The Green Muse Cafe

Hola Inklings,

I'm sure my list of addresses for the group is woefully out of date so if you noticed that I've missed someone please pass on this message.

As promised, on the next Sunday morning following our last meeting Louise, Robyn and I went to check out the Green Muse cafe as a viable spot to move our Inklings meetups. In most ways the area in the back checked out as a quiet closed in space able to comfortably accommodate all of us- with free wi-fi, of course. We spoke to the manager who said Sunday mornings would probably be the best time for what we want to do as that's when it's the fewest number of people there. Sure enough, I went back again last Sunday and this Sunday morning around 11am and there were very few people. Arriving at 10am, I suspect we'd have no problem securing the room with the table that'd work for us.

My only concern is sound. Without a group of us actually in there holding conversations it's impossible to know what the acoustics will be like. Also, the first week we were there the music was turned up a bit too loud, but not so much the other times I've been (the place has become my regular getaway writing roost). Plus, if we were a group of paying customers it wouldn't be awkward to ask that the music be turned down a smidge.

Even if everything else failed there's a huge screened in patio that's lined in stone (hard to describe but imagine a rustic room with screen where the roof and top half of the back wall were supposed to be) that we could try as an alternative.

http://media1.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/ZrT1tSqJvTknhOaSGOuXmA/l

The Green Muse Cafe is located at

519 W Oltorf St

Austin, TX 78704

The Mother of All Reschedulings

The Inklings will meet on May 16, 2010, to avoid conflicting with Mother's Day. Same time (10:00-12:15), same place (Central Market on North Lamar). But without the excuse of "can't make it, it's Mother's Day." See you there.

Sizing Images for the Web

I've created a tutorial for those of you who work traditionally but want to properly prepare your images for the Web. No Photoshop, no problem. This tutorial requires Picasa, which is free, and for you to have images you've scanned in from your art. I'll be following up with a guide to getting the best results from Photoshop, but for now, I think some of you might find this useful.

The 2 Bad Mice Design guide to resizing your images for the Web.

Beyond Photoshop: Manga Studio

At yesterday's meeting, we talked about the tools we use. Photoshop Photoshop Photoshop.

While a great tool, I've wandered away from it as the be-all-and-end-all graphics tool. I wanted to sing the praises of another program I use to cartoon: Manga Studio. Ignore the name, it's a marketing thing. It's a great comics creation tool, but also a great tool for imitating pen and ink drawing (and pencil, as well, though I've had to come up with a technique that combines Manga Studio with some final quick adjustments in Photoshop to get the effect I want). It comes in a basic version called Debut and a pro version called EX. Go with EX, it has great tools for perspective and other such useful things.

It's not a great tool for painters, but if you do comics, or pen and ink, or even under-drawings that require a lot of perspective, it's wonderful. But don't just ask me, ask the legendary Dave Gibbons, the artist behind The Watchmen.

Book Recomendation

I wanted to point out this book (that I just discovered via my daughter) as an example of effective illustration. It has an alluring story with a pertinent message, that is fun to read. But every time we go through the book we find something else in the illustrations. There are many little illustration side stories and characterization going on. So I recommend taking a look at this one if you can. Princesses are not Quitters by Kate Lum and illustrated by Susan Hellard.

The Great San Francisco Black Hole...

So there must be a small wormhole located somewhere over Central Market--or other places that Inklings hang out. It comes out in San Francisco. We know this much because yet another Inkling is about to be space traveled to the Bay Area. At some indeterminate time, (dependent on the housing market in Round Rock,) I will be moving into Sarah's shadow in SF. (My husband took a job there after getting laid off at Midway.) But I can always get back via the blog and email...
Heather

An Open Challenge

Writer/illustrators, save the date. October 18 is 24 Hour Comics Day: http://www.24hourcomicsday.com/

In short, the goal is to create a 24 page comic in 24 hours. You stay up all night. You come in without a story. You can bring different reference materials, but you should come in without a preconceived idea of what you'll be doing. There are all kinds of variants about finishing (do as much as you can in 24 hours, do as much as you can in 24 hours and finish up what may be left in the future, etc.). The goal is to create 24 pages, but the achievement is spending 24 hours writing and drawing.

I think comics are a great all-ages medium, and all people interested in kids' books needs to have a careful look at comics. And I challenge you to participate n this event. Usually, you start at around noon on the Saturday and work straight through, though starting at any time on October 18th works. Of course, you can do the challenge at any time, but the 18th is the official event date. Post a comment if you are interested in doing this thing... Austin is a hotbed of comics activity and holds the record for most people gathered to do 24-hour comics (at least, I don't think that record has been broken).

And for honesty's sake, I've done this twice. I finished 12 pages the first year and 17 the second. This year, I will be doing 24! Or die trying.