It's been a while...
...since I updated here. I've been busy, but don't really know what I've done.... You know that feeling when there's hardly any time to do what you want, but then you don't really know where the time has gone or have really anything to show for it? I guess if I try hard I would see I've accomplished stuff that isn't the main stuff I want to get done, but that are in support of the main stuff. On top of that, I've been staying up late to cram more into a day and ending up all stupid tired. You can't cheat time.
Anyway, I don't have anything important to say, but I do want to comment/share a couple of thoughts. First on
Easy Paint Tool SAI, secondly on
Tommy Heavenly6, and lastly on how spring has crept up on me and how summer threatens to do the same.
Easy Paint Tool SAI
Wow, this program is awesome! I've only used it briefly but damn! I'm impressed. Two things stand out: the ease with which you can achieve great results and the vector tool is outstanding! I downloaded this program 2 weeks ago from the
SAI website, started using a week ago, and spent a mere 3 days using it to do my
Comistock contest entry. All the pen/brush tools worked exactly how I expected with no tinkering (although you
can tinker with them), making it a pleasure to use.
But the most impressive feature of this program has to be the vector layer tools. Using
freehand mode, it draws smooth, beautiful lines like a pen tool, but the amazing thing is you can then use the
node edit tool and move, bend, distort, thicken, thin, and change the colour of vector and have an end result that still looks like a cleanly done hand drawn line. Once you're happy with it, you can convert or merge the layer down to a raster layer.
And if that doesn't impress you then the small size and responsiveness of the program will. Compared to the big boys Adobe and Corel, SAI is lightning fast. (When a draw a fast sweeping circle, SAI's smooth and rounded, Corel's is sometimes polygonal.)
If you want to try it, all the downloads are at
http://systemax.jp/en/sai along with info on the program. Or go to the unofficial fan-run english version site at
http://sai.detstwo.com/sai/But if you're lazy and just want the necessary links and steps without wading through the website, I recommend you do this:
Because SAI is a japanese program and to save you the time/trouble of renaming the tool palette labels to english, download the unofficial fan-compiled
english pack and the official
PaintTool SAI (Full installation) (Ver.1.0.0, Zip Compressed, 2008-02-25, 2.1M)There's no installer (which means less bloat!) so just unzip the first download (english pack) to a folder like C:\Program Files\Systemax\SAI (
make sure you use the folder names and structure that's in the zip file.) Then open the second zip (official full version) and extract only
sai.exe and
sfl.dll to the same folder. Then run
start-sai.exe and you're off and running. I think you only need to run start-sai.exe just once and then just run sai.exe there after (it seems works for me, but I could be wrong.)
I forgot to mention that a pressure sensitive input device is a must. If you got any questions, send me a note and I'll try my best to help ('cause the actual help files are in japanese!)
Tommy Heavenly6
I discovered Tommy Heavenly
6 (aka. Kawase Tomoko) while listening to an online j-pop radio station a couple of weeks ago and I've been hooked ever since. I'm loving "lollipop candy BAD girl"!! If you like j-pop with a rock/metal influenced sound, go check it out. She's also the lead singer for
A Brilliant GreenLong Journal
Still with me?.....this is getting stupid long. Don't blame you if you're nodding off.... not much longer I hope.
Spring/Summer
On top of gearing up for all the spring/summer comicons/animecons, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with things I want to do for the house too! I gotta prep the lawn (de-thatch, over-seed, fertilize) before it gets too hot. I also gotta re-grout the exterior of a bunch of windows and sand/paint peeling trim and stuff. I'm also refurbishing an drafting table I inherited so it'll fit in the space that I have. (Overly ambitious as I am, I'm trying to integrate a translucent/transparent window into it for light-table use.) I also want to update my journal css. And let's not forget all the drawing I still gotta/wanna do. Plus I wanna go out and enjoy the beautiful weather. Whaaaa!!! Shit, I'm just ranting.....I'll stop.
I'm gonna go thank every one for their faves and reply to comments and show some love back to you guys in the community....see ya.
Working On
+IRIS+ is temporarily on hold
Celtic Shaman
Stuff....so much STUFF!!
Commissions
Kiriban
The next one is 8 x 210. Do the math, win a prize.
Clubs
~
GaaSakuOwenz~
VincentYuffieFan
FF3, Bell sucks (take 2), and question... 
Tired
Crazy