My years with Linux

With the ended support on Windows 10 in USA and soon to be ended in Europe, and not to mention the AI slop. I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my experience with Linux. Spoiler alert: It is not intimidating as you might think. 

It all started a little while before the support of Windows 7 ended, somewhere late 2019. Already using a couple of open source programs like Inkscape and Gimp, and at some point I wanted a bit more flexibility than my desktop. So a laptop was an obvious choice. The challenge was that I had a very small budget, so I asked around and my sister had an old laptop. This was a Compaq nx7400 with 80Gb hdd and 512Mb ram with a 32bits processor. This was probably a good spec laptop at some point in history,  but it had far lower specs than my desktop. Anyway it was portable, and a good starting point for experimenting with alternative operating systems.  

After installing Linux Mint I was pleasantly surprised how smooth everything was working. A quick start both operating system and programs like Gimp. Of course when using filters in Gimp there was a noticeable slowing down, this could take minutes 😁. So after a short while a small upgrade of extra cheap ram and ssd was ordered. Then it was okay and I worked with this set up for probably about 1 or 2 years.  

Then a couple of years later I was very lucky at Christmas, I got an used HP Probook,  with Windows 10. So I finally had a chance to go back to Windows. I tried the fresh installed Windows of course I needed a Microsoft account, after that the usual removal of bloat ware and unwanted software. I was thinking: why am I doing this.. this took 2 or 3 hours, my favorite software is build for Linux, everything feels restricted and unnatural. So after one day Windows 10 was gone and Linux Mint was installed. 

This laptop was capable of running a lot of more programs,  because it had a 64bits processor ( like any slightly modern computer). So this was the moment where I started exploring. Different programs,  mostly out of curiosity just to see what is possible. And in this process I picked up some new interests. It turns out Linux is great if you're interested in coding. 

 

Screenshot of my current Debian desktop

Recently I tried some other distro, and ended with Debian. And for my work I'm still chained to Windows,  because a lot of specialized technical software is only designed for Windows. So I have a good comparison between the two. 

And here's what I've learned through the years: Linux is different than Windows and so things are done different, that doesn't mean it's more difficult. Of course some things are easier in Windows, but also a lot of things are way easier in Linux. And the same applies to the software, for example LibreOffice works better in many ways than Microsoft Office ( that is now replaced with CoPilot ). The biggest advantages are a operating system that starts and closes faster, and is less resource hungry. Linux also respects you as a user and doesn't stop you because there is an update. You can update when you have the time and even if you update automatically this process runs smoothly in the background. The majority of things can be done in the graphic user interface and doesn't require the command line. But after a while you can learn a thing or two and get used to the command line. For example you can install programs from flathub.org and that's just a simple step of copy and paste a small piece of text in the commandline. The overall freedom is great, but it comes with responsibility. For example you can run older versions of software, but you can also delete some important parts of your operating system like your boot section or internet browser. So be sure to backup on regular basis ( or don't do stupid things). And more recently I've experienced that a game build for Windows available in  the Steamstore runs perfect on Linux thanks to Proton. So even if you're a gamer, changes are that you don't need Windows. 

So if you're interested in using Linux, give it a try. You can install an image on a usb stick for a live test without installing anything. You could have a look at flathub for an idea what kind of apps there are build for Linux. It's free, and if you like it you can give a donation. 

I'm planning on writing some more tips, so if you have any suggestions or questions just leave a comment.  

Have a great day and until next time. 

Greetings Andres 

The iconic Citroën DS as a cut away design

The Citroën DS is a beautiful car both in design and technology.  In a time where most cars had rigid axles, leaf springs, drum brakes and sometimes air cooled engines,  Citroën came with the DS. A car with pneumatic hydraulic suspension for all wheels, disc brakes in the front, and engine with feul injection ( later models ), front wheel drive and swiveling headlights 😍. So when I wanted to create a cut away shirt design the DS was a obvious choice. 

Here is the pencil drawing:

And the finished design:

An sepia version:

Of course available on many products:

There are 6 versions,  a version with background in a soft color palet and a sepia version. A version without background in soft and sepia colors.  And to complete a very simple light and dark line-art for dark and light colored shirts.  My personal favorite is the sepia with just the car 😊.

The design is available at Teepublic and Neatoshop,  see links at my "links" page in my blogsite. 

Feel free to leave any comment or suggestion.  

Until next time,  have a great day. 

Greetings Andres 

Low Poly Dodge A100

A little in between project,  a low poly version of the classic Dodge A100 van. 

Link to Teepublic shop

I have been experimenting with low poly filters but never liked the results of those filter. So I decided to create low poly by hand, first on paper and when finished I traced this drawing using tools in Gimp ( free to use open source photoshop alternative  ). Filled the areas with a gradient to give it a bit more flair.  I'm happy with the results and time will tell if it fits my shops. 

The pencil sketch:

Until next time,  have a great day. 

Greetings Andres 

The Honda Dax

The Honda Dax is a typical motorcycle that is build for fun and city cruising. I always had a soft spot for this little bike. So that's why I got inspired to draw this classic for my new design. The Dachshund is of course a reference to the name Dax and in the title the name Daxhund is misspelled on purpose to avoid the copyright infringement 😁. 

I created 6 versions ( the dotted background is not part of the shirt design ),

3 versions with a background,

A full color for multiple colors shirts:

A light version for dark shirts 

 

A darker version for light colored shirts 

And 3 versions with no background:

Full color for all colored shirts 

A light line-art for dark shirts 

And finally a dark line-art for light colored shirts 

And now some close ups and work in progress:

 

As you can see the background is also hand-drawn, on 2 sheets of paper, one for the brush strokes and another for the rough sky scraper sketch. And the full color version with background I even used an old holiday picture from a city in France. When I started to draw I wasn't sure about the expression on the face and I tried different expressions and finally went for the neutral cool look. With this new design I tried some new methods and created multiple designs with different shirt or background colors in my mind, and I'm happy with the results.

As always follow the links to my shop at Teepublic or go to the "link page" for links to my other shops ( this one only at Teepublic or Neatoshop ). And don't forget that there are also other products like phone cases, mugs, stickers and other stuff.

Finally I would like to say to all the beginning artists: keep on creating , trying new ways and new ideas, there is always another sheet of paper.

Have a great day

Greetings Andres

The Legend of the Lost Game

Maybe you'll remember some old 8 bit games for the Nintendo entertainment system ? 

Well this artwork is inspired upon the boxart of the classic videogame "Digger T Rock" a videogame I used to play a lot in my younger years. 

This design was the first time I started using an A3 size paper so it was possible to put a lot more details in the lineart. Instead of scanning I now take a picture from the finished drawing.  To create the stone and marble look I used different brushes and smudge techniques. For better printing results and a smaller filesize I used a posterize filter. As always I used the open source alternatives for photoshop,  Gimp and Inkscape to add colors.  

Here is the boxart where this drawing is inspired upon. 

And here are some pictures from the work in progress:

Here is the link to my shop 

Hope you enjoyed this blog and have a great day.

Greetings Andres 

Endless Chase part 2

This new design is inspired upon the work of Esher,  with classic cartoon and movie villains chasing the good guys.  

As usual it started with a pencil drawing traced with a fineliner and brushpen. The lineart is scanned to be finished digital, this method gives the design a unique appearance. The halftone dots are used for the retro effect and it also beneficial for a better print on the shirt 😊👍. See the close up for some details.

The left side of the triangle is the same color just with a different color dots. Even this close it's difficult to see. Here you can also see the cloud effect.  

For inside the triangle I used dots with different sizes to get a shading effect and thrown in some splatters. Link to design Endless Chase part 2

For this design I tried something new. I applied a sepia filter on the main color layer to create a more subtle design.  The halftone dots are the same color. 

I really liked this toned down subtle colors,  so I also started on some older designs with a more subtle color.  For me personally I think it's easier to combine a shirt with softer colors with the rest of my wardrobe, hopefully more people agree on this.  Link to the design with softer colors

So next posts probably some existing designs with new softer sepia colors 😊👍. 

Hope you like it, as always feel free to leave a comment or suggestion.  

Have a nice day. 

Greetings Andres