VectorWhiz

As suggested before, if you have an object, that may also have an irregular, non-mathematical shape, duplicate it, remove the fill of the duplicated shape and give it a stroke, that should be given an Gaussian blur. I added the afdesign file with save history to show how it is done. It by the way, is a function / tool that I would very much appreciate to see added to Affinity Designer. Feathered edge workaround.afdesign

This work I started as an analog airbrush with a physical airbrush gun and real paint on a T-shirt, that I photographed and edited extensively (adding plenty detail) in Affinity Photo many years later. I appreciate the Ctrl+Z and History of digital tools to get things closer to where the image is in my mind (without getting my fingers covered in paint). Digital art creation in my view is in no respect inferior to the traditional analog way of conceiving. It takes effort to reach the point where artists want to be, the tools they use are just different. Yet there is more to this picture, as briefly described in my portfolio blog.

Skin wrap probably a better suited method to precisely position a complex image onto a guitar, besides being faster and easier than hydro dip.

Custom vector drawing for guitar. For hydro dip or skin wrap.

https://communicats.blogspot.com/2024/03/canva-acquires-affinity-suit-programs.html

Nice composition animation, it was a ton of work.

Top quality work! Both layout and content are excellent. Kudos. 👍

I like jaguars, they appear in my dreams. This is a work in progress. 100% vector, no pixels, no vector brushes (which aren't vectors). Most recent stage on top, vector outline view in the middle and jaguar in a virtual 3D frame at the bottom. After this, I will add hair texture with my Huion 620 Pro drawing tablet (not looking forward to that), which will make the vector outline of objects / layers difficult to distinguish. In my portfolio blog the various stages are included - https://communicats.blogspot.com/2024/03/vector-painting-of-jaguar.html In the bottom section of this blog entry you will also find tips on how to make working in drawings that contain a plethora of objects / layers less difficult and time consuming.

Great art. well balanced composition, awesome palette. Dreamy, yet alert.

Very subtle, very nice! 👍

@ Davide Dozzo: Thanks for the comment. I added some details to the explanation of how effects in the portrait were created, that were copied from my portfolio blog.

Vector portrait of movie director, actor, visual artist and musician David Lynch. All 12 stages of progress in my portfolio blog: https://communicats.blogspot.com/2024/01/david-lynch-vector-portrait.html In aforementioned blog I briefly explained how the effects used have been created, but I will repeat them here for clarity: In Affinity Designer there are what Serif calls 'Vector Brushes' that actually are based on bitmap images. So, this in fact is not a 100% vector portrait. Users can draw these brushes themselves in vector format, that are exported as png-files. For almost every 'vector' portrait, drawing specific brushes have to be created, since no hair strand or pore texture in a person's face are the same. To such brushes Gradient Fills and Gradient Transparency effects are applied and sometimes they are Duplicated using Filters (below the Layers panel) that in some cases are offset, re-sized, skewed or mesh warped a little. In a number of cases it helps to apply the 3D lighting effect - highlights and outer shadows - to these brushes too. In the Gradient Tool there is an option to use bitmaps as the fill, which also is useful to achieve the desired effect. To these type of fills the same effects can be applied as used to manipulate the Vector Brush strokes.

@ Walt Farrel - I installed the programs twice, because Photo was not starting up and I read somewhere in the forums (which seemed to be working for a user), that all programs in the suit had to be uninstalled, and that the .affinity folder had to be removed as well, after which the computer should be restarted, before installing the programs are installed again. You are correct in that I should have used the msix, which I checked in explorer; it wasn't an msi file that I used for installation. But regardless of that, I always start with installing from the exe files and that should work, even beta versions, because in my opinion Serif issues Beta versions to see if functions work properly or should be changed. But for users to try beta versions, the program has to start in the first place. I see no other purpose to issue beta versions. So, installations from exe files or msix should at least allow the programs to start up, otherwise users are unable to check the programs' functionality. Also, if the regular versions contain bugs, I had hoped they were fixed in the beta versions. I did not install the programs from exe files and msix alongside each other. This is the last time I will use beta versions, because they gave me problems for months., assuming this is not going to help Serif in letting users try out beta versions. However if beta versions actually do at least start up, that could be a useful thing for Serif. And to answer your last question, I do not have anti-virus and anti-malware programs installed, except the default Defender which comes with Windows.

Affinity Photo Beta 2.4 does not start, both from the exe file and msi installation, regardless if I run it as a user or admin. I am running Windows 11, which is up to date. Designer and Publisher start after running them 3 times after they have previously crashed during starting up attempts. I uninstalled the programs, removed the .affinity directory, as I've read somewhere on the forums, and restarted the computer. After that I again installed the Designer (from exe file), Publisher (from exe file) and Photo (from both exe file and msi - in this order). I think there is something wrong with the installer or program software code. Please check and inform me via e-mail when the problem is solved. This has been going on since the 2.3 Beta update. I get this error message when trying to change the access rights to full access in the user directory in which the Affinity files are present:

Great work. It's becoming difficult to ignore the prowess of AI. But we still can ad to it to improve.