Bonus Tracks: Max and Photoshop Max and I have a new tradition: when a new calendar arrives, we take it out, scan the good stuff -- animals -- and start photoshopping. Today it was the new World Wildlife Fund Animal Families calendar, which Max turned into the "Baby Coyote's Birthday Party"

The backdrop is our back yard, stretched to make a suitable canvas. The Birthday Party in the Backyard thing isn't a new theme, but before we did it mostly with the animal shapes available in Photoshop, with other shapes for decorations. It was actually quite fun: I learned a lot about the shape tools and Max learned how easy it is to make copies: Everyone's got cupcakes.

I'm not entirely sure that I remember the story behind the next one. The King and Queen (chess pieces, with Photoshop crowns) are in their coach (Thai bronze statue, from the Waikoloa collection) heading for their castle (Scottish, which we got via Google images) which has a side stable (that's the brown outline with the animals) under a magical inhabited moon (I took the moon picture; the moon-animals are Photoshop). The backdrop is also from Photoshop: it's amazing what they've got tucked into their little archive.

The piece-de-resistance, the first calendar project Max and I did, is the Rainbow Kentz. Actually, it's the Bear-headed, pink-eyed, wren-beaked, goat-horned, rabbit-eared, bat-winged, long-necked, bunting-bodied, coyote-footed, oriole-tailed, Rainbow Kentz. Max says it's usually friendly, and an omnivore.
  ¶ Thursday, August 09, 2007