Ask Samantha
Hello! It’s Wednesday and time for Ask Samantha. Every week I answer questions sent in by Life’s a Witch readers. If you have a question, please email it to me at samantha (at) witchytech (dot) com.
Q How old are you?
- I’m old enough to have been married for more than 20 years and have two teenaged children. Did you want a number? HAHAH
Q How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
- A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Q What do you feel is the best advice to give to new artists?
- Keep doing your art. ESPECIALLY when you are frustrated with it. There are so many great things to say to new artists, but I think this bit of advice would have been the most valuable to me. Also, interact with other artists a lot. Just being around other creative people is inspirational.
Q More about Manga Studio?
- I think I’m going to download the trial version of the higher end edition. I am currently using Debut 4, which is a very basic version. If you are doing a long form comic and want to work in black and white, this is GREAT, but I want a few more features to make it as versatile as Photoshop. I’m told that the professional version ( “EX 4″ ) may have the kinds of things I’m looking for.. such as dodge/burn, the eyedropper select tool, etc. The draw back is the PRICE. Do I want to spend that much? Not really…. but WATCH THIS SPACE for more info!
Q What kind of set up do you have?
- My computer is a Dell which is a couple of years old with Windows XP on it.
- My monitor is a HUGE Hewlett Packard thing (HP w2408h, if you want the model number). I just love it. My resolution is set to 1920 x 1200 pixels so I can have many windows open at once with no crowding. This comes in handy when I’m streaming Watch Me Draw days. I have my art program open on the left. To the right, I have a browser (with my music playing through it), and the chat window.
- My keyboard is in a slide-out keyboard tray under the surface of the desk, so all the area in front of my monitor is free.
- My graphic tablet goes in front of the monitor when I’m doing art. I am currently using a Wacom Graphire, but I have my first tablet (by a company called “Aiptek”) as a back up. They both have nice thick graphic pens so my hands don’t cramp up. The Graphire is nice because there is no cord.. it connects to the computer using Bluetooth wireless. But it only has two programmable buttons. The Aiptek connects to the USB port, but the cord is nice and long, so no complaints. It has 12 programmable “tap” buttons on the top (I tap them with the stylus), which I really like. The pen takes a battery though, which is weird, but again.. no complaints. It does a great job.
- To capture the art program window, or the whole screen, I use a screen capture program called WebcamMax. (Webcammax.com). I just select the “source” I want to broadcast.. either my webcam, full screen, specific program window or specific area of my screen…and it captures that and feeds it through. It was very easy to set up.
- To broadcast, I go to a free service which lets users broadcast their own shows. Ustream.tv There are lots of other services out there too. (Here is my show’s page!)
- I often play music when I draw. The music is from my station on Pandora.com. I also talk to visitors in the chatroom (since I can’t type and draw at the same time). All I do is put the mic near the speakers, which are sitting on my desk next to the monitor. The mic picks up the music and my voice and saves me from running some kind of sound mixer in addition to the art, capture, streaming, browser programs I’m already running!
Don’t forget! Send me your questions for next week’s Ask Samantha!
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“Keep doing your art. ESPECIALLY when you are frustrated with it.” — Hear! Hear! Those are the times that literally try artists’ souls.
Also, a couple questions for next week, Samantha: What’s your drawing schedule like (e.g., draw for a couple hours early every morning, and finish a new strip every other day, etc.), and do you run with a buffer of strips?