253 of 365 is a giraffe made out of text #typography #design #inkscape #tutorial @strnglibrarian
By: lemasney
Tags: 365, Arts, Graphics, ideas, Inkscape, Typography, Vector Based, Video Games
Category: 365, Ellipse Tool, eyedropper tool, Gradient tool, Node Tool, object to path, Rectangle Tool, requests, Text Tool, tutorials
So my libland friend Julie asked me to sketch her a giraffe, and I do just about anything Julie asks. In this case, I did the following to fulfill her request:
- I found a silhouette of a giraffe and imported it into Inkscape.
- I lowered the opacity on the giraffe so that I could see text as I placed it on top.
- I added the letters in the word giraffe one at a time with the text tool
- I selected (s) each of the letters and made them into paths (shift-ctrl-c)
- Using the node tool (n) I stretched each of the letters into the shape of the silhouette until the letters were representative of the silhouette of the giraffe.
- The silhouette was set aside, and I then created a background for the scene.
Try it out with your favorite animal, and let me know how it turns out! Hope you liked it Julie!
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10 comments on “253 of 365 is a giraffe made out of text #typography #design #inkscape #tutorial @strnglibrarian”
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John LeMasney
John LeMasney is a father who lives and works in and around Ewing, NJ. He has worked for 11 years at Rider University as the Manager of Technology Training. He was recently awarded a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership with honors from Rider University. He is a designer, artist, writer, poet, technologist, consultant, open web advocate and open source evangelist. He is most interested in helping people to use technology to make their lives, work, and world better.
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Your work is amazing!!!
I just saw your flickr page — your work is amazing!
JOHN! I LOVE THIS! THANK YOU!
(anything i ask? hmmmm……)
So glad you liked it Julie, and thanks for the inspiration. Also, I stand by my statement.
Dude,
I’ve got two words for you, Benjamin . . . children’s book! Start with “A is for Aadvark,” and you’ve got yourself a best seller. Remember who suggested it to you when you’re on Oprah and she gives you a car.
That’s a great idea, Tim! In fact, any time I’m at a loss for an idea, I’m going to consider this my fallback plan.
When Oprah gives me the car, I’ll make sure you at least get some of the cash equivalent.
[...] 253 of 365 is a giraffe made out of text #typography #design #inkscape #tutorial @strnglibrarian (365sketches.org) [...]
[...] 253 of 365 is a giraffe made out of text #typography #design #inkscape #tutorial @strnglibrarian (365sketches.org) [...]
I’ve used a different method when doing this type of graphic. I tried using the text tool, converting, and nudging as you did, but found it too slow. Instead I just free-handed all the letters with the pen tool (yes, still mostly using Illustrator I fear) to match the shape of the animal/object underneath it.
Of course the end result is the same.
Yeah, I like starting with a font as a framework in the same way I like starting with an animal silhouette as a framework. With this project, starting from scratch is equivalent to a nonstarter, though I’m sure you get a more original result. All my animal sketches tend to begin with Helvetica Bold