Behind the Scenes: Defenestrated Drawings

Up until now my illustration process has been extremely tedious. My pictures may not look like much, but I put HOURS of effort into those things. The post from last week with ten pictures in it? At least ten, maybe twenty hours to write and draw, easy.

So what is my drawing process, anyway?

I thought you'd never ask!

1) First I pencil-sketch everything in no-copy blue. Sometimes I'll photocopy it to have more than one original to work with.
2) Then I ink over it with felt-tip pen.

3) I scan it in, adjust the colour levels, and fix pen mistakes. I do all my digital work in GIMP, which you can download for free.
4) The colouring begins! Depending on complexity and depth, this can take 15 minutes... or up to two hours, like in this case.

5) Sometimes I add a background. This picture was pretty fancy, so the background took upwards of a half hour.
6) The finished work of art! Take a closer look and read the related blog post here.


But guess what?

I got a tablet! (Not the iPad type, no. A graphics tablet.)

Behold: the Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch! I found this one second-hand on Kijiji for $50, which is a sweet deal at only half the price of the newer, more stylish model.

On the other hand, this one has features that even the new one doesn't (specifically, an eraser on the stylus).

The verdict: I am IN LOVE with how natural and intuitive it feels to use this thing. The response is great and the pressure sensitivity has so much potential! It's fun to play with and loads better than a trackpad. I even find myself reaching for it instead of my mouse...

And THIS is my first fish-person drawing done entirely on the tablet! Hmmm... I need more practice. XD

Jubilations ensue!

I still have 3 or 4 upcoming posts illustrated in the traditional method, but these will phase out as I start using my tablet.

With any luck, this new gadget will mean more drawings for you and also more sleep for me! Woo-hoo!


So what about the rest of you? Artists, cartoonists, and casual doodlers — what do you draw with?

A graphics tablet?
Tablet computer?
Mouse?
Camera? (Yes, that totally counts!)
Ordinary pens?
Or a trackpad? (Yuck!)

Everyone likes... BUTTS?

I know, right?

But look! I have the views to prove it:

Disregarding the time I tagged semi-famous people in Facebook photos and linked them to my blog, "Butts" is my most popular post ever. This is obviously a subtle hint at the big break that will one day make me internet-famous! *sarcasm hand* I need to use more shocking, mildly disturbing post titles.

Suggestions, anyone?

Bonus points if you can create a sensational title or headline using one of the following words/phrases!

• Pineapple
• Skadoosh
• Skittles (who doesn't love skittles?)
• Funkydiscombooblegum
• Thumb wars
• "How to destroy the perfect _____________"
• O.C.S.A.Y.D.
• Sleepophone
• Pocket Lint
• Angry potatoes

In other news...

Am I really that dull?
My blog stats have told me something. (I'm a stat-whisperer; it's like speaking Parseltongue but with more binary.) People frolic happily across my blog only to leave when they find my repulsively boring "About" page. I've got to do something about that — what do you guys want to know about me? (Nothing too stalkerish, kay? Kay.)

About those crazy things I draw:
FAQ has a NEW entry! (Where "NEW" is defined as "more recent than my last fossil of a post.") I'd like to introduce you all to the FAQmonster. He smells of ignorance and curiosity and has a body the texture of cornstarch mixed with pancake syrup. Please feed him, preferably before he eats any of my more questionable (see what I did there?) post drafts.

This is eerily appropriate...
The winning post idea on my reader's poll was "A History of Procrastination." Meanwhile, I disappeared for over three weeks. Haven't blogged; haven't read blogs; haven't commented on blogs. Mostly this was because I felt guilty about not posting on mine and it snowballed and now Google Reader has 579 647 678 unread items. But wait — I have excuses!

1. I started work. (My summer job involves getting exercise, presents and a major sock tan. JEALOUS, right?)
2. I became hopelessly addicted to Google+.
3. I got my driver's license! STAY OFF THE ROADS! Just kidding; I don't have a car! My parents went out of town and left me one for the week? WHAT? Ohmygosh. I can go anywhere! Run errands! Drive to work even though biking is faster! What should I do? o.O [Car remains parked in street, doing nothing.]
4. I'm a chronic procrastinator; deal with it.

I'm going to spend the next couple days reading blogs, keeping up with comments and stalking my readers and fellow bloggers on Google+. Then I'll get started on that historical procrastination anecdote. I can't promise it will be the next thing I post, but I will be working on it.

Don't forget to send me post titles! The crazier the better — I might write a whole post as an excuse to use it!

The Following People Are Awesome

The title of this post also applies to my shoes and the word defenestration even though they are not people. [Thinks: I should totally give my shoes names...]

ARTIST'S NOTE: The following drawings are each dedicated to the person pictured. And yes, I have combined my own drawing style of fish-people with the style each artist uses to draw themselves.

Allie Brosh
Hyperbole and a Half author

Allie? I made you a trophy! It's for being the funniest person on the interwebz. Can you put it on your fireplace, right next to your "Ability to be Responsible" trophy? Thanks!
P.S. Your blog makes me want to laugh out my spleen. I love you.


Allie Brosh is THE funniest person on the internet. She also proved that blogging stories with weird pictures is awesomesauce. The idea for this blog wouldn't exist without her.

If you have never read Hyperbole and a Half, why are you here wasting time on my blog when hers is 10000000000 times better?

No! Wait! Not like that! I didn't mean for you to... NOOOoooooo!!!! Come baaaaaaaaaacckkkk!!!!

D=

Kat Rosenfield
AKA Auntie Sparknotes

Dear Auntie Sparknotes,
You are amazing at drawing arm-less, hairless, googly-eyed hilarious people. I salute you.
Thanks for answering my letter last year. It still helped me even though the situation catapulted irreversibly downhill.


Auntie Sparknotes is the awesome advice columnist on Sparklife. She is sympathetic, helpful and hilariously funny. She also draws a googly-eyed cartoon for each of her columns, giving about 5% of the inspiration for these blog posts.

Dan Bergstein
He wrote Blogging Twilight

Dan? Dan? Dan? Dan? Dan? I built you this jetpack myself. Do you like it? Please like it! You're not a werewolf in this picture, but I think the beard you used to have puts you halfway there.
I'm sorry. The next picture I draw of you will be more epic, I promise.


Circle one or more choices for each option:
If you [have/have not] read twilight and think it is [amazing/an offense to literature/perfect/great firewood/full of glitter], you should [most definitely/absolutely/certainly] read Dan Bergstein's Blogging Twilight and you will [not have to read the books/laugh uproariously at Dan's genius/die happy]. Then you should read Blogging Harry Potter! (Dan's on book 2 right now.)

And Dan draws epic pictures... Edward's medusa-hair is amazing.

Megan Prietzel
She is a totes awesome Jedi-Ninja

Most Honoured Jedi Master,
I've been reading your blog, stalking your formspring and splurking on your Sparklife posts for months.
I'M SORRY FOR BEING CREEPY!
Please accept my apologiez, this green lightsaber and my eternal admiration?


If Allie Brosh made me think blogging was awesome, Megan Prietzel made me think it was actually possible. She's funny, she's awesome, she draws pictures, she blogs and she writes for Sparklife (I wish I did). But when I realized she was my age and in school, I was like WOW I CAN TOTALLY DO THIS TOO!!! I will be the next Megan Brosh/Allie Prietzel! (Uh-huh. Riiiight.)

Daria
Is a wonderfully marvelous friend ^^

Dearest Dary,
Since I can talk to you In Real Life, why would I write a mini-letter to you here?
...because you were just as important in getting me to actually start this blog as anyone else I've mentioned. =)
♥ That's why.


You see, for a while I had been saying to Daria, "I should start a blog." But then one fateful day she says all casual-like, "You know what? Blog writing can be really fun. ^^" And I was all "Wait WHAT you write a blog?" Turns out she had been writing for a while, and I didn't even know! Now energized, my brain was all "MUST HAVE BLOG NAO" and I created it the next day.

We and some friends used to have blogs in Junior High, but they were blubbering hormonal things. The kind you would only bother reading if it was written by a close friend, the guy you were crushing on, or that other pretty girl who also liked the guy you were crushing on and sat by him in Science and Math. ;)

BWAHAHAHAHAHA.

My Shoes
These ones specifically

Dear shoes,
You are the prettiest and most photogenic shoes I have ever owned! Please last forever.
Dear feet,
If you grow any more YOU WILL BE SORRY.


So one day Dary and I were eating a picnic outside. We also had a camera! (Highly entertaining indeed.) I thought it was a brilliant idea to put the camera on the grass and use the auto-timer to take pictures of my feet and, well, this was the result!

I love this picture, so it will most likely stick around on my blog (in some form) for a very very long time.

Defenestration
Most Awesome Word in the Universe

That's all I really have to say for this one.

If you happen to live in some alternate universe where defenestration is not the most awesome word, you should probably read this and get up to speed.


When I first created my blog it was called "Feet in the Air" because of the picture of my feet and because I couldn't think of anything better. But www.feetintheair.com was taken so I later thought of the Most Amazing Blog Name Ever! It uses my favourite word and it is perfect.

Don't you think so? =P

Defenestration: A Beginner's Guide

When I was younger my favourite words were big words. The longer a word was the more I liked it! At eight, my favourite word was antidisestablishmentarianism.

I could even define it.

Later I ditched antidisestablishmentarianism in favour of the slightly longer floccinaucinihilipilification. I feel slightly pathetic now. I just looked it up and realized I've been pronouncing it wrong my whole life.

But my all-time favourite word for years has been defenestration. I've had several people ask me what it means as the name of my blog so... Here! I'll provide you all with this wonderfully witty and rather unhelpful definition:

Defenestration

[dee-fen-uh-strey-shuhn] –noun

1. the act of defenestrating a person or object.
2. the Most Awesome Word In The Universe.

If you need more help, the drawing gives a much better explanation. (A picture is worth a thousand words, right? If encyclopedias were full of just pictures they would be SO much shorter.)

Or, yunno... you can be lame and just Google it.

Hierarchy of Awesome Words:
1. Defenestration

2. Phlogiston

3. Litotes

4. Obfuscation

5. Lugubrious

6. Quasihemidemisemiquaver (also semihemidemisemiquaver)

7. Gramineae

8. Mulct

9. Franglais (is actually a word!)

10. Sesquipedalian

I still have a soft spot for hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia even though it's not a real word. Aibohphobia is cool too.

Do you have a contender for Most Awesome Word In The Universe? Bring it!

A Lame Entry

Wheeeeeee! My blog now looks the way I want it to. Everything except the actual writing itself, that is. Yay procastination!

Sigh. At least it's a step in the right direction. With any luck, seeing this pathetic post on my blog's front page will spur me on to greater authorial pursuits. Soon.

Until then (in a sad attempt at temporary appeasement), here is a picture I drew of a happy frog:

I've used it once before in a newspaper I edit
and I feel like a total cop-out for recycling this.