One of the funniest parts of this whole thread is that it takes place during a week when my lettering looks very much like I’m the one running on not enough sleep and too much caffeine. Which is probably the case, especially lately, but this week was special.
I explained it in the comments earlier, but in case you missed it, there’s this company called Wacom that makes electronic drawing tablets and pen displays and other devices that very accurately mimic drawing with a pen or pencil on paper, except it goes straight to your computer in digital form and costs hundreds of times as much. I started using their stuff to color my Sunday strips, and gradually evolved into where I am now, which is using traditional methods until I have a fairly finished-looking pencil drawing, which I scan into the system and then “ink” digitally via my pen tablet. I used to ink them with actual ink and then scan them in, but the curse of the Wacom is that you can blow the art up to 600% or so and obsess over imperfections that absolutely no one will see online or in the paper. In short, I am an idiot. But it’s an addictive device.
So I went cold turkey for a week, if not by choice. My old Wacom finally crapped out, suddenly and thoroughly as electronics do, and I thought, okay, no panic. While the new one is on order, I’ll just put out a week of artisanal Frazz. Board. Ink. Brushes. Pens. After all, I had recently listened to a cartoonist I respect very much tell an audience, “don’t be too precious with your work.” Turns out I draw just fine the old way, and at 100% scale, but there’s a circuit in my brain that lets the lettering look too close to my own hasty handwriting, instead of mimicking my wife’s, which apparently that one degree of Wacom separation bypasses. (Curiously, Patty hates her own handwriting on the Wacom.)
Anyway, I’ve replaced the Wacom and learned a few lessons about my approach. Lessons that could, quite possibly, help me draw just as well or better in less time, so I can get out there and live a little more of the kind of interesting life that a writer ought to be living if he’s going to keep putting out interesting material. Or waste time getting a little more long-winded with his blog entries. Oopsie.
eisneun almost 7 years ago
The English people call them roundabouts.
Arianne almost 7 years ago
Heaven only knows what they did in Stonehenge.
Laird Nelson almost 7 years ago
What is up with the lettering, I wonder?
Arianne almost 7 years ago
I’ve heard that they fly circuses.
cabalonrye almost 7 years ago
What would she think if she knew that afternoon tea was a meal?
Lyons Group, Inc. almost 7 years ago
Or it was the time when I used to hear their broadcast of the BBC on shortwave back in the late 60s.
Phred Premium Member almost 7 years ago
With the associated food items, I would make time for afternoon tea.
Ignatz Premium Member almost 7 years ago
They drink tea in the afternoon because they want to.
I don’t get the point of this at all.
Herb L 1954 almost 7 years ago
Crop circles?
zwilnik64 almost 7 years ago
For the English a cuppa is always an appropriate offer in times of stress.
phoenixnyc almost 7 years ago
The two quintessential American sports are baseball and NASCAR—largely because both involve going around in circles.
cbrsarah almost 7 years ago
I drink tea to help me sleep. It doesn’t keep me awake.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] almost 7 years ago
Frazz10 hrs ·
One of the funniest parts of this whole thread is that it takes place during a week when my lettering looks very much like I’m the one running on not enough sleep and too much caffeine. Which is probably the case, especially lately, but this week was special.
I explained it in the comments earlier, but in case you missed it, there’s this company called Wacom that makes electronic drawing tablets and pen displays and other devices that very accurately mimic drawing with a pen or pencil on paper, except it goes straight to your computer in digital form and costs hundreds of times as much. I started using their stuff to color my Sunday strips, and gradually evolved into where I am now, which is using traditional methods until I have a fairly finished-looking pencil drawing, which I scan into the system and then “ink” digitally via my pen tablet. I used to ink them with actual ink and then scan them in, but the curse of the Wacom is that you can blow the art up to 600% or so and obsess over imperfections that absolutely no one will see online or in the paper. In short, I am an idiot. But it’s an addictive device.
So I went cold turkey for a week, if not by choice. My old Wacom finally crapped out, suddenly and thoroughly as electronics do, and I thought, okay, no panic. While the new one is on order, I’ll just put out a week of artisanal Frazz. Board. Ink. Brushes. Pens. After all, I had recently listened to a cartoonist I respect very much tell an audience, “don’t be too precious with your work.” Turns out I draw just fine the old way, and at 100% scale, but there’s a circuit in my brain that lets the lettering look too close to my own hasty handwriting, instead of mimicking my wife’s, which apparently that one degree of Wacom separation bypasses. (Curiously, Patty hates her own handwriting on the Wacom.)
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] almost 7 years ago
Frazz
10 hrs ·
Continued
Anyway, I’ve replaced the Wacom and learned a few lessons about my approach. Lessons that could, quite possibly, help me draw just as well or better in less time, so I can get out there and live a little more of the kind of interesting life that a writer ought to be living if he’s going to keep putting out interesting material. Or waste time getting a little more long-winded with his blog entries. Oopsie.