talktooloose (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
talktooloose) wrote2003-08-14 10:08 am
talktooloose) wrote2003-08-14 10:08 am
Of Course, Digital Ink Doesn't Stain the Fingers...
Okay, panic is diminishing a bit. I've done an illustation; and a big one at that! It's a two-page spread featuring a seder plate, three bagged matzohs and two lit candlesticks.
I had to go through all the usual growing pains yesterday including 15 minutes of "You're A Talentless Boob!" when I couldn't get the overhead perspective right on the candlesticks. But I'm fairly pleased. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I'm in control of the process. I made the illustration work (and it will work better when colourized in Photoshop) but it's not done in the style I was imagining. This is partly due to the fact that I was using my new Pentel brush pen and had to learn how to control it and also due to the fact that, though I've drawn for years, I'm not anything like a day-and-night working professional and I have to accept that.
But I am experienced enough to survive psychological crises. When the "boob" chorus had played itself out, I gave myself a simpler backup plan for the candlesticks in case I couldn't get the look I wanted and then went to sleep. This morning, I was able to do the overhead perspective acceptably.
The universe gave me another interesting lesson yesterday. Since I've been moving my mind into the idea of drawing and doing my own comic, I've been craving the Wacom Cintiq 15X tablet which, in Canada, with tax comes to roughly CDN$3,000. Ridiculous. So, I've been typing "cintiq" into eBay everyday and 5 days ago it came up. The bidding was stalled around US$1,299 and, even if it went up a few hundred, the total price with shipping and customs would end up close to CDN$2,000.
I stewed and stewed about it. I could come up with the money, but it would have been a hardship. Why did I want it? I could use it well on the computer for inking illustrations and colouring effects. I would be the coolest cartoonist on the block! Well, yesterday I drew with a pencil and inked with a $12 brush pen. I sat at the kitchen table looking out at the garden and, after a day of that, I wasn't stressed the way I am after 8 hours on the computer and my back didn't hurt. The tactile qualities of the non-digital media made the process feel very alive and soothing. Furthermore, I'm a firm believer in removing nets from creative tightrope walks -- it brings out the best in you.
The Cintiq finally went for US$1,425 which, if I had won for $1,450, would have added to up CDN$2,185.40 with shipping and customs. I'm not sorry. Well, a little, but not really. Sorry,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
redrunner, we'll get the toys when we're our own comix empire.
Okay, back to work!
I had to go through all the usual growing pains yesterday including 15 minutes of "You're A Talentless Boob!" when I couldn't get the overhead perspective right on the candlesticks. But I'm fairly pleased. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I'm in control of the process. I made the illustration work (and it will work better when colourized in Photoshop) but it's not done in the style I was imagining. This is partly due to the fact that I was using my new Pentel brush pen and had to learn how to control it and also due to the fact that, though I've drawn for years, I'm not anything like a day-and-night working professional and I have to accept that.
But I am experienced enough to survive psychological crises. When the "boob" chorus had played itself out, I gave myself a simpler backup plan for the candlesticks in case I couldn't get the look I wanted and then went to sleep. This morning, I was able to do the overhead perspective acceptably.
The universe gave me another interesting lesson yesterday. Since I've been moving my mind into the idea of drawing and doing my own comic, I've been craving the Wacom Cintiq 15X tablet which, in Canada, with tax comes to roughly CDN$3,000. Ridiculous. So, I've been typing "cintiq" into eBay everyday and 5 days ago it came up. The bidding was stalled around US$1,299 and, even if it went up a few hundred, the total price with shipping and customs would end up close to CDN$2,000.
I stewed and stewed about it. I could come up with the money, but it would have been a hardship. Why did I want it? I could use it well on the computer for inking illustrations and colouring effects. I would be the coolest cartoonist on the block! Well, yesterday I drew with a pencil and inked with a $12 brush pen. I sat at the kitchen table looking out at the garden and, after a day of that, I wasn't stressed the way I am after 8 hours on the computer and my back didn't hurt. The tactile qualities of the non-digital media made the process feel very alive and soothing. Furthermore, I'm a firm believer in removing nets from creative tightrope walks -- it brings out the best in you.
The Cintiq finally went for US$1,425 which, if I had won for $1,450, would have added to up CDN$2,185.40 with shipping and customs. I'm not sorry. Well, a little, but not really. Sorry,
redrunner, we'll get the toys when we're our own comix empire.Okay, back to work!
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i'd love to see this when it is done, now that i feel sort of emotionally involved with the process :)
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"hear, hear," btw. Not "here, here". I suppose it means "I hear you, dude" or "Word."
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I love your description of the creative process. Partly, this is because it's comforting to know that other people also experience a zillion naysaying voices. I don't understand why I've destroyed these for writing but not for art. Very curious.