as the the piano player began tinkling out covers such as "send in the clowns" and the Forrest Gump theme tune, I had the feeling i was being slightly mocked.

spoilt for choice

It was only when I looked into a fridge in a small corner shop in Barcelona, on the hunt for a cold bottle of beer, that I realised how accustomed I have become to living in Germany. Somewhere in the corner of the fridge I found just four beers.

I was genuinely shocked.

Then shocked, that I was shocked. perhaps shocked is an overstatement, but at that moment, I was aware at just how German I had become.

Germany is a country where beer is still advertised based on how good it tastes. No jokes, no gimmicks, just a 30 second advert showing you how great it is. And it works. Clearly there is no shortage of Beer being drunk in Germany, and no shortage of selection either. The assortment of beers is truely breathtaking. With only the USA boasting more breweries, a trip to the local off-licence can often involve making one of the toughest decisions that you are likely to make all day. Especially if you go there before lunchtime.

Yet what was once a novelty has now become my standard. The standard by which I judge all other beer drinking corners of the world, including Barcelona.

Prost!