I realised that with Bobby wanting to jump into my lap every five minutes, and Ebony and Gabby stalking each other (or jumping in front of the monitor) that I wasn't going to get a lot of work done in the study this Winter. Now this has come at a point when I realise that i need to learn how to use Illustrator and Flash, especially with a graphics tablet.

That being the case, I took my tablet and stylus off to uni yesterday to see if it would work  on the terminals there. The result was that there were only minor problems with the Macs, but that the PCs would read the device at all. This is probably because the PCs all run XP and are geared towards only running software the uni wants you to run. With the Macs it seems there's a built-in driver. And as there's at least two rooms of Macs in the Photomedia building all with Photoshop. Illustrator, Fireworks and Flash, and four Macs in the Post-Grad froom in the Huxley library, it means I can experiment and use my tablet  at uni! Important if I'm to learn how to use it with these programs before I start the graphic novels.

The only snag is that graphics tablets are not really indestructible or robust, and I could imagine without protection that I'd break my cheap ALDI model pretty quickly travelling to and fro uni with it. So I went off to Officeworks to see what I could get to help. I rejected laptop bags as being either too large or too expensive, but put together a "tablet protection kit" from odds and ends.

I bought: a wide/short clipboard; a cardboard "eurobox", and a cardboard document holder. The clipboard is reversed and wraps around the tablet. The eurobox is supposed to be folded into a box but if I leave it flat to folds over the whole tablet and the elastic keeps it shut. The document box (with an extra crease) encases all of that. I put the tablet stylus in a cheap pencil case I had (prevents it from falling out) and the lot goes in a tote bag. Not bad, and it seems pretty tough, and can be carried around fairly easily.

I discovered that I can export swatches from Photoshop in ASE format and read them in Illustrator and Fireworks (but apparently not Flash) which means the colouring I set up in Photoshop can now be re-used. I'll make an effort playing around in Illustrator for the comic Trope World. Haven't done much with that lately, mostly because I've been sick. Another page out soon.

I had a pleasant surprise reading the graphic novel HICKSVILLE.

I'd borrowed this from the local library and put it aside for other stuff to do. It was hard to say what it was about from the cover. But once I got reading, it just "grew on me". A great book to read about comics in general and about graphic novels and success as well. The panel above is no spoiler, because out of context you'll have no idea why he's saying this (or who the character is).

Very inspiring to me.

Borrowed a graphic novel from Lake Macquarie Library recently called Janes in Love, by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg. This is a sequel to an earlier story The Plain Janes (which I haven't read), and follows the exploits of four girls named Jane who are in an arts group called People Loving Art In Neighbourhoods or P.L.A.I.N.

I borrowed the book from Swansea library, and had in fact read it all before I got home that day. I couldn't put it down once a started. the main characters are all teenagers in high school, but the themes that surround their lives (friends, relationships, art and the meaning of life) seem pretty universal (and important) to me. The panels below struck me especially:

That's a question I was asking myself at the time! I like the artwork - it's practical but also perfectly suited to the story, giving the reader a sense of everyday suburbia and life. It also reminds me of Love and Rockets, which I read during the 80s. I must hunt down the first book.

It just occurred to me, about what I was saying about subjects for my Masters. Real Life Test will be the work, and Gender Transition for Innocents (both in graphic novel format) will be the research paper!

Eureka - the jigsaw puzzle is coming together!

Mind you, this will be a challenge. maybe in part that makes a difference too. What's the point of doing something like this if it's not a challenge, if it's the same ol same ol'? That's why really, I shouldn't do more Trans Tarot cards - I've already done it.

Last Wednesday I found myself with a bit of leisure time. I'd come down to Sydney and though I was supposed to meet _blubloo_ in Newtown about 6pm, I'd arrived just before 1pm at Strathfield.

I did some window shopping in Strathfield, and later at Ashfield, but that only went so far. The Ashfield Library was right next to the shopping centre there, so I went in for a browse. Decided to check out what listings they had on the catalogue for Graphic Novels.

Pay dirt - they had two bays of graphic novels! Golly, not in the "humour" section, not in the "young adults" section, but in their own section (all close to 741.59). Not only that, but there's a good mix too - stories of all sorts, from superhero stuff to biographical drama (and history and theory of graphic novels). I like their acquisition policy!

I sat down and read part 2 of For Tomorrow (a Superman story), and glanced/browsed at Epileptic and The Fixer.  For Tomorrow was only important because it completed the story I'd read elsewhere in volume 1. The Fixer by Joe Sacco seemed involved and episodic, painting a picture of the times in those parts that used to be Yugoslavia.

Epileptic however was another matter. as I have a history of epilepsy and have done my own (6 page) comic on the subject. But this book, by David Beauchard is a biographical account of his experiences with his older brother who was epileptic, and had violent seizures. Two hundred pages of intense detail and drama. I'm going to request an interlibrary loan to read this.

But it also made me think.

( My Thoughts )