Gordon has sent news
about his latest project.
The images are wonderful.
This a portion of the
message I received from Gordon:
This is not a
question. I thought you may like to see some work I have done using MS
Publisher's drawing tools.
I teach Book Design
using only MS Publisher, and here are some samples of work from one book
which is a gift for a friend of mine, on the AIDS epidemic in Malawi. I am
downloading all the pages. You will recognize two or three clips from the
Microsoft Clip Art site. All the rest have been drawn by myself. I have
attached details of each page set as well.
The original idea for
this book came from just one of the clips on the Microsoft site. I have
also attached that clip - of two little girls.
As you will notice, I
have taken the two little girls and changed them into grandparents, and
then added a hut and mangoes on a tree, and in some pictures I have put in
maize plants. The maize plants have all been drawn using the drawing
tools. I had a photograph of a maize plant, so I simply traced using the
drawing tools and then filled in with different colours.
The two major helps I
use in my books are Jim Krause's "Colour Index" (A David Charles Book),
and of course I have my own typeface book.
I think that MS
Publisher is absolutely great. And the drawing tools are fantastic. And
the Microsoft clipart site is wonderful.
I retired from the
printing industry in 2001, and decided to teach book design as a volunteer
- and felt that MS Publisher was in everybody's reach - so I use that
package - it is so simple to use - far easier, and far less expensive than
Quark Express, Photoshop and Illustrator.
I hope you like the
attachments. I often use your articles in teaching. They are so helpful!
You mention the
difficulty of using the drawing tools - I think it is actually a matter of
practice - I teach my classes how to use them, and we have had great fun
together. They are surprised how easy it is to use those tools. I think
that MS Publisher is an absolutely wonderful package, it has brought so
much joy into my life, and the lives of those whom I teach. It is so easy
to use - I used to use Ventura myself years ago. However I believe you
cannot beat MS Publisher for simplicity.
I have attached
numerous illuminated capitals, as well a pages from a book on the story of
Abigail, found in the Old Testament. The title page has a large picture at
the bottom. That picture is also used as a pull-out in the book itself and
measures just under a metre long. So the book looks quite exciting.
The large picture is
made up of many clips which have been edited, recoloured and sometimes
redrawn. It is a skill which I have developed over the past four years,
and which I am keen to pass on to others.
