GraphicsMuse: 60 Second Reptiles, Paint lines, and Bark [Gimp Tutorial]

“It’s been a while since I did any tutorials for the Gimp. I’ve
been busy with a new job at Linsider, not to mention all the work
that went into chairing this years CLIQ conference. But things are
starting to settle back into place and I’m managing my time much
better now. I still have a few magazine editors ticked off at me
for missing deadlines, but all things come in due time.”

“Anyway, I decided it was time to do something interesting with
the Gimp. If you’re a regular reader of my graphics columns you’ll
know I like to keep things simple. The trick to doing complex
projects is to break them down into their component parts and
attack each one individually. You’ll get more done that way, not to
mention the feeling of having really accomplished something each
day.”

“In this tutorial I’m going to show you the tricks you can
play with noise. The Gimp is often thought of as a tool whose
end product is a goal in itself. But Hollywood knows better. There,
the Gimp is used as just another tool in a long list of tools to
generate the final product – a special effects shot for a movie.
Noise plays an interesting part in that pipeline of tools. Much
of the 3D work you see in movies is done using 3D modellers and
renderers, but the textures for those models are often done in 2D
paint programs like the Gimp. For example, we can very quickly
create reptilian skin using the Gimp, a little blurred noise and
some color blends.”

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