First piece in Manga Studio 4

Digital inking: now with 50% less weeping

UPDATE 1/25/11: The image above no longer has the moiré patterns I claimed to have triumphed over the first time I posted this. It was a problem with the way I exported from Manga Studio.

I’ve had Manga Studio 4 sitting on my shelf, sealed, for like 6 months. I wanted to buy it for a while (since rev 3), then it showed up on sale at Fry’s, and my awesome wife (who had heard enough yearning out of me) picked it up. As is my way with most things I lust after, as soon as I got it in my possession I proceeded to not touch it for the remainder of the year.

I wish I had just installed it straight away, because I’ve been having an absolute blast with it. To be completely honest, I only bought it for the ability to use the screentone tools — my attempts at creating MacGuyver tones in Photoshop have been pretty crappy (and filled with unpleasing moiré patterns), and I’ve wanted to be able to make manga-esque work for just under FOREVER.

But Lo! (I said ‘Lo!’ here) It also turns out the inking tools are perfect for me. I have terribly shaky hands; they’ve been getting shakier since my early 20s for reasons unknown. It’s frustrating. As I’ve gotten better at drawing, my hands have become harder and harder to control, particularly when using a stylus, which seems to pick up every shudder. But there’s something in Manga Studio’s pen tools that seem to completely ignore my stupid hands, and it allows me to get ink-like results without resorting to using the physical media*.

I realize that’s a special case just for me, but still, it’s AWESOME. I’m actually supposed to be in bed, but I am so psyched, I stayed up to draw and gush. If I was still living with my parents and/or 8 years old, I would be in SO much trouble. Actually, I still might be in trouble; I have to get up in 5 hours. Bleh.

Anyway, for the little piece above, I did a rough block-in with Photoshop, then imported it to Manga Studio 4, where I inked it with the G Pen preset (various sizes), and applied tones. No trace of my PS work is left — that’s all Manga Studio. Not saying it’s the best thing I’ve ever drawn or anything, but it was hella fun, and I am excited about the possibilities.

^{*Absurdly, I don’t get “wiggly” lines when using real pens and pencils. Just the digital variety.}

DiMarzio X2N in My Squier Hello Kitty Strat

Kitty, what's wrong with your head?

Ever since the Hello Kitty strat came out, I’ve had a bee in my bonnet to purchase one and swap the stock pickup for a really high output model. In the remainder of this fantasy, I go around the world being hardcore, and saying things like, “bee in my bonnet,” since that’s what you do when you’re hardcore.

A few years back, some very generous friends bought me one of these for Christmas, and I immediately set out to make my fantasy of come true. I have really low-bar fantasies.

In another fantasy, I dip my sandwich right in there! Right. In. There.

I dig active pickups, and the early, obvious choice was to drop in an EMG 81. The only reason I didn’t get it was the batteries. I didn’t want to have to route the body to fit the pack, and I didn’t want to just let it float in the cavity either (the guitar electronics equivalent of going commando), so I set my sights elsewhere.

I set them here. In case you weren't following.

At the time, the DiMarzio X2N still held bragging rights for being the “highest output passive pickup” on the market. I think that statistic belongs to another pickup now—that particular tagline is conspicuous by its absence from the product description—but it’s certainly a monster. And it was available in white, which pretty much sealed the deal. Long story short, I ordered one through my local music store, and about 3 weeks later:

"In my fantasy, your body's lying next to mine" CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CH-CHUG CH-CHUGCHUG

Another barely ambitious fantasy realized. Oh yeah. (sound of high-fiving an imaginary person here)

So how does it sound? Pretty good! The mids and highs are much more pronounced in the X2N; it’s a little like taking a blanket off of your amp or something.

Bear in mind that I suck at guitar, so it’s largely going to waste in my possession. Someday, though, after untold hours of practice, toil, callous-building and single-minded dedication to being as hardcore as possible, then, THEN, you’ll say, “Wow. He is putting that sandwich right in there.”

Right. In. There.

The X2N is half the price of the guitar alone, so this is probably not going to take off with many people. But if you’re either A) a Hello Kitty lover who plays guitar and likes distortion pickups, or B) trying to bring a Mike-Moss-style pitiful fantasy to fruition, it’s totally worth it.

Halloween-een

At an undisclosed location...

Created for a (very) little party my wife and I threw at our place the day before Halloween. I intended to just whip something up in 5 minutes, and then spent way too long on it (read: more than 5 minutes), so I’m posting it for you.

I think more people would have attended had they known where we lived. Oh well.

Being an artist versus being an “artist”

"You have the smudge tool? OMG, I have the smudge tool! Let's be BFFs."

_{I’m going to warn you right now, I am full of spit and vinegar this weekend.You see how I didn’t say, “piss” there? That’s because I didn’t want to be crass. I’d say that mission was a 100% success. Up top, Moss! (sound of self-high-five).}

Anyway, please forgive me for any lapses in sensitivity I might make over the course of this entry. Read the rest of this entry »

Interests include: shotguns, large breasts

I'd also like to meet a sandwich.

My sister-in-law was looking around the net for herself (I don’t ask questions), and this somehow resulted in me finding my old MySpace page. I remembered signing up when it was in its infancy: Friendster was still in vogue at the time, if that gives you any indication of how long ago this was. I never actually did anything on MySpace, but it looks like I filled out my profile.

Apparently I was awesome.

Who I’d Like to Meet:
Humans, and the occasional chubby cat or Chow.

Interests

General:
Animation, Coca-Cola, zombies, shotguns, the Moon Crest, Wolf Medal, and the occasional Chow.

Music:
Hum, Castor, Shudder To Think, STP, The Pillows, Stabbing Westward, The Used, Shiner, and the occasional Chow.

Television:
FLCL, Robotech, Sealab 2020, anything on HGTV except that show where the designers set $1,000 aflame and inflict a pineapple themed dining room on some poor couple in the process.

Books:
I ran out of good books to read, so I’m trying out pornography. I prefer the magazines geared at very specific markets, like “Large-Breasted Redheaded Asian Woman Bi-Monthly”, “Assathon”, and “That Girl Alicia From Your Work, Except She Naked”. I also have four shelves full of “Hot Hobbit Women” in my apartment, and I’m not ashamed.

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I’m going to go out on a limb and assume “Hot Hobbit Women” is supposed to be the name of a magazine and not a bunch of poor fantasy folk I’ve jammed into my furniture.