Again, didn`t happen to me. But it could have if I had picked an interesting topic on which to work.
Archive for ‘June, 2007’
8 results.
No, this did not happen to me. I did like the idea, though, and I wouldn`t put it past some of the conference organizers/volunteers. The past three days or so have been totally done digitally. My skills with the pen are improving, but it`s still a long way from “good”. I did notice that my strokes flow better, but I think I may try a thinner brush over the next few days. I really liked doing the four-panel thing, and having the two in the center be “free-form”. I may use that more often when I want to get “dialogue-y”
This is a take-off on some Delta ads I saw on their in-flight entertainment on the way back from the conference.
First off, what? Advertisements for Delta on one of their airplanes? I`ve already paid my fare…What? There`s something to be said for a captive audience, but they already had my money! Sure, I guess it didn`t cost them anything to put it there, but if the practice of advertising to customers who have already purchased your product wasn`t so prevalent I`d lose a lot of respect for them.
Second, shouldn`t those kinds of ads be, oh, I don`t know, anywhere but on the airplane on which you are currently flying? I`m in the seat, for crying out loud, I know the quality of the ride. That made-up dude who`s all comfy and chillaxin`*, yeah, not happening. At least not in coach. Perhaps they got their fare classes mixed up when they set their in-flight ads. Perhaps such words as “cramp” and “stench” and “commiserate” would be more appropriate.
To be fair, the flight attendants both ways were very nice. However, who are they kidding with these ads? I`m sure they`ll really piss you off if you get a chance to see them. In your cramped seat. With 4 ounces of tap water in a plastic bottle. And no leg room. And whatever that smell is, which you are sure you`ve smelled before but you can`t quite place.
Oh, and about the comic, since this is why I put a commentary block in here to begin with: I played with a lot of things. Lots of fancy effects in the first panel, including transparencies, highlighting and gradations in color. That`s where I spent most of my time. You may not be able to tell, but I also put a haze in the second panel. The seats are actually the same color, so you may be able to tell there. I tried to make it look that much more dreary. In the ad, the colors hopefully “pop” more, and the highlights add volume and brightness. The haze skewed the “normal” results to an even more bleak version. I like the effects, but I wish I were better at usign them and had the time to use those highlights in more comics.
* — Do the kids still say that? Chillaxin`? Back in my day we just started to invent language, so we were kind of stuck with grunts, crude gestures and cave paintings to confer “coolness”, or “graaaugh” as it were.
Often I get the question, “Hey, how much of this is based on your real life? Seriously?” I know it may come as a shock (seeing as how the guy can be a bumbling moron totally divested from reality) but most of this is either made-up or a composite of stories and such. While some comics may or may not have been ripped off, wholesale, from my life, in many cases they`re at best composites of experiences of mine and my friends, or at worst wholesale Garfield rip-offs.
In this case, this is NOTHING like my life. In fact, most of this conference storyline is made up (though a few things, such as the price tag, are quite real).
I bring this up because my company is very pleasant to work for, and doesn`t make things like this an ordeal. Seriously. Oh, and my workstation is much more…ergonomic…than his. I am thankful to have a company that takes such good care of its employees.
Oh, and in a rare (1st time ever) occurence, I have retroactivelyrewritten a comic from a few days ago. I think you will agree that the flow is better. It reflects my original writing (which I though I had lost) and which I like a lot better, because it conveys a solid pacing and ties the strips together. Pacing is something I`m still getting used to, seeing as I have nine panels a week, and if my pacing doesn`t carry the jokes I lose at least three to setup. I think my writing and pacing are improving.
Yes, I did go to a conference that cost $535 (I`m sure it`s all discoverable in Google). No, I did not get a discount for presenting. Or for offering to moderate (which I ended up not able to do because of scheduling issues).
I think that, right there, is one big thing that`s wrong with academia.
Man, I really need to practice more.
Though, I feel I must add, 50!!!
I forgot how much I miss drawing…Even when I`m not happy with the results.
Nothing to say today. Maybe when I revisit this one later…