GIMP

I want to share a secret with everyone that I have known about for a long time. Don’t worry it isn’t top secret. Well, it probably isn't that much of a secret to everyone. There is free software called GIMP, which is short for GNU Image Manipulation Program. I’ve been using it for a while now. I discovered it back when I was first starting to tinker around with Linux. During that time, GIMP was just being developed, and was somewhat basic. Since those days the software has become more robust, more feature rich, and cross platform. It rivals the latest offering from Adobe Photoshop. Best of all it is free. There is a version of GIMP for use with portable pen drives that you can take with you and use from any computer. If you have ever found yourself wondering what graphic program to use to make a cool graphic for your blog or website, then this software is for you. It won’t make you a professional graphic artist overnight, but you will find that there are a lot of great tools you will have at your disposal to easily create graphics. I am not going to go into any details or tutorials about how to use the software. You will find tons of information like this already exists on the webs just Google search it.
I have created a couple of images to give you an example of what you can do with GIMP. It should also demonstrate my strange mind at work. Now on with the show!

Sarah my lovely wife. This is a frame from a movie she was in in 1972 called 'Grelsh'.

Cleveland the dancing monkey! I drew him with paint brush tool then added a couple of filters.

This is my sister. I wonder what she is thinking about.

If you want to get the software it is found here:
GIMP home page: http://www.gimp.org/
GIMP Portable: http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/gimp_portable

Good luck and happy gimping!