Copyright Free Images For Commercial Use

I used to really struggle to find good quality free images that allow use without restriction in commercial projects. To save you a similar struggle, I’ve gathered together a list of the best sites I’ve found.

As with all “free” image sites, it’s always best to double check the licence/terms of use for any images before putting them in projects you plan to sell/use publicly – just in case!

Unsplash

They have a collection of stunning high resolution photos, to do with as you please. There are some really lovely photos on here, including lots of nature shots and this rather handsome chap.

Pixabay

A huge amount of images which are free for any commercial use without restriction. The site includes photos, vectors and illustrations.

The Graphics Fairy

This is a great site for old photos and images of all kinds; often taken from public domain books and similar sources.

There are a couple of reasonable restrictions, such as only using a maximum of 6 images in any one project and not giving away the images for free. Although they do allow you to sell the images as long as you stick to the rule of 6. Check the site’s terms  of use for more information.

They also have a big list of tutorials and craft projects using images taken from the site.

MMT

All photos are totally free for commercial use. They are particularly good for beautiful nature and macro shots.

Magdeleine

They add one new high resolution photo each day. This site has an excellent search function where you can look for photos containing a specific dominant colour. There are separate search buttons for public domain and/or attribution required images.

Happy picture hunting!

Halloween Skull Dog

Halloween is my favourite time of the year and for the past 5 years I've thrown a themed party and forced encouraged my friends to join in.

This year's theme is CarnEvil (a carnival, circus and freakshow mashup) so I'm making some twisted sideshow prizes as part of the decor. Yes, I realise we're in August. I'm a little late starting preparations this year. Don't judge me.

You will need:
A soft toy
Papermache skull mask (I got mine very cheaply from a craft store)
PVA glue
Paintbrushes
Scalpel and/or scissors
Hot glue gun
Acrylic paint (red, brown, green, yellow)
Baby powder (or white acrylic paint)
Fake blood  (or red paint)
Acrylic spray sealant (optional)



Cut down one side of the toy's face (slightly smaller than the size of the skull mask) and take out some of the stuffing. Cut the eye out of the fabric you removed.

Holding the eye in place (or hot glue it in), shove the mask inside the gap (you can "corpse" the skull before stuffing it into the toy if you prefer - it didn't occur to me to do this until later - see below for instructions on how to corpse a skull).

Push the mask into position

I cut a bit off the bottom of the mask to make it fit

Hot glue the skull into position. I glued the fur down on it in a few places and around the eye. It wasn't a great fit so I cut a bit off the bottom of the mask and pulled the nose and eye into position. (Hold it in place it while the glue dries).

Mix PVA glue with water (I use an approximate ratio of 70% glue to water) and stick pieces of kitchen roll onto the skull. Don't try to do this too neatly and don't worry if it rips - you want the paper to wrinkle. Wait for it to dry or blast it with a hairdryer.

Tear the edges off the paper and rip into small pieces

Adding detail around the eye

Build up the paper mache in layers

Cut a chunk or bite mark out of one of the ears.

Paint the skull portion with brown acrylic paint (I mix it with a bit of water so it gets in all the cracks). It will look far too dark and horribly naff, but remain calm - this is just the base layer.

Let it dry (or blast it with the hairdryer).

Using a dry brush add flecks of green, yellow and lighter brown (I mixed the dark brown with some yellow) and highlight the wrinkles and raised areas.

Dry it (again).

I couldn't be bothered to find my white paint so I rubbed some baby powder on the wrinkles as a final highlight. It kind of worked.

Paint a bit of red acrylic around the edge, getting some of it in the fur. Then rub/drip some fake blood around the edge of the skull. I used some Kryolan Wound Filler Gel I had left over from last Halloween. It's disgustingly sticky and quite expensive but my £1 bottle of vampire blood is in the loft and getting up there requires way too much effort for a Wednesday evening.

Pool some blood in any gaps.

I sealed it all with a spray of acrylic sealant.

I'll probably add a few more blood splatters on his paws later but I've tidied the paint and fake blood away now, so this may never happen.

He's a very handsome doggo.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog.

I'm a freelance graphic designer, textile artist and halloweenophile so you can expect to see a ton of tutorials on how to design and make all sorts of weird and wonderful things (using as little effort and cost as is humanly possible).

I'll try to post regularly, but who knows how long that will last.