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Web Graphics for Doodlers

© Laura Brown

Ok, you can't draw and you're no closer to figuring out how to use your graphic software than when you got it. But, you can still make your own graphics rather than borrowing them from the web or promising outlandish favours to others. I have thought of three options. If anyone comes up with more please send me your ideas. (I will gladly give you credit for them and a linkback).

The first option is ASCII art. Simple to make once you get the hang of it. Use standard keyboard characters to create pictures, email signatures and figlet banners. You can see examples of ASCII art on my own site. I've been making ASCII art since 1998. It's like drawing with punctuation and letters. For me it was a great option to actually drawing.

There are different styles of ASCII art. If you go through the ASCII Art Dictionary you will find line art and shaded art. Some people have created cartoons and animated ASCII. It can also be used to make email signatures which stand out from ordinary lines of plain text. I think they are more creative than the bloated HTML signatures some people foist upon our inboxes.

My other option for making your own graphics is to draw very simple pictures (stick figures, emoticons, wiggly lines?) and scan them. Of course you will need a scanner or access to one somewhere. Draw your pictures by hand. Use colourful markers, pencil crayons, gel pens, pencils, paint sets, as you choose. You can even scan objects like fabric, photographs, anything you can bring inside the house and fit into the bed of your scanner. Just clean off the glass afterwards.

If you draw a series of pictures try to make them all about the same height and width. It's much easier to draw them the same size than trying to resize them after you've scanned them. Also, keep plenty of space around each one when you cut them out from your paper. You don't want a gap in the white paper showing up on your newly made graphic. However, if you do have gaps just rescan them with fresh white (or whatever colour you used) paper underneath. No one need ever know you goofed.

If you have a digital camera you can take pictures and turn them into graphics without a scanner. Consider taking the scrapbook approach to pictures. Chop them up, take out pieces that aren't interesting, change the focus and/ or add drama. Find clipart in magazines and add that to your picture graphic then scan them together to become a new graphic.

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