Black Friday

I was almost lured into a Black Friday deal for a cheap external HD (by Seagate) at Staples for like $40.  Upon further research, Seagate external HDs have a 30% failure rate, which is super scary, as compared to other companies which have like a 1% or 2% failure rate.  There's a reason why some things are on sale.

But I DID actually end up getting a good deal on my Adobe programs, which I use all the time.  Adobe is having a Black Friday 20% off sale for everyone, so you can change your membership and save.  I downgraded from the All Apps Creative Cloud to getting single apps of Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC.  I honestly have used Flash only one time for a project since getting the All option.  Luckily, they have a monthly option so I can download Flash once I have an animation project, and then cancel once the project is done in a month.  I really don't do animation "on the side" just for fun - it takes forever, and I'd rather create comics.  Even though this change was scary, I'll save $20/month, which is $240 per year!  Changing anything technical that involves art programs is very scary because we artists aren't usually techie-minded to fix stuff if something goes wrong.  But as long as you do your research so you're well informed, and get help from Adobe chat or calling (or whatever company, perhaps Microsoft or GoDaddy), you CAN make changes to suit your specific needs as time goes on and your needs change.  

Side note, on the phone, I accidentally called it the "Black Friday Bundle" because I'd watched that South Park episode recently.  The word "bundle" is nowhere on the Adobe site!  Thank God I didn't call it "Bunduru!"

Also, I'M having a special Black Friday/Small Business Saturday sale on all sketch orders this weekend!  Free shipping PLUS 10% off!  Offer ends Monday November 30!  Now's the perfect time to get a sketch as a present for a loved one for the holidays!

Correction and Liability Shift

For the Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend, Papercutz will be in different locations on Saturday and Sunday, and that means other publishers will too.  In yesterday's post, the Metro Tech location is for SATURDAY ONLY, and Papercutz will be at booth #3.  Most Children's Day activities will be going on in the Metro Tech Commons.  Sunday, the main day of the Festival, Papercutz will move outdoors to Booth 308, near the court house, and here's the map.  It'll be beautiful weather this weekend, so hope to see you there!

If you're an indie artist or own a small business and accept credit payments, listen up:  you need to be ready for the "Liability Shift" in 2 weeks.  Basically, credit cards are moving towards having tiny chips inside them instead of the magnetic strip, which will apparently be more secure.  If you have a Square card reader, you have to buy a $49 new reader to accept credit payments.  If you don't, and you swipe a fraudulent card, YOU'LL be responsible for the lost charges, NOT the banks.  It looks like getting the new reader is the way to go because it will protect everyone more.  Granted, Square said they'll reimburse for the reader up to $49 in their fee credits after you use it for 3 months.  However, their fees are very small, and I don't use the reader that much.  I use it once a month for comic conventions, but actually most people pay in cash.  I'm glad to have the Square reader though, because it does help like 20% of the time.  But no way will I charge enough people to make up the $49 in small fees over 3 months, and will probably still end up paying around $45.  So even though I pre-ordered the new chip Square reader, I feel forced into it.

This brings to mind that the way technology is going, we artists have to keep buying more and more expensive tech tools just to keep up.  Adobe's new payment system has me and others locked into paying $50/month for the programs we need, and they have a monopoly because they're the industry standard.  My Mac is pushing 5 years old, and is running terribly show.  I fear the day it will konk out completely, because I can't afford a new one.  This has already happened to some of my artist friends, and it's like a catch 22 - they can't afford a new computer or the programs they need, so then they can't get new jobs in their field.  And because they can't get those jobs, they can't make more money to buy new upgrades.  This is something that seriously scares me and I don't know the solution to it.  

Thanks for listening to my little rant :P  But it's the weekend - everything is better on the weekend!

Adventures With Intuos!

I've been having so much fun with my new Intuos Wacom tablet!  Here's the very first illustration I did solely in Photoshop!  (Well, I did some in high school with MS Paint... [cringes]).  This is the Purple Striped Jellyfish - I love jellyfishes!  This creature lends itself very well to the pressure sensitivity and sweeping lines that can be created using the Intuos.  Last time, I was testing inking my comic pencil work, and it was harder to make the sweeping motions when tracing a line.  But when drawing from scratch digitally, it's easier because your hand can just go where it wants to and isn't hindered by following lines. 

Sketches of Purple Striped Jellies in the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Just for kicks, here are some colored pencil sketches I did of some Purple Striped Jellies when I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium years ago.  Now, this aquarium has the largest most awesome collection of jellies I've ever seen!  Like, entire rooms where you're surrounded by huge jellyfish everywhere!  I liked the Purple Striped ones because they're very colorful and flowy.  They really like swimming upside down as pictured above. 

Comparing the two kinds of illustration, it's always great to have a mini travel sketchbook to capture what's in front of you fast, especially when traveling.  But when I spent more time with the Wacom rendering of the jellyfish, I really got to capture the transparencies of it!  Yay Photoshop layers!  Watercolors by hand could also present transparencies, but with a different texture and feel.  Even though the digital rendering has a more cartoony look, the smoothness is closer to how the animal is in reality.

I'll probably always draw with a mix of good ol' pencil & paper and the wacom, but it worries me a bit if I may get too reliant on technology.  Like, I'm locked into Adobe's pay per month program, and after learning of some cheaper alternatives, I sometimes regret it.  It's an industry standard, so it's good to know Adobe programs, but the fact that they can raise the price at any time makes me worry.  I guess I could always export all my files to tiffs, but that's a LOT of files...