Errol Flynn & Olivia deHavilland Desktop

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pktrekgirl
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Errol Flynn & Olivia deHavilland Desktop

Post by pktrekgirl »

Image

I made this for Errol Flynn's birthday, which was yesterday.

Of course, the photos used are from The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Hope you guys like it! :)
feaito

Post by feaito »

Very beautiful Pktrekgirl.

Errol Flynn is also one of my favorite stars. In fact, he's my favorite star of the "Adventure" Films Genre. He's tops. There's no better entertainment than the one you get in "Captain Blood" or "The Sea Hawk", two of my favorite films of his. And he'd been great if he'd been cast in the title role of "Anthony Adverse". Don't get me wrong, I like very much Fredric March, but I think Flynn was better suited for that particular role.

Now that we're talking about Errol, it came to my mind that many years ago, I'd say in the late '80s or early '90s, I watched on the old TNT channel, a fantastic film starring Errol; a comedy titled "The Perfect Specimen" in which Joan Blondell co-starred. I recall that Flynn's character was a very rich young man, who lived alone in a huge mansion, extremely protected by his grandmother (May Robson?) and that Miss Blondell crashed with his car into the garden of that mansion. It was very funny and he even had a boxing scene, way before his role in "Gentleman Jim"! Apparently this great film is out of circulation due to legal entaglements concerning the underlying work upon which it is based.
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MissGoddess
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Post by MissGoddess »

OH, that's lovely, PK! I really find the colors and tones you chose so soothing and romantic. It's like they are appearing out of a dream. And he was a dream!
pktrekgirl
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Post by pktrekgirl »

^ Good. Because that was the effect I was going for. 8)

Desktops take such a long time to do. You start out with this blank slate and think "Where to start?" It's almost scary...like you wonder if this will be the time that you simply run out of ideas.

Avatars are easy cus you generally only have one photo to work with (although sometimes I blend two) and such limited space that you don't have tons of options.

But desktops! You have this vast 1024x768 pixel space...and you gotta figure out a way to fill it in a way that is interesting.

I think I'm pretty happy with this one. That one Gary Cooper one is still my favorite. But this one might be second.
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MissGoddess
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Post by MissGoddess »

I still have your Gary Cooper desktop on my office PC. I can't let it go!! I used to change them frequently but this one is too good. :D
pktrekgirl
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Post by pktrekgirl »

^ Well thanks. That is most kind.

Truly, I can't get rid of that one either. Still takes my breath away.

Believe me - it was much more a function of luck than of skill, but that one really came out great.

But then, the source material *was* fantastic, after all - Coop gave me a really good start, all on his beautiful-self own. 8) There was hardly much for me to improve upon. ;)
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sugarpuss
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Post by sugarpuss »

After reading through the clarification thread, I just want to add that I feel badly for not ever commenting on your artwork--especially as a designer myself. Support and feedback are things we designers thrive on. It's like food and water to people ;)

I envy your style. I've looked at your other desktops, but this one is my favorite of the bunch. I've seen a lot of classic desktops/icons posted in other communities (like on LJ), but yours are truly beautiful. The avatars that you design for others on this board are gorgeous as well. I envy you, because you have a style that's your own.

I tend to work more realistic mainly, because I've tried to imitate that "dreamlike" quality and I'm just no good at it. Plus, I'm uncomfortable with doing something that's not my own. I'm inspired, but at the end of the day, I'm much more comfortable with layouts, text, etc. My work usually carries over into my internet time!

But to repeat myself: your work IS amazing, pktrekgirl! You should be proud of the desktops and icons you come up with!
"Some of the best parts of life are frivolous." - Arthur Kennedy in A Summer Place
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The Roadshow Version: A Modern Take on Classic Movies
pktrekgirl
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Post by pktrekgirl »

^ Thank you, sugarpuss.

And yeah...I must admit that I was kinda discouraged. You make all this stuff and then when a thread gets 40 hits and not a single comment, you kinda worry if maybe you don't suck and everyone is just being too kind to tell you so! :P

I know what you are saying about style. I ran into that very problem a few weeks ago when one of my co-workers who had seen my stuff asked me to design a baby shower invitation for her.

Now...give me a photo of Gary Cooper or Errol Flynn, and I'm all KINDS of 'inspired'. :P But a BABY SHOWER INVITATION???? :shock: GAH! I didn't even know where to begin!

I dinked around with it for a couple of hours, but was unhappy with everything I did and in the end she did it herself. She is GREAT at that sort of thing, so I'm not even sure why she asked me to begin with. But I think she thought my style was cool, and she hoped I could translate that into an interesting invitation. However, I was really at a loss - I can play around with photos and get some interesting effects with blending techniques, brushes and textures. But to start something from scratch and make a purely text-based item look good? Forget about it! I'm much better with photos and cgi from scifi.

So I know *exactly* what you are saying. Oh yeah!

By the way, I gather you are on LJ? I am too. We should friend each other! :)
My wife said she'd help young people, ... That's what I'd do. Help young people, then buy a big motor home and get out of town.
~ Gary Cooper
TalkieTime
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Post by TalkieTime »

Pktrekgirl,

The minute I saw this great piece of art I set it as my main computer's wallpaper.

Thank you.

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Post by The Ingenue »

pktrekgirl,

Your designs are ravishing! As I was looking through this site, I noticed the avatars of Myrna, Bob Hope and others and wondered where they came from. A search through the SSO led me to your "Want an avatar?" thread, and then to this one.

I love your joyous style and your color choices.

Tell me, how did you do the swirling effects in the Errol & Olivia desktop? How do you achieve the textures and mix the colors? I fiddle with desktops too (some of my designs can be seen here at Doctor Macro's), though I haven't yet figured out all the tools in Photoshop. I believe mine is a rather old version as well: 6.0.
TalkieTime
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Post by TalkieTime »

Pktrekgirl,

Your rendering of Errol and Olivia is still my current desktop wallpaper.

Thank you again!
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