Contemplation

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I am getting better using GIMP to color my comic. The biggest discovery was how to use the airbrush tool to touch up the white gaps between the scanned lines and the areas of color. I don't really use layers, although now I think I could because of the courses I have taken in photoshop. But the biggest drawback (no pun intended) is the time it takes to color a comic, something that is fascinating considering how simple the ones I do really are. I've spent an hour and half adding in the color and touching up all the spaces. But I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it.

I'll try to keep up a weekly schedule a little better than I have been lately. Homework isn't quite enough to keep my skills as sharp as I want them, so I need to practice more drawing anyway.

The Beach

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So it's a couple of days late, but I'm doing my best to divide up my time between schoolwork and my job. I'm trying strike the right balance, but it's not always easy. I think I've got the drawing part fairly polished for what I have time to actually do. There's always room for improvement of course, but I've pretty much reached my vision for how I want the comic to look. I've been told that with practice, one normally gets better, so I am looking forward to that. However, I think the next major improvement in store for this comic is not with the the art but the storyline. I'm going to experiment with that in the future.

Thanks to ongoing classes, I've figured out how to add to a selection and use the gradient tool. I know: big frickin' deal, right? Still, it was fun to use those new tools when I was coloring this one. I'll be sketching out the next one in a few days and trying to get back on track more. We'll see what happens. Anyway, See you soon.

Beachward Bound

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It has been decided! We're going to the beach for the next several comics. Apologies all around for not having it up sooner, but scanner and computer problems, combined with a bunch of design classes, has made it hard to find the time or energy to draw a new one. Actually, consider this single panel comic as a placeholder since I already have the next one inked. I still need to work on how to move the storyline ahead, but I suppose that will come with practice. The story needs work as much as the drawing skills. Oh well. Until next time.

Scanner

Aside from my recent problems getting something sketched, I discovered that an interrupted download of a free firewall, which I unwittingly tried to install, corrupted some of my computer files. Consequently, my scanner wouldn't work properly. I've tried to fix it in my limited fashion, but ultimately, what I had to do was uninstall a few programs and reinstall them. It also reinforced the idea, for me, that I need to backup my files. Eventually, I think I should invest in an external hard drive, but for the time being, I will be backing up important files (like these comics)on CD's. Comic will be forth-coming soon. I promise.

If I haven't mentioned it before, I've also enrolled in a Graphics Design program at my local college. That means that I am now getting training in Photoshop software and gaining other skills which should greatly improve my efforts here on the comic. I am excited to learn these techniques and push my skills. I don't right now have the money for a copy of the Photoshop software, but the theoretically underpinning I am learning about it also helps me with GIMP.