Category: Tech

Tablature

andertoons10 Comments

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I ordered myself a nice new Intuos3 today.

My Intuos2 has served me well for a long looooong time, and I’d had great hopes for my NuLooq controller, but, sadly, twas not to be.

I’m a big guy with big hands and the NuLooq just wouldn’t stay put. Every time I twisted to zoom, or moved to pan, the damn thing slid around on my desk. So a one-hand time saver quickly became a two-handed time burglar.

I’ve got a fair amount of coloring to do for some greeting cards, and, frankly, coloring’s not my favorite thing in the world (there’s something about revisiting an older cartoon that just leaves me flat somehow) and, well, I just snapped. And after watching the movies over at DaniDraws (albeit quite sped up) I bit the budgetary bullet.

Kyle Miller commented at our last CCC meeting that he was using the Intuos3 in Illustrator to do his Working Daze and Game Creature stuff, so the seed was planted I guess.

Looks like the Intuos3 has all sorts of fun buttons and sliders to help me optimize my Photoshop time. I’m really looking forward to trying it out!

It does make me wonder, though, if I’ll ever make the jump to all digital. I haven’t really played with any custom brushes in Photoshop (anyone know any good ones?), and I’m kinda in love with my brush pens and markers, but I think someday I’m gonna have to do it. If for no other reason than my pens’ manufacturer stops making them or something.

I’m gonna be a pen and paper guy for a good while, but I think the new tablet is inching me ever closer to the all digital line in the sand.

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Elegant Technology

andertoons4 Comments

Have you seen this video?

Sure, millions have. But have you seen the new video via Fast Company? (I tried to embed it, but it didn’t want to take via Ecto.)

You look at stuff like iPods, the new iPhone, stuff like this, and all of a sudden, technology is, well, elegant.

After picking up a NuLOOQ to compliment my Wacom tablet, I was feeling pretty cool twisting and tapping with my left hand while drawing with my right. (I wonder how and when this sort of intuitive interface will make it’s way to something like the Cintiq.)

But after seeing the FC Han video, I have to wonder how long it’s going to be before I make the jump to cartooning entirely digitally.

So many guys already do it, I sort of feel behind already. And I have all the tools, but there’s something about the tactile experience of my brush pen on paper that’s so immediate…

To be fair, when I work in Photoshop I usually have a ton of other programs open and running, so my poor processor is working as hard as it can. Still, I do like ink.

I dunno how, when, if I’m going to make the leap, but seeing elegant technology like this coming so fast, I think it’ll be sooner rather than later.

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The Future of Gag Cartoons

andertoons

Future

Mike Lynch was kind enough to point out a really interesting post from Scott Kurtz about possible future webcomic/traditional comic hybrids. (Just keep it away from the Cylons!)

It got me thinking about the future of my own often ignored little corner of the cartoon world.

Not so much about content per se; I’m not concerned with being topical or following the current humor flavor. But delivery, marketing, technology… That’s the stuff that fascinates me most.

Myself, a number of other cartoonists, and, of course, the 800 pound monocle, have found ways to earn a living online, or, at the very least, supplement traditional revenue streams. But I’m always wondering what’s next…

That iPhone looks promising. I think it’s probably the first device of its kind that would make reading comics and cartoons on your cell easy and enjoyable. Is there a market there? Will people pay for it? Is it more of a marketing tool to get people to your site?

There’s a lot of cartoon stock houses online, and I’ve considered expanding Andertoons similarly, but how can that system be improved? More cartoonist control? More user interaction? Do I even want to go there?

What about animation? I worked in Flash for a few months to varying degrees of artistic success, but do gag cartoons translate well? Would a static image with an audio track suffice? How much animation is enough?

Got me, but I can tell you one thing, if there’s a leading edge of gag cartooning, that’s where I’m most interested in being.

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Andertoons on My PSP

andertoons6 Comments

I’m a mid-thirties male, so it kinda goes without saying that I’m into video games.

I wouldn’t say I’m a hardcore gamer; I’m not playing against or with anyone online in an MMORPG (I actually had to look that up, and to be honest, I’m still not sure I got it right), I’ve never played Halo, or Final Fantasy, and I let my X-Men game take care of leveling me up and all that because I have no idea what it’s talking about. But I do like games!

So recently I bought myself a Sony PSP. I know, I coulda/shoulda waited for the PS3 or the Wii, but in a house with two kids, I needed a game system I could tote around more easily.

For the past few weeks I’ve been happily playing Loco Roco and X-Men Legends II, but I’ve been noticing that this little gadget has a lot more to it.

With the wife at a craft fair and both kids napping, I took the opportunity to try out the browser on this and hook it up to my wireless router.

It’s slow. Really slow so far, but I did manage to bring up everyone’s favorite cartoon website!

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Neat huh?

OK, the layout’s kinda screwy here and there, and, again, it’s painfully slow, but it’s pretty damned cool all the same.

And it’s getting my head swirling with all sorts of possibilities! Between iPods and PSPs and whatever the Zune ends up turning out like, this sort of instant personal media bodes well for cartoonists.

OK, back to Loco Roco!

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Welcome!

andertoons4 Comments

TypepadToday I’m proud to be Typepad’s featured blog. I’m on their homepage with a nice little write-up, and I’m assuming some new folks are stopping by to check me out. (Regular readers please make them feel welcome and be on your best behavior. I’m looking at you, Lynch.)

Anyway, for those of you just joining us, my name is Mark Anderson and I’m a gag cartoonist in the Chicago area.

Right now my work is in your local magazine rack in Forbes, Good Housekeeping, and Reader’s Digest. I also work with a number of greeting card companies.

I’ll keep this short and get back to more substantive blogging, but before I go, please also check out my website, Andertoons.com. There’s a ton of cartoons, as well as several different daily cartoon RSS feeds.

(Bonus for TypePad users – Add a daily cartoon to your blog sidebar with a few clicks. It’s easy!)

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