Green Corner: Page 13

Please visit the Green Corner website to see the completed page 13.

New avatars and progress images for page 12 also added to the image gallery. Please vote to see close-ups from page 13.

Enjoy!

Green Corner: Page 12

Please visit the Green Corner website to see the completed page 12. Vote to see progress images for page 12.

I've also made some other updates to the site, including progress images for page 11, new avatars, and more organization for the image gallery. Links have also been added for artwork available in prints.

Enjoy!

Wallpaper: Zalanda and Kasha

This wallpaper leaves lots of rooms for icons on your desktop. It features Zalanda and Kasha from page 10 of Green Corner.

The file is 1440 x 900 pixels. If you'd like another size, please request with your screen dimensions in pixels. Other background colours also available on request.

Free Shipping from My Bubblesite

RedBubble is having a promotion until October 30th.

Free standard shipping when you use the coupon code: friendsandfamily
(Free Shipping coupons expire 23:59 October 30 (GMT), and are only available for the standard shipping option.)

Go check out my Bubblesite. Now is a great time to buy prints :)

Red and the Woodsman: The Completed Special

Here is the completed 2008 Hallowe'en special for Green Corner, featuring Aena dressed as "Red" and Barudo dressed as the Woodsman, of Red Riding Hood.

Total time was 13 hours, 57 minutes (Illustrator began to slow down about halfway through)

A 1440 x 900 desktop version is available for download from the Midori Forest group. If you'd like another size, please request with your screen dimensions in pixels.

Prints are available on my Bubblesite.

Red and the Woodsman: Part 2

I've continued working on the latest Green Corner special.


I did try beginning the background another way before, but I scrapped it and took some photos outside for inspiration. I will be uploading the photos I took to my Flickr account soon.

The grasses, sand patches, and the patches of leaves are all symbols that came with Illustrator (under "nature"). I added a stroke to some of the leaves and changed that symbol's colours; but the others were only coloured, not edited. The trees are from Bittbox (you can download the vectors here).

I'm nearly done shading the figures now, aside from a few things for Barudo and other minor adjustments. As this picture gets more detailed, Illustrator's response time is slowing, so it's taking a little longer to continue the work. I won't be listing the time it took to get to this point from the line work, but I will post the total time once the image is complete.

I'm very happy with how this image is progressing, and I look forward to finishing it. It will definitely be available in my RedBubble store when complete. There isn't much there at the moment, as I'm working on formatting more artwork to add. But if you want some Hallowe'en cards of Aena in her witch costume, that is available.

Please let me know if you have any comments or constructive criticism to share. I'm almost done with this piece, so this is the best time to let me know if you find something awkward.

Hope you like it so far.

Hallowe'en Special: Red and the Woodsman

Here's my initial line work for the latest Green Corner special in progress. I'm using a more natural style for this special, but the comic has more of a manga influence.

Aena is dressed as Red Riding Hood, Barudo is playing the Woodsman. Line work for Aena took 2 hours, 43.5 minutes (mainly because of the detail), and 2 hours 14 minutes for Barudo. I usually use less detail for the hair and clothing in the comic because it's too time-consuming, but I can add more detail in the specials.

I have some minor edits to make to Barudo, but the line work is pretty much set. I will probably show a shirtless version of Barudo later, as I did draw his muscles underneath the shirt. I'll be starting on the colouring and the background next.

Hope you like it so far.

Green Corner: Page 11

Green Corner has been updated.

Completed page eleven is now published. Progress images for page ten and avatars for page eleven added to the image gallery.

Don't forget to use the voting links on the main page to show your support. (voting incentives are progress images from page eleven)

Thanks and enjoy the page!

Art Post: Various Sketches

I've been sketching more than usual in my sketchbook recently. I often sketch on loose paper, and I think it's partly because my sketchbook is a bit larger than I'd like at 11" x 14". I prefer 9" x 12". These are from the past few days, drawn with mechanical pencil. I may end up making digital illustrations of all of these. All sketches were darkened and treated to minor cleanup in Photoshop.

I hope you like them!
Aena from Green Corner in a more natural, human style (no pointy ears). The dress and hair is inspired a little by style in the 1930's. It's not meant to be accurate for that time period, I just wanted to create a classy look. Sketched 9/18/08, finished 9/20/08.

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Practice in a more natural style. I used a photo of myself for reference (for the expression and the hand), and I think that's come through a little in the face, though it's not intended to be a self-portrait. I really like how the hand turned out. Drawn 9/20/08.

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Aena from Green Corner in a bit of a gothic lolita style. Photo reference used for the pose. I'm not happy with the hand between her knees, so I'll probably change that when I make a digital version.

I was originally trying to have Aena cosplaying as a stuffed doll, but ended up going in this direction instead. I'm pretty happy with this. I have trouble with seated poses sometimes, but the body has turned out quite well here. Drawn 9/20/08.

Useful Software

I use a variety of software for work and personal use. I primarily use a MacBook Pro running OS X, but I also have an older desktop system that runs XP and I regularly used a laptop running Vista at a previous job. I've only had minor exposure to Linux.

I'll be noting OS's (Operating Systems) with each of the applications I mention. No games, and no native Mac applications listed here (I'm sure there are tons of lists online for those).

I'll only briefly discuss Adobe software in this post. I can discuss my experience more in-depth at another time, but there's plenty of extended information on their website about the capabilities of their software.


Adobe Creative Suite (OS X, XP, Vista)
I use CS3 Design Premium which contains:

• InDesign CS3 (for page layout)
• Photoshop CS3 Extended (bitmap/ raster graphics editor)
• Illustrator CS3 (vector graphics editor)
• Flash CS3 (for interactive content, some animation)
• Dreamweaver CS3 (for website coding)
• Acrobat 8 Professional (for PDFs, including forms and enabling rights for Reader)
• Bridge CS3 (for previewing files)

I probably use Illustrator, InDesign, and Dreamweaver the most. There are other suite options, for different purposes. This was the one that I found was the best fit for what I do (a mix of print and web design).

I've used Quark Xpress before for page layout, and that's what I was taught to use in college. InDesign was launched after I completed most of my core courses, so I taught myself to use it. I found it easy to switch, and prefer the integration possible with InDesign. You can link ai and psd files in InDesign, but you need to be careful about this, as you're generally expected to only send eps and tiff images to press. If using unusal image formats, it's better to export to PDF for press.

Dreamweaver is primarily a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. There's a text editor option that I use frequently (I almost exclusively use split view), but sometimes I switch to an external text editor (see below). The auto-complete feature for hand-coding is very useful, as are the validator and browser compatibility checker (I use the W3C validators afterward). I also love being able to change links site-wide. It really simplifies things.

I use Illustrator a lot for website mockups, and tend to make website graphics in Illustrator rather than Photoshop. For simple graphics, it keeps file sizes down while giving me the flexibility to make changes easily. I also use it regularly to illustrate my sequential art series, Green Corner. For corporate design, I use Illustrator when I can. I always use it for logos and branding elements like icons. Photoshop is not meant for that type of work.

I used to use older versions of Illustrator and Photoshop on Windows 98 (which prompted the computer to spontaneously die – really, one day it just gave up) and Windows XP (which enjoys crashing Photoshop). I found that, especially for Photoshop, you need extra RAM.

Crashes happened more frequently with XP for me, so I became a compulsive saver. It's also a good idea to delete your preferences (they get corrupted easily) for Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign at the first sign of tools acting strangely. You can find instructions by searching online for "delete preferences" followed by the program name and version. Add your OS if necessary to your search terms. After deleting them, default preferences will be re-created on re-start of the program.

Arachnophilia (everything)
Freeware. A text editor that I mostly use for HTML and CSS coding. It can be used for some programming as well. The "beautify" feature is useful for HTML coding, and lets you know if you need to fix anything. You still need to find the errors, but the indentation and number of errors to look for helps. Colour-coded tags make viewing the code easier on the eyes.

Works with Java, so it's completely cross-platform. Expects PC style shortcut keys to be used (Control instead of Command, for Mac users). I didn't have much luck changing them, so I reverted to the defaults. It's a minor thing, but you do need to be conscious of the keyboard shortcuts you use.

Autoruns (Windows)
This should really be installed natively for Windows, but it isn't. It allows you to control which programs are allowed to automatically run. Those little utilities that launch on startup that you don't need to be on all the time? You can stop them. It can look a little intimidating, but take a look at the description and program name. If you're unsure, leave the settings alone. I usually used this to stop software associated with printers from running on startup (they're initiated when you use the printer anyway).

Character Pal (OS X widget)
Free. Reminds you of key combinations for special characters (keyboard and HTML). Quicker than using a reference PDF or printout.

Enkoder (everything)
Freeware. Encrypts e-mail addresses with JavaScript. Practically eliminates spam. Downloadable version is OS X only, but there's also a web form that can be used by anyone.

Firefox (Windows, OS X, Linux)
Free, open source. I switched years ago from Netscape (another Mozilla browser). I like Apple's Safari as well, but the customizability of Firefox is very impressive.

Fugu (OS X)
Free, open source. Easy to use, secure FTP client.

Giffy (Windows)
Free. Converts bmp to gif and vice versa. Can also make gifs transparent (without needing a matte border for smooth transitions!). I'd like a Mac equivalent for this. I still need to define a colour for a matte border when saving transparent images for the web, and it just feels wrong.

Gimp (Windows, Unix, OS X with X11)
Free, open source image manipulation program. Similar to Photoshop.

Inkscape (OS X with X11, Windows, Linux)
Free, open source vector graphics editor. Similar to Illustrator.

InstantShot! (OS X)
Free. Screen grab utility. Similar to Apple's Grab and Microsoft's Snipping Tool for Vista.

Open Office (Windows, Linux, Solaris, OS X) and Neo Office (OS X)
Free, open source. An office suite that includes programs for word processing (Writer), spreadsheets (Calc), Presentations (Impress), drawing (Draw), database management (Base). Neo Office integrates native mac features (including regular keyboard shortcuts) so it's a better choice for Mac, but they're otherwise identical.

You can export nice PDFs directly from Writer, without having to own Acrobat Standard or Professional.

Pidgin (Windows, Unix) and Adium (OS X)
Free, open source. Instant messaging applications for running multiple chat services simultaneously. No voice or video support (they're working on it), so you need a separate application for those.

The Daily Grind (OS X widget)
Free. Simple to use timer. Press play to time, pause to stop. You can name and colour your timers as well.

Word Counter (OS X)
Free. Counts words. Application and widget versions available. Can work independently or in conjunction with other applications.

X11 (OS X)
Free. An Apple application, but not natively installed. It gives more options for software you can use and will be updated with Software Update like other Apple software. May also be on your OS X installer disc. Launches automatically when needed. Note that applications running with X11 will require more RAM and may run a little slower.

Zipeg (XP, Vista, OS X)
Free. Similar to Winzip and StuffIt. Allows you to preview the contents of certain archive files. You'll still need the free StuffIt Expander to open sit documents though.



Any more programs you'd add to the list? Please leave a comment.