Seriously, I hate them. The way evil hates good, the way Lex Luthor hates Superman, the way Kirstie Alley hates exercising. Why? Take a look. What do all of these have in common?
Okay, now let's look at what all these pencils actually
do:
Exactly. Each one has
different characteristics: dark vs light, soft vs hard, and so on. We use each one for
different purposes and at
different stages in the sketching or drawing process.
But here's the problem.
Are you ready for it?
Here it comes...
Maybe you've already guessed, or have the same complaint.
YOU CAN'T TELL WHICH ONE IS WHICH.Not unless you hold the end up real close and squint at the cryptic little alpha-numerical notations which, for all I know could reference lead weight, blood type, bra size, whatever—they're practically meaningless.
All of that interrupts the fluid, stream-of-consciousness flow of drawing. I need to be able to tell which one I need in a quick glance. Letters and numbers are a left-brain thing, and drawing, as I'm sure you'll recall, is a right brain thing. I ended up marking mine with tape to help tell the difference. But even then I would think, "Wait, is the one with tape the light one or the dark one?"
Imagine the suffering.
Now, as it happens, I had a brilliant idea on how to solve this. After an exhaustive search (all of 2 minutes) I did find these pencils, which stole my idea and I think addresses the problem.
Wow, imagine that—a VISUAL way of discerning what pencil does what!
For those who still might make use of those little codes on the side, fine. But at least make them larger than the fine print on a cell phone contract. Let me SEE it when the pencil is still sitting on the table or in that cute pencil holder you made in craft class at the community college.
So here's my suggestion (complete with pencils I made myself in Photoshop, and entirely out of shapes [except the lead markings] thank you very much):
Boom. The world is a better place. My job is done.
Although you're no doubt tired of me going on and on about Adobe Muse, tough cookies, cause I'm gonna make one more post about it. It's just such a great program if for no other reason than it makes it SOOOO much easier for non-programming types to build a super-duper web site. Seriously, I love it. If I were Brad and Angelina, I would adopt it. (I swear Adobe isn't paying me...) (Oh, and click on the images below to embiggen.)
It functions a lot like Adobe InDesign, which means you use things like:
- Master Pages, meaning if you make changes there, such as the menu, it's automatically applied to all the assigned pages. Yes!
- Character and paragraph styles that are applied site wide.
- Headers and footers.
- A drag-and-drop site layout that uses page icons.
- Move stuff around willy-nilly on the page, any ol' way you like without worrying about CSS or tables or whatever nonsense.
Additionally, it allows you to do lots of neat-o web stuff with familiar panels, and no coding:
- Widgets that include cool interactive stuff like light-boxes (I'm looking at you, illustrators), dynamics menus, pop-ups, slideshows, news boxes, accordion menus—all totally customizable. Brilliant.
- Your menu is automatically updated site-wide when add, remove or move pages. Glorious.
- Import your images any old size and Muse will automatically optimize them for the web and generate thumbnails when publishing.
- Embed all kinds of junk anywhere on your page: YouTube videos, Google maps, all that.
- Design yer site for tablets and smartphones. Booyah.
- Publish directly to your web host within Muse, no third party FTP app needed.
- You get to use Adobe's library of web fonts so you're not stuck with Times or Arial. You can also use your own fonts, but bare in mind those will automatically be converted to images on export.
- If you want to tinker with some of the code, you certainly can, although you have to export the site and edit the HTML, etc. in a program like DreamWeaver.
- Gives you a back rub, asks you about your day and really listens, then makes you a nice hot cup of herbal tea.
Now, I know a lot of illustrators are perfectly happy with some of the simpler site-building tools out there. Fine. Goody for you. But if you're interested in making a web site that isn't boring and lame and just like every
other web site on the interwebs, and want to do it easily, well partner, you might wanna look into Muse. That is all.
One question that gets asked a lot among illustrators around the ol' World Wide Interwebs is where do you get your postcards printed? Those who have been at it a while seem to have their favorites, and I have mine certainly, but I thought that since I'm such a nice Viking (and I got bored one afternoon), I'd compile as definitive a list of online printer's as one probably could before falling asleep at one's keyboard.
Not only do I hope to provide this list as a resource, but I'd be anxious to know what other folks think of any of these vendors through experience.
My personal favorite is GotPrint (best quality, best price as far as I can find), but check the others out and see what you think. I only priced a standard size, but tried to get two quotes each, starting with the lowest quantity available from that vendor. All prices are for full color, both sides.
GotPrintStandard 4" x 6"
100: $27
250: $33
Standard (5.47" x 4.21")
100: $34.98
250: $62.98
Overnight Prints
Standard 4" x 6"
(premium offset, not digital)
100: $36.55
250: $69.05
Jakprints
Standard 4" x 6"
100: $60
250: $65
Print Direct for Less
Standard 4" x 6"
250: $63
500: $69
Moo
Standard 4" x 6", each card with a unique front
20: $20
80: $79
PS Print
Standard 4" x 6"
100 (digital): $23.41
250 (offset): $39.36
Modern Postcard
Standard 4.25" x 6"
250: $115
500: $155
My Postcard Printing
Standard 4" x 6"
100 (digital): $46.58
250 (offset): $93.08
Uprinting
Standard 4" x 6"
100 (digital): $46.58
250 (offset): $93.08
1-800-Postcards
Standard 4" x 6"
100 (digital): $67
100 (offset): $137
Ink Chaser
Standard 4.25" x 6"
250: $27.38
500: $31.13
If you've used any printers not listed here, please feel free to let me know in the comments.
One question that gets asked a lot among illustrators around the ol' World Wide Interwebs is where do you get your postcards printed? Those who have been at it a while seem to have their favorites, and I have mine certainly, but I thought that since I'm such a nice Viking (and I got bored one afternoon), I'd compile as definitive a list of online printer's as one probably could before falling asleep at one's keyboard.
Not only do I hope to provide this list as a resource, but I'd be anxious to know what other folks think of any of these vendors through experience.
My personal favorite is GotPrint (best quality, best price as far as I can find), but check the others out and see what you think. I only priced a standard size, but tried to get two quotes each, starting with the lowest quantity available from that vendor. All prices are for full color, both sides.
GotPrintStandard 4" x 6"
100: $27
250: $33
Standard (5.47" x 4.21")
100: $34.98
250: $62.98
Overnight Prints
Standard 4" x 6"
(premium offset, not digital)
100: $36.55
250: $69.05
Jakprints
Standard 4" x 6"
100: $60
250: $65
Print Direct for Less
Standard 4" x 6"
250: $63
500: $69
Moo
Standard 4" x 6", each card with a unique front
20: $20
80: $79
PS Print
Standard 4" x 6"
100 (digital): $23.41
250 (offset): $39.36
Modern Postcard
Standard 4.25" x 6"
250: $115
500: $155
My Postcard Printing
Standard 4" x 6"
100 (digital): $46.58
250 (offset): $93.08
Uprinting
Standard 4" x 6"
100 (digital): $46.58
250 (offset): $93.08
1-800-Postcards
Standard 4" x 6"
100 (digital): $67
100 (offset): $137
Ink Chaser
Standard 4.25" x 6"
250: $27.38
500: $31.13
If you've used any printers not listed here, please feel free to let me know in the comments.
This is a scratch that just had to be itched. While I love the concept of deviantART, I hate the way it looks. I mean, I REALLY hate it.
First off, the colors. While green, in and of itself, is a lovely color—it's the color of grassy meadows and sunlit forests, after all—whoever "designed" this site chose the worst possible shades of green and them paired them together to create something grotesque enough to make Mother Nature throw up a little bit in her mouth.
Next, there's the icons. Icons that I'm sure were pretty cool and even "cutting edge" when people first started decorating their GeoCities websites with them back in 1997. Sure, the whole "retro" look is cool these days, but only as long as you're doing it ironically. In other words, by people who are actually cool, but choose to dress nerdy, and thus make the nerdy look cool.
This, however, is a case of a nerd who has no idea what cool is, can never hope to know, and still gets beat up for his lunch money even as an adult.
On top of all that, there's the sheer clunkiness of the site itself. Trying to find my way around that site is like trying to pilot the space shuttle.
All of that has driven me absolutely stark-raving bonkers for some time now, and I finally couldn't stand it anymore. It was like walking past a painting over and over that's hanging crooked: I just had to stop and straighten it. And then get a whole new painting, because the original one looked like ass.
Now, I didn't waste a ton of time on this; I didn't put the same sort of effort into the user interface, iconography, etc. that I would with a normal, paying job. I used buttons, textures and icons other designers have created and made available free online. Basically, I just wanted it to stop looking like ass. (Click images below to embiggen)
Home page:
Artist page:
Gallery page:
Lookit that. Seriously. So much better. Sigh... Okay, I can breathe now...
This is a scratch that just had to be itched. While I love the concept of deviantART, I hate the way it looks. I mean, I REALLY hate it.
First off, the colors. While green, in and of itself, is a lovely color—it's the color of grassy meadows and sunlit forests, after all—whoever "designed" this site chose the worst possible shades of green and them paired them together to create something grotesque enough to make Mother Nature throw up a little bit in her mouth.
Next, there's the icons. Icons that I'm sure were pretty cool and even "cutting edge" when people first started decorating their GeoCities websites with them back in 1997. Sure, the whole "retro" look is cool these days, but only as long as you're doing it ironically. In other words, by people who are actually cool, but choose to dress nerdy, and thus make the nerdy look cool.
This, however, is a case of a nerd who has no idea what cool is, can never hope to know, and still gets beat up for his lunch money even as an adult.
On top of all that, there's the sheer clunkiness of the site itself. Trying to find my way around that site is like trying to pilot the space shuttle.
All of that has driven me absolutely stark-raving bonkers for some time now, and I finally couldn't stand it anymore. It was like walking past a painting over and over that's hanging crooked: I just had to stop and straighten it. And then get a whole new painting, because the original one looked like ass.
Now, I didn't waste a ton of time on this; I didn't put the same sort of effort into the user interface, iconography, etc. that I would with a normal, paying job. I used buttons, textures and icons other designers have created and made available free online. Basically, I just wanted it to stop looking like ass. (Click images below to embiggen)
Home page:
Artist page:
Gallery page:
Lookit that. Seriously. So much better. Sigh... Okay, I can breathe now...
I don't know if you're anything like me—not in the big, surly, hairy sense, of course, but in the artistic, creative sense—but on occasion, I go back and look at an older piece of work and think, "Hmmm. This turned out okay, but it could've been a little better. I should probably put off any real work I'm responsible for getting done, and spend an inordinate amount of time re-doing it."
 |
This isn't like me. In fact, it isn't like ANY flippin' artist I've ever met.
Whoever draws crap like this should be punched in the throat. |
I would complain about doing just that if 1) I had anyone I could complain to other than myself, (which is a waste of time: the last time I tried to file any formal complaints to myself, I was forced to deal with incompetent underlings, endure unreasonable wait times, and, when I finally did get to talk to an actual person, my concerns were met with nothing but cold indifference and a smug, self-satisfied smirk. I can be such a bitch sometimes).
And 2) the vast majority of the time, the re-worked old work ends up working a lot better in the new work. If that makes any sense.
In the following case, I took a few old Christmas-themed illustrations and added a little typography magic, as well as a little Photoshopped scene in which to set them. Which is something I've done an awful lot lately, and something I should probably ease off of before it just gets annoying. Although, if it does happen to get annoying to you, I'd be happy to forward your complaints to the management.
"Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about Christmas?" you may ask. Well, my friend, that's a little like asking if it's too early to be thinking about dessert, or drinking. Such things should dwell in our hearts and minds all year round.
In fact, I'm suddenly in the mood for some Scotch and a box of Ding-Dongs.
I spent a good amount of time lately working on a mural for one of my favorite clients. I was excited about it, not just because it's a fun kind of project to begin with, but I was also interested in further testing this new style I've been playing with. I wanted to see if I could get similar (or better) results by doing it in a vector format in Illustrator, so I even spent time just figuring out how to make a custom brush that did what I wanted.
(As a side note, I hate referring to it as a "new style" because, to me, it sounds like I'm abandoning my old style, which I have no plans of doing. It's just fun to try new things...)
 |
| I had planned on adding a simple label to the bottle, but didn't get that far. |
Unfortunately, I fell prey to one of the most common errors known to all illustrasigners / designastrators: I put my own creative interests ahead of what the client wants, or even what's best for the client.
Needless to say, they said, "Er.... no. Try again."
 |
| The white area is where a window would have gone. |
Still, even though I didn't finish, I liked what I came up with. I'm not sure I'll stay in Illustrator, though—I'm just so comfortable nowadays in Photoshop. On the other hand, many times, we need to force ourselves to do what's uncomfortable to grow. Growth isn't always easy or pretty or convenient.
At any rate, I've started on a different look, and—fortunately—I like where that's going as well (that isn't necessarily always the case!). And who knows, I might get a chance to go down this road another time, for another client.
The funny thing about illustration is it's relationship to "fine art."
With fine art, we can express whatever's on our mind and in our hearts, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it. With illustration, however, our job is to communicate someone else's message or story.
 |
| This is a performance art piece in which I express Man's futile attempts to voice the essential transitional quality of life, juxtaposed with his struggle to rationalize the substructure of critical thinking in a meaningful way. |
The trick is, to do it in our "voice", with our attitude, even with our own beliefs and convictions. Which is presumably why a client hires one illustrator and not another—they're not just hiring our watercolor or vector abilities (which they obviously lack), but they're also hiring
our take on the message.
Unfortunately, we often fall into the trap of churning out whatever's asked of us like a factory worker. We all do it. If we don't ever spend time with illustration's sister, "fine art," and create for
ourselves, we loose track of what our own "voice", our attitudes, our beliefs and convictions actually ARE.
That's a major reason why Google encourages their employees to spend a percentage of their work time on their own personal experiments. Some brilliant ideas have come out of it.
And here's the kicker: all that evolves over time! What was important to me 5 years ago is not at all the same as what matters to me now. It takes routinely expressing what's going on inside ourselves for no one else but us to keep the flames burning.
And yes, get away from the computer once in a while (or whatever your media of choice is), but don't abandon it. Just try something totally new: collage, oil paints, pottery, music, poetry, dance—it's all self-expression, and sometimes it takes using a
different mode of expression to get it out, to unclog the mental log jam—especially one you haven't tried before.
.jpeg?picon=1852)
By: Sean Ashby,
on 5/3/2012
Blog:
Sean Ashby
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JacketFlap tags:
Creativity,
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It come as something of a surprise to you to hear me say that even I, The Great and Terrible Lord Ingvard, am not capable to hitting one out of the park every single time I step up to bat.
In fact, when it comes right down to it, the number of brilliant moments throughout history by the greatest minds to have graced the whole of Midgard are far outnumbered by mediocre moments and abismal failures. You've heard all the usual anecdotes: Babe Ruth struck out far more often than he ever hit a homer; Edison failed like a gillion times in his attempts to create the first toaster oven or whatever; Einstein wrote a dozen papers before he finally invented gravity, and on and on, blah blah blah.
 |
| To think, this guy trained for years just have his flattened mug spread all over the internet. |
And yet we still get frustrated and down on ourselves when our work doesn't measure up to our hopes and expectations. Basically, our view is in constant danger of being rather myopic. It's like focusing on the arrow stuck in your thigh and aren't paying attention to the hoard of ax-wielding Celts descending on you from all directions. Sure, the arrow hurts, but the bigger picture is of more value.
Like it or not, my friend, the beautiful chart I've created below details generally how the body of your work looks like, yesterday, today and long after you're pushing up daisies. It's obviously a bit small to read, so click on it to embiggen.
Then, make peace with it. Accept it.
It's actually not as depressing as it sounds. Believe it or not, accepting the Truth, capital T, is
liberating. Without your ridiculous expectations to bind your hands, you're free to explore and go running buck naked through the flowering spring fjords. Metaphorically, of course.
By: Sean Ashby,
on 5/8/2012
Blog:
Sean Ashby
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Add a tag
Working on a couple of projects at the same time, because I'm either clinically insane or a masochist, and thought I'd post a little progress.
For the upcoming sequel to "Pajama Girl" (buy it here—do it NOW! It's part of the MeeGenius app, so don't get confused):
And this from another new story:
By: Sean Ashby,
on 6/4/2012
Blog:
Sean Ashby
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Add a tag
I don't know if you're anything like me—not in the big, surly, hairy sense, of course, but in the artistic, creative sense—but on occasion, I go back and look at an older piece of work and think, "Hmmm. This turned out okay, but it could've been a little better. I should probably put off any real work I'm responsible for getting done, and spend an inordinate amount of time re-doing it."
|
This isn't like me. In fact, it isn't like ANY flippin' artist I've ever met.
Whoever draws crap like this should be punched in the throat. |
I would complain about doing just that if 1) I had anyone I could complain to other than myself, (which is a waste of time: the last time I tried to file any formal complaints to myself, I was forced to deal with incompetent underlings, endure unreasonable wait times, and, when I finally did get to talk to an actual person, my concerns were met with nothing but cold indifference and a smug, self-satisfied smirk. I can be such a bitch sometimes).
And 2) the vast majority of the time, the re-worked old work ends up working a lot better in the new work. If that makes any sense.
In the following case, I took a few old Christmas-themed illustrations and added a little typography magic, as well as a little Photoshopped scene in which to set them. Which is something I've done an awful lot lately, and something I should probably ease off of before it just gets annoying. Although, if it does happen to get annoying to you, I'd be happy to forward your complaints to the management.
"Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about Christmas?" you may ask. Well, my friend, that's a little like asking if it's too early to be thinking about dessert, or drinking. Such things should dwell in our hearts and minds all year round.
In fact, I'm suddenly in the mood for some Scotch and a box of Ding-Dongs.
By: Sean Ashby,
on 5/8/2012
Blog:
Sean Ashby
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Add a tag
Working on a couple of projects at the same time, because I'm either clinically insane or a masochist, and thought I'd post a little progress.
For the upcoming sequel to "Pajama Girl" (buy it here—do it NOW! It's part of the MeeGenius app, so don't get confused):
And this from another new story:
By: Sean Ashby,
on 5/3/2012
Blog:
Sean Ashby
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Add a tag
It come as something of a surprise to you to hear me say that even I, The Great and Terrible Lord Ingvard, am not capable to hitting one out of the park every single time I step up to bat.
In fact, when it comes right down to it, the number of brilliant moments throughout history by the greatest minds to have graced the whole of Midgard are far outnumbered by mediocre moments and abismal failures. You've heard all the usual anecdotes: Babe Ruth struck out far more often than he ever hit a homer; Edison failed like a gillion times in his attempts to create the first toaster oven or whatever; Einstein wrote a dozen papers before he finally invented gravity, and on and on, blah blah blah.
|
| To think, this guy trained for years just have his flattened mug spread all over the internet. |
And yet we still get frustrated and down on ourselves when our work doesn't measure up to our hopes and expectations. Basically, our view is in constant danger of being rather myopic. It's like focusing on the arrow stuck in your thigh and aren't paying attention to the hoard of ax-wielding Celts descending on you from all directions. Sure, the arrow hurts, but the bigger picture is of more value.
Like it or not, my friend, the beautiful chart I've created below details generally how the body of your work looks like, yesterday, today and long after you're pushing up daisies. It's obviously a bit small to read, so click on it to embiggen.
Then, make peace with it. Accept it.
It's actually not as depressing as it sounds. Believe it or not, accepting the Truth, capital T, is
liberating. Without your ridiculous expectations to bind your hands, you're free to explore and go running buck naked through the flowering spring fjords. Metaphorically, of course.
By: Sean Ashby,
on 4/29/2012
Blog:
Sean Ashby
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Add a tag
The funny thing about illustration is it's relationship to "fine art."
With fine art, we can express whatever's on our mind and in our hearts, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it. With illustration, however, our job is to communicate someone else's message or story.
|
| This is a performance art piece in which I express Man's futile attempts to voice the essential transitional quality of life, juxtaposed with his struggle to rationalize the substructure of critical thinking in a meaningful way. |
The trick is, to do it in our "voice", with our attitude, even with our own beliefs and convictions. Which is presumably why a client hires one illustrator and not another—they're not just hiring our watercolor or vector abilities (which they obviously lack), but they're also hiring
our take on the message.
Unfortunately, we often fall into the trap of churning out whatever's asked of us like a factory worker. We all do it. If we don't ever spend time with illustration's sister, "fine art," and create for
ourselves, we loose track of what our own "voice", our attitudes, our beliefs and convictions actually ARE.
That's a major reason why Google encourages their employees to spend a percentage of their work time on their own personal experiments. Some brilliant ideas have come out of it.
And here's the kicker: all that evolves over time! What was important to me 5 years ago is not at all the same as what matters to me now. It takes routinely expressing what's going on inside ourselves for no one else but us to keep the flames burning.
And yes, get away from the computer once in a while (or whatever your media of choice is), but don't abandon it. Just try something totally new: collage, oil paints, pottery, music, poetry, dance—it's all self-expression, and sometimes it takes using a
different mode of expression to get it out, to unclog the mental log jam—especially one you haven't tried before.
By: Sean Ashby,
on 4/6/2012
Blog:
Sean Ashby
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Add a tag
I spent a good amount of time lately working on a mural for one of my favorite clients. I was excited about it, not just because it's a fun kind of project to begin with, but I was also interested in further testing this new style I've been playing with. I wanted to see if I could get similar (or better) results by doing it in a vector format in Illustrator, so I even spent time just figuring out how to make a custom brush that did what I wanted.
(As a side note, I hate referring to it as a "new style" because, to me, it sounds like I'm abandoning my old style, which I have no plans of doing. It's just fun to try new things...)
|
| I had planned on adding a simple label to the bottle, but didn't get that far. |
Unfortunately, I fell prey to one of the most common errors known to all illustrasigners / designastrators: I put my own creative interests ahead of what the client wants, or even what's best for the client.
Needless to say, they said, "Er.... no. Try again."
|
| The white area is where a window would have gone. |
Still, even though I didn't finish, I liked what I came up with. I'm not sure I'll stay in Illustrator, though—I'm just so comfortable nowadays in Photoshop. On the other hand, many times, we need to force ourselves to do what's uncomfortable to grow. Growth isn't always easy or pretty or convenient.
At any rate, I've started on a different look, and—fortunately—I like where that's going as well (that isn't necessarily always the case!). And who knows, I might get a chance to go down this road another time, for another client.
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That's a great solution! Can you send it to Tombow? I color coded my pencils with strips of colored tape. Red for my H's, yellow for F and HB, and B... then greens and blues for the B's, until the 8B gets a purple strip. Works for me, anyway.