otisframpton.com

7-7-Sunday 12-Hour Marathon!

As some of my webcast viewers and Twitter followers know, my iPhone met with a tragic fate a few days ago . . .

(I had to use my wife's iPhone to take the pic, btw.)

Anyway . . .

In an effort to help defer the costs of replacing it, I'll be doing a special 12 hour 7-7-Sunday marathon on September 13th, 2009.  There will be four "rounds" on this day, from Noon to Midnight EST (one at Noon, one at 3:00PM, one at 6:00PM and one at 9:00PM).  There will be no restrictions . . . you can try for and win a commission all four rounds if you like.  The price on this day will remain the same as always: $7 ($9 for international orders).

Go HERE to see a gallery of past 7-7-Sunday commissions.

See you on the 13th and thanks in advance for helping me replace my damaged Tricorder!

-Otis

P.S. Full disclosure: I'll be upgrading to the 3GS when I replace my iPhone, so don't feel too bad for me.  ;)

Sarge & Sketchbook Pro

Finally giving Sketchbook Pro a try:

I'd heard that Sketchbook Pro and a Cintiq were like peanut butter and chocolate and so far it feels pretty good drawing in the program.

It's the closest I've come to recreating the feel of using Prismacolor markers in the digital world.  It's definitely looser and more tablet friendly than Photoshop, but I don't think it will ever replace Photoshop for computer coloring needs.  But I may start doing comic roughs and pencils in Sketchbook Pro.

This colored sketch took about 10 minutes.

-Otis

Otis Frampton's "Paper For Pixels" Fundraiser

UPDATE:  The Paper For Pixels Fundraiser is OVER! 100 cards sold in just 6 hours. Thank you SO MUCH all for the orders!

****

Here's the deal . . .

I have decided to start a fund raising effort to add a Wacom Cintiq 21UX to my creative tool set.  I will soon be embarking on a long-term project that will greatly benefit from the addition of this technology to my work.  I have come to the conclusion that the only way to finance this new tablet is to acquiesce to the many requests I've had for personal sketch cards in the hope that I can sell enough to send a check to Wacom. 

Long story short . . .

You want a sketch card.  I want a Cintiq.  "Paper for pixels".  Let's do business.

So, I am announcing that, for a limited time, I am opening personal sketch card commissions.  I have exactly 100 slots to fill.  Here's the small print: 

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!  FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS MAY RESULT IN LOSING A PLACE ON THE LIST!

-The cost per card is $20 (plus $2 for shipping in the Unites States and $5 for International shipping).
-These cards will be cut from bristol board.  They are not pre-printed.  There will be nothing printed on the backs.

-These personal sketch cards measure 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches each and will be drawn with micron pens and Prismacolor markers/pencils.
-Each card will be placed inside a soft plastic sleeve and a plastic top loader card holder and shipped in a cardboard mailer.
-The drawings will be full-color.
-I will draw 1 character per card with some kind of background (dependent on which character it is).
-There are 100 slots available and you MAY request more than 1 card.
-I will be drawing these cards live on my Ustream webcast, in the order that I receive orders.  I will schedule AT LEAST 1 day a week for sketch card work and will let people know which cards I will be working on in advance on my website (the weekly schedule is always the first post on my website) so they can watch.  I will also record every show, in case someone misses their card being drawn.  I will draw 4 or 5 cards per sketch card show, so you must be patient in waiting for your card.  I thank you in advance for this.
-I only accept PayPal for payment and payment is required at the time of ordering.
-When ordering and paying, YOU MUST USE THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS:  otis@otisframpton.com
-Do NOT send the requests via private message on message boards, deviantART or any other public forum.  E-MAIL ONLY.
-Use the subject header Otis Frampton's "Paper For Pixels" Fundraiser in the order request e-mail and the PayPal payment.
-DO NOT PAY until I have notified you that you are on the list.  If anyone pays before i confirm they will get a card, I will refund the money and they will not be on the list.
-Please include the following information in the order request e-mail and the PayPal payment:  what character you want me to draw, what name/"handle" you want me to use for the Ustream schedule (so you know when I'll be drawing your card) and your shipping address.
-The first night of sketch card work for this fundraiser will be sometime next week, as I still have cards to finish for my previous sketch card client (who bought me out of cards last year).

Thanks in advance and I hope to see the winners in the Ustream chat room!

 -Otis

New Feature: Otis Frampton Live!

Starting today, I hope to start a new experiment.  I'll be streaming my desktop to Ustream while I work so that people can see me working in Photoshop when I'm working on various projects.  I may also use my webcam to let people watch me color some personal sketch cards, but we'll see . . . that can get a bit cumbersome, navigating around the cam to work.

Watch this space for more news and info regarding Otis Frampton Live!

Analog Photoshop Interface

Go HERE for a larger version of the image.

Go HERE to see how it was created.

-Otis

wePhone

The wife and I got ourselves a couple of magic boxes over the weekend:

They're pretty nifty.  I checked my e-mail and watched the news while I walked the dogs today.

It's a whole new world.

-Otis

URLy?

For the time being, the follwoing two URLs with forward you to this blog:

fignationentertainment.com

digitalfigments.com

For the time being.

Stay tuned.

-Otis

Best. Toy. Ever.

If you, like me, desire to learn everything they can about Adobe After Effects, check out these links:

Video Copilot

Creative Cow

Lynda.com

I've been listening to the essential AE training at Lynda.com as I color pages for Oddly Normal: Fignation Times.  I'm very excited to really dig into the program and play around.  I'll post some of my After Effects tinkering very soon.

I wish I'd had this amazing software years ago.  I feel like an idiot for having ignored it for so long and for assuming that it was just another video editing program.  It's not.  It's like Photoshop plus 3D and motion, and the potential to create amazing moving images is unlimited.  I haven't been this excited about any software package bought my first PC and launched Corel PhotoPaint way back in 1999.

There's so much I want to do with it.  I have a lot of catching up to do if 'm going to . . . well, lets just say that After Effects will figure very heavily into my plans for the future.

-Otis

Hard Times

Public service announcement time . . .

Do not buy a Seagate External hard drive.  Not if you like your files and want to save money, that is.

I owned a 500 GB model like the one seen here for about 6 or 7 months.  Three days ago it fell over on its side and began emitting a noise mush like the sound of a sword being sharpened on a stone wheel.  Needless to say, the hard drive was dead.  All from simply falling over on its side.  Onto carpet, no less.  Quality product, that Seagate.

Anyway . . .

Long story short, a lot of the work I've done over the last 5 or 6 years is gone.  Poof.  Thin air.  I had all of my Oddly Normal files and other important files either backed up onto my Mac or onto DVD.   But it has been a lesson learned and now I own an external hard drive that lays flat instead of perched atop a ridiculously wobbly stand.

Stay away from Seagate.  Buyer beware.  You've been warned. 

-Otis

Google Earth, Now With 25% More Awesome