As you might be able to see from first glance, this picture is very different from every other one before it. Yup, this one has manual 2d shading. Ugh, it wasn't easy, fun, or rewarding, either. Something is wrong with my techniques, or perhaps that's just the way it is. I assume that professionals get their assistants to do the shadows for they must just dread drawing them. Perhaps it's easier on pencil and paper. Ya, this one was pencil and paper first. It is number two of three that of that bunch that I scanned this summer that I haven't CGed yet. I tried shading it back then and I couldn't do a good job. That's what prompted me to try shading now. The lesson for today: I learned that shading is best done by shrinking the original object in such a way that it distorts the object so that a person thinks that you're actually doing shading. Yup, faking it is as good as doing it, I say.
Today's lesson is variation. If a person repeats themselves like I've told you to do in the past three "Making Of" pages, they become boring. Notice that I tell you to do something and then I tell you the opposite in the next page. As long as it fits in generally, I'm free to do that. So are you.
Unoriginality? Shameful! Not quite. You see, I got this manga called Weekly Jump yesterday after class. I had to go all the way to Chinatown to get it. It wasn't what I wanted, but it's interesting all the same. First off, it's very cheap for how extremely valuable it is. 220 Yen is remarkably little and better yet, in America, it cost me only $3.50. The exchange rate is quite nice, I must say. How do they pay for the paper, the clerks, the boat owner and crew, manga artist, assistants, and publishers with that little cash? Quantity, advertisements? I dare ask what huge quantity could pay for all this wonderful stuff. I bet that the $3.50 that I paid pays for the paper, clerk's wage, and boat owner and crew, nothing more. But who pays the rest? Advertisers and people in Japan who read it, I guess. Whoever pays for it, thank you much.
Today's lesson is about reuse. You remember that the last two had a little to do with copying and pasting. This one is about the ability to copy yourself. Today's picture was not drawn today. It was drawn this summer and actually scanned in with my mother's scanner, an incredible thing, I might say. You see, I have no scanner or tablet to digitize my paper thoughts. Instead I have a webcam. It takes pictures at 640x480 and during my most productive hours (after dark), all the pictures look like dung. You see, cameras are great for taking a 3d world and digitizing them into 2d. However, they are not very good for taking 2d images in the 3d world and digitizing them to 3d. I can say that it's far better than nothing, but the webcam is a long ways from good. So, which is on my Christmas list? Tablet or scanner? I may be pressing my luck, but I gotta say that a nice cheap scanner is at the top of my list. Of course, I'm getting $600 as a care gift from my parents. I shouldn't expect more than that. Perhaps I can spend money from my job on one. I mean, check out Price Watch: "ReadyScan 636i USB Color Scanner MUST MENTION PRICE WATCH - 9600DPI Res 36-bit true color 12bit, 256 cable and driver included $ 35 Starts @ $10.50 anywhere in the US via UPS Ground." So, now I gotta ask, what is 36-bit color? Well, that's a good question for a smart person like me. I know all about bits. For example, I know that my current display is 1600x1200 and 32-bits. That means that this scanner will scan more colors than my screen can display. Crazy, unneeded? No. You see, having those extra colors means that you can actually stretch the image out to a small degree. But usually instead, we like to squish pictures that large. With that many colors, you can squish with a better reliability of truthful squishing. I like the idea. And for 47 bucks, I might be able to spring for it.
