My little Willow after she asked me to pick one of the giant roses in the backyard. Afterwards she stuffed the rose into the ground and pured water on top. I hope she’s not disappointed today when the rose is no longer a rose.

The Waratha in the backyard is in bloom.

Rabindranath Tagore (Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist, Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

creative photography submission

Officially it’s summer time again Down Under. Here’s a beach daisy tat could make a nice wallpaper if you have a hankering for something warm.

First flower of spring

Spring is in full bloom around my place!

Here’s my Wordless Wednesday (well almost wordless and it’s actually Friday now). Although it doesn’t feel like it, spring is on its way to Oz. This is a shot I took yesterday of an ornamental cherry tree that hangs across the drive way. I was on my way to the shops in the rain, when I noticed that the tree had blossomed. I quickly pulled out the tripod and camera and took a couple of snaps before me and the gear got soaked.

This was a rather small doddle and after scanning, the felt tip pen I was using created a very interesting image texture. Like all the doodles featured here in doodle week, I scanned the doodle from notes I have taken during work. I use Linux Zenwalk as my operating system (no MS or Apple ware here).

I scan using Kooka opensource scan software. I then import the scan into Inkscape SVG Vector Illustrator. Inkscape is similar to Adobe illustrator except it’s free. In Inkscape I quickly trace the path of the drawing converting it to a vector image. This smooths the lines as well as allow me to scale it up without losing lots of detail.

I then export the vectored image as a png file and open it using the GIMP image manipulation program. Gimp is similiar to photoshop, and again, it’s free (I have a couple of GIMP tutorials on the site if you’re interested).

With the GIMP I add the color and/or remove some of the text from my notes that crept in close to the image. This sounds like a lot of work but it’s actually very quick to scan, vector and process.

I hope you’re enjoying Doodle Week, if you get the hanking to participate, be sure to upload your doodle and check out the others on the flickr doodle group.