Of Scanners and things

Well.. I'm really not one to beg for things.. or ask.. but I think it's time I did.

American Gothic Daily runs on what ever I decide to put into it.. which so far hasn't been too much. My computer I had before I ever started-- a decent Dell Dimension 2400 with 2 gig RAM (I upgraded this in the last six months at $140.00) and 80 gig harddrive. I got a nice 19" LCD flatscreen for it last year too ($130.00) and then recently I bought myself a Wacom Cintiq ($998.00 to be precise.... and boy.. does that hurt my pocket) My Epson Perfection 1200 scanner was a steal at $6.99 from the local Goodwill thrift store. I made out awesome on that deal.

I use Corel 8 Suite for my comic (yes.. I know.. the horror... I should be using Gimp or Adobe like a good girl.. but I've used Corel for so long that I can do it in my sleep) It was a gift.

I've been buying good paper lately-- it comes to about $1.25 a sheet. I get Cartiera Magniani Portofino Acquerello 100% cotton 140lb hot press. It's super smooth, which keeps the texture out. My watercolors and pens ain't cheap... last time I bought paints I spent 275.00. That was two years ago and they're lasting me well so far. Pens on the other hand.. I go through them like crazy. Thank Goddess they're cheap.

And to make uploading and reading comics better (and just about anything else for that matter) I've gotten Hughes Satellite internet service.. the only high speed available out in BFE. Before that I had EVDO/cellular.. and it only worked when the weather was nice and I could get tower reception. $300.00 for equipment and 75.00 a month.

Here's where the begging comes in.

I want a wide format scanner next.

To really improve my comic art.. I need to do what the professionals do. They work on tabloid sized paper (11 X 17) and then scan it on a wide format scanner, shrinking it down to the size you see in comic books. That way-- the reader gets all the detail... the artist doesn't go insane trying to shove everything onto a piece of 8 X 11 1/2 paper. My recent pieces for ROCR have been two pieces of watercolor paper taped together to make the larger size paper.. then I scan them in separately.

This is only going to work as long as there is a seam in the exact middle. The day I go to draw something with a centered center panel.. I'm screwed. I'm going to have to do some fancy photoshop work. This cuts down on my production time... and for an artist like me who has to work for a living Monday through Friday and have a family too.. I dont wanna mess with that seam.

Large Format scanners aren't cheap. A new one can easily cost 1200.00 or more. I'm not going for that... I've found several used Microtek 9800's on eBay anywhere from $170.00 up to $300.00.

So.. if you wanna help me out... please feel free to donate to my paypal account. Right now I just fixed the button so it goes to "skycladstrega@yahoo.com" PLEASE MAKE SURE PAYMENTS GO TO SKYCLADSTREGA@YAHOO.COM My old email address is no longer working and I wont get donations.

If I can't get the cash over the summer... it will have to wait until work starts back up in the fall. My next paycheck isn't until September 15th. :(

*keeps her fingers crossed*
Thank you guys so much-
Aggie

Having Fun at Your Friend's Expense

Every year Hogan hosts the Halloween Caper... a chance for webcomics to crossover and be stupid.

Key word: stupid.

I like stupid fun-- so here's a look at myself (Mary-Sue-ing but of course), Aura (aka Fading Aura of "If Then Else"), Hogan of the Cameo and Crossover Archives and Deccy of EOU.... and the dog is a surprise. :P


Aggie

Characters

These are characters for other people's projects.
The elf is Elka, a GURPS/AD&D character from long... long ago (like some 15 years ago). It was nice to resurrect her and redraw her now that my skills have improved. I'm going to let Hogan borrow her (yes.. this sort of scares me).

The short haired one is "Mouse" for Net/Matt Summers -- author of Superfreaks and a host of other webcomics.

Luke image

I was goofing off and drew this image of Luke. I think I made his face too fat... but it is kinda pastel and cutesy. He's such a bish.

Odds and Ends nudity

Here's some happy happy nudity. The nude fox anthro is from Turnsky's sketchbook. The Millia-Luke cheese was me bored one afternoon. The nudes were from my old sketchbook-- glad I found them.. I wanted the two Goddesses sketch as a reference for a painting I'm working on.. and the Gorgon is from earlier in the year.

Viking Era

I drew these some time ago, and I thought I would put them back up so they could be seen.

Fairies

The Nashville Zoo has a fun collection of huge bugs and I loved looking at their different wings and patterns. I was also rather fascinated with the poison frogs.. so I got a little inspired.

Life in the fast lane

The last three weeks have been a blur....

Reinder came to visit from the Netherlands and we spent the first week going to the Frist Museum and the Nashville Zoo... playing Tennessee tourist. Our second week, members of the Hugbox flew into Nashvegas and we had a Squareone Comics Collective get together for a few days: Lissa and Erin, Saru, Dotty and Robby, and Aura. From there we caravaned to St. Louis for the Comic Genesis Cookout.

This may be the last year for the cookout, as the hosts Ryan and Beth Kolter are expecting a baby. It was good to go to it, even though many regulars didn't show up this year. We spent the day drawing in sketchbooks.. filling up as many as we could. Rein and I have some of our work scanned and featured at the Comic Genesis Forums and the Square One Forums. The rest of the time was spent at the pool and driving around a lot, eating at a lot of restaurants.

One thing we did do was go shopping at Nordstroms. Lemme tell you.. Rein looks hawt in Hugoboss tailored pants and shirt. Yay for him that the Euro is strong right now.

After the Cookout, we returned back to a quiet week of rural countryside, hitting several state parks... spending the days hiking and swimming in Tennessee waters. On Saturday we hit Adventure Con in Knoxville- and oooooooooh did it give me food for thought.

Most of it negative of course: "Goddess my art sucketh". "I should have followed my childhood dreams and went to art college sooner". "Why did I give up comics for so long?" "I hate teaching art" VS "I love teaching art- I only work 180 days a year". "I need to go back to school." "I need to work harder on my art." "I need to just give up because it's kinda pointless.....I should just be happy teaching small children to paste noodles."

So here I am, contemplating a total change ...getting the right paper, the right inks... the right tools... going from something I do half-assed on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper on my lunch breaks to doing it on the big 11 X 17 tabloid card stock. It would mean a giant step in quality for the reader.

*sigh*

Time to hit Google and Ebay... looking for an affordable tabloid/A3 scanner....

Love to all-
Aggie