Into a Fairytale

Oink! :D

2012-01-31T15:58:00.002+01:00

I bet the final pig also glows at night.... couldn't pick up my game this week because I was sick *mimimi* but I'll post some photos next week. :)

Trees in Panels

2012-01-23T12:44:00.000+01:00

... can be total sucker...

The actual size of the panel.... because honestly.. every tried to add details to the a stamp size? O_o I failed which meant working with 600 dpi was a good decision.

sketch and ... flats done by Lew... and a long road to go...

Adding the leaves, erasing a lot and adding branches because it looked unbalanced. Adding things and erasing things happens all the time. I made the sketch (I think) 7 months ago??? Some months later you pretty much feel a lot wise ;)

Depening the texture of the branch without going too much into hardcore realism because that's what I 100%ly don't want to achieve (and never will).

Adding a bit of light....

... and correcting the contrast and bluring out the end of every branch because it looks too hard otherwise.

Still need to do the background, foreground, birds, details and the... whole rest of the page but that's pretty much it.
The leaves are 2 custom brushes and before you ask for those: Create some yourself, it's much better if you know how your tools react and why they actually react like that. I am still updating and cleaning my own set and it's worth the time you invest.

Parents...

2012-01-18T16:29:00.002+01:00

My dad wanted me to become a city clerk. My mum possibly something between police officer and piercing shop owner (when I got my nose piercing ten million years ago she complained why I didn't get a tattoo... I was a bit dumbfounded). Comic artist is 100%ly not what they expected. They are still trying to cope with the idea.

Actually me as well....

Chantalismus

2012-01-14T20:58:00.002+01:00

Mehr unter Chantalismus.

Ohne Kommentar ;)

Holy...

2012-01-05T17:33:00.000+01:00

... and that happens if something is sold out and doesn't go into reprint... the book actually costs only 10 Euros... normally. O_O

I hope nobody actually considers paying such a -addmeanwordhere- price. A book goes into reprint if you have enough people wanting it. The best way to get a publisher reprint something is pre-ordering. I know a lot people don't think about it but it's simple math. The more pre-orders the higher the chances the new bunch of printed books gets actually sold = publisher doesn't need to worry about having a huge pile of books nobody wants. Simple, huh?
That's theoretically possible for all books if the contract is still going on, it wasn't limited, a collectors item, yaddayadda. As always the universal laws of Murphey can hit every title but generally it should be possible.

I hope everybody had a good start this year. :) I certainly had. ^_^

Zebra-Schwein

2012-01-04T09:33:00.001+01:00

Again a board game! It's the last one I did last year and it's again totally different from "Mount Drago" and "Space Mission" but for me the most hilarious and funniest game.
Actually it's for kids but I think if you have a bunch of people who are willed to play a game that happens to include drawing (it doesn't really matter if you are GOOD... really) you might have many laughs, tears and odd doodles.

The game comes in five languages (German, French, Italian, English and Dutch I think) and costs around 22 Euro (regular price). Included is a very pink pig buzzer, 30 animal cards, a sketch book and all my love, sweat and hours I spend on it.
(You have no idea how often we changed the cover... ).

Available on (German) Amazon HERE

Keeping the booty warm

2011-12-18T15:08:00.001+01:00

Hante loos a bit like :S in the photo but honestly it'd hard to get a pic of both without one having a funny face.
Tretel seems to keep on growing. No wonder Hantje hisses all the time he pops up for "play time". I wouldn't like having the big boy bullying me as well ;)
I normally find them on or next to a heater now (in winter). As long as the booty and tummy are warm everything's okay.

Winter Pong

2011-12-17T18:38:00.001+01:00

I'm a sucker for interactive stuff. And I'd really like to animate around and do this and that and make a Kiki LWP but no time right now =.= Still it's on my agenda and I reallly want to have a cat live wallpaer that makes you ogle the screen for hours and get that high on rainbows cross-eyed face people normally get when they look at cute baby cat photos... or maybe it's just me getting that expression.

Art Academy Contest

2011-12-05T14:29:00.001+01:00

... totally forgot to blog the information.

You can find all information on my homepage (onmipresent sign on the front page, you can't miss it).
www.trenchmaker.com

The contest is world-wide, no restrictions except age. As long as you have a shipping address that isn't "moon" it should work. And of course if your postal service isn't as crappy as my DHL one.

IF you have questions, you can ask those here. Otherwise happy drawing & painting!
Please keep in mind that I don't like cheaters so if something looks weird as in traced or copied, you'll have to prepare for the entry NOT being accepted. Sorry, but play fair.

You don't have to create a masterpiece. If you check my favs I have some really charming pieces in that are quite not a daVinci. If it's personal and charming and has something special, it's a good chance you'll get a DS.

Questions? Shoot!

The signed DS, first price, will be personalised for the winner. I won't draw on it before the contest ends. If the person happens to love Kiki or wants a toad/shoe/fingerprint/addfunnwishhere and I doodled Kulla on it might be odd.

the problem with cats and Christmas

2011-11-30T13:57:00.001+01:00

Clearly Christmas is totally cool for cats. At least when it comes to decoration and paper wrapping. Tretel decided to chew on our chain of lights last year (when it was ON) and Hantje loves paper wrappings. Most interesting part might be half packed gifts... you have no idea how fast they can undo the whole work.

A shame we love our cats anyway.... ;) I guess we'll buy paper and stuff twice this year.

Artist= Vampire... We need no sunshine

2011-11-19T19:37:00.001+01:00

I feel like being glued to my screens. I miss the sunlight, sports (actually got very very fond of my nearly daily training), I wanted to read books and reduce my coffee consumation which happens to be pretty much too high at the moment.
The working space looks pretty dark on the pictures but it's light enough to get no sore eyes. I have mostly closed curtains since the natural light bugs me too much and looking outside and seeing sunshine is totally depressing if you can't actually GO OUTSIDE. Arf. Vampire mode is not my most beloved mode at the moment.

Otherwise I finished the last corrections on the third board-game on Friday and it's coming out in Febraury already. If you like animals and to draw, laugh and make nasty fun of ugly doodles this will be 100%ly something you'll like.

So looking forward to get out again and see daylight.

The bed shrank... really!

2011-11-13T01:00:00.001+01:00

Now.... 2 Cats squeezing in 1 bed... quite a challenge. And Tretel doesn't like to share. Hantje either. It's quite rare they cuddle together. Sadly a bigger bed doesn't really fit on my table.

Than... so much bed and so tiny (slim) teen kittehs.Tretel looks like a troll planning world domination but I couldn't find any better pics. He made gruesome whacko face on the others.

11.11. impressions

2011-11-12T14:22:00.001+01:00

From the lovely Mirjam. Can't show the other thing since I got the prototype :3

Whoot!

My Marimos: Herbert, Kurt, Gundel, Hank and Frank.

I hope I won't fuck it up.... always wanted a cube, never dared to buy one. Hantje & Tretel are looking forward to get Marimo and Pawn TV.

Tretel looking very important.

Thanks for all the wishes I got. Actually the most impressing one came from the absolutely great team of Burton. You guys rock so much!

I'm currently working in a maddening speed together with Irene and Lew on graphics for them (and a pretty cool app I'll show off when it's available). It's one of those things you think you can't finish on time. But we did last year and we'll do it again. I hope so... at least.

Camoukitteh

2011-10-30T17:18:00.005+01:00

Where's the kitteh? One of the older pics when Hantje was still only Babyhan and a camou-kitteh.... cat+ freshly washed clothes= instant blissfull sleep I guess.

Since today's the only day having 25 hours, it's Sunday and I'm working anyways I feel like I'm not really getting out of that weird zombie mode which started one month ago. I guess one reason is that it's getting dark so early. The other might be that I'm tired of animals and those are haunting my dreams...
     17- Goat
                  21- Crocodile
   uh...
23- Mouse
                             26- Bunny... arg brown or muddy or white?
                arg...
30- Cow
and so on. I haven't drawn so many pigs in... practically never and though I have to admit my ability to draw cheeky pigs went from -5 to 120% it's kinda unfunny to see how many hours you can spend with inks and flats and thinking about giving a camel a mohawk or not (it has one btw...).
So much for jobs. I should work on my comic pages. I really should. I should also learn to say "no" to awesomely interesting jobs but it's like telling an alcoholic beer's a totally bad idea to order.

My birthday's in 2 weeks btw and I want to have a Marimo. If anybody wants to make me happy you know how ;)
Doh... I should work on 16- MohawkCamel now... and 15- Frog .... ElephantBadGoldfishDogPolarbearsomething... arg...

Ever had a job haunting you so much you just wanted to finish ASAP?

Lidl Puzzle

2011-10-20T18:35:00.000+02:00

Now how cool is that?! One of the puzzle motives I did where released today.... in Lidl France. It's only the fairy which is a bit sad since the pink princess was my favourite of those two but alas... I can't have everything.
If you like faires and puzzles grab it as long as it's available. And no, I have no information if the puzzle(s) will be released in another country as well. Sadly.

The motives were requested like that so if anybody feels like vomitting rainbows- I'm sorry ;)

Tretel and Hantje again

2011-10-07T15:30:00.001+02:00

Tretel is 100%ly too big for this napping place but alas, the other place was already taken by Hantje and she's in bitch mode every time he tries to sneak in hissing like a maniac. Poor Tretel... ;)

Since they are practically out all day sitting on the balcony watching birdie& bug TV they get winter fur and... I daresay gain another pound of winter coat by eating more.

Tretel is much more open for evening cuddling than he was half a year ago and Hantje is still very very possessive and naps on my back/stomach every time I'm on the couch. Wierdo cat stays weird.

Space Mission promo poster & Calendars

2011-10-03T17:13:00.001+02:00

A1 huge and the quality came out perfect.... Those will be given out at the game fair in Essen in October. Whoot!

And because I just got my calendars from Deviantart...

Space Mission Final Trailer

2011-09-23T17:45:00.000+02:00

Yay!!!!! So looking forward to get my copy of the game and the posters.

Grass... again

2011-09-20T08:54:00.003+02:00

... and I never get tired of it.
I'm still cleaning up my brush presets- throwing out a lot of things I got from other people or found on the net. Probably 95% of those brushes aren't really useful.
Normally I use the one I already >blogged about< and it's still the most useful although it looks so plain. With nature it gets a bit more tricky. Of course it looks awesome to paint every single blade of grass but mostly you'll end up needing ages to do that.
Since I colorate my comic panels 100%ly and the backgrounds NEED a lot of work I redo my preset-list and try to create grass, flowers (those above are self-made as well) and mostly leaves for bushes or trees.

Since some people seem to be eager but have no clue how to do it... (and you SHOULD do it):
This video explains it pretty well

Keep watching it till the video end. The last part is the most important part of the whole process. Defining the brush presets will take a while and you have to test a lot but it's worth the work! :)

And because it's pretty interesting and I just got it: If you happen to have the awesome artbook of "Open Season" check the background paintings again. There's one page showing some custom brushes they actually used and it's interesting to see how those simple brushes work together and how amazing the final result looks.

Chubbanimals Calendar 3

2011-09-16T14:51:00.000+02:00

The third calendar is finally done and available and can be purchased >HERE<
It's A4 landscape (A3 on the wall, upper part illustration, lower part the actual calendar.

How the print quality looks like can be seen here: http://trenchmaker.blogspot.com/2009/01/snow-queen.html
It's semi-gloss and very smooth and I like how the colors come out on the Deviantart calendars. Definitely worth the shipping costs since most stores tend to have a problem with violet-blue shades.

Win, win, win for only 1 Like on Facebook!

2011-09-16T00:07:00.000+02:00

Whoa... getting competitive!

Schmidt Spiele, myself and hopefully all of you will rock the boat with a tiny like on Facebook.
Normally you have one spot for a game. We made two... :)

Basically the graphics have the same base- animated by my awesome 3D superheros Mehran and Amin- and a concept we finetuned over the last couple of months.
For Version B Bobby Soulo, a wonderful colleague of mine and very talented musician you should keep an eye on, made the music and lend us his voice.

Long talk, short info: The music and voice-over differs a lot and that's where you can decide what you like best. If you don't speak a word of German: no matter, listen, experience and like. It's your choice!

What you can get for participating?
A lot!
<b>The Prices:</b>
- The very first game package we get (game languages are German, French, English, Italian and Dutch i think... English 100%ly!)
- a signed A1 promo poster (i just finished 2 days ago...)
- aaaannnnd.... the original design of one alien (of course I chose one of the cuter ones...) made on paper.
The only chance to get an original piece for free :D

I'll upload the piece when I get a chance to get it scanned properly. But trust me: I'd really like to keep it >____<

An example of the look of the designs can be found here: http://cliquenabend.de/spiele/062100-Space-Mission/bilder.html
Of course the one somebody will get is not displayed but you might get a hint.

Where to vote?
http://de-de.facebook.com/SchmidtSpiele

Questions? Shoot! And be so kind to spread the news. We made a bet how many votes we get and I really wanna get the cookies! :yum:

Anne

Christmas -whoot

2011-09-15T15:08:00.000+02:00

Short gif animation of the last illustration for my calendar.
Not as fancy as I wanted it to be but I like it anyway and it looks nice in a quite bigger version. Funny (and really annoying) is that the colors are massively changed in the screenshot mode and the final image looks radioactive in the gif version. It's actually something inbetween both color saturations you see.

If anybody knows a solution for the screenshot problem let me know. >_<

1 Poster... in layers

2011-09-13T12:49:00.000+02:00

Actually some layers seem to be missing in the screenshot... O_o *scratches head*
Anyways, that's a good way to show that Photoshop isn't always click and done and not everything can be fixed with one layer. Especially when it comes to 50% non-painted art, I found it very useful to carefully layer effects over each other instead of trying to stuff everything in one.
Since I've got the bad habit of NOT naming everything I can strongly advise to NOT follow my example. ;) It's pure madness but in the workflow I totally forget resulting in massive swearing afterwards.

If somebody wonders: I work with both the English (home studio) and German (studio) version. Results in pretty funny files.

New Homepage is UP, UP, UP!

2011-09-10T09:53:00.000+02:00

www.trenchmaker.com

ist finally relaunched. It feel a bit weird to have the video online but I hope some people will find it usefull. We're fixing minor bugs and correct some things but basically it's done.

Regarding the video: I know the japanese one is out of space awesome but at some points me and my colleagues discussed if it's even possible. I think it is possible (to achieve those results with AA) but again, for me the DS is mostly a thing for total beginners, sketching on the road and color concepts (again it comes in handy to have something that's small and uncomplicated).

Therefore the tutorials will show only the basics and images you can do in half an hour. Not more. I spend around 1 1/2 on a paprika, which is fine and I like the result but it's not the main point using it as a pro- in my opinion.

There will be a little contest in some months- so if anyboy is keen on getting a DS and Art Academy for free keep an eye on the blog. :)

Regarding my gallery and the more than honest words on the homepage: It sucks a lot if people steal your art. Really. No matter how much I'd like to be cool and stay above... it doesn't work. I get angry every time somebody sells my artwork for 200 bucks upwards and I can't accept answers like "I found it on Google images, what's the problem?!"
The problem is that it's illegal and the bigger problem is that it's my stuff.

So until we find a solution I have to keep the homepage gallery like it is. I am totally sorry (I already had all images ready :/ ). IF anybody knows how to technically prevent those rips let me know. Maike and me are trying to find a solution and every help is totally appreciated.

If you have any questions- let me know. I'll try to repost the text in German language later.

Please keep in mind that you need to have an account to post something here- it's the only solution to prevent massive spam posts from companies offering stuff you don't want to buy.

Christmas.... still unfinished

2011-09-08T14:00:00.001+02:00

If the animation doesn't start click on the image ;)

... this will take ages to finish. I have to admit I'm having trouble with the colors but maybe it's good to know that my color schemes aren't always perfect. I suggest that whenever you have the feeling the one you chose doesn't work: Try to change it instead of finishing without trying out other combination and ending up with a result you're not 100%ly pleased with.
I changed the whole composition as well since the original one in my Moleskine didn't look very good on the new format.

I'll post a gif with the complete process when I'm done. Maybe it helps somebody... ;) It's the best attempt of something close to a tutorial I can do.

Hell yes! New board-game coming soon...

2011-08-27T17:55:00.001+02:00

More information in English can be found >>HERE<<

Available in October this year. :D

Meadow-ing... takes ages

2011-08-21T17:56:00.000+02:00

Still far far away from where I wanna go with it. I'm frustrated with game manual graphics. Perspective-photoshopping is one of the things I find really annoying and it doesn't do any good if you have a game with like 1 gazillion parts and all have to look "at least 90% correct".

Anyways, I hope I can finish my Hippo next week- somehow. Though I doubt it... but till now it looks like I'm gonna like it. I just have no idea why I decided for a medaow with a lot of flowers.

OMFG!

2011-08-19T22:34:00.001+02:00

Die Grafik darf ich jetzt ganz offiziell verwenden und rumprahlen.Hach ja :D Nein, ganz ehrlich ich bin stolz wie Bolle. Vor allem, weil das Spielbrett fast meinen PC ermordet und mich einige schlaflose Nächte gekostet hat. Von den ersten Erfahrungen mit "wie wird eine Holzfigur gefräst" mal ganz abgesehen.

Wenn ich bedenke, dass ich vor einem Jahr noch null Plan hatte und heute bei einer Besprechung mich vor lauter Enthusiasmus über "Werewolf" (auf alle Fälle mal angucken!) und anderen awesome Brettspielen nicht mehr eingekriegt habe... Wahnsinn.
Die finale Nominierung freut mich total, auch wenn es natürlich nur zur Hälfte meine Arbeit war. Im Oktober kommt das nächste raus und es ist nicht das letzte.;) Ich nerde weiterhin fröhlich herum.

Auch nominiert ist "Eselsbrücke", was ich immer noch allen wärmstens ans Herz legen kann, die gerne in größerer Runde spielen.Ich habe es jetzt schon einige Male durch und das "Transvestitenhuhn Herbert, das eine Kokosnuss über die Mauer warf" ist mir noch genau in Erinnerung.
Grundsätzlich geht es darum, Eselbrücken aus einzelnen Begriffen zu bilden. Belohnt wird man für besonders gute und wenn man auch noch ein Elefantengedächtnis hat.
Die Spielregeln sind einfach und spätestens ab der zweiten Runde bin ich jedes Mal am Feiern, da einige Begriffe durchaus bizarre Geschichten ergeben (siehe Herbert, das arme Huhn).
Zu finden bei Amazon >HIER<

Fancyhippo

2011-08-18T14:25:00.001+02:00

it's actually funny how much the color concept resembles a three-years-old painting.
Something still flying around on my desk. I hope I can finish *some* of those things I wanna do within the next two weeks. Unfortunately I had some sad happenings in my family and all those things went back into prio list.

And Hantje didn't take our vacation well and started scratching herself till she got some ugly wounds. Now she's wearing one of those odd "lampshades" and wallows in self-pity. =.=

Forever - quite never

2011-08-05T11:24:00.001+02:00

I gave up... 100 pages and I simply gave up. I couldn't read the totally emo story anymore. Back, forth, back, forth... after book 2 I wondered if Ms Stiefvater had a clue where the story should head but honestly: I doubtit was meant to end and she'd rather let the characters chase fate forever.

It's not satisfying, it's depressing and gets worse with every page you flip and if you loved book 1 (and maybe book 2) keep your hands off book 3. Because there won't be any problem solving and the title is kinda off since I didn't see any forever. Except chasing forever.

Unhappy =.= Otherwise no news since I catched the flue and wobble around in the appartment.

Hantje-Fanart by Lew

2011-07-30T19:16:00.002+02:00

Hantjezilla... obviously.

We are still working on graphics for an American customer and the final stuff for Schmidt Spiele and ... Chubbanimals Calendar. I am so looking forward to finishing all and having my well-deserved vacation. Oh yay!

Bao Fireflies- Details

2011-07-21T13:14:00.001+02:00

.. some details. Painting fur wasn't the problem. I lost patience doing the water =.=
Painting fur is fun. Most people do it wrong- smudging everything dead which ens up looking plainly ugly. Creating a proper dot brush AND adding like 1 million hairs by hand does the job a lot better.

Trödelking

2011-07-15T00:28:00.002+02:00

I think Lew came up with the name variation "Trödel" first. We had mostly everything you can make out of his basic name.... Knödel, Knetje, Tretje, Trödel...

Hantje is "Flantje" at the moment, because her fur looks like a flan (pudding with dark caramell spots on her back). Oh well...

Btw it took dozens tries to get a pic of Tretel with crown. He doesn't like it. Otherwise he pretty much ignoes stuff I put on his head.

2011-07-10T15:20:00.002+02:00

Jaja.... ich beschwer mich nicht, aber wer hätte gedacht, dass es SO VIEL LÄNGER dauert.
In Farbe ohne Outlines eine Seite fertig zu bekommen dauert praktisch ewig. Heute sitze ich mal wieder an einer, die ich schon gefühlt vor drei Jahren, praktisch vor drei Wochen angefangen habe.
Warum so langsam?

Weil ich nicht wirklich anders arbeite als auf der Leinwand. Im Vergleich zu schwarz-weiß sehe ich prinzipiell keinen Unterschied, außer dass man alles, was sonst schwarz-weiß wäre, vernünftig füllen muss. Eventuell liegt da die Krux. Plötzlich ist auf so einer Seite einfach viel mehr. Mehr Details, mehr Formen, mehr Strukturen..
Ich hoffe, mein Arm hält durch und ich lasse irgendwann davon ab jeden verdammten Grashalm einzeln zu malen.

Ansonsten gibt es für alle deutschen Comicleser eine "awesome" News, die eventuell noch nicht wirklich die Runde gemacht hat. Daniel Lieske hat in seinem Blog nun endlich den Verlag genannt, der "Wormsworld Saga" herausbringen wird.
Natürlich Tokyopop! Ich freue mich unendlich und bin schon neugierig, wie der Comic im Druck dann angepasst wird. Ich gehe mal nicht davon aus, dass es eine Endlosrolle wird ;)

Falls jemand nicht weiß, was "Wormsworld Saga" ist, möchte sich auf Augenbluten und einen visuellen Orgasmus vorbereiten und HIER KLICKEN.

Endlich kommt frische atemberaubende Farbe in die Verlagswelt. Vielen Dank!

Oh noes! So blue!

2011-07-08T18:11:00.006+02:00

If you read via RSS you happen to miss all the fun. I'm still trying to find the best text format but otherwise you have to deal with cats now. ;)

I happen to sort through illustrations and ~~finished~~ comics right now and it looks like I didn't really do anything in the past year. Which is not true but ... didn't do a lot for Chubs. Hopefully that will change soon and a lot. I already feel like "whoa, crappy" seeing the old pages but it's a good sign.

The bad thing about it is that I want to redo everything O_o

As always, Lew is my flat-cat. so if you want to know who's the best flat-cat on earth visit her blog and enjoy funny comics about my cats behaving stupid. >_<

drooling Fan-Plush Kulla

2011-06-29T12:43:00.000+02:00

That is SO FREAKING cool! I love the plush (and already asked for one I can have XD). The girl who made it can be found here. Isn't Kulla cute? Isn't she???? Aww.... *drooling at the screen*

need a little magic

2011-06-21T14:02:00.000+02:00

burned my fingertip today... which makes hitting keys pretty hard and mistyping all the time. Argg...
A bit work in progress... with a chubby fairy version of Kiki requested by somebody from Deviantart.

sketched in my moleskine with blue pen (thanks to Lew!)

Lew scans it and cleans it..

Flats... done by Lew as well (I feel pretty useless without her to be honest XD )

correction of base colors and first color blocking done... by me...

soon to be pretty without outlines. At the moment looking rather odd.

I think the best or worse part is finetuning when the details come out nice (or not) and the shapes get clear and everything looks just "right". At the moment the dress doesn't look right but it's okay... not finished and i think it's good to show the steps between messed up and "pretty" ;)

Kiki recently got a lot of very ugly and stupid outfits. The more I make the less I think she's not gonna end up in another butt-ugly costume. Alas, she wears those with grace.

Yoga Tretel

2011-06-20T22:09:00.000+02:00

Lew requested more pics of my cats... so here we go. I would be able to post 1 odd pic per day.. seriously I have no idea why Tretel loves sleeping with a blanked or on his back (like a dead cat) or like this.
Anyways, always worth a smile or a pic ;)
Hantje looks like a pudding cat. She got very fluffy ~~(and a bit fat)~~ and seems to melt on he ground like a blob. O_o

new sketches

2011-06-19T12:29:00.000+02:00

... love the cookie jar.:D

Hikari No Densetsu- Tonkam

2011-06-14T13:09:00.000+02:00

Anybody still knows Hikari? Good news for those who loved the old series: Tonkam publishes it. I already wrote about "Aishite Knight" and this is just another pretty old series some of the "older generation" of manga fans and ogling anime watches might know.

1 BD (manga) will cost 9 euro and I guess they will be as thick as Aishite Knight (which is.... very thick!). Volume one will be released at the end of this month. If you can read French and love Hikari: buy them. :D I certainly will buy the fist volume and write a review about it. Nothing better than some old-school charm.

Brushtest

2011-06-06T17:03:00.001+02:00

One thing I can warmly suggest to everybody is making your own custom brushes in Photoshop... I made a lot in the last months. It makes sense if you need highres and printable brushes and some matching to your style.

Brushes will be brushes after all and you'll likely recognize those but it also means that you have a result without people saying "Ah, I use those as well...." well... doh... not good.

Sometimes people complain: It's all brushed! Oh well, and on canvas it isn't? I use a feather brush for grass, so that's not "cheating"? Or a broken brush for small flower-spots? See, I guess it really depends if you can mold those into your idea or not.
Worst is if you are too lazy and use one that "happens to be available".
Take your time and create some on your own :)

alCATraz

2011-06-05T17:48:00.000+02:00

Ty and I finally managed to finish (or start) to bar the balcony. Obviously curious cats would do some very bad things without a net. It took 2 days and alltogether around 11 hours. The balcony is old and has everything but a smooth surface which meant being... very creative.

Hantje loves the new view and Tretel found out that you have excellent birdie-TV in the evening when swallos fly around.

Longcat is long (and looks fat... though he isn't O_o)

Hantje yesterday... unsure if she likes what she sees. Hard to please...

Tretel yesterday... he as well didn't really know if the balcony is a good thing. At the moment he's napping in the doorway and I think they both love the additional space.

Best situation ever... cats on two legs look hilarious. No way to have grace in those moments.

Otherwise no news. Limping around, trying not to work though I have to. Having the balcony "back" offers doodling outside and that is really great (and resulted in 12 sketches already).

books n cats

2011-05-18T22:57:00.000+02:00

Today found Tretel sleeping like this. It's not really unusal but I still think it's a bit odd that a cat loves to sleep with a blanket. Btw I didn't cover him... he managed to cuddle under it like this on his own O_o Weirdo cat is weird.

But as you can see: Blissfully happy napping time.

I'm not in the Studio this week since I woke up with a stiff neck and a back like a 90-years-old granny. I have no idea how it happens but I 100%ly don't want to experience it again. Needing help to get a sock on your foot isn't funny :((((
Lucky me I still had some unread books in my... boards (not all books... the rest is spread over the whole appartment and a second and third board on the other side... O_o).

And if you recognize ANY book and get like "Omg, she reads THAT?!" all i can say is "Yes!"... I love all my kitschy books, comics, my happy endings and the more or less classic bores you are proud to have finished anyway. It's my daily soap dose of freak and the best way to get my brain cells to go in stand-by for a while.

Btw a lot of authors choose the future-society-Orwell-Equilibrium-youth-strategy at the moment- seems we have a new old trend. I really don't mind but after the third you sit groaning on your couch and think "it's not really that creative... doh." ("Delirium" and "Matched" fall imo into that category)

Doodle #2

2011-05-12T13:40:00.000+02:00

couldn't finish in time and probably never will but not really sad about it. Except the cat's hat. I spend way too much time on the hair...

Character Doodle #1

2011-05-11T14:59:00.000+02:00

Trying to finally combine everything and make my human characters more fitting to my Chubbanimals... I will work hard on it. I'm so tired of not knowing which works best and I think this does.
Painting with only 1 brush (my standard one) and no white helps as well to grab the concept better....

Dabei sein ist alles :D

2011-05-05T17:57:00.000+02:00

Das hier freut mein Zeichnerherz

Umso mehr, nachdem ich am Spielebrett fast eingegangen wäre. Natürlich stehen Beyits Drachen im Vordergrund, aber von alleine hat sich der Rest drumherum ja nicht gebastelt, ne? ;)

Und weils so schön ist, fiebere ich schon meinem morgigen Meeting bei Schmidt entgegen und werde die Nacht mit viel Kaffee und wenig Schlaf verbringen, um die letzten Sachen noch fertig zu bekommen. Diesmal schustere ich nicht allein sondern mit einem Mini-Team bestehend aus Amin und Mehran, die meine teilweise sehr orakeligen Skizzen auf wundersame Weise entschlüsseln und alles zum Schluss so aussieht wie ich es mir vorgestellt habe (in korrekt und tausend Mal besser).

Cats... again.. of course :3

2011-04-30T18:06:00.000+02:00

Today we finally did the new kitteh-safe window in the bedroom. It's getting hotter and since the sun tends to fry us in the morning we have to open a window. Which was impossible without having everything kitteh-safe. I really don't want see my cats jumping down. O_o

Tretel looked like saying "Excellent, minion!"
Normally all I see of the cat is that:

And normally I wouldn't sit on the bed before doing a double check with often results in seeing:

Miss Hantje posing.... very rare.

Kitteh Paw. She has that funny long hair poking out. Nyaaa...

one of those mug-shots i normally get... =.=

And Tretel being very pleased with the new HD birdie TV.

Oh noes! cards :D

2011-04-29T17:12:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the blurred part. I have only one for customers and people I'd *really* like to keep contact with and that's probably not even 1% of people who happen to strand here by googeling smudgeguards, Intuos grips or Art S. buck mannekins ;)

Anyways, I'm happy they turned out like this. I wanted to do something totally different from the quite boring ones I had before and those fit 100%ly. More or less I wanted to test if the radioactive colours of my Eizo are the same when printed and thanks god it's not the case on the cards.

first auction phase is over & keeping short

2011-04-28T23:05:00.000+02:00

... it was epic. I know the last minutes of an ebay auction are the most exciting but this rocked so much. I'm already looking forward to phase 2 and the final phase in 9 days.
I'm ~~a bit~~ very proud my illustrations did so well. And I hope the last two will do equally good.

The last two items can be found here and here. Both look much better in real life O_o

Since April's already rushing to the final days I decided to finish my new story. I really wanted to keep short but it's quite impossible. If you're used to 6 panels and have blank pages again it's like "I can write as much as I want".
And I already fear the point where my editor takes the red marker and erases all those funny little details I spend so much time on. Doh...
Anyways, I want to start getting my canvases out again, mess around with colors and mix my basic colors in jars. We collected so many, they scream for being used.

And I really started missing the fine texture of linen canvas and the feeling of scrubbing the color into it with a Morani brush. Nothing's better than finally getting a color right and having the final illustration finished. It's different from digital art and quite addictive and yes, I still worship acrylics.

Kitten- belated happy 1st b-day

2011-04-23T16:08:00.000+02:00

Both are still trying to squeeze into the little bed. I have no idea how long they'll be able to manage it. Tretel is still getting a little too big for snuggling. If he stretches out he fills out the whole bed.
Hantje and Tretel turned 1 on the 13th and I still wonder how big Tretel will get since he's growing and growing and growing... and doesn't seem to stop.

... nose still getting a bit lighter and thanks god his eyes stay the color they are now. I love those! Hantje sticks to amber with a little bit green. she looks all camouflage on the floor.

... and since it gets warmer that's the main hobby at the moment. Slumping down on one of the 4 floors of the kitteh post. Sad news is that their mother died :( It seems she just had too many babies (and I guess she couldn't compensate via cheap supermarket food or whatever she got).

Boom & a comic you should read :)

2011-04-21T16:10:00.001+02:00

for work.... I have no idea how long it took to make it. again it's just a detail but I love how that part turned out. Nearly done with 50% of the first work-part and the more I work on those the more excited I am.

And now the goodie part:

Some people might still know "Aishite Knight" (in Germany the anime series was streamed as "Rock'n Roll Kids"). :) I recently found the books and ~~after thinking about it~~ I instantly bought those. Good old times when TV was good and didn't show series just made to sell products.

The books are quite thick which means for only 9 Euros you'll get over 300 pages including two color pages and a really fancy cover I'll write some more about later. :D Anyways, the whole series is completed in 4 books. The only (possibly) bad thing is: it's in French. I have to admit my French was never close to being perfect and I've been out of school for over.. uh... 8 years now (omg...).
It doesn't mean you have to be scared. My french was "enough" to get through the books without too many question marks over my head and though I didn't get every single word it wasn't too bad.
Honestly I think I spend more time reading those than with any other book I read. ^^;
The story is basically the same as in the anime and I was excited to see Shella and his group again and of course Guiliano. Man, how I love the cat!

The style is quite old-fashioned but alas, the series IS old. But I have to admit that the quality of the pages is much better than I expected. Though stumbling over some odd mistakes no editor would forgive nowadays it's fluently and I enjoyed the different faces a lot. Kaoru Tada had the -also nowadays very rare- gift to make every character 100%ly unique and just for that the books are worth... the French. :)

What I was suprised about was the cover. It SPARKLES. A lot. It's impossible to take a picture of it but every cover is partially coated with glittering varnish and it's oddly veryyyyy cool. One thing I love about the French publications is that the publisher tend to make those worth everything. I wish some German publishers would do that as well. I still want a sparkle cover for Kulla. Really >_<

Anyways, "Aishite Knight" is published by Tonkam and can be found easily via Amazon. I hope some hearts will flutter now. Hurry and get yours! :)

Anne

it might be earth...

2011-04-17T18:15:00.001+02:00

... but actually it's not. Never was.. more like.. marble in his previous life. A stamp-size detail of a planet i just finished. It's work for another board game and I finally feel like getting closer to what it should look like in the end (after adding nearly hundred layers...i love Photoshop). Getting the textures done is the worst part O_o

So much for my Sunday.

Next to it I'm excited about the TOKYOPOP auction starting tomorrow. I hope my canvases will do well in the bidding.

huge TOKYOPOP auction for Japan

2011-04-15T16:01:00.001+02:00

My publisher Tokyopop (Germany) started a huge auction. All proceeds will help Japan- which is why I donated some of my favourite artworks on canvas done for the Kulla series (for those who asked: working on book 4 right now ). All canvases are signed. If anybody is interested in which book those can be found let me know.

***Official text***
The staff of TOKYPOP as well as all our authors and artists have been deeply saddened by the recent events in Japan. The earthquake and ensuing flood have cost many people their lives and left many more homeless.

We also want to do something to help the people of Japan. Our artists Anike Hage, Anna Hollmann, Anne Pätzke, Asa Eckström, David Füleki, Inga Steinmetz, Marie Sann, Mikiko Ponczeck, Natalia Batista, Natalie Wormsbecher and Reyhan Yildirim have expressed their wish to auction signed originals of their work for the good cause. Akira Toriyama, the artist behind Dragon Ball, has also kindly allowed us to include an original drawing from 2002 in the auction. Plus, we will be auctioning prized display pieces from past conventions and book fairs, which we have often received requests for.

All proceeds from these auctions will go to the German aid association Aktion Deutschland Hilft. In this way, we hope to make a small contribution toward helping victims of the earthquake catastrophe rebuild their lives.
*****

List of all artworks available

Link to the eBay Store

Link to the (German) Website Gemeinsam für Japan

First Auction starts at 18:00 (MEZ) on Monday, the 18.04.

Next to the awesome news that you can bid on original artwork of myself *hehe* the biggest whoa might be he fact that you can get one of the original drawings of Toriyama-san!

I cross my fingers and hope my canvases will find a new home. Anne

Questions? Shoot!

If anybody wants to spread news and help copy the official text into your journal.

so much for creative sparks...

2011-04-12T22:07:00.003+02:00

.. while browsing for books on ebay i found this:

... listed as modern art (for 150-2800 bucks)....

wouldn't bug me so much if I didn't knew the art of Shunya Yamashita who happened to be the original creator of:

I'm really really ashamed that the "artist" who turned Yamashita's art into something -very personal and subjective opinion of mine- totally butt-ugly is actually German. Copy-pasta for 150 bucks?... cheapo.

If you ever consider doing art for living and don't want to be creative try to steal something NOT THAT POPULAR. Arg....

Chubs For Droid :D

2011-04-04T18:28:00.000+02:00

shameless advertising >_<
We finally started uploading the first Chubbanimal Live Wallpaper. Actually it won't be the last if people love those. Jason and I have been working quite a while on new ones but the more we do the longer it takes since the concepts get bigger and bigger and oh well... bigger.
Anyways, I'm happy with the outcome and I had Bao on my own droid for a while and it's so cute when he's following you touches.
The LWP can be downloaded for free here
and the Donation Version here

Still working on nerd-stuff at the moment for Schmidt Spiele. It's a challenge but I'm still excited about the whole thing. Maybe because it's so very not cute.

Ouchn...

2011-04-01T16:56:00.000+02:00

seriously...this is not fair. and the insane amount isn't that huge since I replaced everything with ginger tea over the last months. Seems like the "fairly" normal dose plus being nervous about a concept presentation was a bit too much.

Pokey Kittehs...

2011-03-28T14:08:00.001+02:00

... want outside... finally.
We're currently installing (or trying to) the cat wire network outside on the balcony. Birdie HD TV in that case.

Kulla speed-felting yowzaaa

2011-03-27T17:44:00.000+02:00

Awwww! Kulla looks a bit gloomy but hell, I never knew how to felt so this is epic anyway.

On monday I had one of those rare moments - in the middle of a night- where I knew a idea was creeping right into my head. I can't explain it in any better way but it's like sensing something's coming up and if you're lucky it doesn't vanish right before you can grab it.
I can remember every three times I had that moments and all were book plot moments. I know I'm a whack...

Anybody else every experienced it?

Flip it, Babe! -Photoshop and OpenGL

2011-03-24T11:30:00.000+01:00

The Rotation tool of Photoshop CS5 is one of the best inventions ever. I supsected CS5 wouldn't offer (to me) anything I really love but ... gods, I love rotation when I need straight(er) lines and it comes in handy if you need to ink or work neat.

don't ask what the motive is.... anyways, big file is big. I guess you'll be able to see everything....

More information by Adobe can be found here:
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404898.html
and here:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/cs/using/WSA6DF9C40-CEA8-4cfd-9A8B-44108E2975DD.html

I know Painter had it for ages but as some people might have painfully experienced Painter seems to be unable to NOT crash. I mostly work with 600 dpi and I doubt Painter would have liked my game board with 2 m width and 600 dpi.

Hope somebody didn't know the Rotation tool and loves it as much as I do now :)

Art Academy Bao

2011-03-17T17:49:00.000+01:00

Lazy ass at the moment. I'm always tired but since the Nintendo DSi is so small and light I'd favor it as my couch buddy right now. Everybody's heading to Leipzig right now... I travel into the opposite direction and spend my week-end in Hamburg with Sonja.

Official Queen Shirt Contest!

2011-02-24T09:40:00.002+01:00

Sylvia from Talenthouse send me the news about the shirt-contest for Queen. If you don't know Queen- baddddddd. Actually the rockband was MY teenage-band. Other girls ogled at Caught in the Act and Backstreet Boys posters. I worshipped Queen.
That's why I spread the news.

More information:
http://www.talenthouse.com/queen-anniversary-design-a-t-shirt

Deadline: 19th of April

Price: 1.500 USD and worldwide exposure. You might think -dammit, Anne... exposure wtf....
BUT: The sales of the shirts help all those people fighting against AIDS. Good news to raise your Karma points

Anne :)

Zugreifen! :D

2011-02-21T19:47:00.000+01:00

This time mostly for German people interesting! Amazon dropped the price of "Draco" which means you're able to get the boardgame for 14 Euro (which is .. nothing to be honest).
Schmidt Spiele 49243 - Draco

If anybody got a chance to play it: let me know what you think of it. I'm still fighting with fairies, my chubbanimals, spaceships and unicorns. Wonderful combination o_O but I guess it could be worse.

Photo Updates of Hantje and Tretje soon. :3

Sir Bogard- Soapboxed

2011-02-17T13:55:00.000+01:00

some details.... I still like to paint roughly with my normal brush and add some -even rougher- details with textured brushes here and there. Over the last months of comic painting I did so many new brushes (not always with the desired result) I 100%ly have to sort those soon =.=

And the final Bogard. Colorful illustration is colorful.

Speedracer

2011-02-16T09:48:00.000+01:00

I hope I can finish this week. I tend to stick to the most hilarious colors when it comes to Bogard. It's like a craving for eye cancer.
Normally when it comes to chubs the work-flow is like that:
Step 1-2 me
Step 3: Lew
Step 4- xyendlessyelling me again

sometimes we switch 1 ;) Some people seem to have a problem with getting other people involved in their art but I think it was the best decision we ever made. I save up a lot of annoying hours. I actually don't mind paying for that help. It's kinda annoying if you meet somebody assisting artist XY and when the money question pops up you see only blank faces with question marks over their heads.

Money? For assistant jobs? Oh my gawd, ho could I actually believe somebody would like to get paid for it.
Maybe I'm too honest and like my good karma but yes, I actually believe in fair treatment.

phew... last done >.>

2011-02-07T19:48:00.000+01:00

...oh my, sometimes you really want to finish a job. And than.. things keep tumbling, piling up, deadlines rush in and you just forget what is still on your list.
I admit I'm a master of it. I'm just glad customers are so patient (most of the time).
I recently (subtitle: today) finished four illustrations for Scriptzz, an agency Maike and me started working for last year.
We dedusted the corporate design and instead of photos I went for clean illustrated portraits. It looks nice in combination with the actual business card since you have face-name combination (I'm so bad at remembering faces... and i guess other people as well...) which makes the cards -for me- much more personal.

Sadly the web-result is pretty small but alas.. it's the interwebz.
The Scriptzz Crew

So much for "what do you do all day?" Actually do a bit more than drawing chubby animals and ogle my cats... mostly... oh well.

Everyday Caturday at Jetoy

2011-02-06T18:56:00.001+01:00

If you haven't heard of Jetoy yet AND get that stupid "Awwww!" look when you see a cute cat design AND love accessories with cats, you should think about peeking into their shop.
JETOY

I just found those recently while checking up Yaya Love- a store chain recently spreading here in Berlin. To be honest ... I think I bought a bloody design-rip off wallet there. It makes me sad (and mad) so if you wanna go for the "real" stuff go for Jetoy.

I really like the black cat designs:

and the little red riding hoody cat:

as senseless as the image might be I guess some might think the same as I do: "Awwwww!!! Kitteh!!!"

Forgive me

2011-02-02T17:08:00.001+01:00

You have to watch it

Wacom Intuos Grip Pen- Review

2011-01-30T15:05:00.000+01:00

I think a lot of people know that you have a lot of pen variations for the Intuos (3 & 4) that slighty vary. I have the normal pen (above) and the even slimmer classic pen. The problem with those are not really a problem but can turn into one if you have a tendency to get tendo. As some people know I got the Cintiq (and send it back). BUT pretty interesting was the rubber grip I found in the package. And really... that was the best of the whole freakin package.

The Intuos Grip is meant for Intuos 4 but really... who cares. So I ordered 1 package (2 grips for 17 euro.. totally okay!) and puzzled the grip onto my pen. And of course it works. And damn, it's really nice.

I have to warn everybody that you won't be able to access the keys on your pen anymore. Simply impossible. But if you're okay with it the hand relaxes a lot more. Actually what I personally always wished for- and somebody seems to listen to my prayers. ;)

The grip can be purchaed via Amazon. If you're not from Germany you'll get the detailled information on the German site anyway :)

*FOLLOW THIS LINK*
Wacom Intuos4 Grip Pen - Digitalstiftgriff (Packung mit 2 ), ACK-30002

As I said: 2 grips for 13- 18 euro (depending on the shop)

My rating: Awesome. One of the best inventions I got in my hands.

more incorrect nature...

2011-01-26T14:08:00.002+01:00

I think we originally decided those to be tulips but I think those are plain "flowers without identity" after I got frustrated while painting those. To be honest... it doesn't really matter *what* they are and spending so many hours on something that will be like 3 cm "big" in the end isn't really funny but I guess it's worth mentioning.

Officially the first something related to a comic-page . Of course full-color... black n white is overrated in my opinion. Though sometimes I wish I'd be doing black and white. Especially when painting flowers and details.

Flatcat

2011-01-25T16:35:00.000+01:00

if Lew were a cat....

the day I got very unhappy

2011-01-24T23:34:00.001+01:00

Irene said today something that does make a lot of sense: "Seems you got a defect one." Yeah o_o.... my Cintiq. Is gone.

I struggled two days. Really. But the problems kept piling up. For some people like Lew it might be minor, for me it was a horror. Minor horror but enough to drive me crazy.

The offset effect: happens when the arrow on the image wobbles something like 0.5 mm to 2 mm behind your actual stroke. In my case it rather felt like 2 mm and it sucked so much. I wasn't even sure if my curves were correct because I had to wait to see the result. Arg.... argggggg!!!! Arg!
If I want to paint slower I install everything on my old pc. Slow computer is slow. Expensive Cintiq is slow as well. Argggggg!

The other problem was the zoom. It looked like everything over and under 100% looked a bit blurred. Minor problem but since I have to make sure I see exactly what I paint it was a bit odd. And I normally zoom in and out a lot because I regulary paint at least double the size needed and sharpen in final size to tickle out some more details. I guess it's a syn problem of Photoshop and Cintiq but hell, the thing is meant to be made for Photoshop.
Uncool. and again: I'm so used to my beloved eizo screen who's not making funny blur-whatever-where's-mah-line-problems.

The other problems are things I created on my own and obviously because I wasn't used to it (like tendo, neck cramps and "the color gradients do not look like on my Eizo.. of course not, the Eizo grabs 92% of Adobe colours... unbreakable record so far). The upper two major problems where enough to send it back already. I have to admit the Cintiq IS really nice. But I'm not able to work as fast as I want. And the Intuos is my little darling making the fast work happen a lot.
And I'm in the middle of two bigger and some smaller jobs and I can't afford the whole "Argggg, slow arrow keeps being slow!".

We tested everything, I calibrated like an idiot again and again, the adapter worked fine so I think I got a major problem with a real lemon. Again: ARFFF!

*cuddling my trustworthy Intuos 3*
and now you can make some headdesks, call me an idiot and laugh about technical fails.

thoughts about contests

2011-01-20T14:17:00.003+01:00

I personally hold contests, when I send out gimmicks...
because it's nice to know somebody put effort in getting those for free. It's .. okay- I guess.

What is not okay is that case:
Instead of commissioning somebody the company/whatever makes a contest. Create our logo/create our website/create XY and you'll be given credit.
And some people freak out, go like aww and forget the fact that they do work for free that is supposed to be actually PAYED.
I *believe* there are some contests where you can bend that and say it might be okay. But normally it's not. I don't want to work for free for company XY just because they are cool. Or big. Or popular. Because I won't be able to pay my bills and have to work for getting credit.
Lew linked me something that might explain it a bit better:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3514540/workforfree.jpg

I got a lot of mails with "I love you work, want to join our contest?". Er... thanks for the compliment, but no!? If you love my work and want goodies, send a proper request and I'll send you a price and than we can talk.

I know it's hard in the beginning to get good jobs. And good paying customers. Actually I needed .. uh... 5 years to get both. That might be a long time but I never participated in any "creative work for credit" contest, never worked my ass off for free and always - well, in the beginning mostly- knew how to pay my bills. I even sold tickets but you know what? I got payed for it.
A lot of people achieve that goal faster, a lot don't even come close to it. But keep your head high and don't feed the greedy monsters out there who don't want to pay for a job.

Nerd-Entry ... for nerds

2011-01-17T22:26:00.001+01:00

Cintiq 21UX... I has it! I know it's like men with cars or girl with shoes... showing off. But yesh, I finally got it (DHL-Shipping was a horror trip). It's very nerdy to post pics but like Lew said: mutual orgasm to look at it.

And sheesh, that thing is HUGE. The white paper is A4. I hope I'll see my screen when that thing is in front.

Eeep... The Intuos has to move. I guess at least Lew will be happy (maybe) about getting that one for work.

I just hope I won't melt off in summer again. o_o

Before I forget: I saved up for it, I worked for it and I know I spend every bloody Cent I paid with sweating over illustrations. So yeah... no whining or weirdo mails why I can afford it, plz.
The world needs more greatly payed jobs. We all know that.

Last year's japanese themed wedding card

2011-01-16T19:03:00.000+01:00

Ainhoa, the bride, mailed me a photo of the wedding card I did for her and her husband last year. It turned out exactly like we planned it and the printed cards are awesome. I'm happy they loved it.

Waiting for a Cintiq

2011-01-15T15:33:00.000+01:00

... is the time, when minutes turn into hours again. Like in school, when you wanted to get out and play instead of listening to your teacher.

I'm currently stalking the street and DHL-tracking for my Cintiq 21UX.
Oh yesss..... the decision to spend 2k for 1 Cintiq was pretty hard. But it was even harder to actually get one. Gossip spread that shop XY actually had 4 (of course for the highest price... *rolls eyes* ). The other shops had nada, zero, null, non, whatever you call it.
I'm still stalking the street. And pray it arrives soon.
And I hope it makes a bit of my current work faster. Not easier, faster would be enough. Colorating comic pages with my Intuos is totally okay but after a while my arm gets sore.
And because it's so annoying and so excited- Happy 1 year comic making to meheeee.

I should add that I stopped because I thought I was too stupid to do those. And bad. And that my ideas weren't made for comics. And it's partially true. I still find it really hard to squeeze everything in a limited amount of panels. I can't stretch everything into epic 30 pages. I have only 1. And that one can become so small when you have big ideas.
But i guess everybody fights with those problems. ;)

Hantje & Tretel- month 9

2011-01-14T21:13:00.002+01:00

Hantje's favourite toys are actually... bags. The swishier the better. I think she developed a very independent style in fashion.

Tretel got... bigger. and he has so pretty multicoloured eyes. Though he looks mean most of the times he's a dedicated cuddle-cat. I love his nose... looks like somebody wanted to turn him into a comic with that black outline :D

... you can see the difference. 9 months now, some more growing to wait for. I hope Tretel will stop soon or else he's squash Hantje when they play. Right now she doesn't have a chance once he got her. :/ Oh well... tiny kitty is tiny.

Stalked

2011-01-09T12:56:00.000+01:00

Draco- it's (nearly) out!

2011-01-06T20:47:00.001+01:00

Company: Schmidt Spiele
Price: 17,99 Euro
languages: German, French, Italian

more information in German language

As you can see the dragon is by Kerem Beyit. I got the pretty interesting open files to work with (actually chose 10 and worked with those) and could weave my ideas around the basic dragons. I wouldn't say my dragons are as cool as Beyits but I think the whole final thing looks damn good I'd say. And I think that's the most important thing.
Maike, who also does my homepage, was the other part of my brain when it came to actual layout and packaging/ guide conception.
I never made a board game, neither did she so this was thrilling, annyoing and awesome at the same time. I hope it won't be the last game. :)

I'll post some more pics when I get it. Man, so exciting!

What will we do 2011?

2011-01-02T15:31:00.000+01:00

I actually started it with being sick and spend my New Year's Eve on the couch watching kitschy movies with Ty.
I hope the next weeks will be happy ones since I expect payout from three jobs I did last year and gosh, I'm so craving for the Cintiq Q_Q
I realized that it might be a chance to get one comic page done in two evening-sessions. At the moment I'm bloody slow and it makes everything a lot more complicated and exhausting than I thought.

My Christmas was a mixture of super-sad crying and happy being together. I happened to pick up my mum up at the nursing home (who works there) and saw my grandma (who lives there). It was so sad.
"Switch the lights on. Why is it so dark?"
"But granny, the lights ARE on. All of them."
My mum told me afterwards that my grandma lost her eye-sight. I know it happens every minute around the globe but it hurts alot when you have somebody close slowly fading away and you can't do anything about it.I'm not good handling those situations since I turn into a neverending emotional waterfall. I guess that's one of the many reasons why I skipped the "family-tradition" of becoming nurse number23452 in the family tree. Arf.

More happy news: Jan/Feb will be awesome, since the board game I worked on will be out. (German, French, Italian language... :D )
The rest.. oh well... next entry with pics again. I'm already late on so many things but at the moment the couch seems the best choice. With a huge pile of books and tea. Yay. o_o

Happy Easter! \(O_o)/

2010-12-21T20:40:00.002+01:00

... since I'm in the middle of Easter Illustrations already. Arf...
Will show those when I have the first bunch finished. Bunch in my job means 30. So 23 more to do.

Merry Everything!

finally done

2010-12-12T20:30:00.000+01:00

now...

and than.... :)

I like that my workplace is finished now... I think. There's still a black chalkboard missing but alas... details. The new lamps are finally up and it's so much better for the eyes. Lew, I hope you like it since you gonna spent there a lot of time as well.

For Miss Kirschvogel :)

2010-12-11T12:51:00.002+01:00

I promised Frau Kirschvogel to make some more pics of the Art S. Buck mannekins and here we go. Actually those are still tricky since some parts are not as cooperaive as they should be but it's okay since they need to be stiff. You know if a pose works when the figurines stop falling ;)

I think the female one above shows it pretty much. I wasn't sure if she keeps from tumbling but the pose is static.

The -still very- cool part is that you can take pics of different perspectives. For me it's practically the best since it's always a bit annoying to get those correct and well... here they actually are. Click, done.

This is how far the back can be bend. If you add the legs as well it's pretty much. You just have to keep an eye on the different parts (like legs or arms) to sit in the correct position. Here it's not that problematic but the male leg gives away when you bend it without ckecing since it's so buff.

Super-hero picking something up.... with pretty shadows...

and Super-Hero picking something up from a different angle. And other pretty shadows...

Sitting works as well... especially on a Bodum cup *arf*

And surfing but still not tumbling around as well. They are really damn well balanced I have to say.

So much for new pics. I still wish the female had switchable shoulders as well. It makes a lot of sense with some poses.

Anne

And since 99% of the random people hitting this blog are searching for Art S.Buck mannekins: There you go

Sphinx Kitteh... loves the heater in winter. :)

Basement vs Ceiling

2010-12-07T10:08:00.000+01:00

Basement cat craves for the place where...

... Ceiling cat is.

Whassup?

2010-11-29T22:17:00.000+01:00

A bit older but my daily morning view.... including a million

"Mi!"

"Miii!"

"Mi!"

Alive

2010-11-19T15:41:00.000+01:00

Originally Lew and I meet every Friday working on comics. Sadly we had to move it to Saturday this week since I'm so stuck in deadlines I even dreamed about it (computer crash of course ;) ).

Somehow the roses don't look as colourful as they look on my Eizo... hm. Anyways. Still working on two board games (totally mad about one since I can't grab the concept) and little sparkling ponies. I have no idea how long I'll be able to draw those sparkle things without getting crazy but it's fun. Now.
Anyways, hopefully the sparkle roses will be a part of a puzzle motive and if not I can at least say I did a very pink and very blonde princess- once upon a time.
And I hope my weeks are back to 50something hours soon.

Llamafied

2010-11-08T22:15:00.000+01:00

Llama keychain that was in my post today. Hurray for llama! Llama can be bought here for 3.95 Euro and comes in fancy gold-yellow. I added the pink shadow pic for those who want to know the size. It comes handy- the size is just perfect. Not too big and not too small.

Moreover Hantje will go to the vet for castration tomorrow. Oh noes. My funky little caramell-o-kitteh. :( Cross your fingers she comes back healthy.

Christmas

2010-10-31T15:32:00.000+01:00

moleskine sketch for the December (Christmas) illustration for the new calendar. I hope I can finish it. Still stuck with dragons- hopefully just another week.
Since I switched to Windows 7 64 Bit my old scanner doesn't work anymore (one of those things were I wanan screm "F*** you! you should consider people like me!") which means no scanning atm. Arf. It's a problem I have with my old printer as well. I love 64 bit, but it's odd if you want to use old hardware but it turns out to be impossible :((((.
I wish I could add something brilliant. Lately I feel like writing again but it's like a black hole sucking away the end of those stories. I know the beginnings are awesome but the ending is not. But thanks god, I have to concentrate on comics anyway. And it's impossible to squeeze a whole novel in 6 panels. So I'm stuck with "Keep it short and funny" instead of "keep it long and epic and awesome". I shouldn't complain. Things could be worse.
Like finding Christmas presents. My mum was faster than me and snatched away all the good ideas. Even for Ty. I have to admit she's a genius when it comes to "buy Christmas presents in MARCH".

Maybe i should add sparkle...?

2010-10-24T23:48:00.002+02:00

Endless hours of painting, painting, complaining, painting, complain, complain, cry, painting, complain.... you get it.
Finished! Bitch of a game board.
I failed several times and I regret every single of those fails.
I always work twice the size needed -at least. So i chose 116 cm and plenty of optimism. And 600 dpi actually. And I started to wonder why 8 GB ram aren't enough. Arggg.... Nevertheless it looked good. Really.

Only some thing was missing. I joked with Ed about "maybe sparkle?". And yes, that's it. The fancy fillers that make a "looks good" to "looks really good". It's so odd but imagine all those fantasy fairy-dragon-unicorn-pics without at least a bit sparkle. Doesn't work 100%ly. Works without but it just looks better with a bit sparkle-me-up-scottie.

Good this wasn't about vampires though. O___o
Ad now I hope the company screams "that's it" instead of "maybe we change some things (subtitle: like everything)".
Anne ... with hell of a back-ache after nearly 12 hours at the comp just today... and it's bloody Sunday.

Lumi-eared

2010-10-22T18:53:00.000+02:00

still working on the game job. 6 dragons to go. I wish I would be faster. And I wish it wouldn't be gloomy dragons but cute little cats o_o And while I work the cats tend to nap next to my screens in their little bed. I wish I'd be a cat. XD

Black n White... and mostly grey

2010-10-18T20:59:00.000+02:00

My life has been more or less black n white for the last couple of weeks. I yearn for color. The problem is: color doesn't do any good if you have to concentrate rather on structures than on "oh, pretty blue highlight here and there". I've thought those million rocks would kill my patience but to be honest the character themselves do. I can't stand to look at them a single second though I have to in order to finish the painting. Rahhh.... This job pushes me far over my general border. I don't want to paint something that detailed again for a lot of weeks.
I wouldn't go this far if I didn't knew who else is in the project and if my graphics don't look good they will look very stupid next to his. It's like "omg... I so gonna fail".
The customer is more than patient. I have no idea how often I called and said " I need more time.. the rocks". And he said: "Still rocks?"... and I thought "this whole thing makes me scream and cry inside and want to kick something big and huge and not made of... rocks".
Jobs can suck a lot but I guess -still close to getting 28- you can grow on those.

Army of Hippos

2010-10-17T17:50:00.000+02:00

Eick visited us today and brought some little awesome things I waited for ... months. I was so damn excited >_< How often will it happen in life that somebody carves you characters with a laser out of wood?

I still need to paint those (with glowing wings) and make them (even more) pretty but I love those already to pieces. Especially the big one. It has just the perfect size.

More updates when I'll finish my current job. Still fighting with stones and color and details. 116 pure horror XD

whozzaaa... pink!

2010-10-12T13:49:00.001+02:00

so... we actually made it. In this awesome contest ! 6. place is not bad. At least I don't have to worry about how to pay for a legal Flash version anymore. :D
We'll upload the game as soon as a sponsor decided for the game which might take some more days. I have to admit that I doubted more and more that we'll make it (contest took so effin long) but... sun shines on our heads again.

I hope nobody gets pink-cancer from my blog. I got tired of white and though it's not fancy for men getting caught reading a pink blog you have to bear with it till I find something else.

A side-story which is really funny (odd):
At one fair I started joking around with Vinc from Tokyopop if people sell the Shikishi (autograph) cards when they don't want a "for XY" on it. Normally people act like: "NEVER! No way!" Odd about the whole thing is that one card is on ebay now and of course there is no "for...." on it. So I guess it's from one of those girls who shook their heads so enthusiastically.
Is it so hard to admit that you get those cards because you consider getting money out of it? Come on, I am happy myself that the "Lady Oscar" comics are worth 50 bucks atm. .... though I bought those because I really enjoyed reading it (though the kitsch almost hurt).
Strange enough and funny people are bidding on it. If you happen to be one of those: I'll send you one for free with an extra hug ;)

And now back to painting stones for a game... doh.

Smudgeguard- review

2010-10-10T15:16:00.004+02:00

As promised a review of the "SmudgeGuard2" which can be used for Graphic tablets and especially Cintiq.
I tested it for two weeks now and compared it with my Lycra sock :B

The Smudgeguard can be bought via amazon and other stores. For all German folks: Click
The SG costs around 30 Euros. Ouchn! For 30 euros I expected a better packaging design. It looks a bit cheap. But maybe I'm just too picky.... It's basically a Nylon glove with 2 fingers. SG 1 has 1 finger (Pinky one).

That's how it looks like when you have it on. Very fancy. The SG comes in 4 sixes- you find a measurement help online. Though I'm not a .. tiny person I have only M (gosh, how on earth can somebody have XL.. if I have M!). And the wrist band fits a bit sluggish- though it's the correct size. Which gives me thoughts about considering buying one size smaller since the band will loosen up a bit after a while.

My biggest problem is that the fingers are not long enough for my octofingers. I dislike it when you have the seam somewhere but not where it belongs. I would like to know how people with very short fingers find the thing since I guess it's not pleasant as well if you have too much glove for not enough finger. O_o

And ... my lycra sock. For German folks again: Schlecker! 2,99 Euro for 2 (of course... it's a sock after all). Which means 1 "glove" for 1,50. It's nice because it's with lycra which means it fits really tight and won't wobble around your arm. Plus it's long....

as you can see here. I think the worst about the SG is that it's so short. I hover over my GT with my whole arm. So the hand is basically not the problem but the arm sticking to the GT.

Very professional cut out but you can choose the height where you want to have the whole and that's one thing I love. Because even if it looks weird you can make it comfortable as you like.

I guess you can already see where I'm heading...

I think the Smudgeguard is *okay* but not for that price and it's still not "tight" enough to sit properly on your hand. I like my Lycra sock a lot more since it covers the whole arm and I don't have a mucky feeling on my fingers after a while. IF you consider socks look out for Women's with Lycra. It's washable and you can use 20 of those compared to the SG.

PS. I totally forgot: I love to wear at least one ring on my.. Ringfinger. Impossible with the Smudgeguard. Yes, i know totally unimportant but ring vers SG= I favour my ring.

and a bit news on cats. Hantje is still very tiny and a real princess. She is totally picky on food and choosing the right food for the day is more or less "What will Hantje love today.. doh." There's still no machine for translating "Mi-mi-mi" into "I want chicken" which is a bit annoying. I think (and hope.. because it's so cute) she will stay with her babyish face.

Ignore the clothes plz O_o; .... Tretel turned into a Catzilla already. He's heavy and Lew said he looks a bit mean though he's the biggest bozo on earth. And his feet grow more and more... looks like he's not finished with growing into something very big.

AND... we got the new scratching post. It's 3 meters 2something huge and ... just huge. I wanted to have something the cats can actually *really* climb on and stumbled over the company "Petfun" and what's really special: customizable posts depending on your ceiling height. 2,50 meters cost the same as 3, 50 which is really cool. The bole is no chipboard but massiv wood. this thing can't be killed by any cat.

I have no idea if they ship outside Germany but if you think that one is cool browse for "Jacky O." in the shop. I have to add that we added a wicker basket and a wall holder.

Happy End for the kittens (I know I spoil them too much.. god knows how much I spend on them already =____= ; ).

Art Academy -first try

2010-10-06T13:36:00.000+02:00

Well… where to start. I got a DSi XL yesterday and started testing the Art Academy. If you think “Oh gosh, she starts advertising like hell”… nope, I won’t, don’t worry. ;)

The last game console I had was a Sega Game Gear so you see I’m pretty much totally out of it. Or was.Good about the whole thing is that even noobs can use it since 99% are pretty intuitive.

Starting with the bad things: The only thing that is really bad is that nobody considered adding porting. If you finished something and want to show off: Impossible. And I guess nobody wants to take a pic of the screen everytime. I hope they will add that soon- since I googled it and a lot of people complained it seems to be something nobody likes.

Free drawing - for those who want to have some minutes off the lessons and those who are too curious to get a lesson *before* they tested everything. You know, artists can be kids. Of course i started painting before even looking into the rest. O.o

The second screen -your touchscreen has all small icons on top. They pop up if you activate them via arrow. It's simple but for such a small screen it's perfect. after 5 minutes it's easy and natural to switch.

The palette acts a bit unusual but it's cool since you see the color wheel on top and can decide which color you add and what color will come out. As you can see I have a light green-yellow in. Activate the basic color and tap on the others and they automatically mix. Nice. Though I miss a cyan.

The blue what's on the palette is a neutral sky-blue. As I said you don't have an "export image" option so those are pics I took this morning.

First day opinion: As a “small console game” Art Academy is pretty much fun. The graphics and especially “Bacon” are nice and make it more appealing than I’d guess.

peek

2010-09-28T18:25:00.000+02:00

unfinished detail -not finetuned nor corrected. I just want to get the final colors done though the leaves already drive me crazy.... arf. I love Halloween and Autumn (and especially pumpkin soup. Gosh... so yummy).

Posts and Reviews

2010-09-26T22:15:00.000+02:00

gosh... i bought too many books & tools o_o
Anyways, there were some gems in and I'll try to write some intelligent reviews within the next days.

Next to that I would ask you to leave comments only in English, German or French. Some funny people wrote in very sloppy Portugese (I know what "fofo" means but that doesn't mean the rest does....) which even Bablefish couldn't translate.
I can't read Chinese either. I hope nobody feels offended by my lack of ability to answer comments that looks like +#°%&$ to me.

Review List to come:
SmudgeGuard
DA laptop bag (have to write that one anyway)
Classic Pen Wacom

Tokyo Inferno 1-2 (comic)
Kyolee tome 1 (comic)
and some more "usefull" books for artists :)

I promised to make some more mannekin shots for Miss Kirschvogel which will be uploaded soon.

Worth an information: still working on agency illustrations and game illustrations and mah comics. I still feel like I am too slow but my arm keeps telling me the opposite. I guess I have to listen to my arm now. >_>

somehow epic

2010-09-23T10:20:00.002+02:00

First of all I should say that the illustrator does normally know how to work and that his "normal" illustrations look good (his CATAN illustrations are just GREAT!... btw). The problem is - like always- that a company hires *somebody* who had never in his whole life drawn in japanese comic style (I wouldn't call it manga, since that's still and very obviously a BOOK).

Fail.. just fail... the next problem is that people actually buy it because they think it looks nice. People from "our dark side" know this is so very wrong, but Auntie M. wouldn't realize. Ouch.

Had to share. If the illustrator reads this: Sorry .I love the rest... really...

Pong Game peek

2010-09-19T18:11:00.000+02:00

more information can be found here since I'm too tired of retyping everything.

paper, ink, coffee and tea

2010-09-18T21:08:00.000+02:00

... might be the most important ingredients of a good book.. and designs.

Maike (my home-page fairy) and me worked on the final redesign of a coporate design today. I'm so effin proud- I haven't done a complete design in the last five years and still it feels great to finish everything with "this looks good... and everything fits together and makes sense".

Working on Chubs

2010-09-16T14:57:00.002+02:00

Lew doin flats. Surprisingly we didn't try to poison, depress or kill each other after the first comics.

My regular place is either at the light table or the drawing board (hiding to get around complaints like "This is wrong... a fly doesn't look like a blob!" ).

2nd sketch... one comics undergoes 5 stages which is kinda odd (presketch, sketch, flats, final coloration, final touch up...).

and random nose pics of Hantje. The cats sleep all day next to our screens. I wish I was a cat... =_=