Online Color Hue Test

I love it when I find this stuff! Another great little web site that can help any artist. This one helps you determine where you are color-blind. For most artists, we wander about thinking our color vision is perfect.

I thought that until I had my woefully deficient near-sightedness corrected by laser a few years back.

Good news? Woke up in the morning and could see without glasses. Bad news? Colors were different. Or at least my perception of color was different.

Give it a try. What do you have to lose? FACT: 1 out of 255 women and 1 out of 12 men have some form of color vision deficiency

Take the online color challenge, based on the official FM100 Hue Test by X-Rite.

Color Test

Color Palette Generator

I do a lot of portraits. And I work from a lot of photos. I ALWAYS do a color study and I find that I can save a lot of time working in a limited color palette to work through values. I used to "eyeball" this process, but now I can get some handy help from my computer ( or phone).

Here are a few notable sites with FREE palette generators;

The first from DeGraeve.com ( A FANTASTIC SITE!)

http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/index.php

The second is from CSS Drive:

http://www.cssdrive.com/imagepalette/

You can then save the palettes as:

 Save as CSS stylesheet (.css file)

 Save as Photoshop swatches (.aco file)

ASCII Art

OK. It's admittedly wonky, but I love this stuff.

Maybe you've gotten those little text messages with art created from type. I found a FREE generator that will take your photo or art and convert it instantly.

Here's Abraham Lincoln as generated in TEXT from a small JPEG:

..............,.,.,,,,,:,,~Z$O8Z+$=:,,,,,,,,.,.,,....,...... .,...,....,...,,,,,,,,,,,8ND8O8DOZDD:,,,,,,,,,.,.....,...... ..........,,,,,,,,,,,,,,+DDDDDDDD8DD8.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,,,.. .........,....,,,,,,,,,$DDDDD8?.~+8DDZ::,,,,,,,,,,,,........ ,..,....,,.,,,,,,,,.:,,ZZZ?==,::,:7$ZZO.,,,,,,,:,,,,,,,.,... .,...,,,,,,,.,,,,,,,,.=$$+~::::,:~=ZOO8$,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,...., .,..,,::,,,,,,,,,,,,,:=7Z?+===:,~=?$O8D8.,I,,,,,,=,,,,,,,,.. ,,,:,,,,,,,:,,,,,,,,,,ZD88I?O8O7~=I88888.,.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,., .,,,,,,:,,,.,.,,,,,,...O8O8:788$$:$8$Z?Z~,::,:::::,,,,,,.,,. ,,,,,,,,,.,,,:~,:=:,,::Z$7+==:?~:=IO:Z++,,:::~~~~=~:::,,,,,, ,,.,,,.,,,,~:~~~~=~==~::?$~~~=:=I$88?+?~::~~==~~~~~~~,~~,,,, ,,,,,,,,.,~:=~:++~~+=~==OZ8?=~7I7I$$=~O:~++==~+?~~==~~::::,, ,,,,,,:~:::~===?+++==+?=ODZ??77777$78?+=++=+?~+=======~:::,, ,,,,,,:::~=?~=????==?I+=O8OI?I7$$ZOZO+=+++I?=??++=~+=~~=~:,, ,,,,,,~~===+?I++?II7?+??88OO$ODD8D$O=+?II??I??=++++=:~~:::., ,,,,.::=+?~~?77???77++?I+DDDDDDD8::~O=?I77=+7I=+++?~:~=~::.. ,,,,~,~~?I=~III$II$$?I$+?+NDDD8::::DO877Z7=?Z7II++I+~~~~::,, ,,,,:~~++?++I?$$IIZ$7$7+IN78$O~,DDDDD8N$Z$II$I$?+?I+=+~==:,, .,,,,:~+?+I$+?77O8IZ$7?DNDDO88OD8D8N8DNDD8$II7$II?=??==~~~:, ,:,,::=++?I7II77OZ$Z$8DDD8N8DDO7NDDNDNDDDND87I?7I+=+==+~~~:, ,,:~:~?+++?77$IZZ$$ODDDNNI$=~=7DDDONNDDDDDDDDD+?I+===~+=~~:: ,:::::+?+?+?$I?Z$DDDNNND,,:,,=DDD888DNNDD888DNO8D+?::?~~:~,: ::,~==~=?7I?=I$7DDDDD8DD,,,,OD88DDDDD8NNDDDZDOD888?+?~===::: :::~==+?+=?77I?DDDDD8DD:::=DDD88OONNDDD8NN8NDZND887+==+::=~, ,:~~=:+?=+??$IZDDDNNDDD?~DD8D88DND8DDD8D8DDZ88DOZD$=~+=~~:,, ,:=~=+~~+?++?+DNNDDODN+~DN888DDMDDDDONODDND8O8ODO8D~=+===::, :::==?~=+++I=8D8DDD8DD+=D8OODN8DZDZNNOD8DDN8Z8ZZOZZZ==~=+::~ :::~=+=++=??~8DDD88DDD+?D8DDDZ8OD8OO8D8ODDD888D8D887+~=+~==: ,~~:==??=+??8DDDN8ZDDDIDDDNDDDODOD88OODN88DN88DOZ$$O~~+=~=~: ,:~=====+I~~DDD8DNDDDNNDD8888ODZ8ODDDZZO8DZZO$D88$ZO===~~:~~ ,:~=++~+I?+ZD8DZDODNNNND88$8ODODDOZD88O8ND888DZ8788OZ?===:~~ :,==I+~???IOOND7D8DDDDN8D$8$Z8OO8ZD888ZO$D8O7D8$$OOO7?+=+:=~ ,::=+=+??IOZIOD$8D8NDN.OOO8O8O8DZO8$Z$O8DNOD8$D$Z$ZOO$++=~~~ ,:,~~++==?$788DZ88NNDND$OO8O8OO87DOOOODO88Z$8DOOZ88$$7++=~~: ,:~~===+?78ZZZO8DDD8DDO88ZD88OO8O8$OO$$8DDZO$OO$$OOZ7Z+~==~: ::~~+=+??8$8OZ$7O8NDNOO8OZ$8$ZOOIOOO8O8ZZ8Z7OZ8OOZ8?Z7~=+=~: :::=+=++7$O$8OZOODD8NDOZ7$8Z8Z7$OO8ZOZ$$8O88$OI$$$7ZO=+=:~:: ::~=~+=?ZOOOZ8$O8ODD8OZOOO887$8Z7Z77ZZOO88DO8Z7ZI$$7I?=::~:, ,~~+++~=$8O877OO7D8DOZ8DZI+O78Z$O87Z8$O$Z8OOZIO$8ODZ+$?:~~:, :::=+++$O8D8$?8$ODOZDZZZ88ZZZIOIO8O77$?O7D8D8ZOOO$I+$7=~==~: ~::===IOOZ8OD8O8ZDDDOOZ8OOND8OOI8?8ZDOO$8D8OZOZ$OI8$$$8?=::, ::~~=?+=+OOZI8$$87O$DZ8I$$I$ZZ$ZZZ$Z?$$I7OOOOZ+O$~O?Z??~~~,, :~=~==?7IIOOIO8Z?7$IOO$Z$ZZ77ZZZIIZ?ZZZZZZ8ZOI$OOZ$I777~~~,, :~:~=I+7+?$OZ$7ZZ$ZOO8OII$I7?~ZO=I=?II=$IZZOZZI7=?Z7I$:~~,,, :,:~=~???~77$O$8ZZI7IOII++I?+7+?Z?7$7+II+ZZ$$$$$$ZZ?$+~~,,,, ::~~:?II7+Z7$I$I$7Z$IO?IIZZ7?Z7??~=+~+++?ZI?$7O$7$77O:=~:,,, ,:::+?:?~=IOI$I$+IZZOI=?7IZZI++++?+?+=77?O=OOZOO7?Z:~~,,.,,, ,:,:+I?+~?I7$?+Z7=I?II77++?7=?=++~$==+=7+ZIZ7I$OZ=::~::,,,,,                                              GlassGiant.com

This little program converts your picture to ASCII text art - a jumble of letters, numbers and symbols that do not appear to have any significance until you step back and look at the whole picture. It has no practical purpose, other than the neat factor.

ASCII Art has a long history among geeks. One of the first things I printed on my Commodore 128 in the mid 80's was an ASCII rendition of Spock. I remember waiting for what seemed like hours as my 8-pin printer slowly inked it out. But it was worth the wait when I stepped back and the full effect hit me.

If you'd like to find out more, there are several sites and news groups dedicated to this "art form". Just search for "ASCII art".