2014-02-20

The Lightpad

I found something those who still have to decide which lightpad to buy might find very interesting:
The Lightpad!

It comes with a 360° rotating workspace which is imo very cool if you tend to shove, flip, turn and rotate your sketch like I do.

The full information sheet can be found here:
Click Click!

The only downside I see -without having it- is the 1 year warranty. In my eyes a bit weak to give only 1 year. It feels a bit like "don't expect it to last longer" which is -given at the high price for the big version- a downer. Nevertheless it's neat!

I still use my Dörr lightpad (more of a lighthulk since it weighs... a lot) and am happy I purchased that monster.

Before you buy a pad make sure it 100%ly fits your needs and is really big enough for all sizes you might work with. No use in buying a small compromise you end up using only randomly and with the gnawing knowledge that a bit more saving up might have made your life a lot easier.

I think everything under A3 is ergonomically-wise a catastrophy. If you only work on ACEO size.... A4 might be good after all but for A4 illustrations A3 is the most compfy solution.
Keep in mind that you have to rest your lower arm on the surface to relax your shoulders (and avoid possible tendo...). If you can't rest your arm properly and relax your shoulders while working with a pad it's simply put crap.

2014-02-08

St. Petersburg & critters



Till the 14th February everybody (and their mum...if they have an email address) can vote on the final base color of the new St. Petersburg box Irene and me are currently working on. I started the project last year and it's mostly still in the conception stage. So many material and a lot of math, color decisions and finally the little hope even the hardcore game nerds will like it.

You can vote HERE
It only takes a minute and I'd really appreciate if we get as many votes as possible. :D

More information can be found here:
my Deviantart journal
and on the official Hans im Glück facebook page:
Hans im Glück

*Update 13.02:
And because I realized some people who actually really want the game (or are simply curious about it) might read this: The illustration(s) will look like the Carcassonne Winter-Edition cover. So every "Oh it's Disney!" comment is frustrating because we 100%ly don't want or will run into that direction. Both Irene and me dislike "Anastasia" as well (no offense... but the movement animation is simply creepy), so you might enjoy reading that's out of discussion as well.
And as we played the new version just yesterday in Munich... Oh my.... the new version is so good. It's a tad more complicated but soooo good. I want it badly getting into print.
*

Last week-end Saskia, my hubby, his brother and me visit my family for the annual wood cutting. Since the "girl duty" only consisted of dragging haul 2-30 kg pieces of cut wood from one place to another on the yard we used the rest of the time to visit the wild park nearby.
Sadly the prairie dogs didn't want to cuddle this time (these are so fluffy and soft!). But they nommed away walnuts like the rest did. At least the deers and goats loved the nom+ attention.
 It's a small park but since some animals have no restricted area you might end up being stalked by deers, goats and occassionally by some pot-bellied pigs. Entry fee is only 2 Euro and we normally end up visiting the park every time I'm in my home-town. I wish some cages were bigger but I think that practically depends on donations.
If you're ever in Brandenburg: Wildpark
 Left my highly wrapped up self and right girl is Saskia :B As you can see it was still snowy but such a wonderful sunny day. Still too cold for my taste. My collection of thermal clothes grew a lot over the three years. I freeze so fast it's not funny =.=
 As you can see... stalking deers. I think in summer I will grab my sketch book and spend some hours there. Forgot to do it in summer and it's high time.
My favourite part: The prairie dogs. These were restricted to a pretty spacious area to beginn with but I think they will soon rule the complete park. This year the park guys finally gave up and removed the fencing. The fences were a joke to begin with... the clever critters simply digged deeper and ended up popping up at the other side of the meadow. :D