Happy Easter! \(O_o)/

... 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

 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 :)

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

 Basement cat craves for the place where...

... Ceiling cat is.

Whassup?

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

 "Mi!"

    "Mi!"

"Miii!"

"Mi!"

Alive

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

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

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...?

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

 

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

paper, ink, coffee and tea

... 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

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... =_=

See u in Kassel :3

I'll leave for Kassel tomorrow... the last con this year and I'm looking forward to come back and finish some comic pages. It's awesome, I haven't sketched that many pages for SIX years... and now everything I can think of is: XY more.. you can finish those >_< and I think those are good. Really.
Anyways, life is kinda upside down at the moment. I really want to finish the graphics for the Pong Game and the sketches for a real game you can buy and play (and burn if you like). .. no, you won't. If I get it done as I imagine it it will look good. Really... hopefully... I guess.

I hope I can finish a lot next week. Some people have been waiting for their stuff for ages. I feel bad for it but work was so exhausting I came home and literally fell asleep while falling onto the couch.

And since so many people visit my blog just because of the Art S Buck mannekins: yes, BUY THEM. They rock! ...

Anne

frogmugged

test-print for my frogged mug. Gosh, I love it! (the sample means it's a sample... obviously)

21 Weeks later - no horror though

She's really pretty O_O and I love her eye color (smoked amber something). She's 1 kg lighter than her brother which can be quite unuseful in fights ("and here rolls the panzer over meee"....)

Her character is quite clear. She's a bit reserved, quite and a silent bon vivant. She purrs only when she feels like purring and usually loves to watch everything. Normally her cuddle time is around 4 in the morning where she gets in a total frenzy and treadles on my face to get attention O_o;

Tretel got really big. I know that the cats from this breed (if you can call it "breed") turn out to be usually Catzillas so let's see if Tretel will be a Catzilla too. He's the one of the siblings who loves to be pampered, to cuddle, to snorr on his back and who loves to crawl into holes, your shirt, under your blanket and freshly washed clothes. He's still not the bright one of the two cats but I guess it's one of his charms. Treadle likes to get his cuddle time at 5 in the morning.

Alltogether our nights got a lot shorter....

21 weeks ago

Games... and more games

 Well... after I think 3 weeks working on "Pong" I might say that we are closer to finish (than 3 weeks ago... haha). Eduardo, Isabel and me decided to do a game with little chubbanimal Pong. Animating and painting took ages and still does. But I guess it won't be the last :3

Detail of a game background I did for an Australien company. Will post shameless advertising screens when the game will be released. Much pink, many clouds, very kitschy and so very me XD

and it gets bigger

 I totally forgot to write something about the light table i bought some months ago. >_<
A few months ago I had the wonderful situation of getting payed for a game coloration job. And since I needed a new light table (Ikea table didn't work that good if you need to clean up a lot of sketches...) I bought one.

Hurray!
My light table is from the "Dörr Professional Line", measures around 30 x 46 centimeters and is awesome.
It's one of those flat versions and I like the whole thing a lot.
If you need to work with bigger paper sizes a light table with 46 cm length is quite nice, not to mention that it doesn't weigh tons.




Price: around 200 bucks (yeah, a lot)
I got mine from ebay which didn't hurt that much.

What I like as well is that the cable is quite long. If you happen to have a lack of outlets this is very practical (I happen to have a very big lack of outlets).

 Best friend for lightboxes and two sheets of paper: Uhu Glue Roller (non permanent!). I roll some centimeters on the copy paper and stick it to the final sheet... copy... and rub it off.

Works good although i should mention that you shouldn't keep it too long on a sheet or else it gets yucky when you rub it off and smears.


Price: around 4.50 Euro (I bought mine 6 months ago and it's still not empty so the price is *okay*)

And because Lew was so nice and offered help for flattig comics (yes, .. comics!) Ty and me spend the last evening to set up her working space next to mine.

I hope it works... I decided that I rather ask for help than banging my arm again (or worse) and if it works that way and I can finish some things faster.... I have no problem with it. :)