Cheap sketchpad sketch

Wow, that really is a crappily-put-together sketchpad — the slab of board that serves as a front cover fell off the first time I used it. I think it’s bonded to the first sheet of paper with rubber cement, so easily enough fixed once I can find mine. But sheesh!

Another art-related concern — I was reading an interview with Colleen Coover (creator of Small Favors, a woman-friendly lesbian porn comic that I still haven’t managed to find an actual copy of) and saw the following:

ST: You use a lot of zip-a-tone effects in Small Favors. Is that actual, physical zip-a-tone, a computer-generated substitute, or something else entirely?

CC: It is really zip, which I was using a lot when I first started working on Small Favors. However, as my supply got lower, and it became apparent that I wasn't going to be able to replace it, I have been working on using different techniques to create dynamic light and shade without it. [...]

I couldn’t believe that Zip-a-Tone wasn’t available to a dedicated cartoonist, but googling around and searching through art supply store sites didn’t turn anything up, not even under the generic terms (mechanical tone or benday screen). Now I know why kuronekogirl orders her tones from a Japanese comics supply house. This must be more of that Getting Old stuff.

Brunswick Street

Wandered around the neighborhood today with my digital camera, taking reference photos. I’ve been thinking of doing some paintings and drawings based on the neighborhood, the buildings, the telephone poles. There’s a lot of airborne wiring around here; ladymondegreen says it’s one of those places where storms can take out the power and/or phones. Joy. I come from places where such things are stashed away underground, safe from wind and lightning.

Anyway, that’s what’s up with the photo (by way of Photoshop: contrast goosed way the hell up, brightness tweaked a bit, hue twiddled till I liked the new colors) and the new user icon. No, my hair hasn’t gone that far out of control.

I find I’m fascinated by these wires and poles. Maybe it has to do with seeing Serial Experiments Lain, where they’re a recurring visual element. I need to unpack my art supplies and get painting. (I’d have done so weeks ago, but the small shelving unit my parents gave me, where I kept the stuff in Brooklyn, broke while I was putting it together.)

There does seem to be a bit of an art community ’round here. I found a small furniture place/art gallery (only open Sundays) a couple of blocks west, on Brunswick Street, near the “Brunswick Window” — a display case that changes on a monthly basis.

I like the bear with the confused facial expression

According to ¡Journalista!, Viz Comics’s new Di Gi Charat book series will be sold exclusively through Borders bookstores. Mike Robertson of Viz says that “shojo titles sell most of their copies outside the direct market”, confirming the viability of a comics business model that I’ve been recommending for years.

Di Gi Charat, a series of three-minute anime shorts about the mascot for a chain of Japanese game stores, is one of the two most bizarre anime series I’ve ever seen. (The other is Excel Saga, which isn’t about Microsoft Office, honest.) I don’t expect it to translate to paper very well, but I could be wrong.