The power of the iPad: drawing

Last weekend I bought an iPad (2). The iPad is great for a lot of things, but one of them surely is drawing. And then especially drawing for people who aren’t particularly good at it, like me.

Yes I drew the sneaker below, but you could have done the same thing, as it has just been a matter of tracing the lines on a photograph and color them in. (don’t tell anyone that secret though!) I admit you could have done the same thing on a laptop in Photoshop but it is so much easier to just do it on the iPad, not the least because it is instant on and it fits better on your lap.

Anyway, here are a few drawings I made tonight (can you guess what my favourite color is? Yes ok). And I will write a bit more about my experiences with the iPad soon. It’s also a great thing to write blogposts on.

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Winter warmth

Winter warmth

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I was drawing this yesterday night, and this morning I read the news article that seems to fit perfectly with it. A little warmth in the dark and cold times of winter and economic crises.

Two German children – aged five and six – have been stopped by police from eloping to Africa to tie the knot in the sun, reports say.

The budding lovebirds, identified as Mika and Anna-Lena, packed bathing costumes, sunglasses and a lilo and headed for the airport.

They even had the presence of mind to invite along an official witness – Anna-Lena’s seven-year-old sister.

The three got as far as Hanover railway station before police intervened.

The young couple were “very much in love” and had decided to get married in Africa “where it is warm”, police spokesman Holger Jureczko told the AFP news agency.

How cute is that!

(Read the complete article on the BBC)

(Quote from I’m Gonna Be Warm This Winter Lyrics by Connie Francis)

To conquer Illustrator and say hi to Roger

Happy Holidays

I really wanted to learn Illustrator (especially the pen tool) and the only way to do that was to actually make something with it. I found a nice tutorial for this winter landscape here, this is my interpretation of it.

This drawing has taken me an insane amount of time to make, but I have learned a lot. Mostly that there is a lot to learn. Everything is drawn from scratch (except the xmas font), the trees, the snow man and the birdies.

It looks simple but it has taken me ages to draw the bloody christmas trees, and to make a heart shape frazzled my mind completely. But determination got me to this illustration, which isn’t great but it’s a start. And it is enormously relaxing to draw.

If you are into Illustrator and you are not a pro yet, this is a nice site, and this tutorial really helped me on my way.

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Download in full size here.

In other news, the animal family, Eddy and Bridget will soon get company from Roger. I think Roger looks pretty cute. Roger is going to help out some people in Africa, as he is pretty good at helping to carry large loads over long distances which really eases the burden of for example fetching and carrying supplies to and from a market.

If you want to give a useful xmas present this year have a look at Oxfam Unwrapped they have loads of original and fun gifts. The good thing about Roger: he comes with a DVD with footage of Bill Nighy in Tanzania on it. I mean – what are you still doing here? Go. Go. Go!!

And to make things even more festive, it’s Bill‘s birthday today. I hope he has a happy one. If you like him (which, of course, you do) make sure not to miss out on the brand new Charles Paris radio play. (It’s 4 episodes, the first has been sent but catch it on BBC iplayer or BBC Radio 4 listen again, it’s worth it.

If inspiration hits you, don’t go home

Storyboarding

Storyboarding

So while you surely are at home, having a nice dinner, enjoying the weekend – I am still at the office. I am the only person in the office. And I am not working, not on work work anyway.

But I found a new song today, I am going to write a bit more about that at some point, because it is a nice story in itself, and that song made me pick up my pencil.
At last, I hear you think.
Yes at last.
I found 2 loudspeakers which I plugged into my (RED) iPod so there is great music.
I have Yorkshire Tea The Milky Way.
I have a pack with 4 3 Twix bars.
I have my Cookie script.
I have Bill keeping a weather eye on the horizon, making sure I am not going into too deep waters just yet. Or eat too many Twix bars.
I have a pencil and paper, and most importantly – I have inspiration.

I don’t know how long I am going to stay here, drawing, but it might take a while. This is good. And – where would we be without music to inspire us.

May you have a great weekend.
Don’t feel sorry for me sitting here, the kick of inspiration hitting you like lightning is nearly as good as, erhm, you know what. Really.

The Good Night – a rom dep and D.I.R.L: 6

Movie Maniac

OK, The Good Night

Lorenzo (owner of the now closed THE Cafe) already told me about this movie a year ago, they had shot a short sequence in his cafe. That was reason enough for me to see it. Bonus was that both Martin Freeman and Simon Pegg are in it too. Two of the funniest actors in Britain in one film. Surely that would guarantee a funny rom-com.

Surely I can be wrong about things sometimes, as this is the first Rom-Dep I have ever seen. I have never been this depressed watching a wannabe rom-com, it wasn’t funny at all and I haven’t seen any real romance either. What a crap script. What a crap movie!

And then I wonder – how the hell did it get made? Who puts money in crap like that? And than you read that it is written and directed by Jake Paltrow, which is indeed the brother of, and Gwenneth was in this film too. And I thought – shit – I wish I knew someone famous, because then I would be making my film next year.

So fully depressed I left Screen 6, and walked directly into Screen 5 where I injected myself with instant feel-goodness. Yep, find your pen and mark it up – Dan in Real Life – viewing number 6 was a fact.

I have just heard a first version of our 60 seconds film soundtrack and wow, it sounds quite cool. It needs a bit of adjusting but it is going to be a great thing to have a soundtrack tailor made for our short short.

I am in the middle of a screen writing class weekend. My script hasn’t been analyzed yet (will be tomorrow) but during the 30 minutes we had to stand outside because of a fire alarm, my tutor told me that it has moved a million miles (in the right direction) from my first version. Just hearing that is enough to keep me going with this script. That and the fact that I truly love my story.

Have a great weekend too.