There she goes, my beautiful world
Tonight I spent a few hours making test prints to follow up on my November 1 post Pondering Paper. My last round of tests gave me a lot of information to go on, but under the drawing table lights none of the prints were of satisfactory quality. I had to learn whether this was the fault of the paper, the printer, or the quality of the scan from which I was working.
After careful examination of the test prints, … Read the rest
I don’t know why it means so much to me that the guy who broke into my laundry room apologized as he was being taken to the police car by the SFPD, but that moment keeps replaying itself in my mind. I don’t know if he meant it, but he said it like he meant it. If he was trying to con me, it was a subtle play. He didn’t say, «I’m sorry. Please don’t press charges.» It was a … Read the rest
It started with the rattle of a chainlink fence as I was getting ready to take a shower. My neighbors keep a very nice yard, but I’ve never seen them out doing yardwork in the rain. The sound was followed by the thud of the door downstairs slamming shut. I knew it was the laundry room door; I’d have heard my front door more clearly.
I looked out the kitchen window and saw no one in the yard, so I … Read the rest
A few months ago I purchased sample packs of printmaking paper for giclée (French for «inkjet») printing, intending to test the papers out with the printer a client of mine has given me permission to use. I have been getting the prints of my pen & ink work done at Photoworks here in San Francisco, and they generally do good work. Nevertheless, I would like more control over the process. A couple of times miscommunications have led to frustrating delays … Read the rest
Some of you may remember a few months ago when I complained about The History Channel’s science show The Universe. It annoyed me so much that I never watched past Episode Twelve until tonight. Tonight, though I have a lot of work I need to do, I am on some pain medication for the new crown which was put on my upper left molar today. I expect it will be all better tomorrow, but as the local anæsthesia started … Read the rest
Here’s something I don’t think gets mentioned enough in the discussion of speculative (spec) work. Artists like to say «you get what you pay for» and talk down about the quality of the work you get if you get it for free, but it’s not true. It’s actually really easy to find people with talent who are desperate enough to work for free. The difference is not so much about the illustrator’s artistic talent (though I agree that people that … Read the rest
I’ve gotten behind schedule on the «Pens and Inks» series, so tonight after spending a few hours putting down ink I went back to my schedule and refigured the due dates. I’m keeping the same final date, just reducing the number of days I have to finish each of the drawings in the series to give them an even pace starting now. There’s no point in sticking to an unrealistic schedule. The new schedule may not be realistic either, but … Read the rest
Scott Berkun’s The Myths of Innovation puts forward the notion that people love a good story and that many celebrated innovators have told stories that oversimplify or even ignore the truth that innovation requires a lot of work. People love the story of a creator observing an odd confluence of events which causes an epiphany, which thereafter leads to an invention no one had thought of previously.
These stories eliminate the uncomfortable idea that a creator or inventor is somehow … Read the rest
I’m halfway done with my spiral.
My best guess is that it’s taken about fifty hours (not counting the time it took to develop the 2.5 gigabyte gradated spiral pattern I’ve been modifying) sitting here in front of the monitor with the Intuos2 stylus in hand, drawing over the line pattern to create this hand-drawn halftone. I’ve followed one of the arms of the spiral around the center 400 times to get to the very middle. The … Read the rest