You may have noticed over the last seven or eight months, that the graphic at the top of this site changes every so often. I started this project back in May and have been trying to change the header graphic each month, slowly adding to it, making it bulkier, more “over the top”, in a manner of speaking. If you haven’t noticed, I have a glib sense of humor. Call this my little experiment into “evolutionary branding.”

Seeing as this is a month to give thanks, and in keeping with the spirit of making Indian vests out of brown paper bags, I thought I would share with you, my recipe for making this months Penguin ‘turkey‘ Dinner.

Step 1: Basic Shapes

Start by drawing out the basic shapes that will make up your penguin turkey. Draw each shape on a separate layer. I prefer to use marquee tools when I draw in Photoshop, but many people use vector line tools, like the pen. Use which ever tool you are most comfortable with.

Step 2: Assemble The Pieces

Step 3: Add Shaping

Bringing your penguin turkey to life, is as simple as adding some shaping using the bevel and shadow layer effects.

Step 4: Garnish

No turkey, penguin or otherwise, is complete without the proper fixin’s. For this dish we start with three simple ingredients: citrus fruit, grapes and green herbs. There are no fancy tricks to making these. I used a combination of the same techniques applied to making our penguin turkey. Drawing basic shapes with the marquee, adding some depth with shadowing and beveling, and then a few final touches with the pencil to create water droplets and the spiny herbs.

Step: 5 Plate And Serve

Once you have all the ingredients for your fixin’s, arrange your garnish.

Place your penguin turkey in the middle and enjoy!

Oh, don’t forget a plate, some silver, a napkin and, of course, a place card (best if considered before arranging garnish around penguin turkey).

Enjoy!!!

P.S. If anyone completes this exercise, I’d love to see the results. And I’ll post them here!