Life

[Merus]

You know you're having an interesting week when meeting a beloved TV personality is only the second-most interesting thing to happen to you that week.

[tegan]

I did a bunch of shopping for art supplies with a friend today. I even went out and got some proper fabric to make a drawstring bag for my Pokémon TCG stuff.

 

 

 

I went with purple and gold dragonflies 'cause I'm rockin' a bug deck with purple and gold Genesect card sleeves. The inside is also lined with a different satiny fabric so that everything slides out smoothly. I didn't do a perfect job (the worst part being the drawstring and the surrounding opening, which I feel I messed up bad), but I'm still happy I was able to make something like this myself.

[Ucantalas]

That's really cool Tegan!

I can't even begin thinking of how to make something like that, so, in my mind, you are like... a wizard.

[tegan]

That's really cool Tegan!

I can't even begin thinking of how to make something like that, so, in my mind, you are like... a wizard.

 

 

 

You take an ordinary bedsheet, fold it around like thi-

 

 

 

I actually barely understand how to sew; drawstring bags are just relatively simple to do.

[tegan]

I can't sleep at all lately, but I'm tired all the time. Make up your mind, brain.

 

 

 

 

By the way, I also got a sweet easel yesterday, so now I can finally try my hand at painting (and inevitably get frustrated and give up) again.

 

 

[Merus]

Mum's talking about how the Prime Minster's going to be at the meeting she's been invited to.

 

Yeah, this has been an odd week.

[clyde]

I can't sleep at all lately, but I'm tired all the time. Make up your mind, brain.

By the way, I also got a sweet easel yesterday, so now I can finally try my hand at painting (and inevitably get frustrated and give up) again.

Are you using acrylics or oils?

[stewmull]

I always wanted to buy a digital drawing tablet... but every time I go on deviantart, I just look at it and know I wouldn't be able to draw stuff like that.

[Brannigan]

I can't sleep at all lately, but I'm tired all the time. Make up your mind, brain.

By the way, I also got a sweet easel yesterday, so now I can finally try my hand at painting (and inevitably get frustrated and give up) again.

Be patient. I would probably toy with still lifes a bit to get a sense of how color/light/paint works before trying to invent AND learning to paint at the same time. Paint on paper more often if money is an issue, those prebuilt canvases are expensive. Also limit yourself to the primaries (red, blue, yellow) and white. No black, black can be a trap for beginners.

[clyde]

I always wanted to buy a digital drawing tablet... but every time I go on deviantart, I just look at it and know I wouldn't be able to draw stuff like that.

They are still fun to use, even if you are unskilled. We have a Nexus 7 and it's pretty fun to doodle on it with a program like SketchBook Pro; you have such quick access to colors and various sizes of brushes. It is a bit of a power-fantasy to use the bucket tool on something you are drawing with a stylus. 

The Wacom pads that you can hook up to your computer are great because you get to record your drawings. I paid about as much for a new video-game to get one, and I've had a really good time doing things like this (little skill required):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=t4wKTRZYFT8

[tegan]

Are you using acrylics or oils?

 

A friend got me some acrylics for my birthday, which is what I always used to use.

 

Be patient. I would probably toy with still lifes a bit to get a sense of how color/light/paint works before trying to invent AND learning to paint at the same time. Paint on paper more often if money is an issue, those prebuilt canvases are expensive. Also limit yourself to the primaries (red, blue, yellow) and white. No black, black can be a trap for beginners.

 

Dude, I know. I went to art college.

[Brannigan]

I don't know these things! I didn't go to tegan college

[Dewar]

I always wanted to buy a digital drawing tablet... but every time I go on deviantart, I just look at it and know I wouldn't be able to draw stuff like that.

 

If you are able to seperate in your head where you're drawing and where you're seeing the results, the Wacom tablets without a screen under them (Intuos versus Cintiq) can be had for a fairly decent price. The pressure sensitivity really makes a huge difference over most of the touch screens out there. If you're wanting to actually draw on the screen, I'd honestly recommend the Microsoft Surface Pro 2. It has Wacom technology under the hood with 512 levels of pressure sensitivity (versus 2048 for most of the actual Wacom tablets) and is a full machine on its own for the same price as the basic Wacom Cintiq which is just a screen and digitizer.

 

If you have any questions about the options, I can ask my wife. She's the artist in the family. Gabe on PA also talks about all of these options on occasion.

[Twig]

I always wanted to buy a digital drawing tablet... but every time I go on deviantart, I just look at it and know I wouldn't be able to draw stuff like that.

You would eventually if you just kept at it.

 

OR SO I'M TOLD.

[stewmull]

after looking at the prices of tablets, i might pick one up

[tegan]

I have a Wacom Connect and it's really quite nice, especially considering how inexpensive it is.

 

Worst thing: I've often dreamed of upgrading to something like a Cintiq with a screen, partially to draw but mostly because it's the ideal way to play Osu, the fanmade Elite Beat Agents clone

 

 

[Codicier]

I've heard a lot of very good things about the Galaxy Note series of tablets from friends in the illustration industry, it's at 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity I think. Apparently it's very responsive and accurate, which is to be expected since once again wacoms behind the pen technology.

Personally I use a Adonit Touch Bluetooth pen with my Ipad for sketching, and then do any cleanup and final art work on my Intuos.

It's remarkable how far natural media apps have come in the last few years, with Artrage, Procreate, & Sketchbook Pro all excellent. Plus you have Paper(by 53) & Bamboo Paper (by wacom) if you want something free. And it's very hard to argue with their price vs their PC equivalents.

Next year abode is releasing (in a hardware partnership with adonit) their own Stylus for ipad called Mighty sometime in the 1st half of 2014 which looks very interesting, it deals with the nib size problems which has held back ipad stylus for a long time now.

[tegan]

I felt really nervous about visiting my friend and his partner earlier today, and once I actually got there I felt like a terrible fifth wheel. I almost started crying on the way home. Why am I so bad at socializing? 

 

 

Bonus: I found out while packing up the Wii U for the visit that the batteries inside of my original Wii remote leaked acid at some point so now I need a new one of those I guess.

[Joewintergreen]

well, it's pretty hard to be a non-terrible fifth wheel.

those situations can be very awkward by themselves, you probably were fine

[tegan]

I've kind of always had the impression that the partner in question doesn't like me, and lately that the friend just sort of tolerates me.

 

Outside of text, where I always say more than I should, I have a really hard time expressing myself. I feel like I come across as being stupid, and I know from experience that people tend to think I'm emotionless and monotone.

 

I've started to have weird headaches and short, sharp bursts of emotion. It's really starting to scare me.

[Joewintergreen]

this is all very familiar. unfortunately i don't really have any useful advice to dispense

[BadHat]

I spend far too much time ruminating on how I come across to people, and on how I can maybe not be so incredibly self-conscious most of the time. Thanks to my years of feverish introspection, I can tell you without equivocation that the trick to social interaction is

[syntheticgerbil]

Bonus: I found out while packing up the Wii U for the visit that the batteries inside of my original Wii remote leaked acid at some point so now I need a new one of those I guess.

See if you can scrub the contacts with a tooth brush until they are the original brass/copper looking color again, this may be the answer to the problem. I've had this happen before to a few things and never has all been lost.

[clyde]

Also: never put new batteries in with old ones or use a mixture of rechargables and alkaline.

[dibs]

ya. that happened to ours too tegan, but my dad gave it a scrub up and there was no issues after.

i hate the smell of battries so much.