Being a designer myself, I have been fascinated by the use of various colours across different media - the web is of particular interest for me. If used judiciously, you can create wonders with a family of colours; a palette or scheme of complimentary colours. You must visit
ColorLovers to see what amazing stuff the community is creating back there.
This set me off on a mission to search how palettes could be devised from pictures which can be ultimately used in my daily artworks. After scouring the net endlessly, I found an answer right in my backyard. I have Photoshop CS2 and I am detailing the steps below for those of you interested in knowing the secret. Remember, the fundamental idea behind this exercise is to convert natural colour shades digitally to use in our medium of choice (print, web, fashion, etc.).
Step 1
Select a picture of any format and open it in Photoshop CS2 (I experimented on JPG format and it should work on other formats as well). I find images of natural surroundings quite interesting because they have the right colour combinations but make your own choice.
Step 2
Unless you change the colour settings to Indexed Colour, the palette won’t be created. So next we go to Image › Mode › Indexed Color and provide the following settings for the options:
Palette - Local (Perceptual)
Colors - 128 (you can fill 256 to give you 256 colours)
Forced - None
Transparency - Keep it Unchecked
Matter - None
Dither - None
Press ‘OK’ now. Your image will become patchy and is now converted to Indexed Color.
Step 3
Go to Image › Mode › Color Table and Voila! you can see your color palette created from the selected picture. You can save it on your harddisk by choosing the appropriate format (I prefer the *.ACT format). To use this in your artworks, you can load it from Edit › Preset Manager and select Swatches or Windows › Swatches › Load Swatches from the options. If you want the Hexadecimal values of each of the swatches, just roll-over it and you can see it as a tooltip.
Do let me know your results. Enjoy and Happy Colouring! :-)
Technorati Tags: photoshop, colour, swatches, palette
August 16th, 2007
It was a dream come true for me when I settled for a
DELL Inspiron model for my residence which got delivered and installed last week. I also signed up for the DELL Care Premium (you pay more here), being aware that machines can betray the most dedicated human being anytime. True to my belief, within 48 hours I faced an issue with my DVD/CDROM drive when Windows Vista was unable to load the drivers for the optical drive. Soon after, Vista began ‘checking’ for a solution on the Microsoft server but returned with zero results so I started finding answers on my own. I went to the device manager and uninstalled/reinstalled the driver and so on in vain. I had perceived that behind Vista’s fabulous ‘WOW’ inteface, would also be a ‘thinking brain’ (
ala Macintosh) which would take care of the problems with the PC in real-time, thus negating the intervention of a service vendor. I know It’s a far fetched idea but I am always thinking positive. Coming back to my problem, on one website I found an elaborate step-by-step instructions on the issue but the fear of cranking up a machine still under warranty, kept me away from doing anything silly.
You might be thinking I am crazy for being a DELL Care Premium customer and not calling them up for assistance. Unfortunately for me this incident occured on a weekend and DELL India serves its Inspiron customers only between ‘9am To 6pm, Monday To Friday’. Yes, it sounds insane and it’s difficult for me to understand the reasoning behind such a strange regulation. Isn’t it apparent, that a customer who affords a DELL, is expectantly slogging out in the corporate world between those weekday time frames? However for obvious reasons, DELL begs to differ for the buyers of their expensive Optiplex and Precision models - these high-end workstations catering to the business customers, have been provided an exceptional 24/7-365 days maintenance schedule! On the contrary, my expectations from DELL are meagre, in that I want them to provide me service when I am around on weekends or late in the evening on weekdays.
I do not know the quality of DELL services in the rest of the world and its customers are likely to differ in their opinion on this. For the India region though, it feels like DELL is following a policy of blatant ‘class’ differentiation and I want to appeal to the management to rethink on this subject. Meanwhile, I have contacted DELL and I am awaiting an email from them with the step-by-step instructions for resolving the issue on my own. Things will be set in motion when I reach home in the night and I am keeping my fingers crossed for now!
Edit: DELL sent me a detailed email and I resolved the issue quite easily. It turned out to be a Vista registry problem in the end.
Technorati Tags: DELL, Inspiron, PC
August 13th, 2007
It feels great to announce that
Shyam Deshpande (
a.k.a Shyam Shriram), a fellow artist from Bangalore and my long time chum, got engaged yesterday. The ceremony took place at his home town in Amravati. I congratulate him heartily on this milestone and wish the couple a prosperous and a happy life ahead.
» Shyam’s Portfolio on GFXArtist
Technorati Tags: illustrations, artist, shyamshriram, bangalore
August 9th, 2007
The law caught up with Sanjay Dutt but the timing was horribly wrong. He was sentenced to 6 years of rigorous imprisonment and Rs. 25,000 fine. A decade ago, he was the ‘Khalnayak’ who caught the imagination of the media, a skirt-chasing-long-hair poster boy who seemingly cared less about societal norms while stacking guns at his home. Today Sanju baba is Munnabhai who preaches non-violence - the darling of the masses, the mellowed middle-aged actor who’s a class apart from his Page 3 rivals, if he has any. The film industry stood firmly behind him this time than before - Ravi Chopra cancelling the premiere of his colourful saga ‘Naya Daur’ and co-stars writing odes on his character in the press. He might not be in the same class as his father, but Sanju is the hero of the common man.
The real jail isn’t going to be easy for an actor of reel life. He’ll appeal in the Supreme Court and cross his fingers tight for a reprieve from the judgement. With over 100 crore INR running on him, even the film fraternity would want him out quickly. Let’s hope and pray things turn out well and we are able to see another sequel of Munnabhai.
Technorati Tags: Sanjay Dutt, Munnabhai, 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts
August 1st, 2007
From pre-historic times to now, Africa has always remained a mysterious continent. The weather, the regime and the social customs have intrigued generations and helped shape the myriad realities of life in this vast expanse of land; besides crafting stories of survival and fight in the face of oppression and tyranny. Such factual accounts of the African life have been presented marvelously in 3 good movies which I would like to write about today. I prefer to call them my African Movie Trilogy. These movies were abundantly successful in capturing the essence of the African way of life both technically and in story-telling, the strife that plagues the region and the ideology behind the true struggle. The best part is that these movies educate the people in the facts behind the dissent in the corners of the dark continent. These are award winning and critically acclaimed movies which I hope you will see in the future.
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Directed by - Terry George
Starring - Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte
I will begin with my first movie called Hotel Rwanda. It delves into the heroic exploits of man called Paul Rusesabagina who stood against the barbaric forces to save his people. The story takes you back to 1994 during the Rwandan civil war. The assassination of the Hutu Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana commences a bloody episode in the history of the continent, now known as the Rwandan Genocide which sources estimate killed around 800,000 people in a space of 100 days. The film narrates the brutal fighting between the 2 main ethnic groups - the Tutsis and Hutus and recounts the life of a messiah in those difficult times who saved the lives of many.
Paul, a Hutu is the manager of Hôtel des Mille Collines in the capital city Kigali and is under the protection of the United Nations forces. The atmosphere around the city is deteriorating with the incessant killing of civilians as the civil war breaks out again and Paul fears his wife might be targeted as she belonged to the rival Tutsi group. Amidst the growing chaos in the city and the shortening supply of basic items, he works tremendously hard to maintain the luxury of the guests in the hotel and turns it into a haven for the locals who are saved from the blood shed.
Hotel Rwanda did not win any of the 3 Academy Award nominations including Best Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay. Don Cheadle’s strong portrayal of the moderate Paul Rusesabagina won him a nomination for the OSCAR Best Actor but lost out.
Blood Diamond (2006)
Directed by - Edward Zwick
Starring - Leonardo Di Caprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou
The second film in the list deals with a story set in Sierra Leone, where diamonds are found in abundance and traded in order to fund the war. Such diamonds are hence termed as ‘Conflict diamonds‘. Set in 1990s Sierra Leone civil war, the movie is called Blood Diamond.
The film shows gruesome atrocities perpetrated by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) which include chopping off the hands of people who disagree to work for the rebel army. The RUF employed brutal measures in its confrontation with the government which included recruiting child soldiers to fight the war. Daunting display of young boys holding automatic weapons, sometimes smoking and even subjected to drug abuse are plenty in the film. Must remind you here that there are few scenes in the movie which some individuals might find disturbing and offensive in nature.
On one fine day a fisherman called Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) comes across his village being attacked by the RUF with sheer force. In the commotion that follows he gets separated from his family; his wife and 2 kids. Solomon is captured and forced to work for the RUF at a diamond field where he finds a rare pink diamond which is worth millions in dollars. He sneaks it past the watchful eyes of the rebels and hides it at a safer place just before the camp is raided by the government forces and Solomon is captured. Back in the prison, he meets Danny Archer (Leonardo Di Caprio) who is a close aide of the RUF forces and a mercenary from “Rhodesia” (present day Zimbabwe) who helps the rebel commanders with their supply of weapons and cash after selling the conflict diamonds. Oblivious about Danny’s dark credentials, Solomon strikes a deal to lead him to the hidden diamond in return for finding his lost family.
Always noticed for his acting and one of my favorite actors, Leo in this movie delivers his lines in a typical Zimbabwean accent which is quite noticeable. Blood Diamond managed 5 nominations at the OSCARs including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for Leonardo Di Caprio and Djimon Hounsou respectively.
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Directed by - Kevin MacDonald
Starring - Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington
Although not quite a reality-based film, ‘The Last King of Scotland’ is an account into the personal life of the dreaded dictator and president of Uganda General Idi Amin Dada, who ruled over this east African nation from 1971 to 1979. The movie is a cinematic version of the book by the same title which is written by Giles Foden.
Young and a fresh graduate, Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan resolves to work for the poor in the African continent and chooses Uganda. He joins Dr. Merrit and his wife Sarah (Gillian Anderson) where his job entails serving the poorest of the poor. On one such event, he’s summoned by the guards of president Idi Amin, who has met with a freak accident on the country road and needs some urgent treatment. The minor sprain in his arm is treated leaving Idi Amin quite impressed by the young man’s wit and charmed by his Scottish descent. Soon after much persuasion by the president himself, Garrigan accepts the invitation to become his personal physician sacrificing his objective of serving the impoverished and embraces an affluent lifestyle complete with cars, suits and women. Meanwhile as time passes the heroic and egalitarian image of Idi Amin is slowly replaced by a more brutal and oppressive human being, exposed by some incidents in life. It’s too late for Garrigan to go back to his native country though. The dictator certainly won’t allow him to leave Uganda now. Garrigan is turned into a virtual prisoner from an honoured and respected guest in no time and yet he must agree to work for the General to avoid being murdered or tortured brutally.
Though based on a book, ‘The Last King of Scotland’ is not a direct representation of the same and a lot of creative liberty has been taken to weave the final script. For his brilliant portrayal of the tyrannical dictator General Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor OSCAR in 2007.
Technorati Tags: Africa, Hollywood, Movies
July 15th, 2007
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