It's not all fun and games in computer art

If you keep making corrections on a paper-and-pen drawing, you can end up with an eraser-rubbed hole. Or a mess of a dark smudge. Either way, you crumple up your paper and start over, because obviously, you weren't getting anywhere.

You'd think you'd be immune to this with computer art. Piece by piece, you can create the components of an image, like a collage (whichever way to go about creating these pieces, and that's not the point of today's post). And then you can put together the disparate elements, move here, tweak there, adjust elsewhere... Correct the angle of the light, and the reflection, and...

You'd think it gets easy once you have everything in place and all you have to do is a final render, and then take a look at the finished image in a "normal" format such as JPG or PNG or some other ordinary image format.

And you'd be wrong. You may not know it, but your computer is plotting against you. It's already damaged your "paper" and worn down your "pencil" so when you hit , what you get is a jumbled mess.

Can you control this? Oh yes. It's a skill, just like using a pencil that's sharpened enough, but not too much. Applying pressure, but without marking the paper until the next three sheets in the pad become unusable.

And the conclusion? Not much. My image got scrapped.

So I'm back to the cartoony illustrations of Russian tales. One in the pipeline and almost ready for publication, and a few more to go to make a dozen.

Take a sneak peak at the Tale of the Turnip.

A New Design Collection

I discovered the Power of Cute....

Well, actually, I discovered the right cuties. I already knew that Cute had The Power.

So now I can't stop trying to create more and more images of cute Folktale illustrations in Cute Style.

What is it? Something like this:

This is just a fragment of the whole image. It is from "Teremok: The Animals' Palace", a design that's coming soon to my store at Zazzle. A few others are already up, cards and a mug, and accessories.

With Zazzle, you can use most of my designs on products I don't showcase. There's a lot of leeway in how you can personalize a product to your needs and taste -- and I don't get slighted in the process!

If you want something you don't see, please ask! I'm always looking for ideas.

What's New?

Tomorrow (Monday, January 31), I start a new workshop at the Black Diamonds RWA Chapter.

It's all about the ancient art of storytelling (and like Sheherazade will teach you, that's the art which indeed is the oldest one, for without storytelling skills, all her other arts and enchantments wouldn't have saved her).

I have more workshops scheduled here and there throughout the year. Check out my schedule at Otter Creations.

In the meantime, I'm still working on my Graphic Novel, which still doesn't have a title. And yes, that's a hint. Help??? You can take a look at it here. And if you have been following it and you want to go straight to the updates, or just to make sure you are up to date, you can check it out here.

And there are pictures of the main characters up in the gallery, too. Just the good guys for now, but I'm trying to get snapshots of everyone else.

There are a few new images in the Art Gallery, too. And samples of the book covers I've started making at Otter Creations.

Am I writing? Yes. But slowly. Life takes up a lot of mental energy, and words don't always want to line up for me. Images seem to work better. So I'm not going to jinx it all by saying anything... But my storypeople are knocking at my door again.

If they can wake me up, they're more than welcome to come in.

More Story: Graphic Novel Updates

Most current pages here.

Or start from the beginning.

Picture the Season

I don't know about the Christmas spirit, but I definitely get into the Christmas colors. So I decided to add to it.

The thing is, unless it's seriously traditional (and you should ask a folklorist raised on old tales, legends, and centuries-old recipes what traditional means), a lot about modern Christmas is just silly. And when Santa's Elves get into mischief... well...

Check out this card. It's available at Zazzle (link below), singly or in packs. I have more gifts available at Zazzle and at CafePress. Heh. Just have a look. I'll never know whether you do or not. Anonymous shopping is the word!

Christmas Mischief by surochek
Make note cards on Zazzle

Site Troubles

NOTE: Graphic Novel pages added! Check out the sidebar!

You may have noticed that my sites are down. I'm working on it.

In the meantime, I'm still here and there, like Facebook and this blog, and I'm still at the computer behind the scenes.

Since I have no idea when the Graphic Novel section of my site will be running again, I'll start posting episodes here as soon as I produce them. Of course, that too was slightly delayed by the website hiccup.

Free Read Continued

Today is the day when I wish I could just write a WordPress plugin from scratch all by myself. Of course, I'd need a little (just a tiny bit, yeah, sure) more knowledge, and lots more free thinking time... But still.

I have already have issues with my Webcomic site, and I don't seem to be the only one.

But I have updates!

So I'll post the next few pages here until the WordPress + Webcomic issues are resolved.

Read on...

New Site... Free Read

Yes, yes, another site... But this time, I haven't tweaked the layout or the design... yet.

It's all about content.

It's all about a WEB COMIC.

Or would that be a WEB EPIC? You be the judge.

The problem is, it doesn't have a title yet. So check out how it all starts and leave me a comment.

For the actual, comic-like sequential (still) art, check it out here.

Or you can watch the trailer-like Prologue.

This is one way to procrastinate...

I do this:

And there's more here.

There. The cat's out of the bag. You know how my secret procrastination method.

Except it's grown worse. It's invading my writing world. I have this idea...

Wait for it...

I want to tell a story in pictures.

I mean, I see pictures anyway when I write. I see pictures when I imagine my stories, and meanwhile, I think in sentences, even when I look at the world around me. Or at least in words.

Like: "Street sign. Blue. Noticing -- why? Familiar street. Bright against background. Image? Image. Pole, sign -- computer. Maybe. Not my best. Can do?..."

Etc.

That was pretty much the stream of consciousness of a second while I was walking my puppy tonight, and I happened to look up and notice the light and colors of a familiar street corner. And thought that it would be possible to make this exact image in computer art and that I almost had the skills, and then I started going through my computer files mentally...

So I'm thinking... If I'm that visual and the words come naturally jumbled and broken... What if I put images first and words as support, instead of words first and images as ghosts in my mind?

What if I tried my hand at a graphic story with the help of my favorite graphic software?

Plot -- scenario -- storyboard -- actors --

It's beginning to look a lot like a movie, actually. And no, none of my characters are in the Gallery yet, but then I don't know them well enough yet to ask for autographs.

What? Oh, what it's about?

Well, it's set in the real world, but sometime in the future...

Oh, sorry, I'd better check on the puppy. He keeps getting into all the trash baskets lately.

A Fun Little Blog

... for your pleasure.

It's been a crazy month in a year of crazy months, and I'm growing superstitious about wishes and forecasts... so I'll make none.

Instead, I'll introduce a fun and irreverent little serial adventure blog:

The Vicky Diaries

Talking swords, clueless heroines... or not? The author is having so much fun with his world that you can't help giggle along with him.

Why Vicky? Why a talking sword? Let the author tell you all about it.

If you want to know who this Vicky figure is and why she should be posed, look here.

They all have stories

One upon a time, your mother probably told you not to listen to gossip. Or to spread it, either.

What did you do?

If you're a nice person (and I have no reason to doubt it), you didn't spread any malicious rumors. But did you walk away when you heard juicy ones? Did you look the other way when you noticed body language that contradicted what was commonly known -- or belied the way things should have been?

Of course not. Because whatever your age was, you were a writer. And everyone, and everything around you told a story.

One of the most common questions authors are asked is "where do you get your ideas?"

We might as well answer -- where do we not?

Anyone takes a look at the grumpy expression of a neighbor--co-worker--classmate, and most people will think: "what's her (his) deal today?"

A writer will think: "I wonder what his (her) story is? What drove this person to such a bad mood that she (or he) can't hide it from the world? What traits of character make up someone who feels the need to spread their mood around? How would I show that in a story?"

If you're a visual artist, you walk around noticing details of shape and color and line. If you're a fashion designer, you notice draping and color and, again, line, but with a different emphasis. If you're a writer, you notice all of that, but instead of thinking how to render it all in pencil, color, or the drape of cloth, you start looking for the one word that will convey the essence of that single instant when you experienced the precise and fleeting emotion that stopped you.

Is it harder? I don't know. Easier? I don't know either. Is it like being a poet? I still don't know!

Everything is a story for me. It's the story of the teller as much as the story of the told. It's the story of the artist as much as the tale in the image. It's Vermeer painting the image, it's the brush that touched the canvas and the hand that held the brush, as much as the colors and the light and the shadows. It's the wealthy patron commissioning the work as much as the subject of the painting. It's the person who sat for the portrait as much as the image in the frame.

A trip through time. A passage into a different world. A glimpse into another person's mind.

A story. A tale. A marvel.

And going home to write a story of my own.