IF :: Scary

For Illustration Fridays topic scary
 

Well this looks different

Alvin has been a little bored, make that a lot bored, by the the same old format for this blog. Maybe that's why he hasn't appeared much lately. Anyway he has asked to change over to the dynamic template. This should give you, the reader, the opportunity to select the format that you like reading or browsing the best. The different format options are up on the orange bar just below the header. I have selected the magazine format as the default but you are free to choose your own preferred view. Give then a good work out and I'd love to get your opinion, so please leave comments.
By the way, the view from mobile phones is not dynamic but has been simplified to save bandwidth.

New methods on a rainy afternoon

It has been a while since I have posted a cartoon, primarily because I’m travelling. So I don,t have my scanner or access to the myriad things in my normal software in my corel draw and paint tool kit. It was rainy today so I decided to investigate if I could achieve the typical “alvin look” (hand draw, but computer inked) cartoon with a simpler kit. Turns out I could, and it was easy once I assemble the right tools.

I started as usual with a pencil sketch in my sketch book. Then did some basic inking of the main linework. Now the tricky bit, how to scan it and clean it up. Using a camera gives a grey image with poor line definition and uneven illumination. Not the greatest starting point for cartoon. Then I remember a utility that I had reviewed years ago that lets a cameraphone function like a scanner. That system is still around but a quick look on the android app market revealed CamScanner. It worked like a charm, not only doing the basic scanner stuff, you can adjust for perspective, cropping and stretching the image and it will also write to nice compact PDF files.

Then I just used paint.net, a much under-rated general graphics program, to do the colour fill, and linework tidy up. I then did a bit of magic wand selection to cut and paste my characters onto at photo I had taken. Ok it took a lot longer than the 30 minutes I had set myself in the quick pic days, However developing the new technique was fun on a rainy afternoon.


See the final cartoon below

There are a couple of earlier post about my original technique and then the Big Step Forward.

Alvin at the Noorderzon Festival

Alvin enjoy’s trying out a dutch version of the port-a-loo just for blokes

The Noorderzon festival is current on in Groningen, the Netherlands.

IF:: Asleep

Alvin has learned to feign sleep whenever it is time to mow the lawn.

for IllustrationFriday 's topic asleep.

IF :: Bicycle

Lila finally decides pearls over lycra are ok for a quick trip to the shops (after 10am and before 5)

For Illustration Fridays topic Bicycle

IF :: Cultivated

Lila is an equal opportunity gardener. She heaps love on every new sprout, well at least until she recognises the weeds.

For Illustration Friday's topic Cultivate

IF :: Dusting

Lila discovers she has left her spring cleaning a little late this year.

For Illustration Friday's topic dusty
 

IF :: we seem to have been here below

Alvin senses he's had this idea for a self referencing cartoon before.

For Illustration Friday's Topic deja-vu

IF :: careful what we resolve

Lila decides not to go with her standard New Year's Resolutions this year

For Illustration Friday's topic resolutions

On unwanted notoriety

Alvin hadn't planned to be the first casualty of the decade at the new district hospital.

Happy New Year to all

IF:: a real winter

For Illustration Friday's Topic Winter

IF :: its in the mail

Lila remembers fondly being able to mail her first letter.

For Illustration Friday's topic mail

IF :: engulfed by a Time Warp

Alvin is innocently tricked by a Bizarre Time Warp Phenomenon into drawing last weeks theme and posting it this week

For Illustration Friday's topic Phenomenon

IF :: Positively Prehistoric

Wearing Leggings to a Zumba Class! now that is "Prehistoric".

For Illustration Friday's topic prehistoric, but opps Alvin is tricked by a bizare time warp phenomenon to drawing and posting last weeks theme

Dealing with leaks

Alvin learnt long ago to leave all leaks to the professionals

Julia's first task

RIP - TwitPic Quickies

I'm not sure what changes TwitPics have made, going over to Oauth authentification via twitter, but the net result is I can no longer display TwitPics in this blog. Rather than stress about it I figured it was easier to post the cartoons directly in here and put a link on twitter. Same result just a few more keystrokes.

So look for the quickie cartonns right here.

IF :: Immovavble

Even without the high power management theory Alvin knows better than come between a hungary lady and her cheese.

For illustration Friday 's topic immovable

The count continues

This is a new direction in my cartooning. A Wacom Bamboo Tablet (non scanned) drawing directly into the computer.

A close call

Julia may have underestimated the passion in Western Australia and Queensland, which stands to loose most under the Mining Super Profits Tax and the uneasiness with all the ongoing corruption and naivety in the state labour governments

Behind the "real" Julia

IF :: Art Official

Lila takes her responsibilities as a gallery guide very seriously

For illustration friday's topic artificial

Dissapointment

Alvin is dissapointed by his soufflé surprise invention ...he dreads it will not be enough to get him into the next season of masterchef.

IF :: Double Dipping

Lila decides it is time to start a twitter campaign against double dipping on masterchef ...and she is also a bit distressed by lack of table manners at government house

For IllustrationFriday 's topic double

Alvin is out

Alvin is distraught that his namesake was eliminated from masterchef, & he retires to his kingsize bed with his favourite tapas book.

Moving forward

Alvin instinctively moves forward to press the remote.

IF :: Alvin wants to close his diary

Alvin dreams of closing his diary, taking a few risks and really living his own life.

For Illustrations Friday's topic diary

IF :: Alvin was suddenly a Giant

Alvin knows he will use his height advantage wisely, to bring beauty to the world.

For Illustration Friday 's topic giant.

Big Step Forward

Julian Gillard’s big step forward …looking forward …way forward …(add lots more sound bites with the word forward)…didn’t strike me all that great (mining companies pay the same corporate tax rate as any other Australian company 30%), so the big reduction of the resource super profits tax from 40-% to 30% …yes the same rate it is now pays, does seem like a lot of spin, and a big back flip to me …but then again no one yet knows the fine details. Speaking of big changes to achieve exactly the same, this humble illustration is trying out new technology

Existing (interactive) Tablet

I like to sketch my cartoons by hand, usually on the back scrap paper on a neat drawing board of my own design. Its a bit of off-cut ply-wood,painted with a little undercoat and with a few of those big red rubber bands Australia Post use on your mail, holding the paper in place. I like to sketch while listening to music so I have added my MP3 player under one of the rubber bands. This is the most interactive bit. Its a wonderful design, not completely wireless, but I can use it anywhere.
I usually rough in something with a soft pencil and ink over it with a felt (or jell) pen, and then rub out the pencil (more interactive parts). Not very high tech but fast enough. I then scan the sketch and load it into Corel Auto-trace to convert it into a line drawing, sometimes after a little bit of fat-bit editing to clean up the scan and then colour it in Corel-draw.

New Interactive Tablet

Introducing my new Wacom Bamboo tablet, more wires on my desk and it is only as portable as far as the cable reached. The pen is wireless though. I’m still experimenting with how best to use it. But it is pretty natural and easy to use. My aim with these twitpic quickies is to be able to get the cartoon published on the internet with 5-10 minutes of scanning. To be honest I’m no where close to achieving that in corel painter essentials with the pen & tablet, little alone becoming proficient drawing directly on the tablet (see my first attempt). We are however moving forward riding the waves of technology, not necessarily moving as fast as our new prime minister.

IF :: serving a higher cause

Sputnik would never have volunteered if he had realized the true loneliness of a satellite's life.

For Illustration Friday's topic satellite

IF :: paisley becomes fashionable again

Alvin just knows he's not a Tie Person

For Illustration Friday's topic paisley

VBOPing is moving

As NING are closing down their free groups, the Venus Bay Observation Project, which relies on voluntary contributions and participation is moving. Firstly to a blogger site VBOPING, its free, no adds, no spammers (hopefully google has better tools to stop them and other anti-social types). Also the VBOP presence is being expanded across the WEB 2.0 Social networks (no plans to be on Facebook though). You can already follow VBOP on twitter or join the VBOP group on Flickr. Watch out for me over there, with an arty project or two!

IF :: Slither'cise

Lila discovers not to do her slither exercises on the rug on her newly polished floor again.

For Illustration Friday's topic slither

On-line Privacy

Alvin starts to worry about his identity's exposure within the social networks.

With thanks to profimagazin for the stylized social network logos

IF :: escaping the Early Bird

For Illutration Friday's topic early

If :: Subterranean

A wrong turn at the carrot patch and wilber finds himself in an angry bullant nest.

For IllustrationFriday 's topic subterranean

IF :: Brave Enough

Alvin worries he will not be brave enough to tell the truth.

For illustration Friday's topic brave

On :: life's awkward moments

Alvin no longer fears those awkward
"Mine is bigger than yours"
moments at the Camera Club