laura_seabrook: (Default)

After a rediculous debarkle last night I'm cutting back on my time in Second Life. For me, the thing that's kept me going back was the PLAY element in it all, of creating stuff like clothes, buildings and things, and of making a web comic using it (which I do thouoroughly enjoy doing). However, of late it's becomejust as confusing and stressful as real life (yes, probably another reason I frequent the virtual) and frankly, I need to walk =away from it.

Also, I need to spend more time focussed on my Masters. It's still pretty much stalled at the moment. I do need to a web comic at the same time - something that isn't the Masters - but doing three is a bit much. That means I will finish the current chapter of Return to Second Life and not update Stuff Happens (of which it's a part) much until the Xmas Break (we'll see then). Likewise, I will finish the current sequence in Trope World and put up a notice that it's on hiatus until further notice (though I've also been toying with the idea of moving it as part of Stuff Happens). Tales of teh galli will be kept going, because I already know most of the rest of the story, and want to see it finished. 

Yes, the Masters has to come first.

laura_seabrook: (Default)

Here's what it looks like (minus text, which will be included in the proper webpage comic tomorrow):

Still lots to be learnt, but I'm getting there. Why bother? Because I like this style of line-work!

Even so, I will be drawing more Tales of the Galli pages tonight.

laura_seabrook: (Default)

See:

The next pages will take less time to make (thankfully)!
laura_seabrook: (tired)

I finished housework by about 2pm. Have been fiddling about with Illustrator. The image shown here is part of the result. And just what took all that time for this?

I had to figure out:

  • How to save tapered brush strokes for later use (use a style);
  • The most efficient colouring for the stroked image (paint with the blob brush underneath and bunch EVERYTHING into layers, sub-layers and groups;
  • The best way of setting up traces and panels, which might change.

And all this takes time. I set up a whole series of strokes that I wanted to use for this comic, and saved the lot as a custom set of styles. I draw the strokes in a plain ol' 1pt basic stroke, and set the style to it later.  Lots and lots of work for the moment, but important in the long-run (I hope).

I will finish this a lot quicker later tonight, but the pets (and I) need to be fed, I have a sinus headache, and I think I need to draw some Tales inbetween now and then.

the usual

May. 30th, 2011 12:43 am
laura_seabrook: (cheerful)
Five pages of comics drawn, but only two got scanned and coloured in Illustrator. Still lots of hard work, but starting to get easier, the more I see how Illustrator does or doesn't do things - Layer masks are cool!
laura_seabrook: (Default)

...of Trope World Done.

I'm developing the techniques used. At various points being jumped on by pets slowed things down, but I got there.Time for dinner!

laura_seabrook: (Default)

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.

laura_seabrook: (tired)

...so I did a filler for tales of the galli:

I did another page as well, for Trope World (which I'd hoped to do last Monday) though that won't be published until Friday. Glad to have done the comics, but now I feel hot and sweaty, and I have a headache and a neck ache, and it's time to turn off the the study PC, feed the pets, and have a warm bath.

There's also maybe a thunderstorm coming in. What more could I want?

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