Cartoonist Picnic

Yesterday, I had the privilege of joining the Sioux Falls Cartoonists Group for a little picnic before scooting off to LifeLight.

Though not a "cartoonist" per se, the group has kindly allowed me to hang with them and I really enjoy the creativity they bring to the table.

I'm a BIG Gary Larson Far Side fan so I dabble with some one-panel "anything goes" cartoons.

I have some of them tucked inside one of the drawers on my website.

If you want to take a peek, here's the URI:

http://kurtholdorf.com/?15 then click on the cartoon in the bottom right drawer. (Note: you need the "?15" after my web address or else you'll reload the page way too many times for the cartoon to show up randomly in the drawer.)

-KH

Time to Appreciate Some Other Artists

Tomorrow begins Lifelight '08.

100 Christian music groups come together as 250,000 people descend on the Sioux Falls area. Should be fun! Always nice to enjoy the talents of other artists.

Hope to see you out there...

-KH

Website Hint

There's no Flash or 3-D renderings on my website. All the graphics are built in Photoshop and put into motion with Javascript. Flash would be smoother and offer more cool effects, so, in the coming months, I'll be learning Flash. Javascript can do some amazing things, though, so it has it's place. Javascript behaves so differently between browsers that it is very difficult to make "the cool stuff" with it. The airplane works very smoothly on a Macintosh running Safari but hangs when run on Firefox. PC's don't run that feature well on any browser. Flash is more consistent between platforms. We'll see if I can make the transition.

-KH

Portrait Tip #3

The eyes have it.

Most critical for capturing the likeness of someone you know well is getting the eyes correct. In general, people look at another's eyes the most when interacting with them. So, take extra care with eye placement, eveness, color, shape, and expression. Eyes can show emotion, intelligence, connection and other important interactions beyond the verbal.

There's not much room for error, either. The difference between eyes looking too close together and too far apart can be as little as 1/8th of an inch.

I find the eyes are a good place to start a portrait.

-KH

Website Hint

Did you see something fun on my website you want to show someone else?

Well, it may take a lot of reloads to get the random content to show what you want to share with your friend.

That's why I added a secret code that will provide a "key" to give you the ability to place any feature you wish inside the bottom right drawer.

Simply go to: "http://kurtholdorf.com/?0" then open the bottom right drawer and click on the "key" for more information. (That's a zero, not the letter O). My goal is 60 plus features so you see this is just the beginning of building a web "page" unlike any other. 

-KH

Everyone's An Artist: Spaces

One or two spaces at the end of a sentence?

Ever so long ago in the typewriter era, every good typist knew to put two spaces after a sentence. With computer typesetting, you only need one space at the end of a sentence. Here's why:

Typewriters used what is called monospace characters. Meaning each character took up the same amount of space. Computers use variable space characters. Each letter's space is determined by the width of the character.

The only time you need two spaces at the end of a sentence when typing on a computer is when you use a monospaced font such as "Courier." 

Your printed materials will look more professional with only one space at the end of your sentences when using a variable space font.

"Everyone's An Artist" is a series of helpful hints for office workers who are thrust into producing graphics simply because the computer makes it possible to do so.

-KH

Portrait Tip #2

This tip works for photos as well as drawings.

When people look at a good drawing or photo of themselves, something may still not look right to them. There is a simple explanation for this and knowing it may help you understand what they see.

The right side and left side of most everyone's face is different from the other. People mostly see themselves in a mirror compared to a photo or drawing. Therefore, the image they see in a photo/drawing looks like them yet doesn't since they are used to the "backwards" image seen in a mirror.

Now here's something amazing...one side can look "happier" that the other. If you have image manipulation skills, try this little test: copy the right side of a face looking straight at you. Then make a complete face from that half by duplicating and flipping it. Do the same with the left side to make two new faces and see if there is a significant difference between the two images.

No need to point this out to your subject and make them selfconscious. Simply see if you can make their sad side SLIGHTLY happier and you'll be amazed how much better they will like their image.

-KH

NBCOlympics.com: Big Website Blunder

NBCOlympics.com, powered by DeltaTre, has a wealth of Olympic content waiting to be viewed. However, Macintosh computer users can only see video if they have an Intel-based Mac. Does this company not know how incredibly video-friendly a Mac is--even one a couple of years old? (And, do they not realize we Mac users don't have to trade in our Mac every year because these things just keep working?)

If you are NBC and flooding the market touting your web-based Olympic coverage, why not make an earlier version of the Safari web browser work for viewing videos? Especially if viewers enjoy some of the less popular sports such as table tennis. You just don't get to see much of that in prime time when Michael Phelps is zipping through the water (congrats, Michael!!!). 

My point to all this is a designer should never sacrifice its audience to make him/herself look good. That is just what DeltaTre has done. They put making pretty web pages a priority over getting those pages to their audience. 

Sure, you can do the math and calculate the loss of Mac viewers isn't that big of a deal, but the loss of the Olympic coverage to those Mac users is a big deal to them. 

So much to see and just an incompatible click away. It's just irresponsible, in my opinion. 

To DeltaTre: write the extra 10 lines of code and make an earlier version of Safari work.

-KH

Everyone's An Artist: DPI

"DPI" is an abbreviation for "Dots Per Inch". When creating, saving, transferring or proofing images built for meeting or marketing materials, knowing the correct DPI for the task can really make a difference.

For the average office person working with graphics, here are some typical screen resolutions. There are many exceptions, as with most guidelines, so start here if you really don't know what is correct:

72 dpi  -- web graphics 

100 dpi -- large format prints of banners

150 dpi -- onscreen presentation graphics

200 dpi -- fax resolution

300 dpi -- prints on ink jet printers

300 dpi -- bitmapped images printed by commerical printers

1200 dpi -- line art printed by commercial printing

2400 dpi -- typeset quality vector images for commercial printing

(In order to have the correct DPI, the size must be correct as well.)

"Everyone's An Artist" will be a collection of art production tips and tricks for the average office person who has been thrown into the world of desktop publishing. Send a question if there's something you would like to learn.

-KH

Website Hint

When you click on the link to my website, you are encouraged to explore by clicking on things. You just never know what is in one of the drawers or what something will do when clicked. Every time you load the page, things change. So you truly never know what you will find.

-KH

Portrait Tip #1

Next time you decide to tackle a portrait and you really want it to look like the photo you are drawing from, try this: Every once in awhile, turn both the drawing and the photo upside down and compare them. 

If you buy in to the "Left Brain, Right Brain" theories out there, which I do since I create art AND do programming (scripting for those who know the difference), when you look at a face right side up, your mind will fill in, estimate, react emotionally, etc. and make it difficult to OBJECTIVELY compare the two. When looking at them upside down, you are more apt to look at the spacial relationships of the different parts of the face.

Try it sometime! (Works with many other subjects besides portraits.)

-KH

Different Types of Creativity

Sometimes I look at other artists and marvel at their ability to stylize reality. I often wonder why stylization does not flow from me. Then I look at my drawings and realize I do have a similar feel visible in my work. None of my drawings are photographic, though they certainly are realistic. That sense of realism is my style. I wonder if other artists look at their work and don't see a style--they simply see their work.

-KH

Olympics 08

The Olympics always inspire me to push my creative abilities. Wonder what I could create artistically if I worked and trained as hard as they have.