mh-z web-log

A couple random designs, done at some sort of gathering at [http://www.bikerowave.org/ BikeRoWave].

[img[/design/random/twist-a-t.jpg]] [img[/design/random/twist-b-t.jpg]]

View them in their [http://mh-z.com/design/ natural habitat].

I’ve joined DeviantArt with the intention of creating and showcasing some new pieces and the hope of selling a couple on the side. I’m not exactly sure how the system works, yet. Is it like Zazzle, where they handle printing and distributing the artwork you create, and where you’ll simply upload a super-high-resolution version to them? Or is it like Ebay, where users handle production and shipping, and Deviant simply sets up the connection between creators and potential buyers? If the former, I’m always concerned about the quality of the service’s version. Will the colors come out as intended? Can I upload a high-enough-resolution file? If on the other hand I “get” to do the printing, then although I personally am confident about the quality outcome of my own prints from my nice little Epson inkjet (which takes 10 minutes to print a page at its highest quality setting and chews through ink cartridges faster than Kobayashi eats hot dogs (doubtful whether he chews)), this could be a liability for Deviant and sets up a system where they depend on user reputation and quality of prints would be highly variable from one artist to another. So… I doubt it works that way. Back when I did try Zazzle, I had used the service to order a poster-size print of one of my own images, which I was very dissatisfied with. The colors were horribly muddy (whereas output from my printer was nice and bright); the image was blocky and the dithering very visible (as if printed at 300 dpi). I’m sure mass printing technology (with far less than 10 minutes to dedicate per image) has improved considerably over the last few years, though, and I’m sure that the quality standard which customers expect from an online art service has increased. I could, I’m sure, resolve the topic of this speculation with about two minutes-worth of reading, but that wouldn’t be any fun. More importantly, I have to dedicate much more time to art, again, and I’m looking forward to that.

This looks significantly better on screen, after scanning it in, I think. It’s like one of those images which has too much detail: you have to blur your vision or back away for the bigger picture to form, and I’d had my face up close to the paper for far too long.

Here the bigger picture is of course abstract, but the same effect is present. Also, being able to crop the edges (I’m not going to do that to the original) helped center the design and make it more pleasing to the eye. Realize that a great deal isn’t captured in the scan, such as that I mistakenly used a different shade of black ink for part of the design… That nonetheless worked out well in the end, though.

The above is a close-up of the top right corner.

A pen and ink abstract drawing I’ve been working on here and there for a while.

Some progress. I am interested in selling the completed, original artwork. This will not be a print, but the original pen and ink on paper version. Make me an offer I can’t refuse?

Looks more like “Dragon” than “Seahorse”. Still in progress. I haven’t added much more since last version, but you can see how these things evolve.

Definitely still in progress. I originally colored the pupil of the eye shape in the center of the image with solid red, and this doesn’t balance with the rest of the design as it stands. I erased that with Photoshop in the version you see here, but working it into the rest of the design so everything looks balanced will be hard.

Is this done? I’m not sure. I can continue filling in the white space with more patterns. The original was too big to fit in my scanner, so I had to scan in two pieces.

Remind me not to try and fill a complete 9″ × 12″ piece of paper like this again. Usually when people ask me how long it took to draw something, I’ll say I don’t know, because I really don’t. I used to draw in class, so in multitasking like that, I did something extra with time I would have been mostly idle in (how much attention does one have to pay to a lecture anyway??). This time I can tell you that this sort of drawing, when you don’t have something else to occupy the other 3/4 of your mind, is tedious and slow. Maybe that’s one reason I miss lecture courses. I’m drawing (something else) and listening to music now, but would rather be out with friends. It’s late on a Monday night now though, with work awaiting tomorrow.