Creating a vortex in Gimp

About a year ago, I did a tutorial on how to make eyes using Gimp. Here's my second Gimp tutorial, and this time I'm going to show how to create a vortex.

Start by creating a new image sized 1000x1000, and fill the background layer with solid black. Create a new layer and name it "Vortex Base".

Next, go to Filters->Render->Clouds->Plasma, and set "Turbulence" to 3. This will create a colorful plasma, turn this into black and white using Colors->Desaturate, with the default settings.

You now have a black and white plasma effect, we're gonna apply a motion blur effect to this. Go to Filters->Blur->Motion Blur. For "Blur Type", select "Zoom", set "Blur Center" to the center of your image (500-500 in this case), and "Length" to 100.

Finally, I adjusted brightness and contrast a bit. I set both brightness and contrast to 20. You want zoomed blur effect with plenty of contrast, but without large dark areas, so tweak the values a bit depending on your initial plasma effect.

From here on, we're not gonna touch the layer "Vortex Base" anymore, and work on copies of the layer instead. Create a copy of "Vortex Base" and rename it to "Vortex Whirl 1". Go to Filters->Distorts->Whirl and Pinch. Set "Whirl Angle" to 180, "Pinch Amount" to -1 and "Radius" to 2. This will create a hurricane-like vortex effect. Setting "Pinch Amount" to -1 makes all the difference here, it's this setting that creates the "eye" in the center.

Next, create another copy of "Vortex Base", rename it "Vortex Whirl 2" and put it on top of the layer stack. Apply the same whirl effect as on the first layer, only this time set "Whirl Angle" to 360. Hide the "Vortex Base" layer.

For the next step, you need the grid. Go to Image->Configure grid, set the grid size to 50 x 50 and the grid foreground color to orange. Enable the grid (View->Show Grid) and snapping (View->Snap to Grid).

Both vortex layers will get a layer mask. We're going to start with "Vortex Whirl 1", so hide "Vortex Whirl 2". Right click on the layer and select "Add Layer Mask". Initialize the mask to white (the default setting).

Now select the blend tool, set the shape to "Radial", the foreground color to white and the background color to black. With the blend tool, draw a radial gradient from the center (500-500) to coördinates 150-150 (this is where the grid comes in handy).

Repeat the same steps for "Vortex Whirl 2" and hide the grid again.

This still looks boring as hell, but the next step brings it to life. Set the layer mode of "Vortex Whirl 2" to "Divide", and the boring spiral turns into a glowing vortex.

This grayscale vortex will be the base for a colored, glowing vortex. The problem is, you can't merge the layers or the effect of the layer mode will be lost. How are we going to solve this? Go to the "Channels" tab, right click on one of the color channels (doesn't matter wich one) and select "Channel to Selection".

Go back to the layers tab, hide both "Vortex Whirl" layers and create a new layer titled "Vortex New". Set the foreground color to pure green and fill the layer. Keep the selection active for all the next steps!

The next step makes the vortex a lot denser. Create another new layer titled "Vortex Glow", set the foreground color to blue and fill the selection again. Set the layer mode to "Divide".

And finally, we're going to give the vortex a bright white glowing core. Create a new layer titled "Vortex Core" (keep the selection active!), set the foreground color to white and fill the selection. Ok, now you can go ahead and cancel the selection.

Add a layer mask to the "Vortex Core" layer (the same way you did with the "Vortex Whirl" layers), and with the blend tool, draw a radial gradient from the center out. In this example, I drew it from the center out about 3/4 horizontally to the left. This gives the vortex a bright, glowing core, but a dimmer outer edge.

As with my Eye tutorial, all these steps are open to experimentation. Blur effects, distortions, colors, layer modes, ... What I usually do when experimenting is wearing a headset and record everything I say, so if I stumble upon a cool effect, at least I can recall how I did it!

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Gruesome severed heads

A while ago, I got two styrofoam heads from a friend. He didn't need them, and he was sure I could find a good use for them. He was right! I turned these two boring heads into gruesome mutilated severed heads.

Materials

• Styrofoam heads
• Air drying clay
• Wood glue
• Acrylic paint and gesso
• Acrylic caulk 
• Matte varnish
• Super glue
• Toothpicks
• Steel wire
• Screws and hooks
• Chains
• Hobby knife
• Cheap synthetic sponges
• Wood burning tool

Getting started
The first thing I did was cut the heads up a bit. On one head, I made large holes where the eyes are (empty eye sockets), removed the lower jaw and reattached it with the mouth open. I cut away a lot of foam, put it back on the head with a few toothpicks and then filled all the gaps with acrylic caulk. Very important, use acrylic caulk and not silicone! Silicone can't be painted. For the other head, I just cut away the lower jaw; it will hang below the head on chains.

Next, I sculpted lips, ears, a nose and lots and lots of cuts. For the first head, I made a few large holes that look like they have been ripped open (I used a wood burning tool for that), and sculpted smooth edges around them with air drying clay. I wanted to make it look like the mouth had been ripped open and then sewn shut with steel wire, so I made holes and grooves in the clay where the wires were going to be.
On the second head, I put clay all over the eyes and made a few long gashes that went over the eye sockets, so it looks like the eyes have been removed and the holes sewn shut.

 

The next step took a long time. I had to find a way to hide the styrofoam texture, and to make sure all the clay would stay on. For this, I primed the heads with wood glue. About five layers, I think. I mixed a bit of acrylic paint in the glue so I could see if I missed a spot. And on the neck, where the head would have been cut off, I put on a thick layer of caulk and gave it an irregular, organic texture. When I was satisfied, I first painted a layer of wood glue mixed with acrylic gesso over it, followed by a layer of pure gesso. After that, I was ready for painting!

 

Painting
Painting these heads basically came down to putting down a lot of layers. I started with a base coat of raw sienna from a spray can. It's the same color I used for my bloody torso, and makes a perfect basic flesh tone.
After the base coat, I applied a wash of burnt umber. If this is your first visit here, a wash means you paint the entire surface with a very diluted paint mixture, and then wipe most of it away again, so the paint only stays in ridges and crevaces.

 
I also painted the lips, and some shading around the eyes, nose, ears and mouth. I used various shades of flesh tone, ochre and brown to break up the monotonous base color. This is for the most part a trial and error process, you just have to see for yourself how it turns out.

 
And, of course, blood. Lots and lots of blood. For this, I use carmine with a little bit of burnt umber. This results in a dark, brownish red, resembling dried up blood. I painted the eye sockets, mouth and all the wounds with this.
The most elaborate painting, however, was the bruising around the wounds. Like the shading, this is a trial and error process. I put some dark blue, purple, ochre and black on my palette and lightly dabbed thing layers of paint around all the wounds. This is a slow process, you don't want to use too much paint at once here or you'll ruin it.
At this time, I applied a clearcoat of matte varnish. I wanted the "skin" to look dull; more blood will be applied over the matte clearcoat, and because of the more glossy look of acrylic paint, it will look more like fresh blood.

Metal and more blood
I'm going to add lots and lots more blood later, but first, all the steel wire, screws and hooks are added. I carefully drilled through the outer shell of wood glue and stuck the wires and screws through. I dripped a bit of super glue on each hole, to keep the wires in place, and then fixed the cracks in the shell with a bit of acrylic caulk. No matter how careful I was, I managed to damage it in a few places, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.

 

And finally, you guessed it, the blood! I simply dripped diluted paint on the wounds and let gravity do its job, letting the blood drip down the face. And to finish, some blood splatters! This was done by dipping a stiff paintbrush in the paint, and then flicking the paint onto the head; this is a common technique to create splatter effects.

Finishing
After the paint had dried, I attached some thin chains to the hooks I put in the heads. One head is just hanging from the chains, the other one has the detached jaw hanging below it. My wife already said I'm a sick, twisted person. Well... she knew what she was getting into when she married me! Too bad I didn't manage to finish these in time for Halloween this year.

 

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About cosplay and freaks

Last weekend, I went to Facts Convention in Gent, Belgium, with my wife. I bought some Back To The Future stuff, she bought some Nightmare Before Christmas stuff and I got to meet Sean Astin.
The next day, an article about Facts was published in De Morgen, a newspaper that's considered one of Belgium's top newspapers. It made a lot of people angry. The author described cosplayers as "freaks" and "nerds", and generally mocked and made fun of the visitors.
I usually don't go to conventions in costumes, simply because the halls are too crowded and hot. I save the costumes for outdoor conventions, where I can carry around huge props. However, I can perfectly understand the outrage this article caused.
Most outsiders consider cosplay something childish, and I have had to endure my share of stupid jokes about my hobby. When you dress up as a character from movies, comics or games, or like to participate in haunts and scare the crap out of visitors, outsiders look at you as if you're someone who refuses to grow up.
However, when you wear shirts of your favourite football team, paint your face in the team's colors, collect sports memorabilia and watch games as if your life depends on it, you're considered a "devoted fan"? I personally don't give a rats ass about football. Even when the Belgian national team would play the world championship finals, I wouldn't watch the game and I still wouldn't give a single fuck.
I don't look down on people who watch football, though. Everyone has his hobbies and interests, and it's not because I don't give a crap about something that I think less of someone who doesn't feel the same way about it.

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