paula - 2005-04-22 12:47:57
Too funny! Are you sure you weren't being Punk'd? Hee! Listen, they make it stupidly and impossibly complex and idiotic so your head doth spin and you say, "Just take it! Just take all my money and let me live!" It's robbery, it is! And unbeLIEVable about the salted peanuts! Ha! I am impressed that you get such personal service in Canada concerning your taxes. I thought it was unusual when a revenue agent called us to just ask a question or two. Wa??? Here you simply get letters to let you know you're screwed, happily furnished with penalty info, etc. I hate taxes. Blah. And on the contrary, your blog about it was a very fun read. Don't underestimate how funny the mundane can be. Remember Seinfeld, the "show about nothing" showed how hilarious 'nothing' can be! Uhm..Yeah... :)

Joy - 2005-04-22 13:54:24
I have kind of a dumb question--I found you linked from somewhere and I love seeing all your illustrations. I'm not artistic at all, so I just wonder: do you do these illustrations right on the computer or do you use marker or pencil or paint and then scan it or what? It's so cool. (Of course, you must do SOME of it on the computer since you found the fabulous furry brush tool, but today's is in acrylic? So confused!)

wee - 2005-04-22 14:05:56
Good questions Joy. One of these days I'll have to do a tutorial showing my process... but the answer to your question is that I work both digitally and traditionally. I'm trained mostly in traditional illustration (painting, drawing) and really lovve working that way most... it's more organic, authentic. But sometimes, it's just easier to work (faster, less messy) digitally. I've spent alot of time developing my digital style so it has a softer, more organic feel and the fact that the software has gotten better over time (as has my understanding of what digital software can do) has also made it more of a comfortable option for me. No matter if I'm working digitally or traditionally, I always start with a detailed pencil sketch. If going the digital route, I scan it into Photoshop CS and essentially paint over it. I use different methods depending on the look I'm after, sometimes I just "overlay" colors onto the sketch, changing the color of the line, but letting the sketch remain intact, as drawn. Other times, the sketch is completely obscured. And sometimes I go through a process of sketching, scanning it in, tweaking in photoshop, printing it out and then sketching again over the print out, scanning it back in and so on, for several passes.

wee - 2005-04-22 14:13:16
And to confuse you further, even if I do an ilustration almost entirely by traditional methods, I often tweak the scan a bit once it's in Photoshop. Like the painting here... the black border was actually made in Photoshop because it didn't scan well and i played with the color contrast a bit to capture more of the texture of the original painting. Sometimes the scans of paitings don't communicate quite as well as I need them to on screen a lot of the brush detail is lost, the texture and the color can also be obscurred because of the glazes i use on my arcrylic painting to seal them and bring out the paint color often bounces the scanner light in a weird way, creating glare.

wee - 2005-04-22 14:17:18
Wow.. Holy Rambly, Batman! And pllease excuse all the grammatical errors in my reply! I'm typing too fast again... ANYHOO... The short answer to your question would be that most of my work is a mmixture of both traditional illustration methods and digital technique.

Cin - 2005-04-22 17:39:26
once a week or whenever, it's cool, 'cause you do indeed make the "mundane" such a fun read !

Detlef - 2005-04-22 19:32:28
Perhaps you ought change from "Talking to the Taxman" to "Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards" or better still "Must I Paint You A Picture"! Which brings me to the point that I, like Cin above, am happy to hold out for the next instalment on your blog.....now if only you'd show more your of illos, then I'd be very sated, and have to classify myself as a Wee junkie.

wee - 2005-04-22 19:35:27
O! How impressed am I that you caught the Billy Bragg reference?!! Swoon-worthy man!

lizardek - 2005-04-23 03:03:27
oh wee! I know what you mean, about good intentions and all that. Life keeps interrupting my blogging, too. :) And spring!

otter - 2005-04-23 16:20:26
I'm so glad it's not just me. With the weekly posting thingy. I feel much better knowing that all the cool kids are doing it. (Timely posting is just so 2004, no?)

breana - 2005-04-25 16:06:13
Because I have poor reading comprehension, all I could think after reading your post was, "She can't grow PEANUTS in that climate! Her crop will never peg! It'll be a disaster! I have to warn her!" And this is why I have to read everything twice. Everything. But you did succeed in getting The Beatles' "Tax Man" stuck in my head. ;)

wee - 2005-04-26 09:30:17
Ah, but Breana... I think I could grow peanuts here (not that I'm going to... more interested in growing posies). I live in Southern Ontario, not that far from Niagra Falls and the land in this region is very fertile. Our summers are very warm ( a little too warm if you ask me!) and humid (from the moisture off of Lake Ontario and you would be surprised at what they grow here. There are lots of vineyards and they grow all sorts of fruit and stuff. The farmer's markets are burgeoning.

breana - 2005-04-26 16:45:57
And this is further proof that I am not a stalker. Or at least, a very bad one. I thought you lived much further toward the tundra. And if it's not you, then who in the Hell do I know in North Bay? And I spent waaaaay too much time today reading about Ontario peanut cropping. I blame you. Definitely not myself. Ha!

violetismycolor - 2005-04-29 00:54:42
Oh my God, Wee, you crack me up. I love the way that you give directions; sounds just like ME... And the whole convoluted tax thing...the good news for us guys here in Oregon is that we have no sales tax to futs with... And I absolutely love your dog-with-frisbee. He is adorable and I want to adopt him, even if he isn't real. Hang in there and post when you can.

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