Didn't get that much written in the way of word count, but I was working on a very satisfying and tricky scene. It should have been a throwaway transition, quick to write, but I realized that it was the perfect opportunity for Reef's entrance.
It's tricky because none of the characters see this moment as significant, and, well, it's tricky.
But it's also very satisfying.
I also did some drawing today at last. I've been playing with Illustrator, which is really the right app for the kind of art I do. But I really learned all that vector stuff with Freehand, and also used older versions of Illustrator, so it's often hard to locate the tool or command I need.
I also like to do my drawing in a raster program (i.e. Photoshop or Painter). I like the natural "accidents" that happen, and I like to sculpt my edges. But I finally found the live trace tool that lets me create a vector image out of that little sculpture.
And I have a couple of images right now that could really use the advantages of vector -- the smooth edges after resizing and transforming, etc.
And that should make a lot of my artwork go much faster.
Which is good because I could use some cash.
In the meantime, it is hot again, so I am cocooning in the basement. Tomorrow should be hot but fruitful.
See you in the funny papers.
Daring to live life as a full time writer, with or without success.
2 comments:
Finding the right tools for what you want to do is always the problem with the big, powerful tools like Photoshop and Illustrator. They have all that power and flexibility, but the price is a complicated and opaque interface.
Sometimes it is worthwhile using a simpler and let powerful tool for the early stages just to minimize the toolset.
I love these really robust tools, and I really don't want a simplified interface -- I need all the controls. It's just that I learned vector drawing on Freehand, so I tend to look in different places (and under different names) for the tools I want.
But yes, I find that for the creative stages, I just use Photoshop, because it's so easy and the tools are right where I want them.
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