Saturday, December 17, 2011
Digital Painting -The Butterfly, and Oberon
Friday, December 16, 2011
Poetry- "Looking Through a Half-Eaten Persimmon"
Looking Through a Half-Eaten Persimmon
Bluejays are eating fruit.
My fruit.
They like to peck at the skin
until they reveal
the rich
red meat.
Here now I peek inside the hollow, where they’ve forgotten a seed.
Long and narrow, it’s the brown
of old bruises and Valentine chocolates.
It’s still wet, with a caul. They don’t leave much
for the likes of you and me. The skin
is thin, barely a device for holding food, but look,
through the remains— a gift—
ignition.
11/18, 11/23/11
Bluejays are eating fruit.
My fruit.
They like to peck at the skin
until they reveal
the rich
red meat.
Here now I peek inside the hollow, where they’ve forgotten a seed.
Long and narrow, it’s the brown
of old bruises and Valentine chocolates.
It’s still wet, with a caul. They don’t leave much
for the likes of you and me. The skin
is thin, barely a device for holding food, but look,
through the remains— a gift—
ignition.
11/18, 11/23/11
When will mobile pen computing really catch on?
I wrote this in a post today and thought I'd bring it into the blog. Since I'm doing a lot of art on the computer this new batch of slates and IPad competitors is very interesting to me. Unfortunately, I don't find them really functional yet. Here's my thoughts on the subject:
It took the IPad to get tablets to catch on. Now everyone is producing them, but there's still not much you can really run on them. I imagine Win8 might change that, but then we'll still have to wait for programs to become Win8 ARM compatible. So if 8 comes out next year, I imagine tech will follow shortly after or in conjunction with it, and then we'll have to wait another year or two for software to follow. As it is, there's not much need for a pen on these new slates because you can't do much with it yet. Just look at the Samsung Note- its got a Wacom digitizer on what is essentially an Android phone, but pressure sensitive apps aren't available. That sure makes it less functional. We have a platform but nothing to run on it.
Look at how long it took software to catch up to dual core processors! The truth is that, for many programs, an older core2duo is far more useful and powerful now than it was 3 or 4 years ago because so many more programs are becoming multicore and 64- bit compatible. I can only say that, as an example, Artrage is much faster now with its recent multicore update just because of that. Same computer as before, just software thats better able to take advantage of its specs.
Perhaps the new 32 nm cpus will help battery life enough that we wont have to wait for ARM-versions of Windows programs to be developed, because new "mobile" Intel tech will catch up to the older windows 7 software. That would be nice. Otherwise, I think seeing real, productive, business focused slate computing more commonly used is another 3 years out or more, IMO, if its running on an ARM computer. Tech first, OS second, software third. Then we have a need for a pen on these newer slates. Of course, the IPad has tech and OS, but it doesn't seem to want to produce pen-focused programs as an option, so that sort of nips it in the bud.
The reason I think ARM computers are so important is that they're clearly reducing the price point for new slate purchases for everyone, even current tablet pc users. Until your average Joe can get a real ultravertible or functional slate for under $500 I just don't think we're really going to see them around all that much. Once the tech is there (even relatively underpowered tech), at the right price point, I think the floodgates will open. Until then, I think tablet pcs are still going to be a very niche product. Current tablet pcs do just about everything I want them to do, but they're too expensive, too buggy and non-user friendly (hello Wacom drivers and Win7 desktop setup!), and too heavy for your average user.
It took the IPad to get tablets to catch on. Now everyone is producing them, but there's still not much you can really run on them. I imagine Win8 might change that, but then we'll still have to wait for programs to become Win8 ARM compatible. So if 8 comes out next year, I imagine tech will follow shortly after or in conjunction with it, and then we'll have to wait another year or two for software to follow. As it is, there's not much need for a pen on these new slates because you can't do much with it yet. Just look at the Samsung Note- its got a Wacom digitizer on what is essentially an Android phone, but pressure sensitive apps aren't available. That sure makes it less functional. We have a platform but nothing to run on it.
Look at how long it took software to catch up to dual core processors! The truth is that, for many programs, an older core2duo is far more useful and powerful now than it was 3 or 4 years ago because so many more programs are becoming multicore and 64- bit compatible. I can only say that, as an example, Artrage is much faster now with its recent multicore update just because of that. Same computer as before, just software thats better able to take advantage of its specs.
Perhaps the new 32 nm cpus will help battery life enough that we wont have to wait for ARM-versions of Windows programs to be developed, because new "mobile" Intel tech will catch up to the older windows 7 software. That would be nice. Otherwise, I think seeing real, productive, business focused slate computing more commonly used is another 3 years out or more, IMO, if its running on an ARM computer. Tech first, OS second, software third. Then we have a need for a pen on these newer slates. Of course, the IPad has tech and OS, but it doesn't seem to want to produce pen-focused programs as an option, so that sort of nips it in the bud.
The reason I think ARM computers are so important is that they're clearly reducing the price point for new slate purchases for everyone, even current tablet pc users. Until your average Joe can get a real ultravertible or functional slate for under $500 I just don't think we're really going to see them around all that much. Once the tech is there (even relatively underpowered tech), at the right price point, I think the floodgates will open. Until then, I think tablet pcs are still going to be a very niche product. Current tablet pcs do just about everything I want them to do, but they're too expensive, too buggy and non-user friendly (hello Wacom drivers and Win7 desktop setup!), and too heavy for your average user.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
I did National Picture Book Idea Month!
Well, as some of you may well know, this last month I did the NaPiBoIdMo, the national picture book idea month, in which you have to try and create 30 picture book ideas in a month. This was actually quite difficult and fun! It’s very helpful to have a wife that can help generate ideas for you. In the end, I got over thirty ideas for the month. Of course, for me the most difficult thing is often taking ideas and truly drafting them in to the beginnings of a story. What was nice, was that when you signed up for the challenge you also subscribed to a blog where they had guessed writers for each day of the month. So many of their posts are also hopeful and inspirational! In addition, for the first 10 days after the end of the contest there were more blog posts about what to do with the ideas that you made. As always, the big challenge is to actually do something on your own without having someone else cajole you into action.
Of course, one expects to make 30 ideas (or at least I did!), so that’s not much of a surprise. However, it’s probably all of the extra things that I’ve not expect to receive that made the experience so interesting and fun. Probably the most surprising thing was that there was a clear benefit to thinking about a subject each and every day. Duh! Like most things in life, the more you work on a subject or think about it the more in tune you become with it. I began to see all kinds of picture book ideas everywhere. That was cool, and unexpected. It was also nice to get to read a blog post written by a professional every day on the subject of picture books. It definitely makes you feel like you’re part of a community of like minded people, and that the possibility (or even likelihood!) of getting published is actually achievable. They even had special posts from previous participants who had gone on to you as one of their ideas generated in a previous year’s challenge.
I also have to say that letting others know I was participating in the event helped make the fact that I am writing picture books seem very real—it was as if I was now responsible to others in order to live up to my own image of myself. Ha! It reminds me a little bit of the experience I’ve been having with Tasha, where she wants to wish on a star every night. When we begin to wish on the same thing each and every night, we begin to believe that it just might become real, because you begin to really make.
Anyways, I mostly want to let others, who might considering doing this challenge, know that it’s a lot of fun and well worth your time. I am definitely looking forward to the picture book marathon challenge that comes in February or March, where you’re supposed to write a draft of a picture book each day for a month straight. I figure there’s no better way to move forward than to just gets down to it… And get all those crappy picture book ideas out of the way early in the game! : P
P.S.
Hey, btw, want to know something cool? I dictated this entire post to my computer. How easy was it? LOL. Eh,it's a work in progress. But it was fun to try out!
Of course, one expects to make 30 ideas (or at least I did!), so that’s not much of a surprise. However, it’s probably all of the extra things that I’ve not expect to receive that made the experience so interesting and fun. Probably the most surprising thing was that there was a clear benefit to thinking about a subject each and every day. Duh! Like most things in life, the more you work on a subject or think about it the more in tune you become with it. I began to see all kinds of picture book ideas everywhere. That was cool, and unexpected. It was also nice to get to read a blog post written by a professional every day on the subject of picture books. It definitely makes you feel like you’re part of a community of like minded people, and that the possibility (or even likelihood!) of getting published is actually achievable. They even had special posts from previous participants who had gone on to you as one of their ideas generated in a previous year’s challenge.
I also have to say that letting others know I was participating in the event helped make the fact that I am writing picture books seem very real—it was as if I was now responsible to others in order to live up to my own image of myself. Ha! It reminds me a little bit of the experience I’ve been having with Tasha, where she wants to wish on a star every night. When we begin to wish on the same thing each and every night, we begin to believe that it just might become real, because you begin to really make.
Anyways, I mostly want to let others, who might considering doing this challenge, know that it’s a lot of fun and well worth your time. I am definitely looking forward to the picture book marathon challenge that comes in February or March, where you’re supposed to write a draft of a picture book each day for a month straight. I figure there’s no better way to move forward than to just gets down to it… And get all those crappy picture book ideas out of the way early in the game! : P
P.S.
Hey, btw, want to know something cool? I dictated this entire post to my computer. How easy was it? LOL. Eh,it's a work in progress. But it was fun to try out!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Chasing Chickens Illustrations
I've been working on some new kid's book ideas. One of them is "Chasing Chickens". These are two rough sketches for that. Both done in Paint Tool Sai . The line work for the second was done in SBP. Chickens are fun! :)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Poetry- "A Mattress Lies Half-Buried in the Field"
First, the poem-
A Mattress Lies Half-Buried in the Field
It is the forgotten pieces that will teach us,
the derelict
and abandoned.
The garbage. Failure.
It is from weeds crushed underfoot, and from rust that we will draw our dreams.
For there is a kind of joy
that can rise
even from sorrow,
when you have let go and been
unacquainted with truth.
And this thing, here,
in front of me—
it is not a mattress, mildew, it is not
forgetfulness. It is not old— it is dead. It is
a companion, an angel, a still forgotten wish.
And you might think, having said that,
that this will be
the sort of poem that ought to end with lines like
“This is not the smell of death,
but of harvest.”
But it won’t.
For this is the smell of death.
And this is the smell of harvest.
November 18 and 19th, 2011
Now, thoughts.
I'm coming out of the Thanksgiving fog. Kat's off in D.C. for a few days, and Tasha is at her grandmas. Thus, 3 blog posts in one night! :D
Recently, I happened to have the opportunity to listen to Mary Oliver on NPR. She spoke and read for an hour at SF City Arts and Lectures. This was a wonderful thing to listen to. I've always been a passing fan of Oliver's work, but I just loved this reading. I was ready, I think.
I haven't really written poetry regularly in atleast 2 years. I wrote a few last fall/winter for my manuscript, "The Seed". But even before that, I'd not written much of anything for atleast another year. The joy had just sort of seeped out of it. I hadn't gotten much pleasure out of getting work published in magazines; I felt very isolated; there wasn't a great deal of joy in my work; and poets never seemed the types who would want to open up and share their work with you/actually connect. It had been a lonely, hermetic experience. That was part of why I let it go and started working on the children's lit. Anything that makes you laugh outloud while creating it is something you should be doing more of. And that's what I've been getting from writing and drawing.
Whatever the case, these poems came to me, and it's been a pleasure. I have a few more, and should be posting them over the next few days or so.
A Mattress Lies Half-Buried in the Field
It is the forgotten pieces that will teach us,
the derelict
and abandoned.
The garbage. Failure.
It is from weeds crushed underfoot, and from rust that we will draw our dreams.
For there is a kind of joy
that can rise
even from sorrow,
when you have let go and been
unacquainted with truth.
And this thing, here,
in front of me—
it is not a mattress, mildew, it is not
forgetfulness. It is not old— it is dead. It is
a companion, an angel, a still forgotten wish.
And you might think, having said that,
that this will be
the sort of poem that ought to end with lines like
“This is not the smell of death,
but of harvest.”
But it won’t.
For this is the smell of death.
And this is the smell of harvest.
November 18 and 19th, 2011
Now, thoughts.
I'm coming out of the Thanksgiving fog. Kat's off in D.C. for a few days, and Tasha is at her grandmas. Thus, 3 blog posts in one night! :D
Recently, I happened to have the opportunity to listen to Mary Oliver on NPR. She spoke and read for an hour at SF City Arts and Lectures. This was a wonderful thing to listen to. I've always been a passing fan of Oliver's work, but I just loved this reading. I was ready, I think.
I haven't really written poetry regularly in atleast 2 years. I wrote a few last fall/winter for my manuscript, "The Seed". But even before that, I'd not written much of anything for atleast another year. The joy had just sort of seeped out of it. I hadn't gotten much pleasure out of getting work published in magazines; I felt very isolated; there wasn't a great deal of joy in my work; and poets never seemed the types who would want to open up and share their work with you/actually connect. It had been a lonely, hermetic experience. That was part of why I let it go and started working on the children's lit. Anything that makes you laugh outloud while creating it is something you should be doing more of. And that's what I've been getting from writing and drawing.
Whatever the case, these poems came to me, and it's been a pleasure. I have a few more, and should be posting them over the next few days or so.
My first digital sketch, from a year ago...
In memory of my first le1600 slate, which was just so magical to me at the time... it really blew my mind that you could draw right on the screen. Here's the first sketch I did digitally. In Sketchbook Pro 2010. While Tasha was taking a bath and Kat was watching her, I stole some time to try it out. Took me about 20 minutes or so.
Motion le1600 slate- Why I'm trying it out for art again
Pardon me while I gush....
I feel like Michael J. Fox when Doc says, "Marty, we're going to go ....back to the future!" Why?
Because I recently had the opportunity to test out (or re-test) the original 1600 that I owned a year ago and sold off. It was actually the first tablet pc I ever owned, and I sold it to a local friend when I moved on to an le1700 last December. Well, I was so impressed by the experience the other day that I picked one up on ebay. I got a pretty good deal for a View Anywhere screen, battery, stylus, charger, etc. for 200$ with free shipping. For the 1600's that's not bad. I grabbed 2gb ram for another 30$.
Now, over the last year I've run through lots of art programs and computer usage evolutions- slate to convertible (to slate?), SBP to Artrage to Painter to SBP and Sai. It's been quite a whirlwhind! What I've settled on for my work flow, for now, is SBP and Paint Tool Sai for my 2d artwork. Artrage for some of my color work too. For that, the 1600 worked really, really well.
What most impressed me was that...
a) The screen is really very good. I was rather surprised by this because it's only 200 nits. I remembered it being better than the 1700's I had owned, but I'd forgotten just how much better the older Boe Hydis screens really were. Rich color, really bright enough, and rather readable outdoors. I was sort of blown away. Yes, it's a fingerprint magnet, but they don't matter once the screen is lit up.
b) It has quite a nice hard, lightly textured writing surface. I don't know what Motion did, but there's just a bit of texture to it, and I like it. The screen is also very hard. There's little to no flex- even compared to the t5010 which is rather firm (the Superbright Outdoor x200t, however, has quite a lot of flex to the screen). So I somehow feel like I'm practically writing right on the screen (not above the bezel like with most convertibles), and yet it's still as hard (or harder) then the typical harder outer plastic casing. It's quite a nice experience.
c) It ran pretty cool and quiet. The fan ran at a higher pitch that I didn't like, but I think that's because it was just old. We'll see what the one I just bought sounds like, then I'll get back to you.
d) With the right programs it was surprisingly responsive. I've been going bigger and faster all year long with my various tablet pc explorations, so I was really blown away by how well the le1600 performed. The unit I tested had only 1.5 gb ram, so we'll see if the one I bought with 2 GB ram runs better, but even so, the tester was quick enough. Artrage and SKP ran fine, and Paint Tool Sai ran like a dream. This is where I think a year's experience will help me out, because now I've got a tablet pc appropriate program like Sai under my belt- it's just so lightweight and fast that a solo processor or only 2 gb ram won't matter. I was running a 6000 x 3600 canvas with 300 pixel brushes and it was just a breeze, a walk in the park. Sai on the tablet pc really hit it out of the park. Partly because....
d) There are buttons, Buttons, BUTTONS! God damn I didn't know what I was missing last year when I had this model. Of course, last year I didn't know about Key Manager either, so the buttons really didn't matter as much. I couldn't reprogram them all in the Wacom interface, but with Key Manager I got the 4-way directional keys plus the inner button. Each gets a press, plus a press-hold command, so that's.... math...10 keys, and I haven't even gotten to using the Fn Function. So I could easily get up to 20 keys right there. For digital art done portably, this was just.... awesome. It reminded me a bit of when, earlier this year, I bought the Lenovo and remembered how useful a keyboard could be. In the same way, I'd forgotten how d*mn useful hardware buttons can be. During the testing, I was able to work... I dunno... 80% or more in Full Screen mode, which was wonderful.
e) Hot swappable batteries that get reasonable battery life- I was often dissapointed by the le1700, which got terrible battery life, ran hot, and had bad viewing angles. The 1600 is comparatively underpowered, but it always ran better- the internal hardware just seemed a better fit for the tech at the time. As such, the battery life was always much better. Of course, even 3 hours isn't great, but one learns from things like the ep121 (which also only gets about 3 hours or so of battery life) that battery life often suffers in slates, even in new tech (although the Samsung 7 is sort of popping that bubble). As such, I'm willing to forgive the 1600 in this. Plus, they're swappable, which is awesome.
f) It's erognomics are very good- It's light (3.25 lbs- a little lighter than the x200t, about .75 lbs heavier than the ep121), and very thin (.75-.9"- just about the same as the ep121). This makes a difference when in the hand. The Lenovos are still very carriable, no doubt, but the 1600 was .... well, much easier to hold because you can better grip it. Also, putting (when in portrait orientation) the weight of the batter actually in the hand makes the computer feel even lighter.
g) 4:3 ratio still kicks *ss. It's a wonderful thing to really be able to use the slate in portrait mode- particularly when drawing figures. It's wide enough now to really work this way. Even 16:10 has issues in portrait.
Anyways, who knows when the honeymoon period will be over, but right now I'm eagerly anticipating getting my 6 year old, used, 200$ art tablet, that I may now be stealing from my daughter. LOL. We'll see.
I'm sure better things are going to come along (that 12.1" Wacom slate with detachable keyboard in the sky), but in some ways this older tech still has the new stuff beat- when used for the right function (hardware keys=art), with the right programs (Sai and SBP), and with the right mods (like Key Manager).
I feel like Michael J. Fox when Doc says, "Marty, we're going to go ....back to the future!" Why?
Because I recently had the opportunity to test out (or re-test) the original 1600 that I owned a year ago and sold off. It was actually the first tablet pc I ever owned, and I sold it to a local friend when I moved on to an le1700 last December. Well, I was so impressed by the experience the other day that I picked one up on ebay. I got a pretty good deal for a View Anywhere screen, battery, stylus, charger, etc. for 200$ with free shipping. For the 1600's that's not bad. I grabbed 2gb ram for another 30$.
Now, over the last year I've run through lots of art programs and computer usage evolutions- slate to convertible (to slate?), SBP to Artrage to Painter to SBP and Sai. It's been quite a whirlwhind! What I've settled on for my work flow, for now, is SBP and Paint Tool Sai for my 2d artwork. Artrage for some of my color work too. For that, the 1600 worked really, really well.
What most impressed me was that...
a) The screen is really very good. I was rather surprised by this because it's only 200 nits. I remembered it being better than the 1700's I had owned, but I'd forgotten just how much better the older Boe Hydis screens really were. Rich color, really bright enough, and rather readable outdoors. I was sort of blown away. Yes, it's a fingerprint magnet, but they don't matter once the screen is lit up.
b) It has quite a nice hard, lightly textured writing surface. I don't know what Motion did, but there's just a bit of texture to it, and I like it. The screen is also very hard. There's little to no flex- even compared to the t5010 which is rather firm (the Superbright Outdoor x200t, however, has quite a lot of flex to the screen). So I somehow feel like I'm practically writing right on the screen (not above the bezel like with most convertibles), and yet it's still as hard (or harder) then the typical harder outer plastic casing. It's quite a nice experience.
c) It ran pretty cool and quiet. The fan ran at a higher pitch that I didn't like, but I think that's because it was just old. We'll see what the one I just bought sounds like, then I'll get back to you.
d) With the right programs it was surprisingly responsive. I've been going bigger and faster all year long with my various tablet pc explorations, so I was really blown away by how well the le1600 performed. The unit I tested had only 1.5 gb ram, so we'll see if the one I bought with 2 GB ram runs better, but even so, the tester was quick enough. Artrage and SKP ran fine, and Paint Tool Sai ran like a dream. This is where I think a year's experience will help me out, because now I've got a tablet pc appropriate program like Sai under my belt- it's just so lightweight and fast that a solo processor or only 2 gb ram won't matter. I was running a 6000 x 3600 canvas with 300 pixel brushes and it was just a breeze, a walk in the park. Sai on the tablet pc really hit it out of the park. Partly because....
d) There are buttons, Buttons, BUTTONS! God damn I didn't know what I was missing last year when I had this model. Of course, last year I didn't know about Key Manager either, so the buttons really didn't matter as much. I couldn't reprogram them all in the Wacom interface, but with Key Manager I got the 4-way directional keys plus the inner button. Each gets a press, plus a press-hold command, so that's.... math...10 keys, and I haven't even gotten to using the Fn Function. So I could easily get up to 20 keys right there. For digital art done portably, this was just.... awesome. It reminded me a bit of when, earlier this year, I bought the Lenovo and remembered how useful a keyboard could be. In the same way, I'd forgotten how d*mn useful hardware buttons can be. During the testing, I was able to work... I dunno... 80% or more in Full Screen mode, which was wonderful.
e) Hot swappable batteries that get reasonable battery life- I was often dissapointed by the le1700, which got terrible battery life, ran hot, and had bad viewing angles. The 1600 is comparatively underpowered, but it always ran better- the internal hardware just seemed a better fit for the tech at the time. As such, the battery life was always much better. Of course, even 3 hours isn't great, but one learns from things like the ep121 (which also only gets about 3 hours or so of battery life) that battery life often suffers in slates, even in new tech (although the Samsung 7 is sort of popping that bubble). As such, I'm willing to forgive the 1600 in this. Plus, they're swappable, which is awesome.
f) It's erognomics are very good- It's light (3.25 lbs- a little lighter than the x200t, about .75 lbs heavier than the ep121), and very thin (.75-.9"- just about the same as the ep121). This makes a difference when in the hand. The Lenovos are still very carriable, no doubt, but the 1600 was .... well, much easier to hold because you can better grip it. Also, putting (when in portrait orientation) the weight of the batter actually in the hand makes the computer feel even lighter.
g) 4:3 ratio still kicks *ss. It's a wonderful thing to really be able to use the slate in portrait mode- particularly when drawing figures. It's wide enough now to really work this way. Even 16:10 has issues in portrait.
Anyways, who knows when the honeymoon period will be over, but right now I'm eagerly anticipating getting my 6 year old, used, 200$ art tablet, that I may now be stealing from my daughter. LOL. We'll see.
I'm sure better things are going to come along (that 12.1" Wacom slate with detachable keyboard in the sky), but in some ways this older tech still has the new stuff beat- when used for the right function (hardware keys=art), with the right programs (Sai and SBP), and with the right mods (like Key Manager).
Friday, November 11, 2011
Comparing Tablet PCs- "Tools of the Trade"
OK- Fair Warning!! You are now entering tech land. I'm going to be talking about my computers for this post, so if that doesn't really interest you, move on to the pics ladies and gentlemen.... ;)
Well, I recently picked up a used Fujitsu t5010 to test out. Bigger, bigger screen, faster processor, more onscreen buttons, etc. And yet, I haven't really fallen in love with it. My Lenovo x200t Superbright Outdoor is over a pound lighter, 1/4" thicker, and much much brighter and readable outdoors. And it's got the little Lenovo Trackpad, which I've strangely fallen in love with-- ergonomically, it helps provide the user a palm rest while using it, and I'd forgotten what a pain a touchpad can be.
I didn't think those things would matter that much, but they do. And so, although I've had the Fujitsu for about 3 weeks or more now, and have finally set it up, got things working (pressure sensitivity, secondary landscape, Dropbox, etc.) it's the Lenovo that I've continually gone back to for daily and work use.
Mostly, I just find the Lenovo x200t much more ergonomic. I remember my fears when I got the Lenovo because I had been using a very thin Motion Computing le1700 slate (it was less than an inch thick). My Lenovo's about 1 1/4" thick- about .4" difference, a not unsubstantial change. Well, in the end, although I liked the Motion's thinness (there's no doubt about that) the Lenovo being thicker didn't make that much difference to me because I could still easily hold it in my hand. It was still within the range of what my hand could grasp, despite the difference. And the extra weight and thickness was easily worth the 2x-3x improved battery life, waaaaaay better screen, and having a keyboard with me all the time.
Well, the Fujitsu offers me none of those things, but it's still costing me another pound of weight and another 1/4" inch thickness- and I'm finding that 5 lbs and 1.5" thick is just too thick for me to easily carry around. It's crossed a tipping point for me. Even if I take out the extended battery, it's still 4.5 lbs and just ....too... thick to really be mobile. Anyways, for that, I get a bigger screen, better placement for onscreen buttons, and a faster processor. The screen's bigger, but not THAT much bigger. The buttons are nice, no doubt, but I'm unconvinced I'm seeing that great of an improvement for brushes, etc. Painter 12 still won't run for me, even on the Fujitsu. So, in the end, eh.
We'll see. I've got to send the Lenovo in for some repairs while I'm still under warranty. So, starting sometime next week, I'm going to be sans-Lenovo, and then we'll really put the t5010 to the test.
As for the bigger screen, which I still want? Well, I'm thinking about saving up for either a Yiynova MSP19, or an older Cintiq, like the 18sx, which has a 14" x 11" screen-- essentially 2 of my Lenovo screens turned on their side and smushed together!! Yummy screen real estate!! I think that might offer me a better alternative. Then I can run the larger Cintiq off of my tablet pc when at my office (as they both use Wacom drivers-- thanks for that tidbit Shogmaster!), and have the x200t be very light and mobile for the field (perhaps even defaulting to the 3.5 lbs one gets with the smaller battery, now that I've been using the Lenovo car charger). I wish they'd just make a slate that physically attaches/detaches to the keyboard. Then I could have a _very_ light slate for field work, a laptop for typing and surfing, and a big screen for a desktop. It's coming... eventually.
In the mean time, here's some of the pics comparing the screens. The x200t with the Superbright Outdoor screen has a anti-reflective layer. So, not only is it really bright, but it also diffuses reflections really well without pixelating your view the way many screen protectors do. Many people talk about the t5010's screen as being one of the better ones as well. Well, I can only say that IMO there's no comparison. Sure, the x200t runs red and the t5010 runs blue, but beyond that, the x200t is just very very vivid, and much ...much better at working outdoors. I'll let the pics do the rest of the talkin'.
Pic one- indoors. Here you can see that the reflection from the window clearly bounces on the t5010. It's actually across the Lenovo too, I checked. You just can't really see it much.
Here they both are outdoors on a cloudy day, in tablet mode.
Here's the x200t cradled in my arm, as I often use it outdoors. The camera creates/reads a digital "haze" that you see here on the screen. That's not there with the naked eye. Still, the image is pretty readable. No real reflections, and pretty bright.
And, finally, the t5010 in my arms. Still reasonably readable, but definitely reflective.
Well, I recently picked up a used Fujitsu t5010 to test out. Bigger, bigger screen, faster processor, more onscreen buttons, etc. And yet, I haven't really fallen in love with it. My Lenovo x200t Superbright Outdoor is over a pound lighter, 1/4" thicker, and much much brighter and readable outdoors. And it's got the little Lenovo Trackpad, which I've strangely fallen in love with-- ergonomically, it helps provide the user a palm rest while using it, and I'd forgotten what a pain a touchpad can be.
I didn't think those things would matter that much, but they do. And so, although I've had the Fujitsu for about 3 weeks or more now, and have finally set it up, got things working (pressure sensitivity, secondary landscape, Dropbox, etc.) it's the Lenovo that I've continually gone back to for daily and work use.
Mostly, I just find the Lenovo x200t much more ergonomic. I remember my fears when I got the Lenovo because I had been using a very thin Motion Computing le1700 slate (it was less than an inch thick). My Lenovo's about 1 1/4" thick- about .4" difference, a not unsubstantial change. Well, in the end, although I liked the Motion's thinness (there's no doubt about that) the Lenovo being thicker didn't make that much difference to me because I could still easily hold it in my hand. It was still within the range of what my hand could grasp, despite the difference. And the extra weight and thickness was easily worth the 2x-3x improved battery life, waaaaaay better screen, and having a keyboard with me all the time.
Well, the Fujitsu offers me none of those things, but it's still costing me another pound of weight and another 1/4" inch thickness- and I'm finding that 5 lbs and 1.5" thick is just too thick for me to easily carry around. It's crossed a tipping point for me. Even if I take out the extended battery, it's still 4.5 lbs and just ....too... thick to really be mobile. Anyways, for that, I get a bigger screen, better placement for onscreen buttons, and a faster processor. The screen's bigger, but not THAT much bigger. The buttons are nice, no doubt, but I'm unconvinced I'm seeing that great of an improvement for brushes, etc. Painter 12 still won't run for me, even on the Fujitsu. So, in the end, eh.
We'll see. I've got to send the Lenovo in for some repairs while I'm still under warranty. So, starting sometime next week, I'm going to be sans-Lenovo, and then we'll really put the t5010 to the test.
As for the bigger screen, which I still want? Well, I'm thinking about saving up for either a Yiynova MSP19, or an older Cintiq, like the 18sx, which has a 14" x 11" screen-- essentially 2 of my Lenovo screens turned on their side and smushed together!! Yummy screen real estate!! I think that might offer me a better alternative. Then I can run the larger Cintiq off of my tablet pc when at my office (as they both use Wacom drivers-- thanks for that tidbit Shogmaster!), and have the x200t be very light and mobile for the field (perhaps even defaulting to the 3.5 lbs one gets with the smaller battery, now that I've been using the Lenovo car charger). I wish they'd just make a slate that physically attaches/detaches to the keyboard. Then I could have a _very_ light slate for field work, a laptop for typing and surfing, and a big screen for a desktop. It's coming... eventually.
In the mean time, here's some of the pics comparing the screens. The x200t with the Superbright Outdoor screen has a anti-reflective layer. So, not only is it really bright, but it also diffuses reflections really well without pixelating your view the way many screen protectors do. Many people talk about the t5010's screen as being one of the better ones as well. Well, I can only say that IMO there's no comparison. Sure, the x200t runs red and the t5010 runs blue, but beyond that, the x200t is just very very vivid, and much ...much better at working outdoors. I'll let the pics do the rest of the talkin'.
Pic one- indoors. Here you can see that the reflection from the window clearly bounces on the t5010. It's actually across the Lenovo too, I checked. You just can't really see it much.
Here they both are outdoors on a cloudy day, in tablet mode.
Here's the x200t cradled in my arm, as I often use it outdoors. The camera creates/reads a digital "haze" that you see here on the screen. That's not there with the naked eye. Still, the image is pretty readable. No real reflections, and pretty bright.
And, finally, the t5010 in my arms. Still reasonably readable, but definitely reflective.
The Fairy Band
This is a drawing I did last week in an attempt to continue building a portfolio for illustrating children's books. I later painted it with watercolors, but was unhappy with that work. The pen and ink went better though.
I used Paint Tool Sai entirely for this portion of the exercise. Went for a fast and loose drawing style- particularly so on the fairies. Give it a click if you want to see it at a larger resolution. Open it in another window instead if you want to view it at it's largest.
One issue I ran into was that I was simply working at too high a zoom level. There's a lot of juicy textural stuff going on with the pen and ink work here, and it's definitely lost at print/screen size. Next time, I'm going to need to work with a large pen tool, and just attack it with what is comparatively a blunt object. The detail is great, but if you lose that sense of reality that comes from texture, what's the point? Here's a close up to give you an example. As always, click for closeup.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Digital Watercolors- A Figure Study from a Wendy Artin Nude
In September I discovered Wendy Artin, an American living in Italy who does these amazing sepia watercolors of figures, nudes, buildings, etc. She does full color work too, but it was the sepia work that really inspired me. She had a wonderful ability to let the figure dissolve into light. She expressed a great deal of weight with a minimum of input on the page. Her stuff is very subtle, delicate. It looks so effortless and wet on the pages.
I decided to do a study of one of her nude figures in Artrage, just to see what I could accomplish digitally. That's what you're seeing below. I want to say this took 2.5 hours or so. Although digital watercolors have never quite captured the nuance of natural media to me, I found there was a lot to learn from working digitally, even as a person studying and painting with natural media. This was because doing it digitally really forced me to look and think about what makes watercolors really watercolors. And that sort of attentiveness to wet bleeds, or dry brush work, or wet into wet work, or paper grain and how different pigments granulate and separate from each other was very instructive. It's been an exercise well worth doing.
Digital Watercolors- A Magnolia and a Pear
I painted these two in September while taking an online class through the Digital Art Academy for learning Painter 11. The magnolia took perhaps an hour or two; the pear no more than an hour. Both were done in Painter 11. Used Skip Allen's brush set "Splashing Water" which is, IMO, the only way to get reasonable watercolor results out of Painter 11.
I never really grew to enjoy painting in Painter, it's full of far too many dials and sliders and check boxes and panels and pull down menus for my tastes, but eventually I did get some reasonable results, and there's a lot to learn from Painter that applies to other art programs, so the time wasn't wasted by any means. I ran much slower than Paint Tool Sai or Artrage though, which is another reason I've sort of set it aside. Anyways, here's the paintings.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Quick Sketch at Nation's Burgers
Did this in late September, while out at Nation's having a burger. It's tough drawing people and having them not see you. You've got to get your ninja on, so they won't see you. This guy was probably 30' away, so that helped.
Did it in Sketchbook Pro 2010. Took bout 10 minutes I suppose. A fun study in well.... either boredom or an attentive focus. Funny how the two seem so similar. Plus, he had a mustache. Pretty hard to find nowadays!
The UniBrow Dude
Sketched this guy while at the SCBWI conference last week. The conference was fun. So was the sketching.
I did this in Sketchbook Pro 2010. Just using the Pencil tool. Wanna say it took 20 minutes or so of doodling, from my mind. I kept thinking, hey, this guy should be one of my funky fairies in a kid's book I'm writing.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Digital Watercolors- Eyes on the Mountain
Thursday, October 20, 2011
A List of Children's Books- with commentary (oh lala!!)
In anticipation of the Fall SCBWI conference (Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) this weekend, I thought I'd share a list of books that I've been gathering. These books were recommended to me as books to check out from various sources-- generally pretty current (within the last 5 years or so), that would give a good sense of the sort of stuff that's being published in today's market. It took a while, but over the last few months, I've been picking them up from the library, 5-10 at a time, and reading them all with the girls. It's been a lot of fun, and very instructive. As a starting off point, I thought I'd offer the list to you, with occasional notes from me and my experience with the books.
One of the interesting things I found was that there were a number of "categories" books fell into-- I'll call them Joke, Concept, Character, and Story.
Joke-
The "Joke" books all had a very simple idea that was played out, and has no real story. Sort of a one trick pony. Some came off very well with my daughter and nieces (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus or The Biggest Thing in the Ocean for example) largely because of the funny pictures or a simple, clever, wacky idea, while others fell a bit flat for me when reading to a child (It's a Book or Duck Rabbit) because they're essentially written for the adult.
Concept-
The "Concept" books often had a basic setting, mood, or idea they played with, but have no real story, and sometimes even no main character. They're like the cousin of the joke book. They're fueled by charm and wonder. Chick N' Pug was clearly written with a love of pug dogs in mind (which I found unengaging, personally), whereas Itty Bitty was about a very small animal that gets very small things to live in its very small house (which I found charming). Bat Night at the Library (one of my favorites from the list) is all about a love of books, and bats going to the library. There's not much story though in any of them. Almost nothing really "happens". There's definitely no character arc or climax. And either you dig the concept they're playing with or you don't. Some focus on a character (Chick N' Pug) but I found uninteresting, while others focus on a setting (like Bat Night) and have no central character at all, but I loved them-- which I found really thought provoking as a writer!! A bit of an eye-opener.
Character-
These type of books are well known, of course. Curious George. Fancy Nancy. Skippy Jon Jones. Frog and Toad. Ah, the culture of personality. Ladybug Girl at the Beach is a clear example of this, though there wasn't enough to really pull me in, besides the art. Beautiful Yetta however, IMO, is great-- a wonderfully charming "country chicken in the big city" idea. LOL. What's interesting to me about these books is that they often have no real story to them either. Some do, most don't. Or it's really very very simple. Things happen in sequence, but there's no real "arc". It's all about the character and their antics-- often the mood or setting doesn't really matter either.
Story-
What was also surprising to me is how infrequent kid's books really tell "stories" now. They're around, but it's not that regular. Perhaps it's the restriction to 30 pages? Or perhaps the frequent focus, IMO, on the graphic content of the work rather than the literary, compared to many children's books from 50 years ago. Most play with a simple idea (what I'm calling Joke books), on mood or a setting (Concept books), or just run with a character doing stuff (Character books, clearly) with varying results. Almost all the stories have a main character though, this is one of the things I noticed. And they have a sort of commonly recognized act structure, with a climax and a coda. My favorite from this type was easily Children Make Terrible Pets- a funny concept, that actually has a very endearing story.
For the sake of having an opinion and sharing, I'm putting stars by those I really liked, or were big hits with the girls. Two stars for those that were awesome, and we'll probably buy. One for those that we liked, but might not be buying.
One of the interesting things I found was that there were a number of "categories" books fell into-- I'll call them Joke, Concept, Character, and Story.
Joke-
The "Joke" books all had a very simple idea that was played out, and has no real story. Sort of a one trick pony. Some came off very well with my daughter and nieces (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus or The Biggest Thing in the Ocean for example) largely because of the funny pictures or a simple, clever, wacky idea, while others fell a bit flat for me when reading to a child (It's a Book or Duck Rabbit) because they're essentially written for the adult.
Concept-
The "Concept" books often had a basic setting, mood, or idea they played with, but have no real story, and sometimes even no main character. They're like the cousin of the joke book. They're fueled by charm and wonder. Chick N' Pug was clearly written with a love of pug dogs in mind (which I found unengaging, personally), whereas Itty Bitty was about a very small animal that gets very small things to live in its very small house (which I found charming). Bat Night at the Library (one of my favorites from the list) is all about a love of books, and bats going to the library. There's not much story though in any of them. Almost nothing really "happens". There's definitely no character arc or climax. And either you dig the concept they're playing with or you don't. Some focus on a character (Chick N' Pug) but I found uninteresting, while others focus on a setting (like Bat Night) and have no central character at all, but I loved them-- which I found really thought provoking as a writer!! A bit of an eye-opener.
Character-
These type of books are well known, of course. Curious George. Fancy Nancy. Skippy Jon Jones. Frog and Toad. Ah, the culture of personality. Ladybug Girl at the Beach is a clear example of this, though there wasn't enough to really pull me in, besides the art. Beautiful Yetta however, IMO, is great-- a wonderfully charming "country chicken in the big city" idea. LOL. What's interesting to me about these books is that they often have no real story to them either. Some do, most don't. Or it's really very very simple. Things happen in sequence, but there's no real "arc". It's all about the character and their antics-- often the mood or setting doesn't really matter either.
Story-
What was also surprising to me is how infrequent kid's books really tell "stories" now. They're around, but it's not that regular. Perhaps it's the restriction to 30 pages? Or perhaps the frequent focus, IMO, on the graphic content of the work rather than the literary, compared to many children's books from 50 years ago. Most play with a simple idea (what I'm calling Joke books), on mood or a setting (Concept books), or just run with a character doing stuff (Character books, clearly) with varying results. Almost all the stories have a main character though, this is one of the things I noticed. And they have a sort of commonly recognized act structure, with a climax and a coda. My favorite from this type was easily Children Make Terrible Pets- a funny concept, that actually has a very endearing story.
For the sake of having an opinion and sharing, I'm putting stars by those I really liked, or were big hits with the girls. Two stars for those that were awesome, and we'll probably buy. One for those that we liked, but might not be buying.
**Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus- Mo Willems-- joke
Ladybug Girl at the Beach- David Soman -- character
**Children Make Terrible Pets- Peter Brown-- story
The Little Yellow Leaf- Carin Berger-- mood/story
Flora's Very Windy Day- Jeanne Birdsall-- story/idea
Chick N' Pug- Jennifer Sattler-- concept
**Beautiful Yetta- Daniel Pinkwater-- story, a chicken story, I'm such a sucker for chickens!
Duck! Rabbitt!- Amy Krouse Rosenthall-- joke
It's A Book- Lane Smith-- joke
*What the Ladybug Heard- Julia Donaldson-- story
*What the Ladybug Heard- Julia Donaldson-- story
*Itty Bitty- Cece Bell-- concept
**Bat Night at the Library- Brian Lies-- concept
Maybe I'll Sleep in the Bathtub Tonight- Debbie Levy-- poems
**I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean- Kevin Sherry-- very simple concept, though fun
Llama llama Red Pajama- Anna Dewdney
The Quiet Book- Deborah Underwood-- concept
Zen Shorts-Jon J Muth
*Calvin Can't Fly- Jennifer Berne-- story
How Rocket Learned to Read- Tad Hills-- story
A Balloon for Isabel- Deborah Underwood-- story
**In a Blue Room- Jim Averback-- bed time book
*The Book That Eats People-- concept
*Harey and Horsie-- story
Everyone knows what a dragon looks like- Jay Williams-- haven't gotten to it yet ;P
Digital Watercolors- Blue Haze
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
At the Poetry Reading
