Cat and Thor doodle

For the sake of artistic motivation, I am posting very rough and messy doodles.

This is Wybie my old roommate's cat. I lived with this ridiculously playful cat who didn't like cuddling unless he felt like it and there is absolutely no one else in the apartment. He huffs at me when you don't play with him and loves to fetch. I miss this cat once in a while so I started doodling him. I tried to give him some expression but people recognize him more with that vacant wide-eyed look.

And then I drew Chris Hemsworth after I rewatched Thor again. My love goggles make me feel like my significant other kinda looks like him. 

Bus. Yay?

This oddly enough was just a bit challenging just because I had never painted a flat cartoony bus before. So I met half way and did a somewhat cartoonish-realistic one because it was such a flat shot that will be animated in Flash and After Effects.  I would gladly accept any sort of tips and helpful criticism. I'll probably tweak it, and I believe this is last of the backgrounds.

After a month of using the Yiynova msp19U

When my Yiynova arrived, my pen was broken. So I had to ship it back, wait for them to recieve it, and then wait again for them to ship the new pen to me. Eventually, I was able to work on stuff again (since about April 7th). It has been smooth sailing eversince.

Here are is a list of pros and cons that I've noticed thus far:


Pros:
-no lag in the brush
-works perfectly
-very bright screen
-I work much faster and with much more confidence than ever
-fantastic and fast online troubleshooting from Panda City and the company in which the Yiynova was made, through email
Cons:
-colors are slightly off so you need to download a screen color correcting/callibrating software to fix that
-if something is broken you have to wait weeks before you get it replaced
-screen gets smudgy easily but y ou just need a microfibre cloth nearby

I am very happy with this purchase. I would highly recommend this thrifty badboy and I wish I had this since the beginning of college because I feel that I would have had an easy transition from working in traditional medium to digital.

Today, I had been notified by a fellow artist that they purchased their Yiynova from Cumorah just as I have but about a month after. Apparently that person recieved a broken tablet monitor and couldn't get a hold of Cumorah for a month. So they had to go through Panda City and they had to deal with this issue in their own way. So it is possible that Cumorah has been running into issues. If that had happened to me, I would have been furious!

Looks like those in Canada won't be able to purchase the Yiynova msp19U, because the only Canadian reseller (Cumorah) may be having issues. Hopefully it is resolved soon.

Layout/BGs for a short film

 

 

BAM! Here are just a few layouts produced right after getting the Yiynova tablet monitor. I feel so much more comfortable producing artwork. I feel a lot more confident producing lines and shapes with my pen. It feels so much more natural and smooth, that instead of just constantly trying to constantly producing lines and then having to erase again and again, the time is spent on learning how to paint and draw. Isn't that what every digital artist is looking for?

Bus doors

 

Bus stop

If you're a gamer, I would hope you'd notice the peculiar design of the trees.

So I've come to love crocheting

 

 

A quick little banner I did for my friend who just started an etsy shop called Hoot's Hook Nook. She kinda gave me free reign on it (which is the best and very rare). She only asked to put cartooned versions of the owls she puts on her products so far. Her crochet hat is my FAVORITE.

I think good banners designs can really add to your site and it's always the first impression the viewer has of you and/or of your business. I think that they should be designed quickly so you can work on other better quality things to post on one's art blog, but some design and thought should be put into it.

Facebook cover photo

Placeholder until I can come up with some kind of eureaka doodle for the company logo. Because it's cute, it brings in the attention of a lot more people.

The tablet monitor for the thrifty digital artist

Yiynova MSP19U Review

Who I purchased it from: Cumorah Enterprises LLC (EDIT: They may not be selling them anymore)

Price: 549$

Shipping: 50$ (to Toronto, Ontario in Canada-land)
Customs + Border Taxes + Brokerage charge: 149$   (I know... disgusting. But it's 15 pds and comes in a big box.)

Total: A few cents short of $700

Rating: 9/10 

           Reasons: -Costs $2000 less than the wacom cintiq

                          -Works just as well as a cintiq with its own little hiccups

                          -Although it takes 2 days to get used to everything

                          -Screen is very bright
                          -colors are even better
                          -resolution (although less of the Wacom)
                            is still very good and it's not something you'd really notice
                          -fantastic customer service

                          -movement and transition from tools to tools is smooth

It finally came today! I've been waiting for this order because it sold out like hot cakes as soon as gleaming reviews about this 19" tablet monitor came out on the internet. So I've been waiting for this bad boy for 2 months. I am POOR, I have had contract jobs for a while, and am not in the position to spend three grand on a brand name. Half of the money I made this year went towards getting my wisdom teeth out. 

Apparently its been tested before it was sent to me from Cumorah Inc. in Hamilton, Ohio. See the date on the little sticker?

The pen needs an AAA battery

The Vesa stand it come with is very very nice. Also comes with a little pen holder you put in the back if you squint your eyes.



There you have it. I love it although it started off a little rocky because of the drivers I had to install. It was a combination of re-installing it a couple of times to correct little bugs and getting used to the pen sensitivity that bugged me for the first couple of hours. But I am very happy and it was worth every cent. I could not say that for the Wacom cintiq. Sure it looks pretty and it has extra buttons. But I do not care for those buttons anyways and just use the keyboard because the shortcut keys are second nature to me.

PROTIPS:
*To deal with pen sensitivity (i.e. double clicking, 'sticky' transition from switching tools)
              - Sorry, but your pen sucks. You'll have to return it in exchange it for a new one.
*Drivers:
  - Install only the drivers from the internet and not from the CD unless directed so. For the love of gawd please uninstall all wacom/old tablet drivers off first
*Glare and smudge:
 - Get a cheap glove and cut it into a smudge guard glove for your writing hand
             - Do not have the window behind or beside you!


Feel free to comment and ask questions you have below because there weren't many people around with it that I knew so I just had reviews to put my trust in. This was just my take on it, but here's an even better review.

EDIT: Something is apparently wrong with my pen. I have asked around about the cursor acting kinda sticky when it comes to switching tools and no one else has this problem. So I emailed the company and the distributors, turns out it was something wrong with my pen. I changed the nib and now it works perfectly. The last one had the tiniest crack, you'd never think it would ever make a difference. I may or may not get the pen replaced if it starts to degrade.

Quick Alien World Concept

I wanted to play around with different colors and learn how to paint a waterfall. I produced this in a day and I am going to post the finishing piece soon.