I am currently doing a small project with a colleague designing a promotional material for a vocational school here in the PI extending help to students who want to study and work in Australia. My creative skills are way beneath professional but I've always loved anything artsy-craftsy so I decided to do the project. It is a long process of trial-and-errors and I've been trying out new software to effect the desired results. However, I have newfound respect for MICROSOFT WORD. What used to be a mere writing tool for me is now my graphics editing software.
Since Halloween is just around the corner, I am showing here a simple tutorial on how to make your own Jack o' Lantern art using only basic shapes from Microsoft Word.
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| Evil enough for you? This pumpkin is made from Basic Shapes and a little imagination. |
- Go to FILE >> NEW BLANK DOCUMENT
- Press the Shapes Icon on your toolbar, choose basic shapes, then choose CIRCLE.
3. Right click on the circle and press EDIT POINTS
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| You may have to do a little trial-and-error on this one until you get your desired shape. |
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4. Once you get the shape that you want, go to the FILL ICON on your toolbar and choose the shade that you want (orange of course!)
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4. You don't want your pumpkin flat, so we will adjust the the colors to make it look plump. Go back to the FILL ICON and click on FILL EFFECTS. Click FILL, then go the GRADIENT tab.
On the GRADIENT TAB, you may use the following selections as
guide:
STYLE : Linear
ANGLE: 93 degrees ( you may tweak on this button to
get the desired result)
SELECTION AND TRANSPARENCY: ADD COLOR, then choose
any light yellow color
You may follow the settings below to save time :)
CLICK OK
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| Add caption |
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| On its way to being a full fledged pumpkin :) |
5. For the stem, go back to the SHAPE ICON on your toolbar, then click on BASIC SHAPES, then choose ARC
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| Right click on the ARC to edit it. Adjust the width as shown above. |
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| Fill the ARC with a combination of Brown and Green colors---experiment with different combinations :) NOTE: Fill the ARC using the LINE ICON below the FILL ICON. The ARC is apparently not a shape, but a line :) |
7. Now, for the eyes, go back to your SHAPE ICON>> BASIC SHAPES>>then choose triangle (told you these are basic shapes :) ) Right click on the triangle then go the FILL ICON, then choose a darker shade of orange than the one used to fill the body of the pumpkin.
To create the illusion of depth and light from within the
pumpkin, go to FILL ICON, then FILL EFFECTS, FILL, then go to the GRADIENT
tab.
STYLE : Linear
ANGLE: 354 degrees
COLOR AND TRANSPARENCY: ADD COLOR, BLACK, ADD COLOR, YELLOW
(adjust the color spread according to your
desired outcome)
CLICK OK
TIP:
Edit one eye only then copy the same triangle for the second eye. That way you
won't have to edit both eyes and they will look uniform. I placed here two
triangles just to mark where i'll put both eyes later
When done editing one eye, just click on it, COPY, then PASTE.
Click the ROTATE ICON on your toolbar, then choose Flip horizontally.
8. Once you're satisfied with both eyes, it's time to do the nose.
Follow the same process as we did with the eyes. On your GRADIENT TAB, use the
following settings:
STYLE : Linear
ANGLE: 102 degrees
COLOR AND TRANSPARENCY:
ADD COLOR, BLACK, ADD COLOR, LIGHT YELLOW
CLICK OK.
9. We're almost done. For the Mouth, go to the SHAPES ICON, click on STARS and BANNERS then choose a seven-pointed star. Do the same process for the eyes and nose above and use the following settings:
STYLE : Path
ANGLE : 170 degrees
COLOR AND TRANSPARENCY: ADD COLOR, YELLOW, ADD COLOR, BLACK
CLICK OK and VOILA!!!
