tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87476138057922016672024-03-18T04:03:24.155+01:00The Art of FantasioFantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.comBlogger241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-85835524198460876522023-10-16T20:48:00.000+02:002023-10-16T20:48:23.313+02:00My first (and maybe last) Card Art for MTG / Wizards of the Coast<p>I did not post or talk about that much since its official release, but here it is, my first 3 cards I did for Magic the Gathering!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPLn_fwslxGnb-VUN-57KQoHdIpfZrQ0ONy6FrZS1EPa1hyphenhyphenLyNAQBJpVHlF6weKFm8KdWlH7PJciQDdVmPOUCUcfWK601bwGXadjqg3Mm37L5P3pD0O457C7qSmX7TYfythJJY1SUHsN1_FXe7U9P6kmLR4kvg7yWHG7zOwpnqsNWnMxlEygiUMkQqHM/s936/IMG_2158.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="672" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPLn_fwslxGnb-VUN-57KQoHdIpfZrQ0ONy6FrZS1EPa1hyphenhyphenLyNAQBJpVHlF6weKFm8KdWlH7PJciQDdVmPOUCUcfWK601bwGXadjqg3Mm37L5P3pD0O457C7qSmX7TYfythJJY1SUHsN1_FXe7U9P6kmLR4kvg7yWHG7zOwpnqsNWnMxlEygiUMkQqHM/w288-h400/IMG_2158.PNG" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLY_ghuOoRxS452673txMwd7HMXTwID_x4zFEGqFJfxaqCl1PSpeHD-1i6P28dr_kNP_HNFnkIR7lZ6Mjtl70hj9q_Xsxy7PrwDmpv3N21TJnB_o16FVqa4uARvMxFcMjyaD0e6eUV8rWJjWeFSRf6-sLS_-1munK-GOUBfSUfDfJuMXg9nvqZeNKBhKo/s936/IMG_2159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="672" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLY_ghuOoRxS452673txMwd7HMXTwID_x4zFEGqFJfxaqCl1PSpeHD-1i6P28dr_kNP_HNFnkIR7lZ6Mjtl70hj9q_Xsxy7PrwDmpv3N21TJnB_o16FVqa4uARvMxFcMjyaD0e6eUV8rWJjWeFSRf6-sLS_-1munK-GOUBfSUfDfJuMXg9nvqZeNKBhKo/w288-h400/IMG_2159.JPG" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrTemDOjKDEAg6a9XKWypGYj2Fhr1_2KEuGd3W5-sG80hS4KrQn3ajKFPoPRY2fTkr5NZXfXEAIOeHH0zg2NmBPGuBNPXy8LfO5G4nSFitbtaGsiBmMoaYOfIYM8E_b-OBs15F_Ef2S2lL8rojxFKXRaM3j6QFWbJ-d9lpJ0JFzocaepFMa4HdTL_KwCw/s936/IMG_2160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="672" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrTemDOjKDEAg6a9XKWypGYj2Fhr1_2KEuGd3W5-sG80hS4KrQn3ajKFPoPRY2fTkr5NZXfXEAIOeHH0zg2NmBPGuBNPXy8LfO5G4nSFitbtaGsiBmMoaYOfIYM8E_b-OBs15F_Ef2S2lL8rojxFKXRaM3j6QFWbJ-d9lpJ0JFzocaepFMa4HdTL_KwCw/w288-h400/IMG_2160.JPG" width="288" /></a></div><p>It's an interesting story how this came to happen - and a sobering story to learn why it most likely will stay with these three cards.</p><p>It was around April 2022 when I got an email from the Art Director at Wizards, they found my work on Artstation and asked if I was up for a commission. First thought: <i>OMG!</i> Second thought: <i>Just when I decided to even let the last client of mine know that I don't work for hire anymore, sigh...</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjSP2iCyOR5rZX0JSH3ioQ5YkOxTBz8nf2cEBig9FaVi3EeWc94oJrBULhEhQjbCIWYVSkpxtjNt0RIqOB1mGWhiR1xGbk7phBJFKErQet7HTM89BmOzM0O80Ox5IOu8rgSyqtQZBr7YGMyy48H_KlQIJB93PddFCDXxL2l39T_MF2V6p5He9cXu63CbU/s651/7uucn9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="651" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjSP2iCyOR5rZX0JSH3ioQ5YkOxTBz8nf2cEBig9FaVi3EeWc94oJrBULhEhQjbCIWYVSkpxtjNt0RIqOB1mGWhiR1xGbk7phBJFKErQet7HTM89BmOzM0O80Ox5IOu8rgSyqtQZBr7YGMyy48H_KlQIJB93PddFCDXxL2l39T_MF2V6p5He9cXu63CbU/w400-h235/7uucn9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Now WotC is not a company everyone gets his feet into and it would be snobbish or blissfully ignorant to turn that offer down. Instead, as I always do, I give others a chance to see if they can get me to create far better work than I would produce on my own. And I heard many inspiring stories about artists having reached their full potential because they worked for MtG. </p><p>That is what I aimed for.</p><p>Unfortunately, after delivery of the finals, I had the feeling the opposite was true, in my opinion the final work turned out rather blunt. Maybe it was what they needed and my aspiration was just too high.</p><p>Now I also know that the company itself had more pressure on this, since it was done for an extended universe by BBC. From what I have heard, Wizards AD's are usually rather relaxed with briefings, changes and also publishing and comp copies. In this case I did not even get artist cards or proofs - no artists for extended universes does. I don't have a problem with that.</p><p>So in my opinion it was an unfortunate first gig to start this off, which brought unnecessary stress into a collaborative work environment.</p><p>Now you would argue these paintings are just fine, and maybe you are right because of the small size they are printed.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">One big issue for me were the cards I had to deal with (pun intended;) </h4><p>When I did freelance work, I was used to get the Briefing first, accept, work, deliver, get paid. <br />This way I was able to decline if I knew for sure that the brief is not 110% up my alley (which I would have done in this case).<br />The problem is; as an artist for companies like WotC you have your NDA's & contracts first, then you get your deadlines and then you get your briefing. </p><p>That is where I had my Henry Cavill moment; When I got the briefing I already knew this would end up mediocre. But how do you escalate this to your superior, especially when you are a new artist? You don't. You have deadlines. You just do the best you can do, deliver on time, get paid and leave. Like Henry Cavill did after Season 3 of the Witcher Netflix series. </p><p>So in some way it is not so much disappointment of the final outcome but more about the collaborative environment. The general ways corporate structures work and how they force creative juices to flow for hire. </p><p>And since I did not work for WotC after these 3 cards, which is over a year by now, I'm very sure they see it the same way. We parted for good. </p><p>I just wanted to inform some of you who follow my work and feel so inclined to get some insights (as far as this is possible with all the NDAs). In my book it was the last nail on the coffin of freelancing work that I needed to let go for good. I'm really sorry if you hoped for new or more MtG Cards, but that will most likely not be the case, at least in the near future.</p><p>Wizards of the Coast was on my Bucket-List and not everyone gets the opportunity to work for them, so that is that. I'm thankful for the opportunity - there I said it! As far as future MtG work goes, I can't say for sure that I turn a new card down or not. There needs to be some changes in order to work for them again, like being able to read the briefing first.</p><p>So if you want to stay up-to-date, follow me on Patreon or Artstation.</p>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-74630975119310059642023-08-05T15:55:00.000+02:002023-08-05T15:55:27.467+02:00Contemplating Nighthawks - A Tribute to Studio Ghibli and Edward Hopper<p>Working on a Ghibli-Tribute is never easy for me as I use it as a way to raise the bar on what I have learned - combined with higher expectations from myself. The last painting from Totoro is a while ago and with that I stuck with the concept of "One Painting per Movie", which is great because it lets me focus on all the best things from that source of inspiration.</p><p>However, I also wanted to do a <b>Parade</b> piece for a long time and never knew exactly how to do it by staying true to my voice, and last year I got this request from a customer who was asking if I'd have a Nighthawks piece based on Ghibli. That's what I love about my job - I don't do commissions anymore but I get a lot of feedback on conventions - and also many ideas for possible new paintings!</p><p>Since we live in times where everything is already done before, I tried my luck and found that there is just a <a href="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/b31d4f12-de3d-428f-959f-0e05fbb0dec3/d5sj4q4-1949b205-c0d9-49db-9189-e39307e74516.jpg/v1/fill/w_960,h_600,q_75,strp/_11_10_12__ghibli_nighthawks_by_sybary_d5sj4q4-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NjAwIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYjMxZDRmMTItZGUzZC00MjhmLTk1OWYtMGUwNWZiYjBkZWMzXC9kNXNqNHE0LTE5NDliMjA1LWMwZDktNDlkYi05MTg5LWUzOTMwN2U3NDUxNi5qcGciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9OTYwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.md_-pjIl-Gkvd9-W3TA9qMG8F2TG_a2fZawh7AsYzhw" target="_blank">low-effort piece with Totoro in the Nighthawks painting by Hopper</a>, that motivated me to dive deeper and see if I can come up with something better in terms of Ghibli-Tribute and transformative to the original composition as a double-homage.</p><p>Below is the original source:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIJbfQrr3i2g2ye7LQU-gFo35g9_0dGcpwg9LGHPiTKrwISsGn3fTs6zLrn-tLNsF92VjGMtORd2Y4RMbIY-EuRjJ8Xzp7cJ_RRHWN-TK6lV1FXSwOJeMUOpRrbjoofHqegq-31SXAlUJIYITDBzVv3lu3xXWeuCXYC9zDb3GPRDgGX4Ox3ddEOYVnxA/s3500/Nighthawks-2-original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1838" data-original-width="3500" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIJbfQrr3i2g2ye7LQU-gFo35g9_0dGcpwg9LGHPiTKrwISsGn3fTs6zLrn-tLNsF92VjGMtORd2Y4RMbIY-EuRjJ8Xzp7cJ_RRHWN-TK6lV1FXSwOJeMUOpRrbjoofHqegq-31SXAlUJIYITDBzVv3lu3xXWeuCXYC9zDb3GPRDgGX4Ox3ddEOYVnxA/w640-h336/Nighthawks-2-original.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>One important thing to note; My work starts with observing the original painting obsessively from a compositional point-of-view, not in terms of meaning, thats not my job. However, just cornering the meaning in this piece, as the "desolation" aspect was Hoppers main intention that I can't use in my version and I wanted to go into the opposite direction and bring life into this piece. This is what I call a "stage 1" transformation. More to follow.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_dPOqtDp_xQvnghJkovdEoWgr82iyUvqXaIV0EshH9bvladiv3D9wsGLvmgLSmA2zmeFSV1jKYwtAp6iL5P9Fvfl-Qr5PvPGUgh8KFY4MI9B1sXZOb7zJx0dO1665NjQ0TvUsOmQvRCWXWI84sS0ipY8O-spSDIMhMs6L3msJ0_jN0fQDR50GiHh53I/s2800/Nighthawks-final-back-web-wall-sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="2800" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_dPOqtDp_xQvnghJkovdEoWgr82iyUvqXaIV0EshH9bvladiv3D9wsGLvmgLSmA2zmeFSV1jKYwtAp6iL5P9Fvfl-Qr5PvPGUgh8KFY4MI9B1sXZOb7zJx0dO1665NjQ0TvUsOmQvRCWXWI84sS0ipY8O-spSDIMhMs6L3msJ0_jN0fQDR50GiHh53I/w640-h336/Nighthawks-final-back-web-wall-sig.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>There are many opportunities in this painting that screams for changes. In the following steps I want to show how my placement of the newly painted figures is grounded.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IPq8LLkym7VRhx2V_q6bHZZ1ZZfPZvZjj2sY5zqljBnC0oB9DMb7iQLlWHf0nifwFAGg7K0GRzSHzctGTPkxK1Kt7P_0e4UxOUXZU9MeHn8YgOntyYQCA6crmbqIT1NAde3eGDql5F5KATyE8h3Y7ygX-aaM02i1Ylqy-Qv2lSylSpDKMzozLEuCwws/s2800/round%20corners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="2800" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IPq8LLkym7VRhx2V_q6bHZZ1ZZfPZvZjj2sY5zqljBnC0oB9DMb7iQLlWHf0nifwFAGg7K0GRzSHzctGTPkxK1Kt7P_0e4UxOUXZU9MeHn8YgOntyYQCA6crmbqIT1NAde3eGDql5F5KATyE8h3Y7ygX-aaM02i1Ylqy-Qv2lSylSpDKMzozLEuCwws/w640-h336/round%20corners.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>One of the first things I did was taking the opportunity to change many corners to rounded ones. There are only two in the original - and they are only there because of the building, otherwise Hopper wouldn't have painted them. For me this was helpful to push this more into the Japanese realm, especially in <a href="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/42/91/55/4291553a6cde38b3cf71a6476109a546--chihiro-szellemorsz%C3%A1gban-background-ideas.jpg" target="_blank">Ghibli background scenes</a> there are rounded signs and simple patterns.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigftCoRJa1AfScdZIdmaObbOomxJUfaAuJ1QcKhRcQzPe3WuNf6_n-4dnTdbNJCxHD8uMFcRMT2R048rDTTh3GDIZqJONmhkmGoV-d-3tZjeiHTejFfPp9QjOLmRUqzKhrDTervzlAdCpU3RZ8jLqZV5bzwo7asbDrrBOYDS5zqwhJYXhBShiYijbPYB0/s2800/grouping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="2800" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigftCoRJa1AfScdZIdmaObbOomxJUfaAuJ1QcKhRcQzPe3WuNf6_n-4dnTdbNJCxHD8uMFcRMT2R048rDTTh3GDIZqJONmhkmGoV-d-3tZjeiHTejFfPp9QjOLmRUqzKhrDTervzlAdCpU3RZ8jLqZV5bzwo7asbDrrBOYDS5zqwhJYXhBShiYijbPYB0/w640-h336/grouping.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Another option was <b>grouping</b> of the figures. It was vital to me, that there is a natural looking line when looking at the general silhouette of characters from a distance.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHwyMW3JYWFX3xw28QPFxmCSMjjte1xA9k7fK-hoVSyxSZpJAQ_FK4JM28qRtmFhQbg6o2k0uvP0d6YPQwyo8LhcN2lPupDNp1iMUTAJNMkiwpxBmvioquobCARZXXBkPjPdc_aWjJtwOHgpYqXvx5bWJGttJnPWxn4cxqHoIDFhN6AMomM7ttJVBWxQ/s2800/repeating%20incidents.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="2800" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHwyMW3JYWFX3xw28QPFxmCSMjjte1xA9k7fK-hoVSyxSZpJAQ_FK4JM28qRtmFhQbg6o2k0uvP0d6YPQwyo8LhcN2lPupDNp1iMUTAJNMkiwpxBmvioquobCARZXXBkPjPdc_aWjJtwOHgpYqXvx5bWJGttJnPWxn4cxqHoIDFhN6AMomM7ttJVBWxQ/w640-h336/repeating%20incidents.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>While working against boringness, a great composition can be achieved by <b>anchoring similarities</b> or by repeating certain shapes by intention. In the case of this painting, I tried to use the rounded shapes of the coffee machines to play with the shapes and to help find fitting characters.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaP4nhkJcmf2TIYwkhYPQ85hXbR0AR8haUk45grxZ6oJsh8wjiQITQvaZu0m7FrsByqfgYMIgoGO5y7Qwf8d843k6Qq1v5Hy7Q0tJeMZ3LmTpLruL_-BCSHuLaDGsjdIW0KFceykgFCO_rmnY06TZylnLAk6oxpRoJ9hToCeM8KVMCzMR30HpYKp-Y1cI/s2800/repetition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="2800" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaP4nhkJcmf2TIYwkhYPQ85hXbR0AR8haUk45grxZ6oJsh8wjiQITQvaZu0m7FrsByqfgYMIgoGO5y7Qwf8d843k6Qq1v5Hy7Q0tJeMZ3LmTpLruL_-BCSHuLaDGsjdIW0KFceykgFCO_rmnY06TZylnLAk6oxpRoJ9hToCeM8KVMCzMR30HpYKp-Y1cI/w640-h336/repetition.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /><div>Another element of repetition and grouping is the <b>pairing</b>. I used the same shape from the coffee machine top to place additional visual pairs.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgacmpNJg3Lq9hjmMGrA2LH1VBLiYIiRLmIp7WP0c9XLqjhQDaFaHY_bd6eJaj0-Sftco85BF-V7CDDLOSP8TzNVC6Arqyj82TwsvYNXIwfxX8adF6Ju040bC8Sw-aWGU12igrZ7dlGzV9LFu2FU2keA4_I2t8Ew7mXE8nRTDaoYGvwIGNceo6Z-a6A4oE/s2800/arabesque%20and%20entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="2800" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgacmpNJg3Lq9hjmMGrA2LH1VBLiYIiRLmIp7WP0c9XLqjhQDaFaHY_bd6eJaj0-Sftco85BF-V7CDDLOSP8TzNVC6Arqyj82TwsvYNXIwfxX8adF6Ju040bC8Sw-aWGU12igrZ7dlGzV9LFu2FU2keA4_I2t8Ew7mXE8nRTDaoYGvwIGNceo6Z-a6A4oE/w640-h336/arabesque%20and%20entrance.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Another important composition technique is the <b>Arabesque</b>, however I use a different variation of the Arabesque since I combine it with the possible entrance and exit points of a painting. That is the reason I added the rounded walkway curve that was not there in the original, I used the arm of the Robot from Laputa to adjust the curve (Arabesque) towards the left along with its <b>gazing direction</b>. It is rather a hypothetical technique since no one starts to scan a piece this way, however it is grounded in patterns on how we read maps and read architectural plans. So it is rather a psychological component that our subconsciousness understands and targets parts in our brain that also are responsible for OCD. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwaw-KBKcBkkNVetQDNAWntkwlxd6gZEPt8wZXcB78H8T1514FVPSRK7q50U3GwlnWEWaI7c5qpZMDJqmoD9cVVNZDH0rZB45DYGdR2PnpIBQ9kmKL3a5hxzV7rBpWCDoBZZJi8a_Ruh7DPFqCx9CU2gzxYBKuHQvRz4dN1zWiNdrWRqXpioeeoLIyuHE/s2800/Triangeles-Nighthawks-final-back-web-wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="2800" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwaw-KBKcBkkNVetQDNAWntkwlxd6gZEPt8wZXcB78H8T1514FVPSRK7q50U3GwlnWEWaI7c5qpZMDJqmoD9cVVNZDH0rZB45DYGdR2PnpIBQ9kmKL3a5hxzV7rBpWCDoBZZJi8a_Ruh7DPFqCx9CU2gzxYBKuHQvRz4dN1zWiNdrWRqXpioeeoLIyuHE/w640-h336/Triangeles-Nighthawks-final-back-web-wall.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>And last but not least; the most important technique used for this composition are <b>triangular enclosures</b>. When painting more than a few figures it is important to have invisible enclosures that you can follow to lead the eyes and to enhance the viewing experience. Usually I use circular or elliptical enclosures so in that regards this painting was something new for me and I guess it worked.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is of course only my personal interpretation of composition and how it helped to guide me through the process that took over 6 months from start (idea) to the finished painting. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to learn more about composition, I have two books up about that important matter on my <a href="https://fantasio.gumroad.com/l/kWxSl" target="_blank">Gumroad here</a>, the <a href="https://fantasio.gumroad.com/l/KhAb" target="_blank">first book</a> is free btw ;)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-9029941842397242722023-03-02T08:08:00.002+01:002023-03-02T08:16:23.225+01:00AT-AT Painting as Album Cover of Fulcrum, (Without Consent)<p>It was brought to my attention, that a musician who goes by the name of Fulcrum, uses one of my Star-Wars tribute paintings as album cover:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vnyOIogreXp2lYRoLoPP-JC3DKCc-5eN_kVgwtLsiWVQGNGszsb7mLqF0_9f2oQHzS7yxpiot2NXs_4HPIKO3-NuHr0fvHfZNyU91tJMnG7dx8S8oVP-EgWOFsdXjw2iJHDhNK12yUFet_cx5K186r9aVidS1sQTFQiajynIIvFGA7X0wp4g1g6k/s826/Bildschirm%C2%ADfoto%202023-03-02%20um%2007.19.41.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="590" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vnyOIogreXp2lYRoLoPP-JC3DKCc-5eN_kVgwtLsiWVQGNGszsb7mLqF0_9f2oQHzS7yxpiot2NXs_4HPIKO3-NuHr0fvHfZNyU91tJMnG7dx8S8oVP-EgWOFsdXjw2iJHDhNK12yUFet_cx5K186r9aVidS1sQTFQiajynIIvFGA7X0wp4g1g6k/w458-h640/Bildschirm%C2%ADfoto%202023-03-02%20um%2007.19.41.png" width="458" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>here is the <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/fantasio/art/AT-AT-Among-the-Sierra-Nevada-451935163" target="_blank">original version</a>:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wsP6h1vzKSTGUP51B8Zg3b8RWl-LdPBaGSzZ1x2Jdsv-GACrNSOUTEyG-bnAqUJ9sl-9rJUIU0wQHeCja2cB7Xd-cPACAZyZw-sOknF6f483jIxh0byBHdsiwpuaNBw8rT09jv15HLdBDjY0NrgivTB7mtxcxbgEp6uhmJ7hOqK7EpB5tHi8PJUr/s1920/oliver-wetter-albert-bierstadt-among-the-sierra-nevada-california-google-art-project-final-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1920" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wsP6h1vzKSTGUP51B8Zg3b8RWl-LdPBaGSzZ1x2Jdsv-GACrNSOUTEyG-bnAqUJ9sl-9rJUIU0wQHeCja2cB7Xd-cPACAZyZw-sOknF6f483jIxh0byBHdsiwpuaNBw8rT09jv15HLdBDjY0NrgivTB7mtxcxbgEp6uhmJ7hOqK7EpB5tHi8PJUr/w640-h346/oliver-wetter-albert-bierstadt-among-the-sierra-nevada-california-google-art-project-final-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>It is really a weird situation because we have AI-tools and this guy could have a much better cover than this, but he choses to do this instead.</p><p><b>So what do I think of this?</b></p><p>First thing was, Oh that is fun because usually when my work is used even without credit, some people find the work and buy directly from me, so that is good. </p><p>The next thing is; why did he use a Star Wars themed piece, does he have a Dark-Side themed album about the empire and a fallen AT-AT?</p><p>I mean this would all make sense - even if we forget for a minute that Lucasfilm/Disney owns the rights to any Star Wars vehicle. <br /><br /></p><p><b>But why didn't he ask?</b></p><p>In <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2016/11/beware-of-prime-line-gear-fraud-there.html" target="_blank">this article I covered the case why Chinese dropshippers sold the AT-AT en masse years ago</a>, simply because fans downloaded the art as wallpaper from deviantArt and uploaded them on Wallpaper sites under a CC license since they thought it was public domain because of the Bierstadt painting on which it is based.</p><p>The truth is, because of the mashup with a third-party IP, it becomes a legal grey area. </p><p>I can't really do anything about it because I neither own the rights to an AT-AT nor the Albert Bierstadt painting. I re-painted the piece several times for a better quality output, but the legal facts do not change. And I only sell my own work because I have long enough observed others selling my work without consent and without consequences.</p><p>So that is the basic gist of things around this topic.</p><p>Basically everyone promoting my mashup work, with or without attribution is doing me a favor. Its just my take on something that exists already.</p><p>The only thing I can do is to set up an article about that matter, so that interested parties find this article and learn that they can get a print and support my work by getting a signed version here on my Etsy: <a href="https://www.etsy.com/de/listing/821791839/kunstdruck-atat-walker-krieg-der-sterne?click_key=2bc70214d53c5fb6638fdb5432e3ca7cdca1013b%3A821791839&click_sum=0fef8819&ref=shop_home_active_20&frs=1&sts=1">https://www.etsy.com/de/listing/821791839/kunstdruck-atat-walker...</a></p><p>Or on Canvas in my Webshop (Germany and EU only): <a href="https://www.fantasio.shop/collections/1-panel-canvas/products/3-legged-walker-among-the-sierra-nevada-xxl-canvas-print-3">https://www.fantasio.shop/collections/1-panel-canvas/products/3-legged-walker-among-the-sierra-nevada-xxl-canvas-print-3</a></p><p>For the US, there is a limited Edition Canvas available from iCanvas.com over here: <a href="https://www.icanvas.com/canvas-print/at-among-the-sierra-nevada-arf4#1PC6-40x26">https://www.icanvas.com/canvas-print/at-among-the-sierra-nevada-arf4#1PC6-40x26</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfm0oZVq-rDg8e2YFyIKukzt8NwOvnCvK6M2xkFWuCOxZ0BmA6Ck1Uozuon_thkdNmCmJhyIA015o5dVuHJAAycHlwb3gLiwXLpOGwbabLSzH741XErfrNmRYow3Lnq5k0Yt7LNGZbP782gzePS5GcMaq58DPXbJYcoqhaHLPEPRH8OXLQd0hJztYp/s865/Bildschirm%C2%ADfoto%202023-03-02%20um%2007.44.06.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="865" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfm0oZVq-rDg8e2YFyIKukzt8NwOvnCvK6M2xkFWuCOxZ0BmA6Ck1Uozuon_thkdNmCmJhyIA015o5dVuHJAAycHlwb3gLiwXLpOGwbabLSzH741XErfrNmRYow3Lnq5k0Yt7LNGZbP782gzePS5GcMaq58DPXbJYcoqhaHLPEPRH8OXLQd0hJztYp/w640-h400/Bildschirm%C2%ADfoto%202023-03-02%20um%2007.44.06.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Thanks for your consideration to support a living artist ♡</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-9055435767398331482022-12-07T15:58:00.722+01:002023-04-05T20:02:19.299+02:00Why AI-Generative Tools Are Not There (Yet)<p>There are many different opinions in the wild about the use of AI and I felt the need to clarify my stance.</p><p>Pro & Anti AI artists are very vocal but do a lot of harm to the public perception. Many users of AI make it appear better than it really is and artists on the opposite denying it, miss out opportunities to improve their work or productivity. </p><p>That is why I believe a healthy and neutral position is the key for many reasons.</p><p>I found this amazingly well done video that exactly matches my attitude and stance, please do yourself a favor and watch it. It is also great to get an overview about what happened in the last couple of months:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="411" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S9zhDY6bf_o" width="617" youtube-src-id="S9zhDY6bf_o"></iframe></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">AI is not Art!</h3><p>At its root, art is always about visual communication. AI is not about Art, it is a new medium - a faster channel for communication. As medium it does not compete with anything else because there was nothing like it before and like everything in this world, its far from being perfect..</p><p>Even though it seems to be more of a threat to illustration it isn't going to replace freelancers because of this; "<b>An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process</b>" (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illustration" target="_blank">source Wikipedia)</a> There is nowhere in the world stated that illustration means hand painted. <br />From experience I can say that in the illustration-business, people hire you because of what it looks like, not what it really is.</p><p>AI is not going to change this - it needs a creative person to come up with the best possible style and/or illustration to communicate a style, medium or message. </p><p>This tool just brings more people into the creative field and they all have to learn about art history the same way we did. As a medium, it will not replace artists, it will strengthen connection to artists!</p><p>Viewed as communication-medium, AI has certain advantages if used correctly:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Its helpful against creative block</li><li>It serves instant inspiration</li><li>Gives alternatives for ad-powered platforms like Pinterest</li><li>Creates rights free novel work as a base-painting (if desired)</li><li>Enables disabled to be creative or communicate better</li><li>It helps to better communicate ideas between art directors and artists</li><li>AI can help to find your artistic style faster or explore new styles</li><li>Will enhance visual prototyping</li></ul><div>This list is by no means complete, I just want to bring all these things in a correlation with a "Communication-Tool" and suddenly it does not sound that bad. </div><div><br />It always depends on how you view things, a thing is not inherently bad by itself.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Why AI is overrated right now</h3><div>This is my personal opinion based on my own standards!</div><p>In case you wonder - I decided to change this article to a more readable and shorter version that I can refer visitors to, when it comes to the question on "How I use AI- tools". </p><p>I did <b><a href="https://www.artstation.com/fantasio/albums/65214" target="_blank">handpainted Inceptionism</a></b>, a kind of style transfer, long before Stable diffusion and Midjourney was invented. Now since everyone can do that - I focus on things the AI can't do - and believe me, there is a lot the AI can't do!</p><p><b>Here is some explanation on why I would not rely on AI in its current incarnation:</b></p><p>Right now I can't carry an AI generated output into a final piece without a lot of post work. Work = time that I have to allocate. </p><p>Just look at this particular output below, on the first view it looks great:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLq1WLGa94m8mVDvUGujrf9_5Dvo3TFZqzKyyOfpXMkfYsHqofNVn672tFPuOhdSkyqZ_AWBBvKc4KHgaPSO2GZ2LZCYmKH21zmDS_gudVXBulqRqZPgXanhvpuBGl8Fqa7yW0XiIPL9uC6PzVB6k4dvBLo6ksNbcpLnz5Nxm4FFVhwr4_FWKW-IPk/s1536/Fantasiox_de_Chronicles_Landscape_midnight_at_t_623ba390-37dd-4c91-8149-e145f79c69ad.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1536" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLq1WLGa94m8mVDvUGujrf9_5Dvo3TFZqzKyyOfpXMkfYsHqofNVn672tFPuOhdSkyqZ_AWBBvKc4KHgaPSO2GZ2LZCYmKH21zmDS_gudVXBulqRqZPgXanhvpuBGl8Fqa7yW0XiIPL9uC6PzVB6k4dvBLo6ksNbcpLnz5Nxm4FFVhwr4_FWKW-IPk/w640-h426/Fantasiox_de_Chronicles_Landscape_midnight_at_t_623ba390-37dd-4c91-8149-e145f79c69ad.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Upon closer inspection you will see what I mean:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXpp-Xu3pmmD36wRLOlArS9QD0AxqsViDiGyEx3MW2xyY9wKPT-0LE0R-RhVx4d4ZO5vP9eicJY1eS1IKZY_eBkFydndPuVA5qYjoo-Ilm7pe6tjhgXpoypY6a3zaOhLmpfGnuB4r4L_wpj_WrHLZRTpyzXLbknGjq2ep0mZTWfnOcqTNm8WNwEU4/s1689/%3F.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1321" data-original-width="1689" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXpp-Xu3pmmD36wRLOlArS9QD0AxqsViDiGyEx3MW2xyY9wKPT-0LE0R-RhVx4d4ZO5vP9eicJY1eS1IKZY_eBkFydndPuVA5qYjoo-Ilm7pe6tjhgXpoypY6a3zaOhLmpfGnuB4r4L_wpj_WrHLZRTpyzXLbknGjq2ep0mZTWfnOcqTNm8WNwEU4/w640-h500/%3F.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>In every generated output there are so many fundamental flaws, it could easily take 20 hours alone to just fix these issues in a landscape piece upscaled to 300 dpi. Depending on style that I want to go for, a piece like the above could only serve as a base-painting, a sketch.</p><p>I have experience working with masterpieces in the past for my "<a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2014/05/the-ancient-kaiju-project.html" target="_blank">Ancient Kaiju Project</a>" and even there the bare re-painting of an existing piece could take between 30-40 hours, so I know what I'm talking about.</p><p>From my work with artworks from the Hudson River School, I also learned a lot about composition, the thing AI's rely on are usually rule-of-thirds and diagonals - <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2016/05/what-i-learned-from-gil-elvgren-about.html" target="_blank">simple composition</a> techniques and guidelines that nearly every photographer uses, accepting these standard composition principles makes sure you stay in the huge pool of "me too" images. Better composition = better chance to stand out.</p><p>Below is a recent work where you can read a bit about my process and where I highlight "one" method of many to make sure the composition is on par with my established standards: <a href="https://fantasio.artstation.com/projects/Ke60xr?album_id=1466018">https://fantasio.artstation.com/projects/Ke60xr?album_id=1466018</a></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixVYt7kP1w8gFvzGJ78dI-hnKaKuwb-zB2NTqLqfOmJa_Sli1RxhczRgxmKLJ_4upume1k9ybnQgwNgKjAjJfBD3UWw98ae9-c4uY9vdnEPXh8CYdrIIcV3WsTlSWFoEVeG1jCsLAxYpW5kofZpxIHjvSgjMweneYXlNaFbD325GsSlbm-mNNG0Cb5/s1920/oliver-wetter-composition-rectangle.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1175" data-original-width="1920" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixVYt7kP1w8gFvzGJ78dI-hnKaKuwb-zB2NTqLqfOmJa_Sli1RxhczRgxmKLJ_4upume1k9ybnQgwNgKjAjJfBD3UWw98ae9-c4uY9vdnEPXh8CYdrIIcV3WsTlSWFoEVeG1jCsLAxYpW5kofZpxIHjvSgjMweneYXlNaFbD325GsSlbm-mNNG0Cb5/w640-h392/oliver-wetter-composition-rectangle.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One way to analyze a composition based on coincidences in a root rectangle</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />I have <a href="https://fantasio.gumroad.com/?sort=page_layout" target="_blank">2 Ebooks about composition</a> available here, in case you want to learn more about this matter.</p><p>So if I was going to use some of the images, it goes without saying that there would be a vast amount of work involved to make this on par with the quality I expect from myself and my other art.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">General Misconceptions</h3><p>People often think the longer you work on a piece, the better it becomes, but that is not how art and the creation of art works. I have seen great sketches from students and the longer they worked on it, the worse it became. So there is this thing called "lifetime experience" that helps to take something mediocre and make it great.</p><p><b>Sketching is a kind of Note-making! </b>Whenever an artist draws a sketch it is a communication to their self, to make a note on what to improve in the final version. The same principle is necessary working with AI, sorting out that process will leave you with blunders.</p><p>Many AI-enthusiasts take an AI-image as it is and since they don't have this "lifetime-experience" yet, they don't see the flaws the AI produces. </p><p><b>Once you realize the flaws, there is no end to it!</b> You have to question your whole body of work - but don't be afraid, every artist knows this feeling, it is just a difference if you are ashamed for 1000 pieces you have put out or just 58 ;)</p><p>Any tool that helps to get work done is an asset but AI is like a "little-autistic-artist-friend-in-a-machine" kind of tool that is not reliable. </p><p><b>That may be the reason it has not yet found widespread use in companies. </b>Also the fact, that companies want someone who is responsible for the art - so if someone is going to sue them, they can't refer to the machine or a prompter who has no ties to the artistic community or art history in a way they could defend themselves.</p><p>For artists like me who embrace "happy accidents" it can become part of an <b><i>experimental</i></b> workflow because I can see potential where others just see a crappy output.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>How I use AI :</b></p><p>I use it as a rapid-prototyping tool to get ideas out of my head. </p><p>Concept ideation, selection process, sketching and base-painting, that is how I can use AI without having to worry about public-domain status, fundamental flaws, ethical debates and many other issues.</p><p>As it is now, AI replaces Pinterest for me and an extended image search but goes along with my usual research about a certain topic. There are many things the AI lacks understanding of, like perspective, foreshortening, anatomy, folds, composition and especially copyrighted characters which are restricted in Midjourney due to corporate interests.</p><div>The rapid prototyping or concept-exploration-capabilities are where the AI really shines. After exploring an idea and 20-30 images later, I know at least what I don't want. This exploration process has become an extra step in my process, one that makes fun but also takes time in advance.</div><div><p>The final work benefits from this explorative process but it does not save me time, it takes as long as it takes, that is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law" target="_blank">Parkinson's law.</a> </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Why some people can use AI and others not</h3><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In our toxic culture and especially on toxic media, it seems that in some bubbles, some people can do whatever they want and in others people get punished from an angry mob if the just mention the use of AI.<br />There are several reasons for that:</span></div><br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Because of social pressure<br />There is a lot of social pressure within the artist communities, luckily I have a very loyal following - for which I'm very grateful. But I am also not dependent on social media as my output is more like a life-signal once a month. <br /><br /></li><li>Because of your process<br />It also depends very much how you work, I for example have to see things and always match things in my curative-minds-eye - in a way that no one else would think of - and AI can only enhance this way of being creative.<br /><br /></li><li>Because of your own ethical restrictions<br />When it comes to the ethical questions, I see it this way: My work is also in the datasets that were used to train these AI's.<br />Instead of waiting 10-15 years on a court-ruling that could result in receiving 0.05 € for any piece included in the dataset, I will find other ways to get a compensation - its my right to do that as much as every other artist included has this right.<br /><br /></li><li>Because your audience is different<br />Since I work independently and have built a business around my work, the final result is more important for my customers. If you are stuck in a company where your work is a part of a long process-chain and all your colleagues are artists afraid that AI could steal their jobs, that is a very bad environment to be in if you want to play with AI.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Fear of the machine</h3><p>I understand that many artist are afraid of the tech while others jump into my shoes and become accidental artists by getting hyped on the <i>interweb</i>...</p><p>This is also the good thing about it; now all newborn AI-artists learn how it is to be an artist, where everyone around you monetize your "output" without even asking. Or being used by artist-hubs on Instagram, to build a million following and then starting a business around that - the work of other people without paying a dime on it. Fancy, isn't it?</p><p>Welcome to my world!</p><p>And as fast as they came, as fast they will go. Only true artist hang in there and go to a convention for 200,- a weekend for years or want to learn the basics so that they understand whats going on instead on being dependent on a machine.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion:</h3><p>As you can see, I will keep a neutral stance on the AI-discussion. I would encourage seeing it more as a communication-tool that will speed up conception, unlock creative potential and strengthen ties to visual art and artists.</p><p>Bad things come from bad people. As a society we could gain a lot from this development if we start talking about ideas instead of talking about people. But hey; we are what we do.</p><p>My usage of AI is limited to conception and productivity and in its current incarnation it is a Tiger without teeth, nothing to be afraid of because all it does is to replace Photo-bashing. I am more terrified about an AGI that understands how to create complex 3D-Models and apply physics to them from scratch in realtime, but I guess we have a few years until this happens. </p><p>But it also does not hurt to be prepared and work on diversified income strategies.</p><p>Maybe this little write-up has helped you to get a different opinion about AI with less fear and a critical eye for social media and vocal minorities. Please do your own research, find your stance and keep on doing what you are great at!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br />Edits:<br />Feb. 18. 2023 small text edits and added link to the x-wing painting for reference<br /></div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-47744778460588959022022-08-23T12:03:00.003+02:002023-02-07T08:55:12.377+01:00Whats the Prompt? Dreamstudio + Stable Diffusion Public Release - Follow-up Post about AI.<div class="separator">**<a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2022/12/important-statement-on-using-ai-tools.html"><b>New post about my revised stance on AI</b></a>**</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">It has actually been 2 crazy weeks since I started this experiment and this post is about what I learned.</div><p><b>On a positive note, <a href="https://beta.dreamstudio.ai/dream" target="_blank">dreamstudio</a> which is the website editor based on stable diffusion, is now in open beta publicly, so you may try it on your own with 200 free credits.</b></p><p><b>And you can download and or get your own Stable diffusion running as <a href="https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1jUwJ0owjigpG-9m6AI_wEStwimisUE17" target="_blank">google colab notebook</a> or on your own PC if you know how. You can join the discord to get help and answers to your questions: <a href="https://discord.gg/stablediffusion">https://discord.gg/stablediffusion</a></b></p><p><a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2022/08/will-ai-art-generators-like-midjourney.html" target="_blank">Here is my previous post</a> with more discussion material and my opinion from around 10 days ago.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjykVs-HGgmC6AF3YBkhx1rn_fDfxFFEgsE8GOiSu61fFwvYXdDzzkWu_Z_UHONfbwcmlB5nhxx6HbHD8Y3coLgODREh-QQHCEHJf8NAkVbaQQZ04uZ8soCjAZATybINYQu2UMv9G-4-omBk1NKh3Ih79b2wzo_vzBHOQVstf461hUCE2olv1ranTmK/s1641/Bildschirmfoto%202022-08-23%20um%2009.52.13.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1231" data-original-width="1641" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjykVs-HGgmC6AF3YBkhx1rn_fDfxFFEgsE8GOiSu61fFwvYXdDzzkWu_Z_UHONfbwcmlB5nhxx6HbHD8Y3coLgODREh-QQHCEHJf8NAkVbaQQZ04uZ8soCjAZATybINYQu2UMv9G-4-omBk1NKh3Ih79b2wzo_vzBHOQVstf461hUCE2olv1ranTmK/w640-h480/Bildschirmfoto%202022-08-23%20um%2009.52.13.png" width="640" /></a></div>The 2 weeks beta-testing on the stable-diffusion discord has been an awesome experience, it was really an enrichment, so much creativity and inspiration - I have not had such a feeling since I started studying art back in 2003!<p></p><p>The weights of stable diffusion have been released and it can be used in <b>google colab</b> or locally or via the dreamstudio website. The unedited output I have posted over the past weeks can now be done or used by anyone. I really like the community spirit and want to give something back, so if you like to create simple concepts in the style like above, here it is: </p><blockquote>greg manchess portrait painting of ...your character... as overwatch character, asymmetrical, profile image, organic painting, dynamic pose, sunny day, loose brush strokes, hard edges, conceptart, art by gil elvgren and ruan jia</blockquote><p>CFG-Scale around 8.0 sometimes 7 sometimes 9 and steps work well with 50 up to 90 and only up to 576x676px.</p><p>I believe it's a great benchmark style and I learned a lot through it and use altered versions now, but the base should work just fine. </p><p>If you use it, a mention is appreciated but not necessary.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Why I slow down on posting</h3><p>If you want to follow my output of these experiments, I will keep up a folder on my <a href="https://www.artstation.com/fantasio/albums/6831061" target="_blank">artstation</a> / website <a href="https://fantasio.work/albums/6831061" target="_blank">fantasio.work </a>that is named AI-Art / Experiments. For now that is the only place I will keep posting besides deviantArt and sometimes IG.<br /><br /><b>I will not stop posting art in general, but the reason why I want to take a break with posting AI-Art is due to many issues:</b></p><div>Since the release of the weights and dreamstudio, anyone can do what I did in the beta. I need to find ways to incorporate this technology in my existing work and new styles to set myself apart.</div><div><br /></div><div>As far as the public perception goes, there are heated discussions on youtube, deviantArt, instagram and reddit. I also have discussions with friends and other artists and it seems many concerns and problems stem from misunderstandings and maybe mis-interpretation.</div><p>Creating AI Art and publishing AI Art are two very different things it seems.</p><p>Here is a great example of mis-interpretation:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkdt8fYufkT9qfolk0RrqUvHTRm1UszHMfFDPu202u9RbXCvqghIjRWDfzuwA8OWLsm7kUIu5V1Ir_qzjGjljSOvt7MJZZSRn8JVGUF5j5IQmWzbKqxO1K9w3BkTPc7UYije7rqS_ZDIIASBgaCGyZX37CDxX_wqfhhVyOn4iYl2tsiu5TO8t56s3/s444/Bildschirmfoto%202022-08-23%20um%2018.52.54.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="99" data-original-width="444" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkdt8fYufkT9qfolk0RrqUvHTRm1UszHMfFDPu202u9RbXCvqghIjRWDfzuwA8OWLsm7kUIu5V1Ir_qzjGjljSOvt7MJZZSRn8JVGUF5j5IQmWzbKqxO1K9w3BkTPc7UYije7rqS_ZDIIASBgaCGyZX37CDxX_wqfhhVyOn4iYl2tsiu5TO8t56s3/w640-h142/Bildschirmfoto%202022-08-23%20um%2018.52.54.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />He is bashing literally every art director out there and if you ever worked for a big company, you know there are art directors who can "prompt" an artist greatly and others not, so IT IS an art-form, just a different one, like cooking. Knowing a lot about lighting, art history and materials. I'd go as far and say you need to be an artist for quite some time to be a great Art Director aka "Prompter" ;)<br /><p>From my perspective, I can say that I have a certain knowledge and passion for artists and art history that gives me a big advantage in this game. And in general my stance is very similar to what Olivio Sarikas speaks about in his short 7 minute video here, highly recommended to watch:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="312" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QuztwbQ47o8" width="504" youtube-src-id="QuztwbQ47o8"></iframe></div><br /><p>My main problem with publishing is that I can not be 100% certain that everyone looking at the art knows that it is generated or if that change the perception and value of it?</p><p>I mean, IT IS a matter of perception; If I would tell someone that I did not paint all my work but Photoshop did, (that is not possible as of today but you get the idea) would that devalue my work? <br /><br />But since I put my hands on it and countless hours does that give it value? <br />Or the 20 years experience with digital art?<br />Is this discussion even relevant considering that a chair with fat (aka ready-mades) is considered art?</p><p>If in the future Photoshop is A.I. driven and can paint on its own with just peaking a prompt, do I have to tell everyone that I did paint with my hands back in the day? Or does no one care anyways? We don't know.</p><p>What I know is, that these are important and sometimes philosophical questions that have to be answered all individually - which takes time and effort.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Social Media and Statistic insights</h3><p>Personally, I will refrain from posting on IG and FB because I believe most people don't really understand it or are wondering and I don't want to add to the confusion. There are also other reasons.</p><p>From the social media statistics, I had much hope on <b>Instagram</b> but not so much on <b>Artstation</b> or <b>deviantArt</b> but the opposite is true.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKrTtx2Mq9P5qf-ICP5fBt5_XkPCAnyWzPGgiJpAirMskKESqgkyoI8bzOe-t9HgFpmuUUaZmMMUrvS_Z_EJ_ILy4PdWV5Kkem0J6yPbuIv-Xdh7DBe4TlhKNkh07lhWz8gATTx9LkAhY9C1twu3LdElKEKwCBnw-g-EKvLh0MMX5SjelhGaUaMxA/s1270/IMG_0735.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKrTtx2Mq9P5qf-ICP5fBt5_XkPCAnyWzPGgiJpAirMskKESqgkyoI8bzOe-t9HgFpmuUUaZmMMUrvS_Z_EJ_ILy4PdWV5Kkem0J6yPbuIv-Xdh7DBe4TlhKNkh07lhWz8gATTx9LkAhY9C1twu3LdElKEKwCBnw-g-EKvLh0MMX5SjelhGaUaMxA/w369-h400/IMG_0735.jpg" width="369" /></a></div><br /><p>Just a little statistic-insight; I started with that experiment posting the "ready-mades" on Instagram with over 600% of reach on the first day of posting and 200% interacting accounts opposed to the month prior. That went down to just 100% after a week. New followers went up about 0.5% at the peak which is where organic reach (without influencers) has dropped<br /><br />The system is really broken. I remember early last year when running an ad campaign for 25 € reach on one single post was around 25.000 up to 65.000. Imagining that it will become even worse when everyone will post AI-generated art very soon and a lack of human curation, that will not make it easier to be visible there AT ALL.</p><p>This also answers a big question to me - if Instagram is still worth the time and maybe money for ads in 2022? My takeaway is to keep using it for posting not so often but with quality content for existing watchers. Actually like before the experiment, the result of this experiment is reason enough to focus on other platforms.</p><p>Also interesting to note is that publishing from Instagram to twitter, pushes only 1 image and somehow that resulted in no reach at all. Twitter may just give exposure for organic reach. Learned that the hard way. </p><p>Somehow the same for tumblr posted through IG, some traction maybe but not so much, not sure if tumblr is still alive anyways.</p><p><b>deviantArt</b> led to 5000-7000 views on individual images opposed to my own portrait work that just had around 700-900 but I suppose that is because of the hashtags which are trending right now. I will be careful about that and only upload an AI piece here and there in between my regular work, at least dA isn't broken when it comes to hashtag reach.</p><p><b>Artstation</b> led to a steady 1000 - 1500 views per day (starting from an average of 500), which is not bad at all - and that is for all pieces in the gallery. </p><p>So in my opinion it will take a shift in platforms more towards curated and specialized art platforms. I hate to say it, but maybe NFT-sites are better suited or be pushed there anyways.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br />Technical restrictions of A.I. at the moment</h3><p>The thing I, as also many other artists and enthusiasts have hoped for, was higher resolution.<br />But working and testing Stable-Diffusion in beta and words from the developers answering questions the last couple of days, made it very clear, that the model is just capable of working perfect in around 512 x 512 px.</p><p>That is the reason I have not much tested for landscapes. Portraits turned out perfectly well in square but produced broken images about 60% of the time on aspect ratios like 2:3, 3:4 or more.</p><p>Also the rendering time goes up exponentially when requesting images with many steps and resolution of around 512 x 1024, which makes it take even longer on your own hardware.</p><p>As it is now, I will try to get it running as a google Colab Notebook and train it with my own data when the weights are being released and will keep my eye open for this kind of development, but that might take at least 2-5 years. Maybe earlier when upscaling software like Topaz Gigapixel uses the technology to get better at upscaling too.</p><p>A great thing is the init-image option and I guess the community is looking much forward to an inpainting feature soon!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br />Mistrust</h3><p>One thing that I really have a problem with, are artists pretending their work was done in Photoshop, when it is clearly obvious it was 80 % stable diffusion and they did only some touch-ups in PS. </p><p>No name-calling here but it is to be expected that this will happen much more often and is also a reason I want to limit reach to my little own experiments, because those artists give the tools a really bad name. But they don't think that far ahead. Time will show them and a backlash eventually.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Quo Vadis?</h3><div><p>Where will I take this? I'm not so sure. For the time being, I will keep experimenting with these tools until they get better and until people get used to it. </p></div><p>For the portrait works, I might definitely take time to push my own boundaries and see where that takes me and how to set myself apart. I don't have a problem creating new art-styles but it takes time to create a coherent series. Maybe AI can help me to create the graphic novel I have in mind for Luna & Nova.</p><p>I will definitely keep up works on my Stilllife-series and the Ancient Kaiju Project, everything else is just cherry on top for now.</p><p>Let me know what your experience looks like on social media or how you go about it on a daily basis.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br />Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-46358403387446648432022-08-17T17:46:00.005+02:002023-02-07T08:55:47.603+01:00Will AI-Art Generators like Midjourney or StableDiffusion Replace Artists?<div class="separator">**<a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2022/12/important-statement-on-using-ai-tools.html"><b>New post about my revised stance on AI</b></a>**</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><p>If you would have asked me that question 2 years ago, I would most likely have said:"Not in this century".<br /><br />Speaking of digital art of course.</p><p>Now that I'm in a beta-group of stable diffusion, I'd say it might be a month or so away from happening.</p><p>First off; I don't want to scare anyone and I'm personally excited about the development. But fact is; the release of a public-domain text-to-image AI that is capable of creating artworks like the following, is going to disrupt many lives:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dR1bVZfrU9o84jLnKMHaCoZs416w1l9rcsaHmLXmCm3ISyzDgT9O1IENUop4KPZwOpNYe8_JSpWUICk4ihoaGc8bDoq7kLCXZppDF6lwMeVXtQM-Ngazn4_4kvjY37XFlgNmID5Dg-03IB0iULoQjovXjngBsYQPVq80agouBvh_7xOkymAwFG0V/s1024/A_playful_young_woman_with_blonde_long_hair_and_bangs_in_shorts_and_a_white_blouse_drawn_by_Zeronis_and_Donato_giancola_and_Robert_McGinnis_-C_16.0_-n_9_-i_-s_130_-S_1711828718_ts-1659910191_idx-2-gigapixel-standard-scale-2_00x.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dR1bVZfrU9o84jLnKMHaCoZs416w1l9rcsaHmLXmCm3ISyzDgT9O1IENUop4KPZwOpNYe8_JSpWUICk4ihoaGc8bDoq7kLCXZppDF6lwMeVXtQM-Ngazn4_4kvjY37XFlgNmID5Dg-03IB0iULoQjovXjngBsYQPVq80agouBvh_7xOkymAwFG0V/w294-h294/A_playful_young_woman_with_blonde_long_hair_and_bangs_in_shorts_and_a_white_blouse_drawn_by_Zeronis_and_Donato_giancola_and_Robert_McGinnis_-C_16.0_-n_9_-i_-s_130_-S_1711828718_ts-1659910191_idx-2-gigapixel-standard-scale-2_00x.png" width="294" /></a></div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUV4IBvozsWxbswlJn9Dtx8KSmosy9UfOdzbWWTi3BMmYCmfyvABETdJpfn8U5zt78w-s7Ubqrl11FVsCu_S8Ef0J7-kiXUa8B07NNSdL07xF4jQYTWh6TrYYSQwoYzhEY125xKNj_hiy8ZjcHaL62XUnR-aMcp_TNxF_Db5bXXWtjrpO8yX-kXBm/s1408/realistic_detailed_face_portrait_of_a_beautiful_futuristic_nordic_in_alien_cyberpunk_armor_by_alphonse_mucha_ayami_kojima_am_-H_704_-W_640_-C_13.0_-n_9_-i_-s_150_-S_788661966_ts-1660308204_idx-6-gigapixel-standard-scale-2_00x.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1408" data-original-width="1280" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUV4IBvozsWxbswlJn9Dtx8KSmosy9UfOdzbWWTi3BMmYCmfyvABETdJpfn8U5zt78w-s7Ubqrl11FVsCu_S8Ef0J7-kiXUa8B07NNSdL07xF4jQYTWh6TrYYSQwoYzhEY125xKNj_hiy8ZjcHaL62XUnR-aMcp_TNxF_Db5bXXWtjrpO8yX-kXBm/w265-h292/realistic_detailed_face_portrait_of_a_beautiful_futuristic_nordic_in_alien_cyberpunk_armor_by_alphonse_mucha_ayami_kojima_am_-H_704_-W_640_-C_13.0_-n_9_-i_-s_150_-S_788661966_ts-1660308204_idx-6-gigapixel-standard-scale-2_00x.png" width="265" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBzNF-E0MDS4EPROjtr3RGkp3xda0S-Ln5Z6GAmHtksnfcvzTS_xU2zBXgFY6TaITtbM_Im3UCYp2ybRxin0j71ofwcqgxdjzlzUzd9X_egTHNp8rExtczTmRc6vE448d7it8ie3G9S6z9luojZc7G4ZS4LYVbZf7gPdqd9Hy2onDuZ0D5hyy8WFv/s1024/Sci-fi_environment_set_in_a_nightmarish_universe_of_odd_forms_and_somber_tapestry_HR_Giger_Wadim_Kashin_in_Peter_Elson_color_sch_-H_576_-W_1024_-C_12.0_-n_6_-i_-S_3056311933_ts-1660053454_idx-3.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBzNF-E0MDS4EPROjtr3RGkp3xda0S-Ln5Z6GAmHtksnfcvzTS_xU2zBXgFY6TaITtbM_Im3UCYp2ybRxin0j71ofwcqgxdjzlzUzd9X_egTHNp8rExtczTmRc6vE448d7it8ie3G9S6z9luojZc7G4ZS4LYVbZf7gPdqd9Hy2onDuZ0D5hyy8WFv/w640-h360/Sci-fi_environment_set_in_a_nightmarish_universe_of_odd_forms_and_somber_tapestry_HR_Giger_Wadim_Kashin_in_Peter_Elson_color_sch_-H_576_-W_1024_-C_12.0_-n_6_-i_-S_3056311933_ts-1660053454_idx-3.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Image top -right @vinyvince / landscape image @Nas</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I may refer only to Stable Diffusion in this post as all images shown here are from SD (except the 2 hand painted ones). You can read more about the Tool in question here: <a href="https://stability.ai">https://stability.ai</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can have a look into this Sub from reddit to see what other users come up with: <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/StableDiffusion/">https://www.reddit.com/r/StableDiffusion/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As far as <b><a href="https://www.midjourney.com/home/" target="_blank">Midjourney</a></b> goes, I'd say no, but that is due to its extreme limitations which I learned about just a few weeks ago when I joined the 2nd wave of beta testers for <b>Stable Diffusion</b>. What I saw there is what AI is capable of and it is scary in some way but in the right hands it can also lead to amazing results and liberation. Seeing that made me realize HOW limited Midjourney really is, because 90% of prompts that looked amazing in Stable Diffusion were even with hours of re-prompting not possible to recreate with MJ. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /><a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/" target="_blank">Dall-e 2</a></b> goes in the same direction, the censoring and limitations do more harm than help.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />The founders of <b>Stability.ai</b> speak about democratizing but I'm not exactly sure what they mean by this. Academics and regular people often speak a very different language. In my opinion they want to make it freely available so that more diverse art and products can be created. Because as it is now with <a href="https://nightcafe.studio" target="_blank">NightCafe</a> and Midjourney, they all have specific looks like traditional media. That is intended to have some kind of a trademark. Like watercolors have a very distinctive look you can recognize a Midjourney image from miles away.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Personally I really look forward to Stable Diffusion as it could change my workflow and allow for many different styles of art. This could open up new markets too! One new way for artists could be to generate artistic styles that can then be licensed to companies for games, products, whatever.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />I also see a chance to be able to think about doing commissioned work again. A thing that I had less and less time for in the past few years till a point where I only have 2 companies left I do work for and I don't take on new ones atm. Stable Diffusion trained with my personal dataset could change that very well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One reason why I rejected so many commissions / opportunities was that I could just deliver 50-60% opposed to what I could do when working on my own projects. With A.I. I imagine being able to deliver at least 80% of my best work and I could have fun doing so. Because believe me, delivering only mediocre work that takes 40 hours and more is no fun at all. That is business.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJUlY3t_iH8a494LrNBPooc0ICamgoQ3NsBZSYObMtW32Gj9jaUV8OIqvZpRDie3KhUif16c11Lq7prXXdVcbHhGv_wL8rMxNEdv2H262O8DyjaMUjQzA2ppmhnKjpZQvlrxgY5leSzRfo7OBe-4_1AOUYWLTFvl7M7y3VqEO1yrNZixPUNKB6tPf/s1024/A_playful_young_woman_with_blonde_long_hair_and_bangs_in_shorts_and_a_white_blouse_drawn_by_Robert_McGinnis_and_Julie_Bell_and_Zeronis_and_alphonse_mucha_-n_9_-i_-S_426547623_ts-1659909729_idx-2-gigapixel-standard-scale-2_00x.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJUlY3t_iH8a494LrNBPooc0ICamgoQ3NsBZSYObMtW32Gj9jaUV8OIqvZpRDie3KhUif16c11Lq7prXXdVcbHhGv_wL8rMxNEdv2H262O8DyjaMUjQzA2ppmhnKjpZQvlrxgY5leSzRfo7OBe-4_1AOUYWLTFvl7M7y3VqEO1yrNZixPUNKB6tPf/w640-h640/A_playful_young_woman_with_blonde_long_hair_and_bangs_in_shorts_and_a_white_blouse_drawn_by_Robert_McGinnis_and_Julie_Bell_and_Zeronis_and_alphonse_mucha_-n_9_-i_-S_426547623_ts-1659909729_idx-2-gigapixel-standard-scale-2_00x.png" width="640" /></a></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But is it Art?</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then there is the ethical argument of artists or non-artists, complaining that this is not Art anymore when just using a prompt to generate images.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My question here is: "What if in 100 years no one could imagine to do art with hands because that could be too difficult, IDK. Imagine then they would not even do text-input-to image-prompting but instead they would just imagine images directly because our brains are connected to one big machine... Would that be art by our limited standards and understanding?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Is art only art when you are educated?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Is art only great when you have put at least 40 hours of work into a piece?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Is photography art? (Because you just click on a button)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These are important question that I ask myself. For me the process is not important. In the early days of deviantArt, I had 10-minute sketches that got 100 comments and works that took 50 to 60 hours that no one bothered to look at.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From a copyright perspective, there is authorship and ownership. In that regard there is not much difference between writing an Haiku and owning it and writing a prompt to a machine which generates an image out of your text.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some artists are concerned about the copyright issue because of the similar looks being produced if the machine is prompted to work in the style of one particular artist. And that is interesting for non artists as fans of that particular artist or model or photographer. Artists on the other hands would always chase to combine 2 or more artists together and see what that does - and that is a creative process and the result is something completely new. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In addition - combining just 2 artists in a prompt allows for an infinite number of possible creations. Navigating through this AI-journey is a like navigating through a jungle of unknown territory. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In terms of copyright you have to know exactly which is which in order to prevent accidental damage and liabilities. Because in the end - if you are getting sued because of violating someones rights through the use of AI, you can't blame the machine for it and that solves the question about authorship once more.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The ethical question lies in the way we as artist perceive the process. We need to get used to this new way and decide for us if this is still art or is it cheating?<br /><br />Because the viewer (not in the know) might be moved or really like an output, does confronting the viewer afterwards lower their perception of that initial value to them? I don't think so.<br />Whenever I told people on a convention that I did not painted the landscapes on the <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2014/05/the-ancient-kaiju-project.html" target="_blank">Ancient Kaiju Project,</a> but rather painted over it in the style of the existing work a piece of popular culture, they were even ore intrigued by the story and the process. Not less.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At the moment it's artists against artists which make me sad and I understand that some people are afraid but fear is never a great way to build a future, it leads only to black and white thinking, <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/925948524/5003137549" target="_blank">like the discussion here on a recent dA posting shows</a>. It really leads to nothing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well, before A.I. there was tracing. Or a photograph was considered cheating around 1900. Photobashing in Photoshop was considered cheating a few years ago and Kitbashing in 3D was also considered cheating.<br /><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The point is:</b> it becomes cheating if you are in a competition for that certain category that requires participants to draw by hand or create from scratch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, we are not in that competition as a whole. In the entertainment industry, time is money and if you can churn out 10 images an hour thats good, if you can churn out 100, it is even better.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In a market where you want to sell prints, the buyer decides what they like and what not depending on many factors. And one is not if you spend at least 50 hours on a painting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One positive thing about this rising quality of A.I. is that it becomes more likely that rip-off companies and the likes rather create their own work based on A.I. instead of ripping the artists. This could have very different consequences; of course it is better for well known artists because of less losses and less dmca's but also less chances for rising artists because like it or not, a plagiarism is also a promotion of that particular work which in return creates a demand. Less demand = less inquiries for that particular artist = less popularity. This all is part of the democratization that is upon us. It will be hard to foresee how it exactly plays out but that is what I learned over the years.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Will there be jobs at Risk?</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sure like with every wave of new technology or trends that come up and go. We are at a point where striving artists at the verge of starting a business versus keeping art as a hobby - have to think twice. Either you have the balls to start a business or you go the safe route. It is the same movie with the red-pill and the blue-pill, which one do you take? I understand the concerns but starting a freelance business is not much of a difference today than it was 2009 when I started.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that is nothing new, the advent of this technology just changes the rules yet we have to wait how the dices turn out because they just began rolling.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And I'm sorry to say that, but you can't opt out of it. As digital artist you have to be very well known and better be very good (and fast) in order to stay away from A.I. Everyone else who has to make a living as artist better get their hands on it very early to stay in the game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You will sell less art when everyone is an artist!</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I disagree. Competition is good for business. In crowded NFT-Markets with so many trust-related-issues, that is a problem. Selling prints on a POS like a convention, not so much. Also; even if you can cook yourself like a chef, sometimes you just like to eat out and enjoy that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So not much would change in that regard - or only if you are used to sell an a3 print for 60 €, then you might get used to just charge 15 -20 €.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Traditional artists are safe, no?</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For a certain time and for some areas maybe. But also traditional or analog working artists usually sell prints of their work. That market will change for sure with billions of new and amazing works flooding the market within the next years.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the end, my aim is to create the best images I can. For this I learned to work with Zbrush, Painter, procreate and Photoshop. Before that I learned watercolors, colored pencils, charcoal oil, acrylics and airbrushing. Always striving for the next best painting because the next one is always going to be better (for an artist;).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In my ancient kkaiju project, but also the handpainted inceptionism, I tried to digitally learn by painting subjects, the original artists would never do, like the following pieces from Brom, the second one is an interpretation of Widowmaker from Overwatch painted by Brom:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevUjwdGeH8FZqh2qdcYJ4ZWWv6kNKoy-tuEu2t2RBN6fcII_QOqU11_Buh_Q7vNg7u498uwMB3Pwn5psLepDn0AT62l7eql3NDP7tBb9jK_jTyZiFrijMppqtRGnyeLJSH94SQHFLgZcSgTyIpBul51P0K3xaLYzFadZmFguDYabUMW4jn9IJntgy/s1070/oliver-wetter-what-if-brom-fma-small.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; outline-width: 0px; user-select: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="669" height="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevUjwdGeH8FZqh2qdcYJ4ZWWv6kNKoy-tuEu2t2RBN6fcII_QOqU11_Buh_Q7vNg7u498uwMB3Pwn5psLepDn0AT62l7eql3NDP7tBb9jK_jTyZiFrijMppqtRGnyeLJSH94SQHFLgZcSgTyIpBul51P0K3xaLYzFadZmFguDYabUMW4jn9IJntgy/w451-h720/oliver-wetter-what-if-brom-fma-small.jpeg" width="451" /> <br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cbZgD2KKXH6sd7G6ZjZgiPjmstgyfzGx-Y4qOYmE8GTqnQyyEH1R5QU34AZFyGySG3glFEld497TZhEO2DhHAGq4ekM436sS31i0Hb0latLEcmlaiZGfk3E4OvDU5q68zQuAa6JOJGGsPkVa7CrsftlGrL5sNyzwAPJYKozScfnkdseP3_-KyP18/s1400/oliver-wetter-widowmaker-web-text.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="990" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cbZgD2KKXH6sd7G6ZjZgiPjmstgyfzGx-Y4qOYmE8GTqnQyyEH1R5QU34AZFyGySG3glFEld497TZhEO2DhHAGq4ekM436sS31i0Hb0latLEcmlaiZGfk3E4OvDU5q68zQuAa6JOJGGsPkVa7CrsftlGrL5sNyzwAPJYKozScfnkdseP3_-KyP18/w453-h640/oliver-wetter-widowmaker-web-text.jpeg" width="453" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There is more of these if you like to see: <a href="https://fantasio.work/albums/65214">https://fantasio.work/albums/65214</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So for me that style-transfer or inception is nothing new I just did that by hand and I know it is really hard work not really appreciated by most. I did not expect that Machine-Learning is ready to do exactly that in this pace. In the following pieces, I did just what I did in the album above but with the help of Stable Diffusion. The Concept for the prompting was "figure xyz as Overwatch character painted by Greg Manchess and Gil Elvgren":</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_heZe-oJD-OEqGkqXKlekshIAEjZOsixMKhz5zGAE-RRAw_eclWnJ9wVP6FQUXzWIUGqvDTEa3P_8-571Jl1zpBRXS7_G0U4F4NF-_tcaFDdHgHvNJTFRevNwGWoUryuQ_OzOoiEQcHPzOOVMlPf4XJTrfZEw9IqDHRx6WnImjawyRK-TSkHp-Uw6/s1024/greg_manchess_portrait_painting_of_armored_elsa_from_frozen_as_overwatch_character_medium_shot_asymmetrical_profile_picture_organic_painting_s_-C_8.0_-n_9_-i_-S_2314599586_ts-1660208140_idx-1-gigapixel-low_res-scale-2_00x.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_heZe-oJD-OEqGkqXKlekshIAEjZOsixMKhz5zGAE-RRAw_eclWnJ9wVP6FQUXzWIUGqvDTEa3P_8-571Jl1zpBRXS7_G0U4F4NF-_tcaFDdHgHvNJTFRevNwGWoUryuQ_OzOoiEQcHPzOOVMlPf4XJTrfZEw9IqDHRx6WnImjawyRK-TSkHp-Uw6/w640-h640/greg_manchess_portrait_painting_of_armored_elsa_from_frozen_as_overwatch_character_medium_shot_asymmetrical_profile_picture_organic_painting_s_-C_8.0_-n_9_-i_-S_2314599586_ts-1660208140_idx-1-gigapixel-low_res-scale-2_00x.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqJE99YnVKmoNLsd_HyHQkwWz6tQ4LXF7dvaSPM5Bg6vv4KZfoa4Vy4eljPtddESVOrLj4C_5cCLGFLixtZAY3rtK4Ui0lmEVXEy41b2rqslWxyhyC5M2tqEiXpLald8Dou9ib3AeS1GRl-GHAe6r5Nc1KQEcJe_wWeeYddCK-uX48eRbXViYxWuq/s1024/greg_manchess_portrait_painting_of_fully_armored_and_armed_lara_croft_as_overwatch_character_close_-_up_shot_asymmetrical_profile_picture_organ_-C_8.0_-n_9_-i_-S_3431442817_ts-1660398599_idx-6-gigapixel-standard-scale-2_00x.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqJE99YnVKmoNLsd_HyHQkwWz6tQ4LXF7dvaSPM5Bg6vv4KZfoa4Vy4eljPtddESVOrLj4C_5cCLGFLixtZAY3rtK4Ui0lmEVXEy41b2rqslWxyhyC5M2tqEiXpLald8Dou9ib3AeS1GRl-GHAe6r5Nc1KQEcJe_wWeeYddCK-uX48eRbXViYxWuq/w640-h640/greg_manchess_portrait_painting_of_fully_armored_and_armed_lara_croft_as_overwatch_character_close_-_up_shot_asymmetrical_profile_picture_organ_-C_8.0_-n_9_-i_-S_3431442817_ts-1660398599_idx-6-gigapixel-standard-scale-2_00x.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CwlzsJ8aoYlbgOExCFvZmwwzXvvGZ0e6W4Dfiq5NbMtignngTCPTbIE__dqcTUrrU_4QXPJcyGu6RE0KDfLv3-PkbAYrH5AxoOtLaGoMROaCzJP-73AU8Jo0MsAuS2aZ4tLyBH5Lz087xVT1-j_UUf8PZi3aXfQRZ9Jj1bXNwtwr7vLc5tBhKmdJ/s1024/8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CwlzsJ8aoYlbgOExCFvZmwwzXvvGZ0e6W4Dfiq5NbMtignngTCPTbIE__dqcTUrrU_4QXPJcyGu6RE0KDfLv3-PkbAYrH5AxoOtLaGoMROaCzJP-73AU8Jo0MsAuS2aZ4tLyBH5Lz087xVT1-j_UUf8PZi3aXfQRZ9Jj1bXNwtwr7vLc5tBhKmdJ/w640-h640/8.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvymYMaFC_sPLaUaz8alPlAw3JqppT0HtyaAR_Tka3JDmkfFW6n4aAKkBhP0J-LqPsOzdx_wcKlICftXNRovC1p_xS8EYv8dPvDuFCqmKkm1fcR2PDbT42g9XqQcjKWUJOiWEX20IpjP9LK2QCKFVqvqi4CIsABu1nXYBHYEa-7ePIBSIftPOp8Gnu/s1024/Datei%207.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvymYMaFC_sPLaUaz8alPlAw3JqppT0HtyaAR_Tka3JDmkfFW6n4aAKkBhP0J-LqPsOzdx_wcKlICftXNRovC1p_xS8EYv8dPvDuFCqmKkm1fcR2PDbT42g9XqQcjKWUJOiWEX20IpjP9LK2QCKFVqvqi4CIsABu1nXYBHYEa-7ePIBSIftPOp8Gnu/w640-h640/Datei%207.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As a self proclaimed "Expert" in the field of hand painted style-transfer, I'm officially stunned!<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In my book, these are all amazing concept sketches from which I could work from. Not perfect if you look closer but they are actually OK as they are. Many concepts I have seen in Art Books are way below this when it comes to accuracy or anatomy. Right now I'm using these unedited portrait sketches as content for my social media to raise awareness for the coming storm.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I hope to get as many reactions and feedback as possible to add in a follow-up blog post.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For now I'm hopeful that this kind of technology will create more opportunities than it destroys. It is a sword with more than 3 edges so it will be misused and that is a topic for a complete different article. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Please let me know how you feel about this coming change in a comment. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-71120230765798508332022-05-08T16:39:00.000+02:002022-05-08T16:39:59.202+02:00New Mac Studio Workplace - M1 Ultra review from a Digital Artist<p>As some of you know, I'm a digital artist, but also into workplace ergonomy, which means I'm always trying to optimize my workspace to be more productive and healthy.</p><p>When my maxed out late 2015 - 4,0 GHz iMac died on me last year, it was possible to recover the dead internal drive from a time machine backup and use it with an external SSD. But, it wasn't quite the same and not up to speed as before. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIfNoFixy_dLMVqojv2FYbI0U124ZL7HZWjf4jlWoAXk2d_SjDTX16sX53D7Zdi050295-HDeKLfbmOL8nkR4RkcC3ZWhTQ_3uAVkhktDOvNssYWPFBMgX7altSqPj0Xohz_Xx-sCT4R48S4V3TUo_PVKKuYEuAIzuQ_6OV0sN9MnUZ5fg3ls7ly3X/s2419/IMG_0298.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="2419" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIfNoFixy_dLMVqojv2FYbI0U124ZL7HZWjf4jlWoAXk2d_SjDTX16sX53D7Zdi050295-HDeKLfbmOL8nkR4RkcC3ZWhTQ_3uAVkhktDOvNssYWPFBMgX7altSqPj0Xohz_Xx-sCT4R48S4V3TUo_PVKKuYEuAIzuQ_6OV0sN9MnUZ5fg3ls7ly3X/w640-h480/IMG_0298.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The clean desktop not even an iMac allows for</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Especially since the late 2015 iMacs did not have the 3.2 gen USB-C yet at that time, only Thunderbolt 2.</p><p>That means no dedicated port that passes through the speeds of an external NVME-SSD to get the old thing to be as speedy as the internal thing. And no; I didn't want to get my hands dirty, replacing an SSD on a 7 years old iMac.</p><p>So the interim solution was to use an inexpensive M1 Mac Mini that I already had for some Photoshop painting and doing all the rest of the work on the recovered iMac, such as printing jobs, emails and small renderings.</p><p>While this solution worked to some degree, I found my limits in Photoshop very fast (with just 8 gigs of RAM) and dropping files from one computer and organizing files around different devices wasn't as easy.</p><p>That's when I realized at the March 8 event this year, the Mac Studio is exactly what I needed. An expensive excuse to get a 32" display, I know ;)</p><p>And actually I'm not the apple-keynote person, but since my iMac was crumbling down, I hoped for a replacement that was powerful enough to do all the work I might dream of.</p><p>On March 9 I ordered the Studio as M1-Ultra with 20 CPU-cores, 48 GPU Cores and 2 TB internal SSD.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9t05yYF74ed3q2PHX7Q1NXjR-_kdPmU7Fnp8Y0-6RWA8jzY5Pvr7A7RxK3Ct7WtpB0GG3EARwEXUzcXQ8va9PI0Dy_wvw1hHnmAmovOcuoE9PVJ-xaCBRs_FbuDEKeQk8-po1PB3J7sPsU5GzAWBCeAPiyHpTJp8OS7ZlT8SqadsDeg6tcrhwjeT/s2419/IMG_0286.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2419" data-original-width="1814" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9t05yYF74ed3q2PHX7Q1NXjR-_kdPmU7Fnp8Y0-6RWA8jzY5Pvr7A7RxK3Ct7WtpB0GG3EARwEXUzcXQ8va9PI0Dy_wvw1hHnmAmovOcuoE9PVJ-xaCBRs_FbuDEKeQk8-po1PB3J7sPsU5GzAWBCeAPiyHpTJp8OS7ZlT8SqadsDeg6tcrhwjeT/w480-h640/IMG_0286.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One small life-changing package</td></tr></tbody></table><p>On the third week of April, it finally arrived.</p><p>The main reason I ordered so early on, was because I expected delivery delays because of either lockdowns or a huge demand - and both was true and even I had to wait for around 6 weeks - but it was really worth it, the M1 Ultra is a beast!</p><p>Now you could argue that the M1 Max would have been sufficient for a 2D-Artist like me. And usually I would agree. However, the reason for my decision was 50% to be future-proof and the other 50% comes from the experience, that workload and usage grows with the possibilities of the machine you are working with.</p><p>Here is a screenshot of my secondary screen that is just for references and stuff, add Photoshop and one mid-res PSD-file into the mix and the Mac Mini with 8 GB of RAM was at its limit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATr4jNBDnxl8JtTLa1WLX2Hqu9Ax4RJpiwgVDg2aV0KIX0IUhHCt-VzmM4S9UG76IDgIhdzacwfhlEHPnA-LxQqXb3yEXzSn2W6qyDZPk5ifX1XY21KXlG6tKBAYr2CAudRUBh2FqqN9yrhNXzgp5sq1oCdZzMW9n5bmf3R0jUWdClmheUq3i0U95/s2419/IMG_0352.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="2419" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATr4jNBDnxl8JtTLa1WLX2Hqu9Ax4RJpiwgVDg2aV0KIX0IUhHCt-VzmM4S9UG76IDgIhdzacwfhlEHPnA-LxQqXb3yEXzSn2W6qyDZPk5ifX1XY21KXlG6tKBAYr2CAudRUBh2FqqN9yrhNXzgp5sq1oCdZzMW9n5bmf3R0jUWdClmheUq3i0U95/w640-h480/IMG_0352.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Of course; I can not make use of some of the main features that are targeted at video editing such as the built-in encoders, but the 20 CPU-cores, the 48 GPU-cores and the 64 GB of Ram do plenty in 3D-editing as well. And you never know, maybe I do video-editing at some point too.</p><p>One of the main advantages I experience right now is, that I can multitask so much more by having a lot of RAM-hungry programs open, such as <b>Chrome</b> with 20 tabs, <b>Photoshop</b> with around 3-4 heavy PSD's, <b>Zbrush</b>, <b>Keyshot</b>, <b>Blender</b>, <b>PureRef</b>, <b>Notes</b>, <b>Gigapixel</b> and heck, even with all these apps open, starting a fourfold - scaling operation in Gigapixel only took 1/10th of the time it took on my maxed-out iMac!</p><p>The RAM-pressure also never got over 40%, regardless of what I did, but so far I did not work with full force ;)</p><p>I can only imagine when the heavy workload comes, which means 4-5 PSD's open with around 7k x 10k resolution at 300 dpi and around 50 - 80 layers each, zbrush open to work on 3D-models while Keyshot is rendering in the background, it might go up a bit.</p><p><br /></p><h3>Under Desk Mount</h3><div>Actually I wanted to put the Mac Studio on my desk at the outer right corner.</div><div>However, that is an entry point for our cats to jump on the desk.<br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwlnc6IgWYXR26OBNoHNRtKqmPCmRoHc9MhmeyQNpv2VsiFtwkHpomxmKsLZLkg49zrJUmpsZDR18qONAsSxiROrJFUDMhBvE6kqwQg216TIwlAh14dl8cNUWza-XdBPsglrgdRzpXxHZ-McS0KtTVoMn0VUP1zKmGTB3NrDx5wiks52NBa-CzcMq/s2419/IMG_0296.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2419" data-original-width="1814" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwlnc6IgWYXR26OBNoHNRtKqmPCmRoHc9MhmeyQNpv2VsiFtwkHpomxmKsLZLkg49zrJUmpsZDR18qONAsSxiROrJFUDMhBvE6kqwQg216TIwlAh14dl8cNUWza-XdBPsglrgdRzpXxHZ-McS0KtTVoMn0VUP1zKmGTB3NrDx5wiks52NBa-CzcMq/w480-h640/IMG_0296.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div></div><br />Imagining the hair and dust alone made me think twice, the noise-issue was just another nail on the coffin of using that thing ON my desktop surface. Also our cats often use the desk to chill and that made me move all unused equipment away from my desktop;)<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mEMjqoe5ZTf7QH0tLu32mReAEaRdi035GTw0DHhcQx8fgWX2uwwEHF_wciNIbbVkGQ0JZ3OaQbQfdSrn63uNg_odqTir4dFbsa6pKNOYyPndO4SToYNLDuG4jPRSdPYDQxlH-bvxuLNkIK_NgG5OHTupIyP40M01vZ5yXxv8QWqy8Ag8a4E3YQeD/s2419/IMG_0309.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="2419" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mEMjqoe5ZTf7QH0tLu32mReAEaRdi035GTw0DHhcQx8fgWX2uwwEHF_wciNIbbVkGQ0JZ3OaQbQfdSrn63uNg_odqTir4dFbsa6pKNOYyPndO4SToYNLDuG4jPRSdPYDQxlH-bvxuLNkIK_NgG5OHTupIyP40M01vZ5yXxv8QWqy8Ag8a4E3YQeD/w640-h480/IMG_0309.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br />Below is an image of my solution and I really like it. It is sturdy, cat-proof and it gets a lot air from below but no dust and as a special bonus I don't hear it AT ALL because the table is a sound absorber as well.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbUN6K2AFSIR-nEFEbeA1sDNOEuQjvpOA197gr7JkuZGS6jhQ15lfae5zRSPDTovte5oFAcFlDYISvbzXtK932IULjXoe5zqWKAferuBMAZa3sa2X7woOuVE4GVjg60kLDOzWO84rg2SHcr4ret5NhaYezstDBdbuJnWdWd3wV7GVA5vRXog7AoyG/s2419/IMG_0002.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="2419" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbUN6K2AFSIR-nEFEbeA1sDNOEuQjvpOA197gr7JkuZGS6jhQ15lfae5zRSPDTovte5oFAcFlDYISvbzXtK932IULjXoe5zqWKAferuBMAZa3sa2X7woOuVE4GVjg60kLDOzWO84rg2SHcr4ret5NhaYezstDBdbuJnWdWd3wV7GVA5vRXog7AoyG/w640-h480/IMG_0002.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Another thing that was important for me is the 6-7 external drives that have to be connected. Under the desk, I can just utilize an old HDD-Tray from an old PC for that to hide them (and make them cat-proof:)</div><div><br style="text-align: start;" /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMFc-alrr7aOWS8NsEMsJfqKxB2nVasJn7BdfKf0J0lPWG-ecxMoaLDUClLd3VbxdBfSvfmar8oAfL2TZU1POesHnSSReF41-EpkH1oG5t8HkGWWkwKsA-deBQZvGfY-jMQwjtIbq-OsqfQWvtLegohMr1jI-rRew_84ZEV2n_wQrYeGXLxlj9xz2/s2419/IMG_0003.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="2419" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMFc-alrr7aOWS8NsEMsJfqKxB2nVasJn7BdfKf0J0lPWG-ecxMoaLDUClLd3VbxdBfSvfmar8oAfL2TZU1POesHnSSReF41-EpkH1oG5t8HkGWWkwKsA-deBQZvGfY-jMQwjtIbq-OsqfQWvtLegohMr1jI-rRew_84ZEV2n_wQrYeGXLxlj9xz2/w640-h480/IMG_0003.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>The under desk mount set me back around 13 €, not too much considering what it has to carry. <br />Below you see the 4 materials any DIY-market usually has in store.</div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydveNATD33ALNc6PfZfQHOEsuXSURzW7672I8JwXvY3dbeH_y35KvZ6jQ67b9pyspl84W43EAELwVjHueL7oxTSfaWeE-lvVVknqapRoRezTTgqZ9-a9sE3Do3jFTxR7VjtiyPhYOCzoqcvNsUwDN5xg9khUu8N28CC-tXfb0TxNduwUG8eqXLhbR/s2419/IMG_0001.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="2419" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydveNATD33ALNc6PfZfQHOEsuXSURzW7672I8JwXvY3dbeH_y35KvZ6jQ67b9pyspl84W43EAELwVjHueL7oxTSfaWeE-lvVVknqapRoRezTTgqZ9-a9sE3Do3jFTxR7VjtiyPhYOCzoqcvNsUwDN5xg9khUu8N28CC-tXfb0TxNduwUG8eqXLhbR/w640-h480/IMG_0001.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It even looks better than those you can buy due to the round aluminium bars, but that might be personal taste.</div><div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Any Benchmarks with Photoshop?</h3><p>One of the most problematic things on finding reviews, especially if you are like me, working 90% in Photoshop, is, that the one program everyone uses - is not in there. I don't care if Lightroom just crashes it, when importing 100.000 files, I want Photoshop to be 100% faster with a 5000px brush. Period.</p><p>There are a few PugetBench tests, but those numbers mean nothing. <br />I found that there is more that can't be tested such as snappiness when it comes to painting with custom brushes and also the startup of the program. </p><p>And since we are at it, the snappiness of an M1 machine is hard to beat, that was the case on the M1 Mac Mini as well, but the M1 Ultra is just in its own league. Regardless of file size, layers or amount of files open in Photoshop, the snappiness of working with brushes is amazing and it shows to have 8 times the power of a small Mac Mini ;)</p><p>Starting Photoshop just takes 3 seconds, given the fact that I have around 500 MB of brush files, around 100 Lookup tables and 2 big Filter suites - SnapArt and Topaz Studio 2, as also a lot of Neural-Filters active, consider me impressed! </p><p>On the iMac it took around 15 seconds and for a long time I thought that was fast. </p><p>Now I have to add that on the M1, I need to use Photoshop under Rosetta because my creative work depends on some third party plugins such as MagicSquire and GuideGuide. The starting time and also the overall feel is very fast! It would be really great to have those plugin being native running under the M1, as far as speed goes, that would be insane!</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How does it work with 3D?</h3><p>I saw some promising video with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5xFNrhxtYQ" target="_blank">M1 Max Macbook pro of Adam Baroody using zBrush </a>and the polygon count was amazing and so was the speed. Given the fact that the Ultra is just 2 times the max, there is plenty of power for that.</p><p>Also blender in version 3.1 has included support for apple's Metal-Engine, there is also a lot of discussion around and I'm sure if other programs start to support Metal, it can truly lead to remarkable changes in render times. In blender especially, render times in version 3.1 on a M1 Mac are up to 4 times faster.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iS_uPukPuo4" width="535" youtube-src-id="iS_uPukPuo4"></iframe></div><p>After watching that video I thought giving the heaviest demo, "<a href="https://www.blender.org/download/demo-files/#cycles" target="_blank">The Lone Monk</a>" a try and it took 09:16s minutes rendering in the background(!) using GPU and CPU, compared to 24:46s the M1 Max took in the benchmark above which was the alpha version. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSe9Gyw3zAMjWakrNO69iu-2jv8GToGEoLWR4TbykgD0qZ_WRHXm-CmyGw_WYEVqxuOz2FNimnkqbYpbdjvqgbbIEXx58eRgHsdibviuSkEktUhYIqU4cmDOgbENpSXlbqetWB_vYZeVfWMIz6nSDD7oG2DGTBnP36CIy2oKI04c-m4yEjOv6yVHvn/s341/Bildschirmfoto%202022-05-07%20um%2022.33.38.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="341" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSe9Gyw3zAMjWakrNO69iu-2jv8GToGEoLWR4TbykgD0qZ_WRHXm-CmyGw_WYEVqxuOz2FNimnkqbYpbdjvqgbbIEXx58eRgHsdibviuSkEktUhYIqU4cmDOgbENpSXlbqetWB_vYZeVfWMIz6nSDD7oG2DGTBnP36CIy2oKI04c-m4yEjOv6yVHvn/w640-h228/Bildschirmfoto%202022-05-07%20um%2022.33.38.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>I also use Keyshot because of the bundle I have bought back then with the zBrush-to-Keyshot bridge. It relies on CPU but with 20 cores it is faster than with the M1 Max and 10 cores, even on that front it is a win, even if Keyshot is not optimized for Metal yet.</p><p>I tried Marmoset Toolbag and will observe how they deal with the transition of apple from Intel to M1, if it is their market, they might win a user, if not, I don't care.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How much RAM?</h3><p>Actually you can never have enough RAM, and I regret that I did not get the 128 GB RAM version, but maybe it is good to have something left for another update in 5-6 years or so...</p><p>On the other hand, I watched some reviews on YT from Max Tech and even with all the Benchmarks and Tabs open and programs running, they did not get the M1 Max Macbooks to run out of RAM, which makes me confident that 64 GB is for now the best choice.</p><p>And to date, I could not get the RAM to bother.</p><p>Other than that, with the Ultra, you can't go lower than 64 GB, if you are thinking about the M1 Max, I'd suggest investing in getting 64 GB. In Photoshop it makes a huge difference. </p><p>I used 32 GB on the iMac and in the past 2 years I always felt that it was too less.</p><p>If you are unsure or can't imagine this being enough, this might help you to decide:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="334" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vnIZTdpFFWc" width="547" youtube-src-id="vnIZTdpFFWc"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Mac Studio or waiting for a larger iMac (Pro)?</h3><p>My opinion about apple forcing iMac users to go with the Mac Studio instead of offering a new big iMac?</p><p>I don't care really. The Mac Studio is all I needed. I embrace the freedom of picking the display size I want or need. Of course the iMac 5k displays are in a league of their own, but then again they are all LG-Displays and to be honest I only need a 4k-display to store many open windows at any given time, not for color accuracy or anything else. That's why I went for the LG 32UN880-B.</p><p>It comes with an ergo stand and offers so much flexibility, that is hard to beat for around 630 €.</p><p>I also don't want to do a bet on the question if apple will come up with a new iMac or if the Mac Studio just replaces the big AIO computer from Cupertino. Mostly because apple is always good for some surprises. But honestly, I actually considered getting an iMac Pro 2 years ago and calculated putting 7.5 to 8k for a powerhouse like that aside and then the Mac Studio came around, a lot cheaper and I can pick a 32" screen, what else could I ask for?</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Mac Studio Noise-Issue</h3><p>When it comes to the noise-issue, I can just say that I hear a bit of the fan if I go close to the Mac with my ear, (as close as 5 cm) but even then, my external hard drive next to it, is louder.</p><p>As for the whistling sound, that many users complained about; If I get close to the back, there is a bit of a hi-frequency sound, but it is so quiet and within the actual fan sound, I don't hear it - or rather said, I don't find it annoying since it is not louder than the fan noise which is not hearable 50 cm away from the computer.</p><p>I really can't understand the trouble some people make of it. There is a powerhouse right in front of you and I would trade the meditative silent but steady fan every time over an iMac fan that starts to run faster and many times louder when I press on a "render" button.</p><p>But to be fair, the rumors about the noise made me change my plans into giving the new Mac a place under my desk.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">M1 Ultra or M1 Max, any recommendations?</h3><p>I use a lot of background rendering and 3D-tasks as also Photoshop and around 46 other programs that run in any current session. I want to be able to just work and not having to wait for one task to finish before I can get to the next one. With the iMac that was the case when Keyshot was rendering. Even in background mode, Photoshop and sometimes even the browser was sluggish and the fans ran like hell.</p><p>It was a brake for inspiration and motivation all at once.</p><p>The M1 Ultra can just deliver steady power without using much power (pun intended) and I need it to do just that. </p><p>Again some blender action to give this argument more power; the BMW scene in blender took around 00:36 Seconds to render on the M1 Ultra opposed to 23 seconds an NVIDI RTX 3090 takes and that is most likely due to software optimization. Just for comparison, the NVIDIA Titan RTX took 40 Seconds for that rendering and does cost twice as much as the RTX 3090. The Titan RTX cost as much as the M1 Ultra Mac Studio! Just breathe in and out and give this a thought.</p><p>And if you are breathing out as an RTX user, just keep in mind, that the Mac Studio does this 36 second-thing while consuming around 50 Watts of power while any NVIDIA card takes up at least 5 times of that. Not that it matters much, but here in Germany power consumption is one of the most expensive things - for actually no reason.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6WOkqLJPJnVoZ2FhZPnUDOSQKkAtrvgjJ0cOFu7qra9x15kHjc9WubrRa4mDGnjxETOsKw4KgD5FVUHzMctbkstcBs3adV8-lb79cXlNErIzDk5AGLGLQ2vVEQvCM3OUgwsuZ7FMz_ZNdc8CjhGlU5SQHarV51Lx1PnINw8s3qNHR4aVPcPsVu_Xn/s944/Bildschirmfoto%202022-05-07%20um%2022.54.12.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="944" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6WOkqLJPJnVoZ2FhZPnUDOSQKkAtrvgjJ0cOFu7qra9x15kHjc9WubrRa4mDGnjxETOsKw4KgD5FVUHzMctbkstcBs3adV8-lb79cXlNErIzDk5AGLGLQ2vVEQvCM3OUgwsuZ7FMz_ZNdc8CjhGlU5SQHarV51Lx1PnINw8s3qNHR4aVPcPsVu_Xn/w640-h398/Bildschirmfoto%202022-05-07%20um%2022.54.12.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>If there is some unused potential the machine offers right now, it will be filled up with more complex tasks and even heavier programs in the future. The iMac with 4 GHz was a beast back then and was up to anything I threw at it, but then came the 3D-Programs and my workflow changed and I reached my limits.</p><p>If I can postpone reaching that limit for around 5-6 years, I'm quite happy.</p><p>That said, I can't recommend the M1 Max over the M1 Ultra or vice versa, because it depends on the needs and I believe there are enough reviews with benchmarks that gives a good overview of the capabilities to make an informed decision.</p><p>However, if you only use Photoshop and a bit video editing and no 3D at all and if you can live with a few seconds slower at whatever operation, I would still recommend getting the 64 GB RAM, because there is never enough RAM ;)</p><p>That is the only ultimate truth I can forward at this point.</p><p>What is your opinion, are you considering the Mac Studio as an option to enhance your workflow?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-69111127379641838052022-03-22T12:48:00.005+01:002022-03-22T12:56:05.174+01:00Project: DIY - White Magic Trackpad Upcycling with Natural Slate-Skin<p>For my upcoming desktop conversion from iMac (late 2015) to the new Mac Studio with a 32" 4k Display, I also reconsidered reviving my Magic Trackpad 2 that I had lying around for years and which I neglected in favor of an ergonomic mouse.</p><p>The problem: That white Trackpad stands out like a major disruption in my sight compared to the dark keyboard and tablet the keyboard is mounted to. In order to fix this, I thought about getting a skin for the Trackpad.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEix23LOSivrC3OtcKPUQLfTfWi-ap88k648InaDROlgy-fsw-m1R5dsmyMxuywfn13rWL0E1-d4AaAqANBmxgXU9Od7rGTsptydXJ6UHgATdTvPa97A-DPFnH42DZGQz0LuuH_oDnp6HzhbMGVSgtEMJ3ifWcAvmmvJixupN9Tv3FVh2JaFMOn-h9il=s3487" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1956" data-original-width="3487" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEix23LOSivrC3OtcKPUQLfTfWi-ap88k648InaDROlgy-fsw-m1R5dsmyMxuywfn13rWL0E1-d4AaAqANBmxgXU9Od7rGTsptydXJ6UHgATdTvPa97A-DPFnH42DZGQz0LuuH_oDnp6HzhbMGVSgtEMJ3ifWcAvmmvJixupN9Tv3FVh2JaFMOn-h9il=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The problem: A white spot that always catches your attention</td></tr></tbody></table><p>That idea brought me to some places where vinyl skins were offered, none in Germany. The higher shipping costs made me go with a grey decal-foil that I had lying around so I tried it that way first, just to get a feeling for the, well, "feel" of that.</p><p>And to be honest, I didn't like it.</p><p>It made the whole act of touching slower, like touching a rubber. After a day or so I got used to it yet it was a boring thing and it could not compete with the original glass-surface of the Magic Trackpad at all.</p><p>I added a transparent touch-foil OVER the decal but even that felt lousy to say the least.</p><p>That is when I turned to my phone that had a slate-skin from <b>Roxxlyn</b> - you can see what they offer <a href="https://roxxlyn.com" target="_blank">here</a>, it is amazing how they turn real stone into ultra thin skins! Yes this is real stone!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6dX4R_zh2Y-7Yy1ND1_c1UF1dSxoynRFiuFB9XFy87EUNr5R78UDL3I2J1IDGbObiUvHhlzdrDw_ebl6BeCqJ01gXm_w_7TOE1LtH6JOOe8XW4Vgb5-2OE17XMaiyURRS2ARaU5ZNdmhL4IUvUQE3yf3u58q-UQ0AgN0EmQ_KeHcE34vSYYdM_xv/s1588/il_1588xN.3414796525_9ppy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1588" data-original-width="1588" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6dX4R_zh2Y-7Yy1ND1_c1UF1dSxoynRFiuFB9XFy87EUNr5R78UDL3I2J1IDGbObiUvHhlzdrDw_ebl6BeCqJ01gXm_w_7TOE1LtH6JOOe8XW4Vgb5-2OE17XMaiyURRS2ARaU5ZNdmhL4IUvUQE3yf3u58q-UQ0AgN0EmQ_KeHcE34vSYYdM_xv/w640-h640/il_1588xN.3414796525_9ppy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Courtesy of <a href="https://roxxlyn.com">Roxxlyn.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Then I came up with the idea to mount THAT to my Magic Trackpad.</p><p>The idea of combining a natural stone surface and technology to interact with a computer on a daily basis, is very inspiring in my opinion!</p><p>And yes, the glass surface is natural too, but it is also clinically smooth. Leather, wood and stone offer a certain "good feeling" that "smooth" can't compete with, at least to a certain degree.</p><p>While I got into talks with Andreas from Roxxlyn the other day with a custom request, I also found and ordered a test-piece from a website called <b>slate-light</b>, where you can get an a4 sized ultra thin slice of natural slate for a smaller price. For a test drive that was the way to go.</p><p>If you are interested, you can have a look and order yours here: <a href="https://www.slate-lite.com/1233/ultrathin-eco-nero?number=4100029">https://www.slate-lite.com/1233/ultrathin-eco-nero?number=4100029</a></p><p>One thing to note is, that, unlike the products from Roxxlyn that feature a 3M adhesive film on the back, these test-pieces come with a rather bumpy cotton-texture on the back which require you to mount it with spray-glue as it is not self-adhesive!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFxEJI2n-ToFQ3I99vZVvu3FNGLw5CY-TBu7QX1A0di1KANjmhDN0mL5eFUJONEIx26PbfzQDV3BS8UnLmW7dpmI8SyH9GZjAWDC_rHDMkIpVu-vwJKOQ5a_7IMWo9S9U-JcBgtbCwFeSVRKq7lsGT6gU8C2AlFZGeq8h3UHxAMkrfGQJRRT4awIWo=s1210" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="1210" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFxEJI2n-ToFQ3I99vZVvu3FNGLw5CY-TBu7QX1A0di1KANjmhDN0mL5eFUJONEIx26PbfzQDV3BS8UnLmW7dpmI8SyH9GZjAWDC_rHDMkIpVu-vwJKOQ5a_7IMWo9S9U-JcBgtbCwFeSVRKq7lsGT6gU8C2AlFZGeq8h3UHxAMkrfGQJRRT4awIWo=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Cutting the material is easy, when the trackpad is put on the back of the slate it can be easily cut with a boxcutter.<br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0z8uyGjX3ukoqSYrsiXkoKsUn073tm3s5OTnBkAznI0F7U7pp2GGbEUI0agQ4pJZSyKBsqwWVEovwDiDzbLyCGtM-VuRztyawTOaVS3AswEQuxMkZ-HhapjJQ7PR48VrbuWGcdYC5BQLxog1aSoUEJroxwvdt4HsjSTaOvvpDQD_dO6rSpMIoDKQ0=s1567" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1035" data-original-width="1567" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0z8uyGjX3ukoqSYrsiXkoKsUn073tm3s5OTnBkAznI0F7U7pp2GGbEUI0agQ4pJZSyKBsqwWVEovwDiDzbLyCGtM-VuRztyawTOaVS3AswEQuxMkZ-HhapjJQ7PR48VrbuWGcdYC5BQLxog1aSoUEJroxwvdt4HsjSTaOvvpDQD_dO6rSpMIoDKQ0=w640-h422" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>For mounting, I'd recommend getting Spray-Glue that is removable. The glass surface of the trackpad can be cleaned with turpentine if necessary but it is easier to remove once you change your mind.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4xhHd3iNCaseflRvLKScvdfXVXtYo4jwfcHX9VNx8wuWlfGxWXOz_9PbTpVXo6v8qJx3VtlhF7OFuwa0ljZ2xYXOdrKKmRlzvcS7A0MCRYDq5lQfEyuAjKuQ4H6nyymBXRmu6EXdkKkylaPVKNiIA1DLUqMK2x8B_haiaXDqhhRlH70lAEZA3YDRM=s1355" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1355" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4xhHd3iNCaseflRvLKScvdfXVXtYo4jwfcHX9VNx8wuWlfGxWXOz_9PbTpVXo6v8qJx3VtlhF7OFuwa0ljZ2xYXOdrKKmRlzvcS7A0MCRYDq5lQfEyuAjKuQ4H6nyymBXRmu6EXdkKkylaPVKNiIA1DLUqMK2x8B_haiaXDqhhRlH70lAEZA3YDRM=w640-h494" width="640" /></a></div><p>Once I had this thing mounted, it looked very sleek and nice to be honest!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEN2MmFjGLCOYhKsfd6Lhf6onW4r9qJuXSHcoH9Y2Ev61UMooO1jJzz6LoH7dRvAfYdGJuunlxEEhCNRBov6rxg776acRQMx-AsPZ5YRa2ONmEiTTic-QfuLeGz6ybh-5XhYtrKQeHtNn5c-pSCBjN3HqwehEC57lJCvdpF362SzCKFVEWCow5SYZ6=s1562" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1105" data-original-width="1562" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEN2MmFjGLCOYhKsfd6Lhf6onW4r9qJuXSHcoH9Y2Ev61UMooO1jJzz6LoH7dRvAfYdGJuunlxEEhCNRBov6rxg776acRQMx-AsPZ5YRa2ONmEiTTic-QfuLeGz6ybh-5XhYtrKQeHtNn5c-pSCBjN3HqwehEC57lJCvdpF362SzCKFVEWCow5SYZ6=w640-h452" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdRly7UgfRt7dmqFsUeqqpUsWFpj3jIQxkjwe61x3z5HNC6b40yMxuNXWTryoYA2tBQOBfDlB_DPk0fhfsYsd5QRtoWHZc6LYXbrGzJV2iyeANAHkjaufSpJ-dpOs-OejQpB1H9rd-Er_U7IkcKU9H_3Lkna9jxSEI-ZFvgpZmzEQWg4AhWWB5S_Yb=s1503" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="1503" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdRly7UgfRt7dmqFsUeqqpUsWFpj3jIQxkjwe61x3z5HNC6b40yMxuNXWTryoYA2tBQOBfDlB_DPk0fhfsYsd5QRtoWHZc6LYXbrGzJV2iyeANAHkjaufSpJ-dpOs-OejQpB1H9rd-Er_U7IkcKU9H_3Lkna9jxSEI-ZFvgpZmzEQWg4AhWWB5S_Yb=w640-h396" width="640" /></a></div><p>And the white spot that disrupted my workflow is gone:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjyIlez9oef6fLrWMck4EI2K_DoB9UCYjI3Ilg6R1y_R3WzJLO_LSKMAvk6nJGk4qH2lPLXx3oaQ7_Ddf7Hv-peu_7MlD9XQdgbfmvLL5gDHUzLQ21KV2uS-NFp_hEII9fB6IIIq8pyx-K9iMFaSHqCX1doDg55Qq9-CyBgvjwmyX0JncdoFcqTUxtv=s1500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjyIlez9oef6fLrWMck4EI2K_DoB9UCYjI3Ilg6R1y_R3WzJLO_LSKMAvk6nJGk4qH2lPLXx3oaQ7_Ddf7Hv-peu_7MlD9XQdgbfmvLL5gDHUzLQ21KV2uS-NFp_hEII9fB6IIIq8pyx-K9iMFaSHqCX1doDg55Qq9-CyBgvjwmyX0JncdoFcqTUxtv=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Soooo, how is it?</b></p><p>Well, I want to be honest, right out of the box it feels unfamiliar. On the first day I'd say objectionable unfamiliar but on day two it has started to become a joy. And from there it just got better with each day.</p><p>If you like the graininess of the glass surface, you will like the slate surface. If I close my eyes now, it feels like bumpy glass but with the same grain. </p><p>That is something I have not expected at all!</p><p>It has to be clear from the onset that this is a natural surface and you have to really like that your trackpad is a bit bumpy, that is what nature is about and with time it will become smoother.</p><p>I had some parts that prevented a smooth experience with scrolling up using two fingers and so I went ahead and smoothed it by using sandpaper with a 2500-grain and some water. After that little treatment, it was perfect!</p><p>That trick just advances the smoothing process just for a few years in favor of getting the surface that you can live with.</p><p>When it comes to technical restrictions, I have to say there are no actual restrictions!</p><p>I tried all gestures. Everything works as it would do without the skin. I tried if this would work with the Magic Trackpad 1 as well but that did not work, so if you are thinking about getting this to work for your Macbook pro or air, just try with a similar thick cardboard in advance if that works. There were some technical changes between those generations of trackpads and if yours is older than say 6-7 years, it might as a result, not work for you.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h3><p>All in all I'd say this is a success and it saves me 180 € for a new trackpad just because the white is a strain on the eyes. Upcycling is maybe the wrong term as I wasn't about to throw away that Trackpad but it wasn't really used either so it ended up in some kind of limbo... and now it has a new place at the center of my workflow besides the <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2021/02/xp-pen-22-artist-2nd-gen-review.html" target="_blank">Pendisplay</a> ;).</p><p>Of course, the subtle bumpiness takes a while to get used to, but over time it will feel more natural than the glass surface. When you go over a slate surface everyday with your fingers it will become very smooth over time but that takes years and it is a wonderful natural effect that can't be replaced with sanded glass or even vinyl. </p><p>To me this is the best upcycling ever and after a few days now it makes me use my mouse less and less and I got to appreciate the trackpad and all the gestures it offers much more every day now.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-79386299230119056892021-12-22T20:04:00.010+01:002021-12-27T14:04:39.018+01:00How to get your stolen Art removed from NFT-sites like Opensea<p>As if we artists wouldn't have enough things on our plate, like worrying that due to covid-19 if conventions or exhibitions take place, bookkeeping and social media, etc. Making new artwork is something I have done 2 weeks ago because there is so much other stuff to do in order to make a living.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOWyb6JhFcZASVMzoqkj5NSZEm33SP0iDojXz2OYkVG14ozokY3lepc-pafHUcmqag0cqk1OmI0P4eCC1r13eBEOHG7OgD8RA-WbJQYMbmpv588GvjbHURX9AO85AWDVGNBHRImdKdiL3MO5b97XM_WpEYxcJ43hNaIEjokcZxswqw4ENDg3gACl3o=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOWyb6JhFcZASVMzoqkj5NSZEm33SP0iDojXz2OYkVG14ozokY3lepc-pafHUcmqag0cqk1OmI0P4eCC1r13eBEOHG7OgD8RA-WbJQYMbmpv588GvjbHURX9AO85AWDVGNBHRImdKdiL3MO5b97XM_WpEYxcJ43hNaIEjokcZxswqw4ENDg3gACl3o=w400-h320" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Box of Pandora from Dec. 2003</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sending out DMCA-takedown notices to NFT-sites like <b>Opensea</b> have become a daily routine like having to look into my <a href="https://www.pixsy.com" target="_blank">Pixsy</a> account to see if there is again a Chinese company selling my work on Amazon or Ebay.</p><p><b>And it now has become part of my job as an artist. </b></p><p>The blockchain as it is now is like the box of pandora of technology - and it has been opened!</p><p>That is also bad news for collectors as society gives me now even more jobs that I actually should not have to worry about. </p><p>In the end this results in a less artworks I can create because time is eaten away by this boring but necessary legal-processing stuff.</p><p>The wackiest part is in fact that there are not art-thieves stealing stuff and selling it on the blockchain, most of them are actually bots! To get a better idea of what I'm talking about, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-03-16/nfts-artists-report-their-work-is-being-stolen-and-sold/13249408" target="_blank">read this article</a> from ABC.net or read through the end of this article.</p><p>What got me reasoning about this matter is that <u>Artist Liam Sharp</u> was thinking about closing down his deviantArt account because of the unbearable situation, read more here: <a href="https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2021/12/deviantart-nft-theft/">https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2021/12/deviantart-nft-theft/</a><br /><br />In my opinion, this does not solve the problem at hand, because the artworks are still out there, he just does not get notifications about it.</p><p>The problem is in the NFT-movement and it might not go away anytime soon until people start to realize that they don't own anything with an NFT, it is just a receipt! </p><p>It is only a token that says you own something and then you get play-money for it that needs as much electricity as one small household in a day. If you want to exchange it into real money a lot gets eaten up by transaction fees. </p><p>If you would be honest and consider the environment, you would leave it be. <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2021/03/why-crypto-art-is-not-there-yet-and-why.html" target="_blank">At least for now!</a></p><p>The biggest issue is that once an image is removed due to DMCA-takedown requests, there is no image pointing to that particular NFT on the blockchain and your receipt has become worthless.</p><p>Imagine you have bought a nice pair of overpriced shoes for 150 bucks and now the producer thinks the color is not quite right and he calls them back - in reality you'd say wtf? As seller of an NFT, I can simply do that and you would run around without shoes from one moment to the other. Fun stuff, right?</p><p><b>The only solution to this would be to buy NFT's from trusted sources AKA the original artists!</b></p><p>This is the only option, period.</p><p>And since Opensea and other open NFT-sites are open to anyone, everyone can sell other peoples work so it has become the duty to artists to go against this. Luckily deviantArt gives artists the chance to keep track of this in a convenient way by notifying users about a matching theft case and it looks like this:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivnwz7mjSDGOgUPUU6DBoSrIoojDjB8yaNvzyZKgmAjLylraRCHgORLaNf7hg_ul6JJVtAh2zw-ySNcuAlnEsq6R9T2uFv7_7S1czEPO3S859mSiXW65I-UA-hcAhRCdUqxnyhNF6cCYx2YZV7LaCpxI058cxfH-jjiE2HYVaxHWeZgwsqODYlFMGs=s2132" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="2132" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivnwz7mjSDGOgUPUU6DBoSrIoojDjB8yaNvzyZKgmAjLylraRCHgORLaNf7hg_ul6JJVtAh2zw-ySNcuAlnEsq6R9T2uFv7_7S1czEPO3S859mSiXW65I-UA-hcAhRCdUqxnyhNF6cCYx2YZV7LaCpxI058cxfH-jjiE2HYVaxHWeZgwsqODYlFMGs=w640-h245" width="640" /></a></div><p> This is how my message center looks on a regular day:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxSz3Qw6LGTElhTExkoN0Jnyx0qtvkpo-MbUqrXSm1I9W4swaRCine-xBaXE7p_ujtYlIosv_FR5Gk0T-wST6agTW4HmihDbYgKJkZdm0RZTo3C0WkIAgsTVL4KMWyF-hJzmeOF0saBfT8VQ1yabvh1Syc7kW46p19GXJd35rYr7wubChDUP3nwoJk=s2248" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2248" data-original-width="1654" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxSz3Qw6LGTElhTExkoN0Jnyx0qtvkpo-MbUqrXSm1I9W4swaRCine-xBaXE7p_ujtYlIosv_FR5Gk0T-wST6agTW4HmihDbYgKJkZdm0RZTo3C0WkIAgsTVL4KMWyF-hJzmeOF0saBfT8VQ1yabvh1Syc7kW46p19GXJd35rYr7wubChDUP3nwoJk=w470-h640" width="470" /></a></div><br /><p>So I can imagine how an artist like Liam's inbox must look like because his work is a lot more famous than mine.</p><p>If you ask me, now is the time to implement upload-filters on those sites so that in case of an attempt the upload will not be possible because the catalog from the artist is on that site.</p><p>This would at least stop those bots from uploading and bear with me, in a few month or years from now, that will be happening as it is the only solution that will work.</p><p>Until that day comes, we have to fight back art-theft to prevent others from profiting off our hard work.</p><p>The most funny thing about this is that when I grew up, to be an artist was something frowned upon, now people steal art to make a profit or even fake profiles on social media and also NFT-sites to earn money, what a funny twist...</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">I got my work stolen, how can I get it down from opensea.io?</h3><p>Right now there is no easy way around it and you have to file a DMCA-report yourself. No one else will do it for you. </p><p>Actually, they had a submission form on their site that worked for a while and it was possible to file a trust and safety report with the focus on copyright infringement. Now that has changed as my reports just got forwarded to Jackie (which is a bot) and Jackie is a bitch as you can see in her response to my takedown notice:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRo7yzUNlEw-FXiN3o-dKrMu38tmd8M1cIessPUcsYo_R07m1xx1htYWYXL_qv11PhL3AaRUqlZ6M4bK8CVYRvrKmqF1t8IGup2HW7v1-N-TUhdgMoNZ3ErOVfwYqua7rOC_5RIGwWzh9tpkiTdWa1yCpkGF0gntOS2_Bd9_ptf0ao_pN5BVPgEYR8=s2648" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="2648" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRo7yzUNlEw-FXiN3o-dKrMu38tmd8M1cIessPUcsYo_R07m1xx1htYWYXL_qv11PhL3AaRUqlZ6M4bK8CVYRvrKmqF1t8IGup2HW7v1-N-TUhdgMoNZ3ErOVfwYqua7rOC_5RIGwWzh9tpkiTdWa1yCpkGF0gntOS2_Bd9_ptf0ao_pN5BVPgEYR8=w640-h288" width="640" /></a></div>So I had a look into the TOS and the formatted outline they needed and delivering that through the submission form was only forwarded to Jackie. So It tried my luck with the email and used a DMCA template <a href="https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/07/06/sample-dmca-take-down-letter/id=4501/" target="_blank">from here</a>.<p></p><p>I have this sitting in my notes app and just need to swap the links, copy, paste and off they go. So far it took about 3-4 days but the work in question was taken down and I got a notification from good guy Gordon:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiRXruO5LcshbVpAtRriJaHvjYz4A5U7va678o7LHJGQjDfbxP1pbWJ_t4nFgWxYFLt2jE_vHEQApJn7kiAYLSz5VFHGNjkV1mx0RXxkR6JXw1aTDN6UmKU92bH_8wNPLu8KXOJk3WyK8gU6dCibWOR-S5C0DpoDnm3aD2X0Xuqe9Cdx-zxg7MwaUE=s1906" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; outline-width: 0px; user-select: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="1906" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiRXruO5LcshbVpAtRriJaHvjYz4A5U7va678o7LHJGQjDfbxP1pbWJ_t4nFgWxYFLt2jE_vHEQApJn7kiAYLSz5VFHGNjkV1mx0RXxkR6JXw1aTDN6UmKU92bH_8wNPLu8KXOJk3WyK8gU6dCibWOR-S5C0DpoDnm3aD2X0Xuqe9Cdx-zxg7MwaUE=w640-h272" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><strike>In case you don't find the information on how to contact them, as they make it harder every day to find the relevant info, here it is, sorry Jackie and lots of more work for Gordon: copyright@opensea.io</strike></p><p><b>Update on Dec. 27:</b></p><p>There is a new submission form available for reporting IP and copyright violation on Opensea. It looks very similar to the tool that Shopify uses for DMCA-reports and allows for multiple links in one session - that is one major step forward!</p><p>Here is the link: <a href="https://airtable.com/shrgFP1znwxhxWjrt">https://airtable.com/shrgFP1znwxhxWjrt</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgw5SpmdwzoA7EtLab-9ACv5DeWNLOrn420_hxQQfoqVXGqa6DJ0RC9pwu83LYL-W42GlHPY7JZLLEYucU1t_L79EVXwl_yyLTOpQtkKiXr4QL072aWZNSF65dXCAEwtPGrTMVRqdERvG8Zr8lWhjXnl-kGPetZEIIHyESxFVMLPRw1SsXjX14JyOOn=s2010" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2010" data-original-width="1988" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgw5SpmdwzoA7EtLab-9ACv5DeWNLOrn420_hxQQfoqVXGqa6DJ0RC9pwu83LYL-W42GlHPY7JZLLEYucU1t_L79EVXwl_yyLTOpQtkKiXr4QL072aWZNSF65dXCAEwtPGrTMVRqdERvG8Zr8lWhjXnl-kGPetZEIIHyESxFVMLPRw1SsXjX14JyOOn=w395-h400" width="395" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>That is all we can do for now.</p><p>I really hope deviantArt will get agreements with other NFT-sites as well, and help artists claim their rights back. </p><p>Given the circumstance that this feature to track stolen NFT's on deviantArt is just out there for around 3 months now, it has become invaluable as it would be hard to track otherwise.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do I really have to do this?</h3><p>No, of course not. </p><p>The problem is this: don't believe you are safe because you are unknown or not famous... since there are mostly not real people at work, every piece online can be harvested and sold as an NFT and it is done so <a href="https://petapixel.com/2021/12/20/as-theft-thrives-artists-say-opensea-does-little-to-protect-copyrights/" target="_blank">mostly by bots</a> that are owned by a few people who make large amounts of Crypto-assets due to the sheer amount of small transactions.</p><p>But what effect does this then have?</p><p>It will have an effect on the buyers because if 10, 20 or say 30 of their newly acquired art pieces are gone from their list, they will notice and obviously not buy again from those sellers. It may take time but they might be able to move to a platform, where they can get the real NFT from the original artists someday.</p><p>Note; the only way to earn money on crypto is to earn huge. Only a few selected people earn huge, the rest (90%) of artists/traders, (whatever) don't make cash selling NFT's and that is the naked truth. </p><p>So in my opinion it does not make the slightest sense to even think about it if you don't really know what you do. And those guys with the bots know exactly what they do and they earn huge cash with your art and that is something I work against. </p><p>If you don't believe my statement, read this article: <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/pulling-back-the-curtain-on-nfts">https://www.discovermagazine.com/....</a></p><blockquote><p><span face=""Nunito Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: none; color: #444444; font-size: 16px;"><i>In the Turing Institute study, researchers found that 10 percent of NFT traders performed 85 percent of all trades and exchanged 97 percent of all NFTs at some point during the study period. “There is a core of very active, very engaged people, most likely driven by certain advantages — it could be profit, it could be publicity," Aiello says. "These are the people that move the market."</i></span></p></blockquote><p>If you are a very busy and established artist, famous, known, influencer, whatever, if your list on deviantArt shows 150 entries to go through, you have my compassion but I would take the time to go through each of them - at that point you should be able to pay someone to do that.</p><p>If you are in the middle, like me, I don't see a big problem in reporting 20 or 30 images a week, it is work that has to be done, until some tools are established like filters, that take this work from us.</p><p>Remember that we are in the medieval-age of the internet and that we have to go through all of this so that others that come after us, may have not to worry about such things -(again).</p><p>I hope you found this article helpful, let me know in a comment how you handle this problem and what you do about it.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-45327315548697599512021-04-06T12:29:00.005+02:002021-04-06T12:35:57.752+02:00How to Kill Focus Stealing Update Helper Without Deinstalling Corel Apps<p> It took me a while to find the culprit of an annoying focus-stealing hiccup in OSX.</p><p>At first it was harmless, just annoying. When working with my new 24 Artist Pro Tablet from XP-Pen I experienced a sudden misalignment of the cursor, nearly 15 minutes after every calibration.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-6UpJTVDITjJ3nrwMO3xH6uCXAS7bSCcVVwzMk7O6bGRaX3Qrq6PHmRn91sAIBCgiGOToNErYobl-kMX6ZchJHq85ICIFsMDVisiDFTlLcwy2kuFbTLoaJxLdabqeyKX7TCok-4Swlo/s2000/3+hours-later+Kopie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="2000" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-6UpJTVDITjJ3nrwMO3xH6uCXAS7bSCcVVwzMk7O6bGRaX3Qrq6PHmRn91sAIBCgiGOToNErYobl-kMX6ZchJHq85ICIFsMDVisiDFTlLcwy2kuFbTLoaJxLdabqeyKX7TCok-4Swlo/w640-h238/3+hours-later+Kopie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I even catch the driver by being disconnected for a second and wrote to the XP-Pen service about this issue as I assumed it to be a driver issue and it appeared just with the new UI-driver from XP-Pen, the official driver did not show this at all.</p><p>I looked for an app that would help me find the "focus-stealing-app" and found this tool in the EventViewer from <a href="https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org" target="_blank">Karabiner-Elements</a> which I can recommend as it is easy to use.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0oOee1EHzUA/YGwtVILUTtI/AAAAAAAAJIk/nHvDuY9QGEkb9ioH9C4gBMscssugDgXRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1348/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-04-06%2Bum%2B11.43.35.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Screenshot EventViewer" border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="1348" height="164" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0oOee1EHzUA/YGwtVILUTtI/AAAAAAAAJIk/nHvDuY9QGEkb9ioH9C4gBMscssugDgXRgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h164/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-04-06%2Bum%2B11.43.35.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The glitch happened also in Photoshop when painting and it would take a few seconds to register keys or strokes again when painting. With the EventViewer I found that <b>CUH.app</b> was responsible for these timed hiccups:</p><pre style="font-family: "Andale Mono", "Liberation Mono", Monaco, "Lucida Console", monospace; line-height: 1em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow: auto; padding: 0px;"><span class="line"><span class="line-content" style="padding: 0.5em 1ex 0px; width: 100%;">Bundle Identifier: com.corel.CUH</span></span>
<span class="line"><span class="line-content" style="padding: 0px 1ex 0.5em; width: 100%;">File Path: /Library/Preferences/com.corel.CUH/CUH.app/Contents/MacOS/CUH</span></span></pre><p>It also does not help to watch out for it on the activity monitor because like a real potentially unwanted program it pops-up every 15 minutes and then close after a few seconds.</p><p><b>This is a very bad behavior from Corel and it made clear to me that this company does not deserve my money in the future.</b></p><p><a href="https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/7337-Corel-Update-Helper-focus-stealing" target="_blank">Other artists and users came up with a solution</a> - namely uninstalling the software as a whole. But since I paid money for this, that solution was unacceptable, <b>so I found a way to make it work without the annoying adware from Corel!</b></p><p>I can only speak for Mac, but I assume there is a similar app out there for Windows.</p><p>First I used the path from the EventViewer above and deleted that particular folder, however that did not help as the PUP did re-instal itself and haunted me again as a <b>Potentially-Unwanted-Zombie-App!</b> Oh noes!!</p><p>Now I went on trying to deactivate messages from within the app which can be done in the Corel ... Menu like here:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Zq6TOs8xbE/YGwwLH0qAnI/AAAAAAAAJIs/z-Kie_Oskk8hf17mo4M9vGPqAX7sKAzjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s878/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-04-06%2Bum%2B11.54.34.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="878" height="332" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Zq6TOs8xbE/YGwwLH0qAnI/AAAAAAAAJIs/z-Kie_Oskk8hf17mo4M9vGPqAX7sKAzjwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h332/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-04-06%2Bum%2B11.54.34.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>But that did only work for another 15 minutes. If you want to try that yourself, the menu where you can uncheck the options might look like this:<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BAKv7890TAk/YGw0wa9_INI/AAAAAAAAJI8/UL-j8XNxB_QvhVQtL3Jjh3AdhszS6FeBACLcBGAsYHQ/s1296/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-04-06%2Bum%2B11.54.15.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="1296" height="252" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BAKv7890TAk/YGw0wa9_INI/AAAAAAAAJI8/UL-j8XNxB_QvhVQtL3Jjh3AdhszS6FeBACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h252/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-04-06%2Bum%2B11.54.15.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><div><br /></div><div>Now I went on and installed Knock-Knock from Objective-See:</div><div><a href="https://objective-see.com/products/knockknock.html">https://objective-see.com/products/knockknock.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It is an investigative tool to find potentially unwanted programs on your Mac and it goes into the deeper libraries to see if there is something that does not belong there - it also looks up files on VirusTotal for malware rating. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kPWVpCcAJ9c/YGwybnNUf6I/AAAAAAAAJI0/XOqdgFc0z30WKfwD7JpdNbkRjiPsqY-xwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kk.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Knock-Knock app for MAc" border="0" data-original-height="1163" data-original-width="2048" height="364" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kPWVpCcAJ9c/YGwybnNUf6I/AAAAAAAAJI0/XOqdgFc0z30WKfwD7JpdNbkRjiPsqY-xwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h364/kk.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>I'm sure there is an equivalent for Windows out there. You could also do a deep search on the filename from explorer. Since I got the info from the EventViewer that CUH.app is responsible, I looked that up in <b>Knock-Knock</b> and found 2 listings. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you find only one entry it might work but I'm rather sure there are 2 different apps in preferences and application support that have to be found - and whatever the equivalent is on Windows.</div><div><br /></div><div>I then opened the paths and <u>instead of deleting them, I added .bak at the end of the filename but I'm sure if you add <b>.f**koffCorel</b> at the end it will work well too ;)</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Since then there is silence and the program still works!</div><div><br /></div><div>I kept the EventViewer open for around 3 days just to see if there is another resurrection of the zombie-app but so far it is clean.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div></div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-2670969661727522392021-03-13T12:18:00.004+01:002021-03-13T12:19:26.724+01:00Luna & Nova - OC Design + Art Reveal - Kickstarted by 2 Times Artist Grant<p>In April 2020 I applied for an Artist Grant that was part of the Relief for Corona affected artists in Germany. The Grant was exclusive to resident artists of Rhineland Palatinate and I was fortunate enough to receive it. </p><p>Thanks at this point to <b><a href="https://www.fokuskultur-rlp.de" target="_blank">Stiftung Rheinland Pfalz für Kultur</a></b>!<br />On this website you find all artists and their projects that receive these grants: <br /><a href="https://kulturschaufenster-rlp.de">https://kulturschaufenster-rlp.de</a></p><p>Luna and Nova now also have their own website, check out <a href="http://www.lunanova.art">www.lunanova.art</a>!</p><p><b><i>Back to the article:)</i></b><br />My idea was to build something new and original but still have the options to play with my previously explored concept of tributes to artists and pop culture.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PtR54a2mB-c/X76V3MnWNqI/AAAAAAAAI3w/B-vHQsjPtKA8m4TjQG1_kkaKLCI2GcUVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1536/Lunademon-2-web96-.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Luna Portrait as Demon" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PtR54a2mB-c/X76V3MnWNqI/AAAAAAAAI3w/B-vHQsjPtKA8m4TjQG1_kkaKLCI2GcUVgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/Lunademon-2-web96-.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />"Girl with horns" Portrait of Luna <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />So I searched for an idea that allowed me to combine all that I did until now, like monsters in landscapes, rusty machines, portraits of girls and sometimes androids and the occasional nod to anime or games... with still the most creative flexibility possible, to create everything I want, in the future.<br /></p><p>It actually took a day to come up with Luna & Nova.</p><p>The conceptual phase took a bit longer, to find out what the story is about. But the main idea was to create a character: <b>Luna</b>, I like to draw girls with horns, so she has horns and is cute.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--RKMjXLPeuU/X1-3lDVhQ3I/AAAAAAAAIvw/nMolR55_d-gIwign-GGqIdnZbZYifdh4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Luna-faces.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Luna Concept Drawings" border="0" data-original-height="1915" data-original-width="2048" height="598" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--RKMjXLPeuU/X1-3lDVhQ3I/AAAAAAAAIvw/nMolR55_d-gIwign-GGqIdnZbZYifdh4gCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h598/Luna-faces.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>To be able to paint all the machines or vehicles when needed, I wanted something versatile. To say I was inspired by the animated series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakfu">Wakfu,</a> is an understatement when I came up with <b>Schrödinger</b>:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UmfDR57WzQ4/YES9ySJBPzI/AAAAAAAAJDk/xGwdE-C2GbI7JJmEEjsv5wrMtxLyy_QkQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bildschirmfoto%2B2020-08-27%2Bum%2B08.00.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Schroedinger Concept Scythe" border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="2048" height="382" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UmfDR57WzQ4/YES9ySJBPzI/AAAAAAAAJDk/xGwdE-C2GbI7JJmEEjsv5wrMtxLyy_QkQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h382/Bildschirmfoto%2B2020-08-27%2Bum%2B08.00.44.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>The Scythe is inhabited by 2 demons so strong, they can still turn into anything that has molecules. In the hands of Luna, they become a dangerous weapon. However, when unstable it can happen that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger's_cat">Schrödinger</a> transforms into an umbrella, the name is a of course a nod to the physicist who is known for the experiment with a cat, better known as "Schroedingers cat".</p><p>Then there is <b>Nova</b>; a flying cat which has scaling abilities. Now everything makes sense right? Even the <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SOuME8hcAnI/U3PSb0JkLBI/AAAAAAAACtg/2pg42JIKRRs/s1600/Albert_Bierstadt_-_Among_the_Sierra_Nevada,_California_-_Google_Art_Project-final-small.jpg">AT-AT painting</a> could be a Luna & Nova piece, because Schrödinger can turn into that machine and Nova scales it up.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9EZJstDnMD4/X1-4w9ujy0I/AAAAAAAAIwE/iEcnUUVSCnIj-s3bM_b3gBnHzO7IAk3yQCLcBGAsYHQ/s994/nova-1-crop2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nova and Schroedinger" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="994" height="386" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9EZJstDnMD4/X1-4w9ujy0I/AAAAAAAAIwE/iEcnUUVSCnIj-s3bM_b3gBnHzO7IAk3yQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h386/nova-1-crop2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>And that is where the story should go, I can come up with whatever image idea I have in mind. As long as it fits the abilities of these three guys, it is a go. <br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Artworks Gallery (so far)</h3><p>Below are some of the works that include Luna & Nova. their appearance has become recognizable, but it is still fun to find out where they are, once you are aware of these small character-specific things that allow for the magic to happen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9QmCOsiHBQI/X1--m7fE8vI/AAAAAAAAIwk/N2ea7bMGRNMqQN2iHFawcNvWlIgOMqAmACLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/Web-Luna-2-small-wallpaper-.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1358" data-original-width="1920" height="453" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9QmCOsiHBQI/X1--m7fE8vI/AAAAAAAAIwk/N2ea7bMGRNMqQN2iHFawcNvWlIgOMqAmACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h453/Web-Luna-2-small-wallpaper-.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The above piece is called Feeding time at the Highlands and is of course a nod to the recent installment of Ikoria from Magic the Gathering, just with a more gritty Behemoth ;)<br />Luna and Nova fit in there as they are feeding the lot of dragons, the hut has attracted them through the smell of fresh sweets. I wanted to go over the top with his piece and see how well anime and fantasy go well together. It was an experiment to be honest.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kY4ZnHKkW8s/X1-_xmPx_oI/AAAAAAAAIww/FKNJ-jFjeHcE_8VhAGOh5SJw6qMUGoPNACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/web-landscape-luna1-base%2BKopie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="2048" height="357" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kY4ZnHKkW8s/X1-_xmPx_oI/AAAAAAAAIww/FKNJ-jFjeHcE_8VhAGOh5SJw6qMUGoPNACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h357/web-landscape-luna1-base%2BKopie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>This piece was the first one actually finished. I tried to get a more sketchy / rough painterly look for this one that I may use later on for some other pieces as well.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-96JeMZEuYMo/X1_AS5aWJTI/AAAAAAAAIw4/sIuVeOCOa0YCj5zjea8XnXgvlyzLLPpfACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/web-Whales-Compton-homage-2560px-neu-final-2%2BKopie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1158" data-original-width="2048" height="362" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-96JeMZEuYMo/X1_AS5aWJTI/AAAAAAAAIw4/sIuVeOCOa0YCj5zjea8XnXgvlyzLLPpfACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h362/web-Whales-Compton-homage-2560px-neu-final-2%2BKopie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div>This one actually took ages and it took this landscape from Edward Harrison Compton to succeed. There were some iterations with sunsets and waves, but it looked so much like cliché, it was not even funny. I wanted to be able to take tropes and make them interesting by fitting Luna and Nova in there to create a new story, but it should also look inviting and have a magic element.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5nxfN9iyi80/X1_A9ohh4VI/AAAAAAAAIxE/rHpTd8GOJZ44ZsZo-hOdB_T0L0VpvSSiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1553/Luna-Nova-Mo%25CC%2588bius-Experience-web%2BKopie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1553" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5nxfN9iyi80/X1_A9ohh4VI/AAAAAAAAIxE/rHpTd8GOJZ44ZsZo-hOdB_T0L0VpvSSiwCLcBGAsYHQ/w494-h640/Luna-Nova-Mo%25CC%2588bius-Experience-web%2BKopie.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>And then there was Möbius. Actually I found the piece and initially was inspired and thought this would be a good fit to introduce Luna and Nova. But then, back at the conception-department I realized that Schrödingers original shape is a scythe and not one single person (except me) knows them yet, so this painting may make sense in 25 years from now, but not yet ;)<div><br /></div><div>This is when I decided to create the painting at the beginning, to depict the characters in their original shape:<br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3fo_ekEuMo/X1-2-oTAdUI/AAAAAAAAIvo/PIBbmaxsHA0MoO6hYBrpxALDZhkDgEfMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1693/luna-nova2-back-web-text%2BKopie%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1693" data-original-width="1200" height="685" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3fo_ekEuMo/X1-2-oTAdUI/AAAAAAAAIvo/PIBbmaxsHA0MoO6hYBrpxALDZhkDgEfMgCLcBGAsYHQ/w486-h685/luna-nova2-back-web-text%2BKopie%2B2.jpg" width="486" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">To finalize these, I created a video to give a bit more to the whole thing than just images:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="410" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tW4gUnwWslc" width="493" youtube-src-id="tW4gUnwWslc"></iframe></div><br /><br />And to show what Schroedinger is capable of, I liked to play with the Buster-Sword from Cloud Strife of FFVII, where the demon-eyes fit perfectly in the place where Materia has to be collected: <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_HZcPP6bV-M/X76RwaaWT5I/AAAAAAAAI14/w0ksEU45qpY-9Phyr1xfID4NyOqbzwuMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/bann13.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_HZcPP6bV-M/X76RwaaWT5I/AAAAAAAAI14/w0ksEU45qpY-9Phyr1xfID4NyOqbzwuMQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/bann13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-euLFOOOyoYk/X76S_HdKHOI/AAAAAAAAI2k/x4t59UVYmucqb6wDvG6yYZBbZLJ-a01AACLcBGAsYHQ/s1461/web-final-logo-fina-w-o-linkl.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1461" data-original-width="1461" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-euLFOOOyoYk/X76S_HdKHOI/AAAAAAAAI2k/x4t59UVYmucqb6wDvG6yYZBbZLJ-a01AACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/web-final-logo-fina-w-o-linkl.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Second Artist Grant</h3><p></p><p>Meanwhile, after finishing my documentation for the artist grant in August, I received a second grant, to push the Project with Luna even further, in terms of quality I wanted to add more depth to the characters by creating a 3d figure and even print that on my own.</p><p>This piece below was the result of the 3d-designed model, the title is exaggerated and is "Garden of the Galaxy", born from a misheard sentence but I found it fitting and maybe good for Luna's backstory.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33FgMd-CSD0/X76UWU91WYI/AAAAAAAAI3Q/ifBo85UD_Z8aepSLSiTEFA5PRML17MpzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1900/-Luna-web-.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1900" data-original-width="1343" height="695" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33FgMd-CSD0/X76UWU91WYI/AAAAAAAAI3Q/ifBo85UD_Z8aepSLSiTEFA5PRML17MpzQCLcBGAsYHQ/w490-h695/-Luna-web-.jpg" width="490" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The pieces below are all parts or steps from the 3d-design process or printing.<br />The figure can be downloaded for 3d-printing on your own on my <b>thingiverse</b> here: <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4667986">https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4667986</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jQFCo2AAr4w/X76S-Hj_56I/AAAAAAAAI2U/BTKxqJ7HJpUnKFrLWDttCIuIOPi6kWmeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1343/-Luna-web-IG-AO.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="1343" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jQFCo2AAr4w/X76S-Hj_56I/AAAAAAAAI2U/BTKxqJ7HJpUnKFrLWDttCIuIOPi6kWmeQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/-Luna-web-IG-AO.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QvOxB4rjz2Y/X76Sw9P3UZI/AAAAAAAAI2A/Rkk6hw73lZ0XZ_kmBPj38FR9J-VAk9CbACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bildschirmfoto%2B2020-10-23%2Bum%2B22.41.33.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1586" data-original-width="2048" height="496" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QvOxB4rjz2Y/X76Sw9P3UZI/AAAAAAAAI2A/Rkk6hw73lZ0XZ_kmBPj38FR9J-VAk9CbACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h496/Bildschirmfoto%2B2020-10-23%2Bum%2B22.41.33.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yWj7PWrmzO8/X76Tg6Ip3AI/AAAAAAAAI28/DLCPFQWXaDI975nKdcBwdsQ20ifNs3fRwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1343/-Luna-web-pre2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="1343" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yWj7PWrmzO8/X76Tg6Ip3AI/AAAAAAAAI28/DLCPFQWXaDI975nKdcBwdsQ20ifNs3fRwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/-Luna-web-pre2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7NGOT9i3m84/X76ThH01eAI/AAAAAAAAI3A/eFUJNEPTaRktA4D9KAGpnFMkBZ9hhhRyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1343/-Luna-web-print.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="1343" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7NGOT9i3m84/X76ThH01eAI/AAAAAAAAI3A/eFUJNEPTaRktA4D9KAGpnFMkBZ9hhhRyQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/-Luna-web-print.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ymvNlSbsex0/X76Sx_Htt4I/AAAAAAAAI2M/YP-1h9sk8VcajZfM6uXZG043jfhpdzhKQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_7856.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ymvNlSbsex0/X76Sx_Htt4I/AAAAAAAAI2M/YP-1h9sk8VcajZfM6uXZG043jfhpdzhKQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_7856.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwSxpuABSTo_hGSMUFNvzScy1v1v0-dR1_R3RPBR8UozkwmJ628u3PzZv7KrhwckZ3yrCnuMoOW5V7McnFL_bE6npxwqFKCJFCdCzSkqswg80uQ2jTbVA_oHFHbcK4tlDsoObLaNtXSBw/s2048/Luna-Druck+final.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwSxpuABSTo_hGSMUFNvzScy1v1v0-dR1_R3RPBR8UozkwmJ628u3PzZv7KrhwckZ3yrCnuMoOW5V7McnFL_bE6npxwqFKCJFCdCzSkqswg80uQ2jTbVA_oHFHbcK4tlDsoObLaNtXSBw/w640-h640/Luna-Druck+final.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>It is also possible to view the figure in 3D on <b>Sketchfab</b> here: <a href="https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/luna-nova-schroedinger-figurine-568e0b2af70b469bbb832d0ea23b7802">https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/luna-nova-schroedinger-figurine</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iZdaeszB1hk/YES_SDlpbqI/AAAAAAAAJDs/GGrRG0Jrr18beafcgdqNintNVZACZIpjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1666/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-03-07%2Bum%2B12.55.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1666" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iZdaeszB1hk/YES_SDlpbqI/AAAAAAAAJDs/GGrRG0Jrr18beafcgdqNintNVZACZIpjgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-03-07%2Bum%2B12.55.04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">More work coming this way</span></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">The second Artist grant documentation is just finished and I'm working with full force on new concepts and ideas. Below you find some storytelling images and concept sketches for things that "maybe" come...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq6J21UnSKc/X76UWX2sBsI/AAAAAAAAI3U/CqNdf2GhtqsBbUY5yf2GDk3LsVqbU-skACLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/Nova-Origin-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="1920" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq6J21UnSKc/X76UWX2sBsI/AAAAAAAAI3U/CqNdf2GhtqsBbUY5yf2GDk3LsVqbU-skACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/Nova-Origin-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cM_7akjySSI/YES9H4xtdpI/AAAAAAAAJDc/gWRJNx7uQYQMzbGKdbDR4ZkA7BL8XKFqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/original-swords-Wilhelm-Leu2.2web-wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Luna & Nova - 3 Swords after Wilhelm Leu" border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="1920" height="454" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cM_7akjySSI/YES9H4xtdpI/AAAAAAAAJDc/gWRJNx7uQYQMzbGKdbDR4ZkA7BL8XKFqQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h454/original-swords-Wilhelm-Leu2.2web-wall.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Some Concepts</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-obyH6qxlrMM/X76VhDCCVrI/AAAAAAAAI3k/QwXo--HunmAwA9tkL2Zz727sk8QpHu-OgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bildschirmfoto%2B2020-11-25%2Bum%2B18.27.46.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="2048" height="370" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-obyH6qxlrMM/X76VhDCCVrI/AAAAAAAAI3k/QwXo--HunmAwA9tkL2Zz727sk8QpHu-OgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h370/Bildschirmfoto%2B2020-11-25%2Bum%2B18.27.46.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cqxZ7InEBcs/X76Vqfz2aJI/AAAAAAAAI3o/6UGiV7Cbd7IpEyzyKgOvdxeZtQW7M3LFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Schroedinger-walker-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cqxZ7InEBcs/X76Vqfz2aJI/AAAAAAAAI3o/6UGiV7Cbd7IpEyzyKgOvdxeZtQW7M3LFgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/Schroedinger-walker-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQwkIFc8acOLcnPMdfafVyb8a-eVVDHDpKA531otraDFhj_NBkcOU-eENC4sLM7c3cKAUzLXOxHC211-WgDmUFFy-w5rIihZDp8DKLSg3UWZsfvojMBbndX4oFWwVZCDQhTSIlt-A6gg/s1345/FokusKultur_Logo_cmyk_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="1345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQwkIFc8acOLcnPMdfafVyb8a-eVVDHDpKA531otraDFhj_NBkcOU-eENC4sLM7c3cKAUzLXOxHC211-WgDmUFFy-w5rIihZDp8DKLSg3UWZsfvojMBbndX4oFWwVZCDQhTSIlt-A6gg/s320/FokusKultur_Logo_cmyk_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Find my work on the Artist-Grant collective-Website: </div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://kulturschaufenster-rlp.de/kunstschaffende/oliver-wetter/">https://kulturschaufenster-rlp.de/kunstschaffende/oliver-wetter/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div></div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-24670890454263861702021-03-06T14:00:00.099+01:002023-08-05T15:45:52.569+02:00My opinion on NFTs: Are Non-Fungible-Token a Scam or Legit?<p>Don't get me wrong; I really like the romantic idea of democratizing the <b>Art Market</b> and the equalization of entering an era that will finally credit artists.</p><p>But the development of Crypto Currencies and the Cult around NFTs shows, that exactly the opposite seems to be true.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fungible_token" target="_blank">Non-fungible Tokens</a> are trending since 2021, but are they worth the hype?</p><p>This article is for every artist (or non-artist) interested in getting on the Crypto / NFT-Art train.<br />It reflects my personal opinion as artist but also should refer to as many qualified sources as possible to get a clear picture, what NFTs really are.</p><p>I'm not against Crypto or NFTs but that space needs regulation and that scream for regulation needs to come from the community itself, not from the outside - to build up that much needed trust that so many grifters misuse right now.</p><p><b><a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2021/03/why-crypto-art-is-not-there-yet-and-why.html#conclusion">This is going to be a thorough 15-Minutes read, you can jump to the conclusion by clicking here!</a></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KmIwQYP6jcI/YEOh0Un2VXI/AAAAAAAAJDM/S92sajpugZsNaPGhtLlEXOHg7kps2G4CQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/bitcoin-image-nft.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KmIwQYP6jcI/YEOh0Un2VXI/AAAAAAAAJDM/S92sajpugZsNaPGhtLlEXOHg7kps2G4CQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/bitcoin-image-nft.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>There is no reason for FoMo (Fear-of-missing-out), historically viewed the technology of the Blockchain<a href="https://www.information-age.com/cryptocurrency-the-boom-is-here-to-stay-123493309/" target="_blank"> is here to stay</a>. </p><p>But it is hard to follow the topic with all the abbreviations like ATM's, DAO's, DeFi, ICO's, NFT, BCC, BCH, ETC and tons of new coming in every day. And that is desired to be that way. Those who are in the know are gonna make it, while the rest of the world should have fun staying poor.</p><p>The system is designed for a small group of people. Everyone claiming NFTs are going mainstream anytime soon, are not getting it (or are just paid to tell that).</p><p>Since Bitcoin is the most hyped currency but not affordable to most, an increasing number of alternative currencies jump on the market. Because essentially <b>you are going to make money on the people who enter the market after you</b>. </p><p>And it is not done by entering the Crypto-Market, the system is also designed to keep you there. You can of course make money over there and transfer it to your bank account, but it is just not how that particular market works. You will miss out of gains that may come in 3-5 years from now, this means you should participate if you earn enough to say you don't care about any ETH earned on the "Chain".</p><p>It all is one big High-Tech-<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/09/ponzi-vs-pyramid.asp" target="_blank">Pyramid-Scheme</a>.<br /></p><p>And here is a hint: those who gained wins from the immense Bitcoin hype are among those who build NFT-Art-Sites to benefit from the next hype, artists are just interchangeable token in that new game of Bitcoin-investors in an attempt to make it appeal to the mainstream.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Sharing is A Necessity (And Other Problems)</h3><p></p><p>One thing I have observed first hand on art platforms like <b>Makersplace</b> or <b>SuperRare</b> is that doing the legwork is all on the artists. You need a reasonable following on social Media to announce a working "<a href="https://hyperallergic.com/624053/nft-art-goes-viral-and-heads-to-auction-but-what-is-it/" target="_blank">Art Drop</a>". "Reasonable" means anything between 25k up to 1,2 million followers... <br /><br />That was what threw me off initially in 2019.</p><p>I know that sharing is necessary when you get out there to promote your work. On conventions the promotion is on the organizer of the event, in a gallery show, it is usually the gallery-owner whose work is to reach collectors. As independent artist I can utilize facebook adds or a Marketplace to get people in my shop. But it appears that on many NFT-Platforms the popularity of some artists has being exploited to bring people into that Crypto-space.</p><p>Also what is considered "valuable" to some, is trash to others. </p><p>My personal opinion is that artists I know for a long time, who put their heart and a lot of skills into their work...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e-5eAYqIohY/YFcvgMZAAMI/AAAAAAAAJGw/TW7-BRysVwgXBPdj4wDE7fgLgIY3w7QNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s772/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-03-21%2Bum%2B11.38.04.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="772" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e-5eAYqIohY/YFcvgMZAAMI/AAAAAAAAJGw/TW7-BRysVwgXBPdj4wDE7fgLgIY3w7QNgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h240/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-03-21%2Bum%2B11.38.04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Should earn a lot more than that:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cunP25iq6uw/YFcvrnpOx8I/AAAAAAAAJG0/Sxm24RU32hEGnBQA0jMyG8cutqoJhJSnQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1426/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-03-21%2Bum%2B11.37.27.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1426" height="388" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cunP25iq6uw/YFcvrnpOx8I/AAAAAAAAJG0/Sxm24RU32hEGnBQA0jMyG8cutqoJhJSnQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h388/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-03-21%2Bum%2B11.37.27.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>But this shows that putting the name out there (which depends highly on luck) is still more important than great work.</p><p>Social Media works as a mask to hide the Pyramid-Scheme perfectly since sharing anything is the very nature of platforms like twitter & co. </p><p>But that is just icing on the cake of problems evolving around these Art Platforms as a whole; A deeper issue surfaces when you want to publish an Art-Piece to the blockchain using NFT to attach the Proof of ownership – as under heavy usage that can take from a few hours to days. </p><p>Particularly Makersplace did no changes to the website in order to make it any more convenient or centered around the users in about 2 years, really? A Platform that creates so much value? </p><p>The delayed submission approval process of these platforms also add to the hype as they generate an artificial kind of scarcity.</p><p><u>On <i>Makersplace</i> especially it can take ages when you add tags to the piece before it is published</u> - which results in you having to call a moderator on Discord because you can't delete or change anything on your end.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sTVo5GF8p3E/YEOiuN_XOaI/AAAAAAAAJDU/wSXYoAqKRwIqyK-VLygNClx9TVF-UdqYwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1102/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-03-06%2Bum%2B16.41.12.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="1102" height="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sTVo5GF8p3E/YEOiuN_XOaI/AAAAAAAAJDU/wSXYoAqKRwIqyK-VLygNClx9TVF-UdqYwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h268/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-03-06%2Bum%2B16.41.12.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snapshot as of March 06. 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>To get your piece published faster, these platforms benefit from gas you can pay (which is basically a transaction fee) but if you don't have crypto in your wallet just yet, you need PayPal and it makes the whole process a lot more inconvenient as it should be. Gas-fees are currently equivalent to $50,00 up to $200,00 just to "mint" one artwork, now that is not for the starving artist as you can guess.</p><p>And many NFTs sell below the price that minting cost, just wanted to mention that.</p><p>Even Vitalik Buterin, the developer/founder of Ethereum which powers most NFT-Platforms says that "Fees are a huge problem for the usability of Ethereum" - <a href="https://www.coinstacknews.com/news/vitalik-buterin-admits-fees-are-a-huge-problem-for-ethereums-usability/">https://www.coinstacknews.com/news/vitalik-buterin-admits-fees-are-a-huge-problem-for-ethereums-usability/</a></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What does This Tell Me? </h3><p>The same thing that happens in the regular Art Market. <br />It is not about the artist ( <b><i>sorry Beeple </i>)</b> but a bit more perverted - it is always about the person buying the art first. </p><p>Sounds familiar if you know how much of a scam the <i>"capitalistic"</i> Art Market is:<br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="336" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dw5kme5Q_Yo" width="621" youtube-src-id="Dw5kme5Q_Yo"></iframe></div><p></p><p>At first glance the whole NFT-thing looks different even liberating because artists <u>get a fair share of any resold item</u>, yet it is an even better business for the person having bought the item in many regards.</p><p>So the whole economic way of the technology is looking different from the architecture it was meant to be. </p><p>As it is now it<b> resembles a huge monster</b>:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oYtQKke0Fns/YFN49y7YNNI/AAAAAAAAJF0/JSjrSpWLaI4LGat6IC6PDKvdRcENh4M5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/a_kaiju_evening_at_the_juniata_by_fantasio_d7gjr24-fullview.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A Kaiju on the Juniata" border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1280" height="422" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oYtQKke0Fns/YFN49y7YNNI/AAAAAAAAJF0/JSjrSpWLaI4LGat6IC6PDKvdRcENh4M5ACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h422/a_kaiju_evening_at_the_juniata_by_fantasio_d7gjr24-fullview.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><p>Bigger than the financial market, similar to a pyramid-system and a scam as the real Art Market on steroids. That beast leaves a trail behind on the environment worse than Godzilla on RedBull. </p><p>This looks like everything but not democratic at all, sorry folks.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Another big problem is the Environmental Impact of Cryptocurrencies today.</h3><p>I don't want to get into that matter too much, as it is now; <b>Mining the blockchain require huge amounts of power</b>. There is an interesting <a href="https://everestpipkin.medium.com/but-the-environmental-issues-with-cryptoart-1128ef72e6a3" target="_blank">article from Everest Pipkin about that matter</a> on his Medium, a recommended read.</p><p>From an artists point of view it might also be good to read the opinion of <a href="https://joanielemercier.com/the-problem-of-cryptoart/">Joanie Lemercier </a>about that matter. His article was a turning point for me, to research the topic and find more information about the problem. In the end I closed my <a href="https://makersplace.com/fantasio/" target="_blank">Makersplace</a> account because of what I learned.</p><p>We are at the edge of a coming change: <u>Ethereum</u> is about to <b>switch from <a href="https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/" target="_blank">Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake</a><strike> right now</strike></b>. <strike>The plan is to complete that switch until 2022</strike>, but since this is taking away money from miners,<strike> this change could disrupt the market very soon</strike> <a href="https://our.status.im/vitalik-escalates-eth-2-0-merge-as-miners-plan-a-51-attack/" target="_blank">as a 51% Attack</a> is very likely due to the publicity around Cryptocurrencies. <b>*Update 2022 Feb.:</b> The Proof-of-Stake will either be postponed or never happen to Ethereum. Especially the miners want to keep the status quo. New Blockchains are rather implementing PoS but they are not as popular as Ethereum and that will not change for a long time because those on ETH will keep their value up.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Environmental Issue: Possible Solutions</h3><p>There are chances the issues can be solved but that would require a different legislation; for example that all independent miners need to provide a proof that at least 60% of power used for mining comes from renewable energy via photovoltaics. </p><p>That would be a good start to be honest!</p><p>An alternative would be companies building mining centers running on hydrogen, similar to the google data-centers that run partially with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DLyruTqHI" target="_blank">bloom-box</a>. The blockchain would still run in a decentralized manner but economically it would be a lot more secure and green.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The More Difficult Issue will Be About Trust</h3><div>There is already a lot of Fraud going on in the Bitcoin-Scene and now in NFT: <a href="https://agoradigital.art/blog-crypto-art-fraud-on-rarible/">https://agoradigital.art/blog-crypto-art-fraud-on-rarible/</a> </div><p>There are also many stories yet to come about mistrust - the hype is just waiting to release the worst in people. <strike>Wait until the first story appears about known artists selling different versions of the same piece which would reduce the trust of digital artists in one day and wipe away many success stories.</strike> ...This exact thing happened with MAtt Furie, the creator of Pepe the Frog: <a href="https://www.business2community.com/nft-news/pepe-the-frog-nft-lawsuit-02460597">https://www.business2community.com/nft-news/pepe-the-frog-nft-lawsuit-02460597</a></p><p>When do people learn that greed leads to so many problems...</p><p>Or let's talk about fake profiles; how far has society come that people start to impersonate artists to gain money? Yes this happened, read about it here: <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/20/22334527/nft-scams-artists-opensea-rarible-marble-cards-fraud-art">https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/20/22334527/nft-scams-artists-opensea-rarible-marble-cards-fraud-art</a></p><p>Or simply think about the recent case of artistic violence in which a <a href="https://theconversation.com/nft-art-the-bizarre-world-where-burning-a-banksy-can-make-it-more-valuable-156605" target="_blank">Banksy piece was burned down </a>to go on auction as NFT. WTF!</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="484" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C4wm-p_VFh0" width="583" youtube-src-id="C4wm-p_VFh0"></iframe></p><p>If such stories inspire anything, I hope no one will get the idea of burning a Monet to do that, why Banksy? <i>Why not a<b> Damien Hirst piece or Jonathan Meese </b></i>come on, can somebody do that, please? (*<i>Sarcasm off</i>*)</p><p>The other thing this tells me is; even more so than the actual Art Market has made me guessing; <b>Using the term Art does not require anyone to be an artist</b>, just burn a piece of Art can help you make a mark - and rich too! </p><p>The most recent hype about the Bored-Ape-Yacht-Club and clones of such clubs which exist to the hundreds are just built around the idea of getting crypto-people to donate their fortune to something (because there is no food you can buy with crypto) and so groups like the BAYC and their fellow clones have emerged to collect future interests and cash-in now and maybe give something back later.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirDZQY-ILEPCQGHcFjFFrFAOfBOp09u_QsXJIl7fl9y-T6BaIYjafoTuHzJVPPeFOvHxnMiongtUj5IcxDLh-uzPeZiV6rNqCOlxrz25Zo6VVsr9pXgFHF1BkJyYQXTuyJ98aoZHKEqlk4wCOQE6n6WhHiXh9WRyddo19YDonOmT04vKxCuTSYV1CQ=s681" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="681" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirDZQY-ILEPCQGHcFjFFrFAOfBOp09u_QsXJIl7fl9y-T6BaIYjafoTuHzJVPPeFOvHxnMiongtUj5IcxDLh-uzPeZiV6rNqCOlxrz25Zo6VVsr9pXgFHF1BkJyYQXTuyJ98aoZHKEqlk4wCOQE6n6WhHiXh9WRyddo19YDonOmT04vKxCuTSYV1CQ=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: #212324; --darkreader-inline-color: #8c867d; background-color: #222425; color: #a0998e; font-family: "IBM Plex Mono", monospace; font-size: 11.008px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; text-align: start;">Guy Oseary</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p> The interesting thing I see is, especially when I look at the NFT-Market, there is rarely some really good artwork in there because grifters actually learned that just selling art they don't own give them trust-issues and so they commission some artists. Since many of the good and great artists don't see anything valuable in the Crypto-market and NFT's, it is hard to get those into that space. Those who are in there from the beginning mind their own business and do (as I do) not accept commissions. That's why so much unpolished art pollutes that space.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br />Value Concerns</h3><p>One thing that also stands out in the alley of downsides to this is the unpredictable outcome of value of NFT's or rather ETH spent, since that is depending on the Blockchain it was mined on. </p><p>For now ETH might be safe but with the hype, a lot of new technologies evolve around that and may outperform Ethereum in the near future. If you know how your stuff works you can lean back, if not, I'd encourage to read this article: <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/03/10/are-your-nfts-on-the-wrong-blockchain/">https://fortune.com/2021/03/10/are-your-nfts-on-the-wrong-blockchain/</a></p><p>One big concern should be securities as many <b>high-tiered NFT's may become illegal because shared value is a security</b>: <a href="https://decrypt.co/62989/sec-hester-peirce-nfts">https://decrypt.co/62989/sec-hester-peirce-nfts</a> </p><p>And if that would not be enough; <b>what do you do if your NFT's vanish?</b> Vice's article sheds some light on a current case: <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdj79/peoples-expensive-nfts-keep-vanishing-this-is-why">https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdj79/peoples-expensive-nfts-keep-vanishing-this-is-why</a><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Games (Play-To-Earn)</h3><p>I'm not too much into games but play-to-earn made the round and had a very short rise-and-fall-cycle as much as I have observed. Big brands in the gaming-Industry are either planning or changing their mind away from implementing NFTs into their game-assets due to a huge backlash from their own communities and fans: <a href="https://www.cbr.com/nft-gaming-future-uncertain/" target="_blank">https://www.cbr.com/nft-gaming-future-uncertain/ </a><br /><br />Also the general gist is that now (end of March '22) the interest bubble on NFTs is about to burst: <a href="https://www.tpinsights.com/free-articles/the-public-sentiment-towards-nfts-is-turning-sour">https://www.tpinsights.com/free-articles/the-public-sentiment-towards-nfts-is-turning-sour</a><br />I would not give too much on the article above, they've written the name of author Dan Olsen wrong 2 times and also mention the 2 hour documentary "The Line goes up" in one article with the sentiment that NFTs have gone mainstream - which is just bonkers if you understood the Dan Olson documentary.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Taxes</h3><p>The TAX and VAT-question is also not yet cleared fully, but it is safe to say that every transaction needs to be well documented, especially if you earn a lot of money in Cryptocurrencies. It can come back at you years later but to be honest for artists taxes are already a burden, who's got the time for this extra pile of paperwork?</p><p>And one last concern is that Crypto-Currencies are a closed system. For that currency to rise it needs people who invest and stay there. The NFT-craze is working in the opposite direction because artists usually need the money and transfer a lot to their bank accounts. More artists on the Blockchain means shrinking value. I'm not too much in Ethereum to know if that is true or not, but for Bitcoin it would be the case.</p><p>Technology and every aspect of the market is there to evolve. This is all fine and good, however with so much misinformation out there, it is difficult to make the right decisions right now. As independent artist, I hate to say this, but the Crypto Market needs more and better fiscal legislation.</p><p>If by now you still want to jump on the wagon, there are some pointers to take into account when joining a project or a marketplace: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Get on the wagon early on. It is already too late for most major Crypto-assets and to bet on new ones is very speculative - so be prepared to join a speculative game.</li><li>Don't expect too much<br />The rise of crypto-influencers stems from Social-Media Influencers, focus on getting known and see where it can take you. Not the other way round.</li><li>Because Pareto might be at work on the NFT-Market as well, which means:<br />Only 20% of Crypto Artists share 80% of the revenue, 80% of Artists have to share the rest of 20% which is nuts (pun intended)</li><li>Compare sites and technology<br />Especially prefer off-chain transactions and green tech</li><li>Learn about the pitfalls of editions and proof-of-ownership<br />and see if it can benefit your work at all</li><li>Remember, not the amount of transactions blows the CO2-footprint, but the value<br />The rich people are destroying our planet not only in RL but also on the blockchain</li><li>Think about the fact that earning money with cryptocurrencies may be more unstable than any currency exchange on PayPal or analog currencies can experience today</li></ul><div>In the recent weeks I got inquiries from at least 10 (existing and emerging) NFT-Art Websites and I guess many artists will have a similar experience and are not sure whether it might make sense to jump on that train - or particular site.<br /><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Important Questions to Ask</h3><div>Over the last couple of weeks I have gathered a list of questions that I send out to the "<u>Talent-Scouts"</u>, feel free to use them yourself:</div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>What Blockchain will your NFT's be mined on?</li><li>What will you do to promote responsibility to the environmental impact NFT's and the Blockchain cause today? </li><li>Or better said; what better technology can you offer that works directly against the negative impact? </li><li>How will ... NFT-Site in question....promote artists and their work?</li><li>Will it be possible to submit NFT-Artworks without paying Gas to speed the process up? </li><li>Will the website change and be optimized to focus on user experience? </li><li>How will you obtain security for the value customers put into the site, brand and artists work?</li><li>How will you handle the necessity for collectors to find new artists through your site? </li><li>How do you plan to implement the secondary market into your business?</li></ol><div><br /></div>You can use all or just some of the questions that are important to you. Most likely you will hear nothing back because these answers are uncomfortable.</div><div>Knowing that time is not an issue and that <b>you are not going to be rich just by joining these sites</b> may help to decline any offer that comes around.<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">*Update 2022*</h3>Just recently around February 2022, I stumbled about this video from Dan Olson, which is highly recommended if you want to learn something more in-depth about Crypto and the NFT-space that surrounds it. The lecture goes nearly 2 hours but it is really worth it. It takes you from Cryptocurrencies basics to how people develop fraud around it because the blockchain itself is immune to attacks - but people using the technology are not.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="338" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YQ_xWvX1n9g" width="625" youtube-src-id="YQ_xWvX1n9g"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Watching so many artists jumping on the train over the last 2-3 years lit a small but then still burning candle in the back of my mind, but the lesson from this video helped me to safely forget about that matter and focus on what is really important. <br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQB6hpOjy5knAF3mIuefSBP_BHTTqwgZbw1ORa5wb9Ek-kkMc-xqEHzFlrArQ5jys5PmL_hZT4XVqSqMlUOXvKW_cPK2VspJjEstnadEd1LM7uQcYLOHYm6R4nWv3I5fWJq1WdTSx62cBgLgRmZggWJGtdM837_AA4mtPewWV83vQJ3zLgSl0IJljm=s1024" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="1024" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQB6hpOjy5knAF3mIuefSBP_BHTTqwgZbw1ORa5wb9Ek-kkMc-xqEHzFlrArQ5jys5PmL_hZT4XVqSqMlUOXvKW_cPK2VspJjEstnadEd1LM7uQcYLOHYm6R4nWv3I5fWJq1WdTSx62cBgLgRmZggWJGtdM837_AA4mtPewWV83vQJ3zLgSl0IJljm=w640-h234" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Since NFTs can only be purchased and traded using cryptocurrency, they serve as a means of boosting the value of the cryptocurrencies used for purchase, he says. To put it more directly: "NFTs exist to get you to buy crypto," he says.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can't just go the NFT-route and say Crypto is bad. <b><u>If you sell your art as NFT, you say yes to Crypto</u></b> and to the environmental issues that go along with it and that will most likely not change at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>The central thesis of this documentation is that Crypto-assets and NFT's amplify grift, fraud, and a broken gig economy - not as a side effect, but right built into the technology by design.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion / TL:DR </h3><div><br /></div><div><b><span id="conclusion"></span>You jumped to this part because you don't have the time to read the full article or may read it later. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately even the conclusion is long because to grasp this very topic, it requires explanation.<br />And this also shows why NFTs are doomed to not go mainstream anytime soon.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><i>Which is the very core of Crypto: No one can really grasp it and bring it all down to one short sentence.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>There is no need for Fear-Of-Missing-Out, because the Blockchain technology is here to stay, however; if you want to benefit from Cryptocurrencies, it is already too late to make a fortune. Essentially the system requires the bigger fool to follow the early adopters which always causes an inflation of that particular currency. This will happen to a point where there are no fools anymore to join the train because it becomes too expensive to join and then it depends on luck what happens - think of a huge Jenga-Tower.</div><div><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle" target="_blank">Pareto</a> makes it clear that there are only 20% major Crypto-currencies and 80% that share the rest of users. That paradigm will not change, though people bet on it and that is why everyday new "Coins" make a headline but they will vanish into the 80% sand.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Tech-cult around Crypto makes it impossible to know everything, confusion and obfuscation is built-in by default to sift chaff from the wheat. Bitcoin started the hype and those who made a fortune by investing 5k bucks back then, don't know where to spend their "money" and have built a business around Crypto today to lure others in, because:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>You are essentially only going to make money on the fools that come after you.</li><li>NFTs are a hype because it brings in a new group of people to Crypto</li><li>Artists are just interchangeable to the very nature of the Non-Fungible-Tokens</li><li>The platforms that offer NFTs are bugged and face lots of issues, <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2021/12/how-to-get-your-stolen-art-removed-from.html" target="_blank">many evolve around copyright</a></li><li>NFTs can vanish or drop in value for no apparent reason</li><li>The environmental impact is not going to be solved anytime soon and NFT´s play a central role</li><li>Many artists are shying away from the NFT-space because fraud and rip-offs take over</li><li>Those artists who are in, will stay in that place as long as they are getting returns</li><li>You can't say yes to NFT but no to Crypto, either you are Yes/Yes or No/No</li><li><a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/pulling-back-the-curtain-on-nfts" target="_blank">10% of NFT-Collectors (aka Whales) move 90% of the market</a>, a ridiculous ratio and much worse than <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2018/06/the-ugly-truth-about-passive-income-and.html" target="_blank">Pareto that applies to merchandise / passive-income markets for artists</a> (where 20% of successful artists share 80% of revenue and the 80% not-so-successful who share 20% of the rest)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Which makes it one big Ponzi or Pyramid Scheme, you know <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing" target="_blank">MLM</a>? Crypto is far worse.<br /><br /></div><div>And most importantly; you can't buy anything with Crypto because it is a speculative assets, the more time and gas-fees you invest to build a tribe around your work, the more you are inclined to stick with it rather than paying out from time-to-time. </div><div>And furthermore; you are also going to lure your followers into that market because you have to! </div><div>Payouts also suffer from huge transaction fees, hourly exchange rates and unclear tax-rules that may become a burden later. The system is designed to keep you there, once you have your foot in.</div><div><br /></div><div>Clubs like the Bored-Ape-Yacht-Club emerged because people wanted to create a community around their assets, rather than relying on the value artists create. They had a better idea and lure people into their groups to get them supporting any ideas they might have for the future. Whether you will receive a real value in return or not, the sheer amount of those group-clones show that many collectors or supporter of the arts are disappointed by platforms like OpenSea and their plagiarism / vanishing and many more issues.</div><div><br /></div><div>Legislation on some countries make it harder to trade Cryptocurrencies and thus NFTs, it makes sense to have an eye on that development as this could change the game radically: ...<a href="https://complyadvantage.com/insights/cryptocurrency-regulations-around-world/" style="outline-width: 0px; user-select: auto;">/cryptocurrency-regulations-around-world/</a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">My personal opinion:</h3><div>To succeed as artist in that market you need a very big following, everything below 100k on Instagram will just "Not Gonna Make It". Even then, Marketing and hype are much more important to build a fortune than great artwork, just look at your favorite artists and then look at some leading the pack to build your own opinion about it.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is totally possible to build your small business around NFTs and have regular payouts to pay rent from it, no doubt - but you need that following, that tribe of supporters who embrace that you offer your work "over there". Which is not a given circumstance, I met many artists whose followers said "NO" in capital letters when their favorite artists announced NFTs in their IG feed. </div><div><br /></div><div>Personally, for me to join the NFT-Crowd, it would need to be <b>less energy hungry, less complex</b> and there would need to be a <b>certain demand</b>. If those three criteria are met some day, I might think again, until that, I will stay out of the game as long as possible. <br /><br />Another thing you need to be aware of are taxes. In many countries there are no laws yet but paper is patient and someday that paper wants a return from you when you can least afford it. Remember; the blockchain never forgets a thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the system is now, it is very black & white. We need more grey in there and everyday use or regulation that allows everyone to make use of the technology, not just a few "chosen ones".</div><div><br /></div><div>If we would not live in a capitalistic world, the Blockchain-technology itself might have been a very promising technology but money brings out the worst in people.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><p>Are you an Artist? How is your experience?<br /><br /></p>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-28494033676674601152021-02-27T15:15:00.000+01:002021-02-27T15:15:05.442+01:00XP-Pen 22" Artist 2nd Gen - Review & Insights from a Former Wacom User<p>Today I want to show and tell you about the new <a href="https://www.xp-pen.com/product/855.html" target="_blank">22" 2nd Generation Artist-Series - Drawing Tablet</a> from <a href="https://www.xp-pen.com/" target="_blank">XP-Pen</a>.</p><p>I got the opportunity to test this device and found it a welcome change to look a bit more left & right on the market and want to share my findings in this article with you.</p><p>This review reflects my honest opinion based on my past experience with other tablets and brands.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ul3-hb3P64/YCzXjLPvmlI/AAAAAAAAI9g/oE7Z8NgC10AUGJ_PIBrRemotuWufLx3RgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/IMG_8200-web.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="XP-Pen Tablet on Desktop" border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ul3-hb3P64/YCzXjLPvmlI/AAAAAAAAI9g/oE7Z8NgC10AUGJ_PIBrRemotuWufLx3RgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_8200-web.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>While the 22" Artist XP-Pen Tablet might seem like a huge step back for someone using a 32" tablet before ( <i>I actually was a bit nervous about this experience </i>) I have to say it isn't! <br /><br />I abandoned the big Wacom display because of "<a href="https://twitter.com/daverapoza/status/1168674581860646912" target="_blank">dead-pixel-patches</a>" and it is the second time I have to send it back, sigh :/</p><p>Without further ado, I'd like to conclude first the important points, to quickly show if this tablet is for you. I go into details below so you can jump to the number that is most interesting for you:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>This Tablet is Suited for Beginners and Advanced Digital Painters Alike<br /></b></li><li><b>It's Fast<br /></b></li><li><b>Price: Inexpensive Compared to Wacom, slightly above other Manufacturers<br /></b></li><li><b>It has no Extra USB-ports<br /></b></li><li><b><b>The Resolution is HD</b></b></li><li><b>It is Built for Desktop use, the Display has a <u>VESA mount!</u></b></li><li><b>Totally Silent<br /></b></li><li><b>It Comes with a Battery free Grip-pen that has 8192 Levels of Pressure Sensitivity<br /></b></li><li><b>The Pen has no Eraser Tip at the Back end<br /></b></li><li><b>No Bells and Whistles, meaning no Keypad or Remote and no Visible Keys<br /></b></li><li><b>Edge-to-edge Glass-like Display<br /></b></li><li><b>Stable Height-Adjustable-Stand included<br /></b></li><li><b>Compatible with all HD-Capable Computers and Software<br /></b></li><li><b>Utilizes USB-C to USB-C<br /></b></li><li><b>Simple Driver<br /></b></li><li><b>Needs a Computer to Run<br /></b></li><li><b>Good Color Gamut Specs<br /></b></li><li><b>Gladly no Touch-Function</b></li></ol><div><br /></div><div><b>Below some unboxing:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SUFT_pDc3Xc/YC0nBU1A-UI/AAAAAAAAI-4/OS6GYY-79NIO-SU68_xf3ey6LZ9pR7URwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/IMG_8164-web.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; outline-width: 0px; user-select: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SUFT_pDc3Xc/YC0nBU1A-UI/AAAAAAAAI-4/OS6GYY-79NIO-SU68_xf3ey6LZ9pR7URwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_8164-web.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SUFT_pDc3Xc/YC0nBU1A-UI/AAAAAAAAI-4/OS6GYY-79NIO-SU68_xf3ey6LZ9pR7URwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/IMG_8164-web.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>The outer packaging (not in the picture) was sturdy enough and the retail package made a safe impression.</div><div><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rzIFLRo8PLc/YC0nBUS5PzI/AAAAAAAAI-0/e7QaICeoiLoAxtUVi_P_375JQQ-QkNitACLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/IMG_8166-web.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rzIFLRo8PLc/YC0nBUS5PzI/AAAAAAAAI-0/e7QaICeoiLoAxtUVi_P_375JQQ-QkNitACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_8166-web.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Unboxing and setting up took around 1 hour.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now let's go through the list above in the same order</div><div><br /></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1 & 10. This Tablet is Suited for Beginners and Advanced Digital Painters Alike</h3><div>I believe this is true for most people. For beginners, there is no intimidating key remote or distracting keys on the display-frame. It is pretty straight-forward. </div><div><br />You plug everything in, install the driver and pull your favorite application on the screen and start working with the display and interact with it as if it would be paper or a canvas. That's it.<br /><br />What is helpful for a beginner (no distractions) is why professionals might turn to it, because most things can be done with a keyboard anyways.<br /><br /></div><div>The things professionals might be going to miss, are covered in point 17.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">2. It's fast</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="316" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J6PEFsuQjto" width="594" youtube-src-id="J6PEFsuQjto"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>When I say fast, I mean the <b><i>SLWD</i></b> "Subjective-Lag-felt-When-Drawing", a kind of <i>input-lag</i>. <br /><br /></div><div>Many pen-display users worry about a cursor lag, in older tablets this was really an issue. <br /><br />Compared to the current Cintiq Pro models, there is simply no difference. </div><div><br /></div><div>The cursor / Brush tip moves directly even with fast strokes. <br />The response-time of the XP-Pen tablet is 8ms, Wacom's Cintiq Pro 24" & 32" have 8ms as well</div><div>and for comparison the iPads from around 2018 had 9ms. </div><div><br /></div><div>What this means is the millisecond number does not say anything about SLWD as this depends on 3 factors; <u>the digitizer/tablet</u>, <u>the display</u> <u>and the graphic processing unit of the computer.</u><br /><br /></div><div>The video above might as well be useful to <b>review the pressure sensitivity of the tablet</b>. It is one of my most versatile brushes and is suited to make variety of pressure visible in one stroke.<br />See point 8-9 for more information.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">3. Pricing</h3><div>For around <b>450 - 500 €</b> I'd say it is pretty in the lower middle of the availability spectrum. </div><div><br /></div><div>Personally I find the price OK. From the look of it and testing over the past 2 weeks, the impression the tablet made on me, let me expect it will last a couple of years. Since it has no batteries, it should have the same lifespan as any display you would buy. The wear and tear of the glass-like surface depends on the user of course.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">4. No USB-Ports</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--zpDHOWa1MY/YC0f-0ggoKI/AAAAAAAAI94/DyHwC7R7rTYjwZBdIjvjQUC599DzqvhLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/IMG_8209-webjpg.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--zpDHOWa1MY/YC0f-0ggoKI/AAAAAAAAI94/DyHwC7R7rTYjwZBdIjvjQUC599DzqvhLgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_8209-webjpg.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This might be critical for some digital artists, actually it is for me. As an iMac user you run out of USB ports fast. It is not the most important feature and looking at the raw nature of the tablet it does not matter much - it would be a "nice-to-have" feature ;)</div><div><br />XP-Pen has added 2 USB-ports on the back of the 24" Pro model, so if that matters to your workflow, you should think about getting the pro model.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">5. Some Thoughts on HD-Resolution</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Tc1lY1EChc/YC2BMwczThI/AAAAAAAAJAM/NW8b0SJdeEgYBKPp6Laj17CbrALBBJHngCLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-02-16%2Bum%2B20.51.28.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Tc1lY1EChc/YC2BMwczThI/AAAAAAAAJAM/NW8b0SJdeEgYBKPp6Laj17CbrALBBJHngCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-02-16%2Bum%2B20.51.28.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I'd say XP-Pen did everything right in terms of tablet size and resolution. When working on a painting, it does not bother more than the grain of paper. Menus will appear considerably larger than on 4 or 5k displays. This is not a problem, it requires you to learn shortcuts to hide them when necessary. <br /><br />The screenshot above reveals, what I actually need when working, layers and brush-menu are hidden when working.</div><div><br /></div><div>Below the menus on a 4k display for comparison:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8wSZuTaxS-Y/YDYWGp7FGNI/AAAAAAAAJCA/knevc9mxnCgrdaJWsevez5a7aYo4ARvcQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-02-24%2Bum%2B09.59.48.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8wSZuTaxS-Y/YDYWGp7FGNI/AAAAAAAAJCA/knevc9mxnCgrdaJWsevez5a7aYo4ARvcQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-02-24%2Bum%2B09.59.48.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I have worked with the 27" QHD Wacom which was a tad too big for the resolution it had (2.5k) and the 32" Cintiq pro which is perfect when it comes to resolution but robs a lot desktop space in general.<br /><br /></div><div>I'd say the 32" tablet works well if used with a PC as a standalone solution. <br /><br />If you want to utilize a 22" or even 24" size displays as standalone device such as the XP-Pen in exchange for your old monitor, I'd say that is not sufficient. In my experience, you still need a secondary display for an efficient workflow.</div><div> <br />Having to focus the painting on one screen forces you to move all unnecessary windows to another screen, this showed me that a bigger tablet does not mean = more productivity - rather the opposite is true.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">6. Desktop Tablet with VESA-Mount</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TVsAXcBVp-o/YC0hJ9AsfxI/AAAAAAAAI-E/9VM_uexZ63EBU_kySMdEmR8BsFTEfBkvQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1300/IMG_8192-web.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="1300" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TVsAXcBVp-o/YC0hJ9AsfxI/AAAAAAAAI-E/9VM_uexZ63EBU_kySMdEmR8BsFTEfBkvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_8192-web.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I'd say the tablet has a weight of around 5 Kg more or less, which is good as it does not wobble when using the pen, not even on the edges! <br />You need to keep in mind this tablet is made for desktop use, it might be inviting to glue a Mac Mini M1 on the back, but this would be a bit on the heavy side to put on your lap;)</div><div><br /></div><div>I found the holes on the back, where the adjustable stand is mounted, match the distance for a VESA-mount. This is good news for users with an <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2013/05/setting-up-wacom-cintiq-13hd-with.html" target="_blank">Ergotron-arm</a> or similar display holders.<br /><br />Below are some images to show it works well with the arm!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xAayTf7TsW0/YDNvJsD5VVI/AAAAAAAAJBE/xInnU79GZiYq_3zYb6-lymC4zEXHgKw9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/IMG_8216-web.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; outline-width: 0px; user-select: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xAayTf7TsW0/YDNvJsD5VVI/AAAAAAAAJBE/xInnU79GZiYq_3zYb6-lymC4zEXHgKw9ACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_8216-web.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wX8tiMJfNLU/YDNvJjejUbI/AAAAAAAAJBI/09QMID-cTikE4TOyxm87KKh3mvQanHEYACLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/IMG_8225-web.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wX8tiMJfNLU/YDNvJjejUbI/AAAAAAAAJBI/09QMID-cTikE4TOyxm87KKh3mvQanHEYACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_8225-web.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">7. Enjoy the Silence!</h3><div>Alternative products from Wacom utilize fans in their newer 24" models which are known to cause a steady noise at times. For zen-painters (like me) it might be good news to know that it does not have fans at all ;)</div><div><br />As far as heat goes, I experienced a spot on the upper frame of the tablet and it was lukewarm most of the time. It might dissipate more heat depending on application and angle used. Having it in a 90° degree angle over 6 hours does not lead to any temperature at all.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">8-9. Grip-Pen with 8192 Levels of Pressure-Sensitivity</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0dk0kXr3de4/YC0i2-IU8_I/AAAAAAAAI-Q/A8PgKypMoCUT-ViRl9q087d6xVICgqFJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s3116/pressure-test.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="3116" height="208" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0dk0kXr3de4/YC0i2-IU8_I/AAAAAAAAI-Q/A8PgKypMoCUT-ViRl9q087d6xVICgqFJQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h208/pressure-test.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Mostly marketing gibberish, I like to explain it with a "switch" like a mouse is to a computer. A mouse-click is "on", no click means "off" and there is no pressure sensitivity at all. </div><div>A click with a tablet instead means to the computer there are between 1 and 8192 possible positions between "on" and "off".<br /><br /></div><div>Besides the specs on paper, it is at best a subjective thing. Since I have the Cintiq Pro to compare and Adobe Photoshop for testing the pressure sensitivity, I have so far found no difference between the tablets - both are promoting the 8192 levels.<br /><br />The image above (click for full size) is one long stroke done with a versatile brush tip in PS ranging from fine and bright, to big and dark and should show a range of the possible "on" and "off's" I talked about earlier ;)</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YYCePaSOltU/YDjLR7XkOwI/AAAAAAAAJCQ/SnG7y5QwHnQdfRhDDganm_M7PaSpFdpVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_8261-wt.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1600" height="348" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YYCePaSOltU/YDjLR7XkOwI/AAAAAAAAJCQ/SnG7y5QwHnQdfRhDDganm_M7PaSpFdpVgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h348/IMG_8261-wt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Some words about the Pen; as you can see above, the <i>XP-Pen</i> Pen is thinner on the grip and the tip stands out a bit, which could be for tilting. Working with the pen for longer hours showed me, I might need to get used to it first as my hand was a bit sore after the first 3 days and working 3-4 hours in one row. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are used to the more ergonomic Wacom pens, I suggest the Artist Pro series, these have pens with a wider grip similar to the Wacom one as you can see above. </div><div><br /></div><div>Xp-Pen says the Artist 22" 2nd Gen should only be used with the PA6 stylus because of the internal circuits but when I tested it with the 24" Stylus, it worked perfectly well - with both pens on both tablets! This means it could work if you buy the wider pen but there could be warranty issues if it stops working. Just saying.<br /><br />If the size of the tablet is sufficient and have a real problem with the pen/grip that might be an easier fix, if size and resolution does matter too, I'd tend to recommend the 24" Pro model at any rate.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">10. Edge-to-edge Glass-like Display</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RsS_DplC4OM/YC1yxbNf5SI/AAAAAAAAI_M/wi-eIJMTdO4RmEouRFq-_Bftupl78XZaACLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/IMG_8202-web-crop.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="1200" height="322" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RsS_DplC4OM/YC1yxbNf5SI/AAAAAAAAI_M/wi-eIJMTdO4RmEouRFq-_Bftupl78XZaACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h322/IMG_8202-web-crop.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Like apple tablets or Wacom pen displays, the glass plate is nearly from edge-to-edge, I'm not sure if it is real glass or not. It is really sturdy and clear. There is a 5mm back cover that climbs to the front, as seen on the images, this has the same height as the glass. </div><div><br /></div><div>What I find great is the black frame around the display measures slim 3 cm on all sides. This is perfect as the tablet should find enough space on most desktops.</div><div><br />The glass-like plate (it is semi-matte and looks similar to the one Wacom uses) is really sturdy, I regularly put my elbows to rest there and there is not one tiny bit of insecurity. Working for over 10 days on it, I have not seen one scratch and have not used a foil!</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">12. Stable Height-Adjustable-Stand included</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l1TJteCDYik/YCzpWjn6k8I/AAAAAAAAI9s/eH5qqeY57IcFsUu3BsZnLtRRVkIq6z2kwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1300/IMG_8205-web.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="1300" height="394" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l1TJteCDYik/YCzpWjn6k8I/AAAAAAAAI9s/eH5qqeY57IcFsUu3BsZnLtRRVkIq6z2kwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h394/IMG_8205-web.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The adjustable stand is absolutely sturdy and works effortless. As mentioned before, it does not wobble and ranges from 16° up to 90° which is fitting for most scenarios. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Personally I prefer a 45° degree angle and since I was used to have my arms rest on the tablet while typing on a keyboard mounted on top of the tablet, I came up with a DIY-solution, since the small frame does not allow to use the <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2015/05/cintweak-27-x-keyboard-tray-review.html" target="_blank">Cintweak cradle</a>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">13. Compatible with HD-Capable Computers and Software</h3><div>So far I only tested the tablet with my Mac and an older i7 Workstation PC with Windows 7 installed, both worked fine.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course it can't be tested with every use-case-scenario and if you work with a 15 years old Computer you might double check compatibility. In that regard I'd check the information on the website, in case of the Artist 22" Tablet, you find more technical details here: <a href="https://www.xp-pen.com/product/855.html">https://www.xp-pen.com/product/855.html</a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">14. Utilizes USB-C to USB-C</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4YP3vZMbO7E/YC1-BywT4jI/AAAAAAAAJAA/6oeUD3sPDo45lyWDQskAW9JQBM4s7FfqgCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/53e2a817141f63ff74af6ae7d23bdd6c_thumb_500_500.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4YP3vZMbO7E/YC1-BywT4jI/AAAAAAAAJAA/6oeUD3sPDo45lyWDQskAW9JQBM4s7FfqgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/53e2a817141f63ff74af6ae7d23bdd6c_thumb_500_500.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Actually only useful bit of information if you use a current Computer or Mac; because in the package there is a USB-A to USB-C (device-side) and an USB-C to USB-C cable that can help you skip the additional HDMI-cable if your computer utilizes a USB-C port, nice feature!</div><div><br />I found it worth to mention because every time you need an adapter, it makes things less optimal.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">15. Simple Driver</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6AeG_Mm78OQ/YC0kAeogRsI/AAAAAAAAI-c/lTgM65I5kNsYTdm6VsbuzcKriQu8x5DpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s999/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-02-17%2Bum%2B11.29.16.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="999" height="464" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6AeG_Mm78OQ/YC0kAeogRsI/AAAAAAAAI-c/lTgM65I5kNsYTdm6VsbuzcKriQu8x5DpgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h464/Bildschirmfoto%2B2021-02-17%2Bum%2B11.29.16.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Let's say it this way, the driver works out of the box like a charm. If you are used to Wacom drivers, you will find all necessary settings maybe in different places yet it looks familiar. </div><div><br />At the time of testing, there were issues with the transparency sliders in Photoshop that "should be fixed by disabling tilting" - <i>Xp-Pen wrote</i> when I asked them about this. Over the course of the past 10 days, I got used to pressing down the pen and pulling the slider from there which works quite well. </div><div><br /></div><div>Interesting to note is that this issue only happened on Mac, an older Windows 7 PC did not show this at all. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are running Windows 7, you might need to disable Windows Ink, in my case, the computer recognized the Pen and also pressure sensitivity but I got no cursor. Disabling Ink worked immediately. Not sure if this is an issue on newer Windows devices as I abandoned Microsoft 6 years ago ;)</div><div><br /></div><div>One thing I noticed is that the display-change - if set to the second pen-button - works relatively slow.</div><div><br />Good to know; There is a visible hint of the keystroke when you press a pen-button, that could be helpful if you are streaming your work on twitch or Picarto for example, viewers see the pen-buttons you press while working. However there is no option to turn that off at the moment.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">16. Needs a Computer to Run (Like all Pen-Displays)</h3><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fHiq0N7F39I/YC0lWcabtSI/AAAAAAAAI-o/BNpT0hmGqNEMSQyivi_aOSwUmUGFw7cywCLcBGAsYHQ/s505/14515445454466.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="505" height="474" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fHiq0N7F39I/YC0lWcabtSI/AAAAAAAAI-o/BNpT0hmGqNEMSQyivi_aOSwUmUGFw7cywCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h474/14515445454466.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Schematic view of tablet-to-computer scenario</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I feel the point 16. is a no brainer for many but in fact it is not for many parents or friends of artists and in times where you can do the same work with a portable tablet and high resolution, <b>it is worth to mention, pen-displays always need a host computer.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>A valid question might be <i>"why using a pen-display, when there are fast and hi-res mobile tablets out there such as an iPad?"</i><br /><br />The answer is size and longevity.</div><div><br />Mobile tablets are lighter and better for travel yet depend on batteries to work. A desktop tablet is a workhorse, usually larger, requires different handling and in return helps to experience precise and more efficient workflows.<br /><br /><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">17. Wide Color Gamut</h3><div><div>A thing not so important for beginners, rather for professionals. To understand this, I repost the information from XP-Pen here: <br /><br /></div><div><b>86% NTSC</b></div><div><b>Adobe RGB </b>≥ <b>90%</b></div><div><b>sRGB </b>≥ <b>122%<br /><br /></b></div><div>Is this important? Yes and no - Nerd-info below ;)</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6L489lr-vRc/YC10-1v-ecI/AAAAAAAAI_c/xPUqe-vvtaUwEo0PwpTRsEpw0cIjaavJACLcBGAsYHQ/s1292/xy-farbtafel-nach-dem-xyz-farbsystem-gemaess-cie-481.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1292" height="516" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6L489lr-vRc/YC10-1v-ecI/AAAAAAAAI_c/xPUqe-vvtaUwEo0PwpTRsEpw0cIjaavJACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h516/xy-farbtafel-nach-dem-xyz-farbsystem-gemaess-cie-481.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://www.eizo.de/praxiswissen/monitorwissen/wissen-ueber-farbraeume/" target="_blank">Eizo</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The thing is that Adobe RGB is a part of the reproducible color spectrum and 90% of this gamut is really OK(!) because it is already one of the biggest color-models to date. </div><div><br /></div><div>How is 122% of sRGB possible?</div><div>It's possible, because as you can see above, sRGB is rather small compared to Adobe RGB and the 22% extra fill the gap between sRGB and Adobe RGB. If a display has more it does not mean it is more accurate, it means you see and can utilize more colors than most users see on a screen.</div><div><br /></div><div>The target audience for the Artist tablets are mostly digital artists working for digital output. Conceptart used by the Entertainment Industry needs digital imagery, therefore it makes totally sense to have a better sRGB output because what you see is what you get and seeing more values or hues than your client is an advantage in that industry but also in others, like Illustration.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">18. Gladly No Touch-Function!</h3><div><b>This one sounds not as good as it actually is!</b> <br />Wacom's decision to force users to buy the "touch" functionality with pro-models, regardless if they need it, is there to simply raise Wacom's margins as they don't need to stock different variants.</div><div><br />I don't want a tablet with touch functionality because it does not really work when you need it. <br />There are zero real-world use-case-scenarios I could think of, that would justify the additional price-tag. In previous Models (27" QHD) the price difference between non-touch and touch versions was about 600-700 €!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Keeping this nonsense feature away from a professional tablet is the way to go. Unless you have apple building your touch-devices, I'd recommend to any manufacturer - do yourself a favor and stay away from touch, really! <br /><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Results:</h3><div>Below you see two of the artworks I did over the course of the past 10-14 days when working with the XP-Pen tablet, except from the resolution difference, there is no real difference to the painting feel which I think is more important to the process.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdo0hQNE1p28L3VkwR-9aUzEBFUa9CaSK9OHNlAIGHZOBy2JU4qwIZ2CWWImWPuaXCBncNIAI3vdnLKc3O22b8ddTPpbylan_wzbWkrK-cHlqPdLrbfxli070lnvWE2QJibsa-EWsU6E/s1400/Luna-Dreaming-Horns-portrait.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdo0hQNE1p28L3VkwR-9aUzEBFUa9CaSK9OHNlAIGHZOBy2JU4qwIZ2CWWImWPuaXCBncNIAI3vdnLKc3O22b8ddTPpbylan_wzbWkrK-cHlqPdLrbfxli070lnvWE2QJibsa-EWsU6E/w640-h640/Luna-Dreaming-Horns-portrait.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">There is also a demo and process video about this portrait here:</span><br style="text-align: left;" /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QwQxD_bL-Ng" width="601" youtube-src-id="QwQxD_bL-Ng"></iframe><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiUdofOpByc/YDN64UbwUCI/AAAAAAAAJBc/a8lFz7_ZxWoHWaET6rcM0HVEWNn7llWiACLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/original-swords-Wilhelm-Leu2.2web-wall.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiUdofOpByc/YDN64UbwUCI/AAAAAAAAJBc/a8lFz7_ZxWoHWaET6rcM0HVEWNn7llWiACLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/original-swords-Wilhelm-Leu2.2web-wall.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="1920" height="454" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiUdofOpByc/YDN64UbwUCI/AAAAAAAAJBc/a8lFz7_ZxWoHWaET6rcM0HVEWNn7llWiACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h454/original-swords-Wilhelm-Leu2.2web-wall.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"3-Swords" based on a painting by Wilhelm August Leu (24 March 1818 – 20 July 1897)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiUdofOpByc/YDN64UbwUCI/AAAAAAAAJBc/a8lFz7_ZxWoHWaET6rcM0HVEWNn7llWiACLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/original-swords-Wilhelm-Leu2.2web-wall.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiUdofOpByc/YDN64UbwUCI/AAAAAAAAJBc/a8lFz7_ZxWoHWaET6rcM0HVEWNn7llWiACLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/original-swords-Wilhelm-Leu2.2web-wall.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Final conclusion:</h2><div>I was not prepared to write about a top-tier product at a budget price! I was actually happy with my other tablet and to be honest; I put the 22" XP-Pen Tablet to the acid test, so to speak and I got surprised in any way possible!</div><div><br />XP-Pen made really good decisions with their new line of products and deliver what they promise.<br /><br /></div><div>The 22" Artist 2nd Gen. Pen Display is raw, simple, sturdy and professional, it's really fun to work with! <br /><br /></div><div>From my point of view there are no real drawbacks or "Con's", especially if you keep the pricing in mind. </div><div>We are talking about a tablet you can buy 4 times before you have a similar one from Wacom and the quality differences are barely visible. They can be counted on two fingers: <u>4k resolution</u> and a <u>30 bit depth</u> display. Wacom products have experienced a huge decline in quality over the past 2 years and are at an unacceptable low point right now. </div><div><br /></div><div>Good for you XP-Pen ;)</div><div><br /></div><div>I would recommend this Tablet to anyone looking for a 22" pen display worth the money, regardless if beginner or advanced user. Or if you are converting from a 24" or larger, you might give the Artist 24" Pro a try.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Below you find links to the XP-Pen Stores. Buying from a vendor directly saves them marketplace fees, please consider this when ordering online. Always ;)<br /><br /></div><div><span style="line-height: 1.5;">German Store: <a href="https://bit.ly/3pTFlOh">www.storexppen.de</a><br />EU Store: <a href="https://bit.ly/2Zcxkce">www.storexppen.eu</a><br />US. and CA. <a href="https://bit.ly/3tYTVHq">www.storexppen.com</a></span></div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h4></div><div><br /><br /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-23980107045386207792020-03-19T15:55:00.002+01:002020-03-19T15:56:04.608+01:00From Freelancing to Independent Artist - In Times of the Corona CrisisWhen my day-job contract ended, over 10 years ago, <b>at the verge of the economic crisis 2009-2010</b>, I started being self-employed by doing book covers. I thought this was the thing I wanted to do my entire life.<br />
<br />
And I was afraid it won't last long because of the crisis. That was 10 years ago.<br />
<br />
It was a happy life. I was making a living by painting and being creative!<br />
What else can you want from life as an artist?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3qLk4awANQ0/XahM6r63EzI/AAAAAAAAIbk/TLqLZiDQ0g4Cq3UzhBRLpsCiIBCnlVCdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/9783608938722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="746" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3qLk4awANQ0/XahM6r63EzI/AAAAAAAAIbk/TLqLZiDQ0g4Cq3UzhBRLpsCiIBCnlVCdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/9783608938722.jpg" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the early covers I did that got me into freelancing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I was very lucky to count myself amongst those who never actively acquired clients. Not once. Agencies found my portfolio online and after some successful projects, publishers approached me directly.<br />
<br />
Please note: This was the result of publishing my works online for 7 years prior to making the jump.<br />
<br />
That transition from employee to freelancer 10 years ago was a shift I secretly hoped for, but never dared to turn into a reality. In hindsight it was good that I was forced to decide between a full-time job, unemployment and self employment.<br />
<br />
Otherwise I might not have even tried.<br />
<br />
It was partially luck, opportunity and the result of pushing the envelope for years.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The True Difference Between Freelance And Independence</b><br />
<br />
In my opinion it is vital to find out what both terms mean to you.<br />
<br />
Independence means to use given assets to bring a new perspective to something that people already know and change people's life through that.<br />
<br />
Freelance means to realize what others have in mind.<br />
<br />
It all comes down to one thing: Purpose.<br />
<br />
If you think your purpose is to handle all things your clients lack in skill and imagination, that is fine. In times of the Covid 19 Pandemic, this is a vital fallback option for me and I believe for many independent artists that used to do freelance in the past as well.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>How To Embrace Change</b><br />
<br />
I'm in the middle of the next transition period it seems. I slowly get the hang of it. It does not feel so frantically like the first time. I'm not calm. That would be far from the truth.<br />
<br />
It is just the next near point on the map.<br />
<br />
The challenge is frightening at first, I believe it is similar to being an entrepreneur.<br />
A businessman setting up a new venture. Just without the capital or the need for money upfront.<br />
<br />
The business is scalable, that turns it more into a challenge, one which is possible to win with my hard won assets at hand.<br />
<br />
The basic plan is always this: Go find a niche, do the research, find out where money can be earned. How to invest it in a way so it leads to more active or passive income in the long way, up to financial independence.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The 10.000 Hours Rule</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Q7716SCCec/XahX0IcOK1I/AAAAAAAAIb4/CFmUG4uNVisZkP3Wf09Jb-HwGl0GLZsGACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_5838%2B2%2BKopie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1600" height="302" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Q7716SCCec/XahX0IcOK1I/AAAAAAAAIb4/CFmUG4uNVisZkP3Wf09Jb-HwGl0GLZsGACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_5838%2B2%2BKopie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Malcolm Gladwell once stated with 10k hours you can master any skill. If that statement is true, then what baffles me the most, is that we artists use to spend many more hours to perfect our craft, but lack knowledge about presentation or business education, let alone financial education.<br />
<br />
Any artist who has upped their skill level above the 20.000 hours mark knows; it is hard to learn something new in your field. Of course you need practice, but I assume that anyone who is not dead and puts out new works regularly, practices.<br />
<br />
My argument is rather this: If you watch 40 hours material of video courses just to learn one nifty trick in Photoshop that you did not knew before, the problem with steady learning becomes apparent.<br />
<br />
It is similar to grinding in multi-massive-online-games, somewhere above level 50 it becomes always harder to level-up.<br />
<br />
I wondered, what would happen if I invest more time into different things, say 5000 hours into marketing, 5000 hours into convention planning and so on over the course of 10 years.<br />
<br />
Instead of putting more hours into what I already can do, I decided to learn:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>exhibition stand construction plus investing in my own display system</li>
<li>how to get into 3D-printing and use 3D-design to print things for my display system</li>
<li>to print and mount my own canvas, invested in large-format-Printers. </li>
<li>diving into web-design and programming to build the best web-shop available for my work </li>
<li>master social media and use networking/advertising to promote my work to the right people</li>
<li>how to master book-keeping and taxes (and make that even fun)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Things Don't Simply Stop, They Change</b><br />
<br />
It is interesting what happens when you embrace the change.<br />
<br />
In the book cover market the change was inevitable.<br />
<br />
For those not in the know: There are three types of book covers; Typography, Photography and Illustration. When everything is trending except Illustration, you don't have a job.<br />
<br />
I was fortunate enough to prevent this from happening by being in demand for around 9 years, it baffles me still that it went on for so long, however finally the markets changed and I embraced it instead of fighting for a regular income.<br />
<br />
The Corona pandemic brought another variation into the game; what if you can't attend art-shows or conventions because gatherings with more than 1000 attendees were forbidden?<br />
<br />
<b>Creativity is the key here. </b><br />
<br />
In times of freelancing I would just have switched to more freelancing to pay bills.<br />
With my new assets I can now use advertising to target my clients better and have products that can be used to drive portals like Kickstarter or other pre-sale events online.<br />
<br />
The crisis demands a critical way of overthinking your existence and puts you in the position to really think through everything. But it also helps to experiment with new technologies.<br />
<br />
It might be the time for me to use online-streaming and creating projects on kickstarter - two things that frighten me when I just think about them, but these times demand change and thus lead to new ways of pushing the business forward - or kill a business if it isn't able to adapt.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">When Is The Right Time To Start Going Independent?</span></h3>
<b><br /></b>
Or when is the right time to change? Maybe from employee to freelance or freelance to independent?<br />
<br />
I can only speak for myself here, there are a few tipps in the following.<br />
<br />
I can't recommend to do the jump now in times of the Corona pandemic as it limits a lot of your potential. However, if you can rise in a crisis (as I did in 2009) no crisis can ever punch you down again, that much is for sure.<br />
<br />
When I did not had commissions to work on, I kept working on my own projects. So I never had spare time. I was always busy.<br />
<br />
When jobs did not came in as regularly, I felt there was a change coming. I did what was necessary, I booked more booths, planned more conventions and fairs to put my personal stronger work out. It was the next logical step. I saw the opportunity, then went for it.<br />
<br />
Now while the Corona Crisis knocked events out of our way and kills 80% of my income, I should be worried, but I'm not. Mostly because I see this situation as the world is making a break, a break that I definitely need to create more new artwork.<br />
<br />
It sure means we run on a low battery and money needs to come somewhere, but the main key here is that I have a full year break ahead of me to create new artworks.<br />
<br />
And as every similar business-owners know; content is king. Using the crisis to create new content is not the badest strategy you can have. Because someday someone takes the foot from the brake and the world moves on as nothing would have happened.<br />
<br />
Relaxing and bridging gaps is the key for 2020 - and of course staying safe and staying home as long as possible / necessary.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Understanding the value of your work</b><br />
<br />
As artists we feel our true nature is trying to create the ultimate new thing. We get to it when we realize this happens when we combine at least two things which already exist.<br />
<br />
My personal work always consists of that; a combination of at least 2 things which already exist, a homage to either another artist or a thing from popular culture or both.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwok4LUT-KZBD21vRGo2aoP2LkDuFRuG0zfqsNuk1hutdIUv5vJP4AEKIjHNP22D9wgd-htnv1vx7C70bk6IEDxhkTfdxABmkCG5pOe9NUGi_UOQyZBP40h-pr-wbDR9fLHW_kgqwnZxs/s1600/forest-of-daleks-shishkin-web-wallp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1600" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwok4LUT-KZBD21vRGo2aoP2LkDuFRuG0zfqsNuk1hutdIUv5vJP4AEKIjHNP22D9wgd-htnv1vx7C70bk6IEDxhkTfdxABmkCG5pOe9NUGi_UOQyZBP40h-pr-wbDR9fLHW_kgqwnZxs/s640/forest-of-daleks-shishkin-web-wallp.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Nowadays, my work has become more than just prints of digital paintings; for many of my customers the works transport a statement, a clear message, one they can identify themselves with.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The difference Between Personal Work And Client work</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsMEhA-iMgNsGoK0JSdMb6UncYvkvlmJMvFditiVf0gWZFwLiisDolHI3XBjAgVg60yhlP7m8sVVuoEnO5v1H9QgQvi54hfI0xslL0NROti6s_SiDwo2VYOMycLtRAGBpsLrT08vt540/s1600/blog-difference-work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="1600" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsMEhA-iMgNsGoK0JSdMb6UncYvkvlmJMvFditiVf0gWZFwLiisDolHI3XBjAgVg60yhlP7m8sVVuoEnO5v1H9QgQvi54hfI0xslL0NROti6s_SiDwo2VYOMycLtRAGBpsLrT08vt540/s640/blog-difference-work.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<br />
My commissioned work was always different, it is a great asset for the clients, it never was for me - except for some rare cases. Actually it was always my personal work which landed me jobs, the outcome with commissions was never on par with my own, personal vision of what could have been possible.<br />
<br />
There are artists whose personal work and client work merge, stylistically and in terms of quality. This can undoubtably be an asset, but it also means their work is depending on trends and a personal brand.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>But can't I do both?</b><br />
<br />
I tried it and since the day has just 24 hours, it is just not doable for one person.<br />
If you are good at hiring people and delegating tasks, it might be possible to do a lot more.<br />
<br />
In the end, it is more a thing about your image. What is accepted for your brand and what not. Why you do things and why not others sends always a clear message to a recipient and finally it comes together in the story your customers tell others.<br />
<br />
In a crisis such as the Covid 19 times, I believe going back to your roots, if stated authentically, is an option. But it is important to be transparent with clients so they know things may change when the world moves normal again.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>My Personal Way To Independence</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qAppBwevAxE/XahbTaCSIpI/AAAAAAAAIcM/SniA5nLE4CQRBfHBPfpOQvN0sFDj2_NcgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/communication.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1444" data-original-width="1600" height="576" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qAppBwevAxE/XahbTaCSIpI/AAAAAAAAIcM/SniA5nLE4CQRBfHBPfpOQvN0sFDj2_NcgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/communication.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<br />
Before I went from employee to freelance, my workday looked like the following: 8 hours day-job, 8 hours studying, 5 hours sleep. Rinse and repeat for 6 years straight.<br />
<br />
When changing to independent, my workday still looked similar, maybe a bit more sleep, but the transition towards independence began by understanding that I might actually loose money when working on a commission.<br />
<br />
When you realize that you can earn more money working for yourself, then you become independent.<br />
<br />
The hardest lesson was this: Learning to say no.<br />
<br />
No to inquiries, no to steady paychecks, no to new clients.<br />
<br />
That is definitely one of the scariest experiences in my career, especially since I was used to say yes all the time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>The Right Mindset Is Important</b><br />
<br />
There are typical things to consider, such as a freelancers don't calculate in hourly or monthly wages, you start thinking in a yearly income.<br />
<br />
I believe this fixed many of my anxieties when I realized in July or August I made a bit more than 70% from the year before, it turned out that I was on the right track.<br />
<br />
This is still true for being independent, there are some useful metrics in analyzing and crunching numbers.<br />
<br />
You also have to learn storytelling, be it through your work or when selling directly or networking with clients. But first of all you have to tell yourself a better story so you start to believe in a better self, that eventually you can become this better person.<br />
<br />
People always project what you and your work could look like in the future, if there is no interesting story attached to you, they won't follow along.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>My 2 Cent About Passive Income</b><br />
<br />
Patreon, Gumroad and Kickstarter seem to be great places - however, it is equally hard to get noticed on those platforms. For me it worked partially for a tip jar, yet not to become independent.<br />
<br />
Platforms like Patreon are no guarantee for making it. Either you make it there or you don't. If the latter is the case, move on.<br />
<br />
Maybe try again later with a new concept.<br />
<br />
Or you build E-Mail-lists and try it when you have enough through E-Mail-marketing, but consider this, for every vis-a-vis sale you need between 100-200 email-addresses.<br />
<br />
Youtube or twitch may work for some artists. The same as for Patreon applies here, give yourself some time if you really want to do it, if you don't get there after 6 months or a year, move on.<br />
<br />
The Pareto-Principle works for most of these platforms. It looks like this: 20% of top tier artists share 80% of their revenue. 80% of the rest share 20% of the profits. Now do the math.<br />
<br />
Find out where you stand, see if it is worth fighting for.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>My Personal Way</b><br />
<br />
I arrived at a time where I can finally make use of all that; Patreon and Gumroad runs my Web-shop plus some advertising fees, the web-shop is similar to an extra fair booth, with the luxury of having 365 days to fulfill orders. The 6-8 conventions a year make 80% of my income - which is more than I was able to do at my best time when I did freelancing!<br />
<br />
The success with my continued work as an artist would not be possible without the extra work or the wrong turns I had taken.<br />
<br />
It might sound cliche, allowing for failure will help you in the long run.<br />
<br />
The key is to keep at it until the flipping point. The point where people convert, know, like and trust your work or business.<br />
<br />
My recommendation to make it on your own terms, is based around these three things:<br />
<ul>
<li>Listen to your inner voice, learn to focus.</li>
<li>Do the work that is necessary, then go even further.</li>
<li>Tell yourself a better story - so you can start to believe in a better self.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Repeat.</div>
<br />
This is hopefully an inspiration to those who are stuck in their own hamster-wheel or are afraid to never be able to make it out.<br />
<br />
It is possible.<br />
In times like these, it is even harder.<br />
But if you make it in these hard times, nothing can break you.Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-89682818163117991102019-07-12T16:30:00.004+02:002021-04-20T19:34:54.983+02:00Wacom Cintiq 32" Review and Fan Noise Advice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MnayL73aThs/XSX_kwqBNnI/AAAAAAAAITQ/G_SmO3GajNUBPhlfAxK134ckXeBiDDthwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5928-crop.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MnayL73aThs/XSX_kwqBNnI/AAAAAAAAITQ/G_SmO3GajNUBPhlfAxK134ckXeBiDDthwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5928-crop.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><b>*EDIT Feb. 28. 2021*</b><div><br />After 1.5 years I have to send the Cintiq to Wacom for the second time because of pixel-failure-patches!<br />Yes you read that right! I was a Wacom enthusiast for more than 8 years and I would not have said anything if the replacement from the first RMA would work fine - but after 4 months the same thing happened.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm at a point that I can no longer recommend Wacom Cintiq Products to anyone. You can read a more in-depth rant here: <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/fantasio/journal/Things-I-Wish-I-Knew-before-Buying-a-Wacom-Cintiq-871770063">https://www.shorturl.at/ilst3</a> (about 5min. read).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>*Edit End*</b></div><div><br /></div><div>After around 4 years of working nicely, my 27" QHD showed some signs of aging.<br />
Mostly starting up showed green bands or a red edge which went away after 10 -15 minutes but that happens generally when the LCD Panel gets old.<br />
<br />
With some savings for a new tablet I decided for the Cintiq Pro 32" Model.<br />
<br />
There are many reasons on the pro side to do so, my reasons are listed below:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>More screen real-estate for references</li>
<li>More references because of 4k-resolution</li>
<li>Easier on the eyes because of 4k resolution</li>
</ol>
<div>
These were my main intentions and on that front it did deliver, really.</div>
<div>
There are many more such as no parallax and less lag as also better dpi and pressure sensitivity with the Pro-Pen 2.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I did not expect the latter to do much, but I was wrong on that end; the Pro Pen 2 is THAT much better and it is nice when the cursor does not move off when moving towards the edge of the display.</div>
<div>
<br />
<b>Screen Real Estate</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Below is a Screen-shot of my current layout for working with references, there is even space for a Netflix window and the <a href="https://www.pureref.com/">Pure-ref</a> window can be open all the time besides a small finder window!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKNc_MVNsB4/XSX-cjtEU4I/AAAAAAAAITA/StYyaU03jh4hu8MAaH9K_VbHqRv3pt3uQCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2019-07-06%2Bum%2B23.38.13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKNc_MVNsB4/XSX-cjtEU4I/AAAAAAAAITA/StYyaU03jh4hu8MAaH9K_VbHqRv3pt3uQCLcBGAs/s400/Bildschirmfoto%2B2019-07-06%2Bum%2B23.38.13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Where light is there is shadow</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The downside and Cons I knew about upfront were:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>It is pricey</li>
<li>There is no model without touch</li>
<li>The Pro series have noisy fans</li>
</ol>
<div>
Actually the price was not an issue for me, the lack of a no-touch option was a bummer because I don't use touch. I have my keyboard placed on top of the tablet and putting my arms on the tablet for writing just irritates the input device so it becomes useless.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyRQ2B1_kJkz7IlJP6vi45k-MXimHhFy2-ncp8acBHcSiOmztPBMRtNCXAOd_AmuM5bfInngXbWy5egrH5abukkj5qb3vhx0c3QRoS_81DGNQ8g84EyaDbiq95SUfcDzE61H1Z5T1SO8/s1600/IMG_5886.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyRQ2B1_kJkz7IlJP6vi45k-MXimHhFy2-ncp8acBHcSiOmztPBMRtNCXAOd_AmuM5bfInngXbWy5egrH5abukkj5qb3vhx0c3QRoS_81DGNQ8g84EyaDbiq95SUfcDzE61H1Z5T1SO8/s400/IMG_5886.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 14.4px;">Still using the Cintweak Keyboard tray - <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2015/05/cintweak-27-x-keyboard-tray-review.html">more about that here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
The fan noise was something I had to see how bad it actually is. </div>
<div>
In the worst case i would be doomed to wear headphones with music all day ;)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is some wrong info out there that states it is a firmware update available, which is fake news and only available for the 24" models. The 32" Model does not has an option to lower fan speeds. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b0fBvLaYW9U/XSYZheimMzI/AAAAAAAAIUg/W9BzLezwCrMECzFSMllplXfDBF-u6zV9gCLcBGAs/s1600/fan-speed-tab-missing-in-wcom-display-driver.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="1015" height="250" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b0fBvLaYW9U/XSYZheimMzI/AAAAAAAAIUg/W9BzLezwCrMECzFSMllplXfDBF-u6zV9gCLcBGAs/s400/fan-speed-tab-missing-in-wcom-display-driver.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The automatic fan speed works pretty good so I don't bother about that one.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In my case the tablet runs at 75% brightness and without anything the fan starts at around 30-40 minutes of work.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What I have observed is that the screen also adapts to brightness, so opening a white sheet of paper in Photoshop brightens the screen up to 100% and it does take 5 minutes for the fans to start moving louder. Having just a grey UI and otherwise dark background on the tablet keeps the fans off for up to 45 minutes depending on the temperatures in your room.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
My personal solution</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I went with a solution that is nearly silent and keeps the fans very low for about as many hours as I was able to count yet.<br />
<br />
As a general info here; it is not possible to keep the fans completely off, but with the following tips, and understanding, it is possible to keep the tablet as silent as a very silent external hdd-drive which is very OK for me and I'm a zen-silence-enthusiast at work.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So what I did to keep the internal fans <strike>off</strike> very low is to put 2<b> x Noctua NF-A12x15's</b> with a fan control under the tablet that keeps two external fans running silently at around 400 rpm.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cl-4Y5mq81B3HuFwxgoSf83gkQ6Q8hrJlh9uco8zAUQMLR-wP1oxFebIj1yy4ASNmiPNLhrfEgvKfx0i1TuqHk6OI8LTUbY6mD_sCKSRjCW7MO5FPY0p5j9kCJ4SQkw-uS1MrzJBT9A/s1600/IMG_5891.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cl-4Y5mq81B3HuFwxgoSf83gkQ6Q8hrJlh9uco8zAUQMLR-wP1oxFebIj1yy4ASNmiPNLhrfEgvKfx0i1TuqHk6OI8LTUbY6mD_sCKSRjCW7MO5FPY0p5j9kCJ4SQkw-uS1MrzJBT9A/s400/IMG_5891.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Noctua Fan-Control in action</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I also tried a usb fan with 3 step control such as this combo, but of course it was not as silent and the fans don't quit if the computer goes into Standby mode, which makes this solution just not better than the Noctua-fan-control thing...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-MULTIFAN-Receiver-Playstation/dp/B00JLV4BWC/ref=zg_bs_3015416011_49?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EG3TX757EJQC3ACM5BS3" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="1168" height="210" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wGb8vKLzew/XSd2vcKQd6I/AAAAAAAAIVk/3kaO3He2GSwB6QiNuXgZ146x6DpZ9zfigCLcBGAs/s400/Bildschirmfoto%2B2019-07-11%2Bum%2B19.48.00.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dual USB combo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
When setting up the Cintiq Pro 32" model, you will notice that the bottom caps can be removed easily. Beneath them are the intake fans, you can keep these covers off for better ventilation or just the middle cover, whatever you prefer.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jFxhgrWjoTU/XSYJOPnhvVI/AAAAAAAAIUA/rTAIeeZAJb0tfHu0yb_LMUc62uSOdAGyQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5941-remove.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jFxhgrWjoTU/XSYJOPnhvVI/AAAAAAAAIUA/rTAIeeZAJb0tfHu0yb_LMUc62uSOdAGyQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5941-remove.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Another source of noise are the top venting holes / slits. I found that covering the middle part with isolation tape cuts around 40% of the remaining noise.<br />
<div>
<br />
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AT7Hu6oRvPE/XSdAHMuDm8I/AAAAAAAAIU4/JWcsw-8PwLAIjhS9cynP1lfHMuEzPfMBwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5946.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AT7Hu6oRvPE/XSdAHMuDm8I/AAAAAAAAIU4/JWcsw-8PwLAIjhS9cynP1lfHMuEzPfMBwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5946.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I taped the above venting slit in the middle which caused the main noise</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
I added cardboard with foam underneath to cut the other noise from venting out. Heck, it is even possible to hear the fans from the USB ports on the right side, but I suspect these to be responsible for only 5% of fan noise.<br />
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l_GZDQLvH7o/XSdAX7SH7bI/AAAAAAAAIVA/H2LSH_NdQwkMAcPJHxeVV64DwBGXcO1YACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5945.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l_GZDQLvH7o/XSdAX7SH7bI/AAAAAAAAIVA/H2LSH_NdQwkMAcPJHxeVV64DwBGXcO1YACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5945.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top is revetted with cardboard so that the air stream is turned downward, this also turns down the noise ratio</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Basically the internal cooling system of the Cintiq Pro model works like this: Cold air will be pulled in from the bottom and the warm air is going to move out at the top.<br />
<br />
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TvVmHLJAwqM/XSdCsdRe_uI/AAAAAAAAIVM/x027CaJFrqkvzGM2QCUuoyZJw1wEMysZACLcBGAs/s1600/Fan-system-Cintiq-32.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TvVmHLJAwqM/XSdCsdRe_uI/AAAAAAAAIVM/x027CaJFrqkvzGM2QCUuoyZJw1wEMysZACLcBGAs/s400/Fan-system-Cintiq-32.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
In order to keep the tablet cooler you have to move it away from the edge of the table. If you use an Ergostand this is the regular mode. It is designed with the Ergostand in mind which will always keep the tablet around 10cm from the edge of the table.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4UZGwyU9T30/XSeX6Af1v8I/AAAAAAAAIV8/U1jUaghKsMcxKKl19OwseK0MS1wG4xYwQCLcBGAs/s1600/Ergo-stand-lap.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="979" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4UZGwyU9T30/XSeX6Af1v8I/AAAAAAAAIV8/U1jUaghKsMcxKKl19OwseK0MS1wG4xYwQCLcBGAs/s400/Ergo-stand-lap.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wacom Ergostand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If you are like many and don't want to shell out another 350 bucks it is recommended that you still don't put the tablet at the edge like the image at the beginng of the article, that was done before I learned this ;)<br />
<br />
The unit generates a lot of heat down there and it can't vent away. Adding some additional silent fans down there keeps the internal fans slow at any given time.<br />
You know that the ventilation works right when the surface stays cold. If the surface becomes warm it is still not circulating right.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kJhxdfJHJO8/XSdE_bsgSmI/AAAAAAAAIVY/gnaVD3VneQE4ZqEN5JafuRaUyED2iTwmACLcBGAs/s1600/Cintiq-32-fan-noise-reduction-tutorial.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kJhxdfJHJO8/XSdE_bsgSmI/AAAAAAAAIVY/gnaVD3VneQE4ZqEN5JafuRaUyED2iTwmACLcBGAs/s400/Cintiq-32-fan-noise-reduction-tutorial.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">The schematic view shows better what to do and why to do it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EpDXVGvdjCQ/XSc_oiVctAI/AAAAAAAAIUw/4Ax5Hs6kpFgTwR_QQwMOQFR5VrGkkG7sQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5944.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="267" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EpDXVGvdjCQ/XSc_oiVctAI/AAAAAAAAIUw/4Ax5Hs6kpFgTwR_QQwMOQFR5VrGkkG7sQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5944.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 14.4px;">The actual view of the enhancement</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Of course it would be nice to have the external fans be connected with the Cintiq via USB so they shut down when the tablet goes into sleep-mode, but moving the knob to shut off the fans when done working is not the hardest thing to do.<br />
<br />
I'm on the hunt for a better solution that shuts the fans down when the Computer goes into Standby mode. If I have some news on that front, you will find it up here.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With a price tag of another 100 bucks just for the external fans that is an expensive solution I know, but when talking about a 3.5k tablet a bit more or less does not make a big difference in my book.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Enjoy the Silence</h3>
<div>
Here is a recording with the Noctua fans running:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Room silence is about 30 db in any casual room, so 35 db is not even noticeable.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W3jvKIUdtjM/XSX7aOmKy9I/AAAAAAAAISc/erQW0Nz19WAJVG8pSDrdDUc_x5-sITwBgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5938.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="746" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W3jvKIUdtjM/XSX7aOmKy9I/AAAAAAAAISc/erQW0Nz19WAJVG8pSDrdDUc_x5-sITwBgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5938.PNG" width="241" /></a></div>
<br />
Now when the Cintiq fan kicks in, the meter clocks in at about 58 db WHICH IS noticeable:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZU588vJBNg/XSX7cGfxTdI/AAAAAAAAISg/IQzwKvyBAfcOzBDxnKhSUOdzGxM3QBIJACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5940.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="746" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZU588vJBNg/XSX7cGfxTdI/AAAAAAAAISg/IQzwKvyBAfcOzBDxnKhSUOdzGxM3QBIJACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5940.PNG" width="241" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Surface</h3>
<div>
Of course the surface is nice, feels natural and is quite good out of the box, but even Wacom suggests to clean the nibs to prevent scratches, <strike>which means the glass surface is not so much made of glass after all</strike>. I tried a foil and a glass-plate (as with the 27QHD and found none of these suitable so I worked directly on the surface for the last 10 months. To my surprise there are no scratches so far!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div><strike>
As with the old one, I prefer having the glass plate on top as mounting a protection-foil on such a big screen is doomed to fail.</strike></div>
<div>
<strike><br /></strike></div>
<div><strike>
Touch won't work with the glass plate, but since I don't utilize touch it is not a problem for me. <b>The glass plate saves pen nibs galore. </b></strike></div>
<div>
<strike><br /></strike></div>
<div><strike>
In 4 years with the Cintiq 27 QHD, I never changed a nib!</strike></div><div><strike><br /></strike></div><div>Even with the slightly rougher surface of the bigger Cintiq, I still work with the first nib!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another advantage of the glass-plate is that it distributes the temperature away from the center of the tablet, just to a certain degree, but even without the Noctua-Fans, the internal fans set in later than without the glass-plate.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VsjgQ4cwu6iSbQVEN-NNR98eujhnAsOPmS12_3ndwD3Ytw7EXJ57L8nhn8MEskDPFtedsZ6H-neh8zLgNN_DYhlBtyteaeQ6NeqqMJ-YuKTNXppE21zpFNlBoKr_lG3S7Oa6U8UKpKs/s1600/IMG_5894.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VsjgQ4cwu6iSbQVEN-NNR98eujhnAsOPmS12_3ndwD3Ytw7EXJ57L8nhn8MEskDPFtedsZ6H-neh8zLgNN_DYhlBtyteaeQ6NeqqMJ-YuKTNXppE21zpFNlBoKr_lG3S7Oa6U8UKpKs/s400/IMG_5894.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A nice thing is that there is still some space left and right to put stuff on there such as the EK-Remote that I wanted to start using more frequently.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Qi- charger on top is a nice add-on to charge the phone while lying around ;)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But there is also a downside for having so much room on the tablet:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sRvDTGzFxpI/XSYBGEJXNBI/AAAAAAAAITs/Ug1o9kDJd9wrdkEweGGb-3ES3lA1gV-pgCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2019-07-10%2Bum%2B17.15.18.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sRvDTGzFxpI/XSYBGEJXNBI/AAAAAAAAITs/Ug1o9kDJd9wrdkEweGGb-3ES3lA1gV-pgCLcBGAs/s400/Bildschirmfoto%2B2019-07-10%2Bum%2B17.15.18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Since I use another keyboard for working in Photoshop I had to put some foam-pads on the edges because having the arm rest there, led to marks on the skin when using for quite some time.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zOftnHCutoo/XSYBjpuV8tI/AAAAAAAAIT0/cgyqjK0IEe0fndxWDwo49z0KWIB387AaQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5939.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zOftnHCutoo/XSYBjpuV8tI/AAAAAAAAIT0/cgyqjK0IEe0fndxWDwo49z0KWIB387AaQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5939.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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One nice side-effect of having the Noctua-Fans running under the tablet; The resulting ventilation leads to some lower iMac temps too!</div>
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Usually in summer the meter runs between 65° up to 69° where the internal iMac fan starts to set in, that nearly does not happen anymore now and it runs smoothly between 53° - 62°.</div>
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Don't move!</h3>
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Now you could argue that you need the <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2015/01/setting-up-wacom-27qhd-review-wacom.html">Ergotron arm</a> or the Ergo-Stand and this solution does not work for it... </div>
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Let me tell you: I have worked 4 years with the 27QHD and believe me, I was happy not having to move this thing once.</div>
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I use the self printed stairs (picture above) which I made available <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2928133">here if you have a 3d-printer</a> for different heights and once the perfect height is reached it becomes a painting/drawing table that I do not need to move anymore.</div>
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That said, I have to admit that I use an electric standing-desk, that is a must have when considering such a big Cintiq anyways.</div>
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Conclusion</h3>
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Actually a pricey gimmick and for someone who does not need it and has already a 27 QHD, I'd say stick with it. If you are like me and need the Screen-Real-Estate and work with large paintings, and work with apps that support the Pro-Pen 2's level of pressure sensitivity, it is a worthwhile investment.</div>
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I suspect that Wacom does not have anything new to offer until at least 2021 for the pricier units, and the smaller 24" unit has the same issue with the fans as the big one - that are some facts to consider and so far there is no one else who delivers such a big tablet for artists yet as an alternative.</div>
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<b>To Wacom: </b>When making a new tablet, consider the Form-Factor to be not much larger than the 27 QHD was, because that was perfect. I would also be happy with just 30" screen and a smaller frame around the edges and more than 4k is not even necessary so that would be a win on all ends. And perhaps if a fan is necessary, please make circulation or venting holes in the back to make use of external cooler boards or DIY-solutions.</div>
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An aluminium back could also help to distribute heat away from the center.</div>
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If you have ideas or created some solutions, let me know in a comment.</div>
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</div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-53685481826649296502019-07-09T14:57:00.001+02:002023-08-03T09:55:18.327+02:00The 5 Favorite Photoshop Plugins I can't live withoutWhen it comes to workflow I like to have control over the outcome as much as possible.<br />
My Adobe Photoshop UI is therefore a good compromise of having enough screen real estate and all the tools I use on a regular basis.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k1BkA8WhZD8/XJFLx1STRLI/AAAAAAAAH9k/5Il_WTx7v7UiGIsdcYHlUZ0IZdTWw3UmwCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2019-03-19%2Bum%2B21.06.11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1600" height="361" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k1BkA8WhZD8/XJFLx1STRLI/AAAAAAAAH9k/5Il_WTx7v7UiGIsdcYHlUZ0IZdTWw3UmwCLcBGAs/s640/Bildschirmfoto%2B2019-03-19%2Bum%2B21.06.11.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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For my tools of the trade, there are a number of hardware and software solutions that I rely on and it might not be a surprise that Photoshop is still leading the pack.<br />
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However, since Photoshop is still not perfect, I also rely on a number of Add-ons that fill the gap for me. You can view these Plugins as similar to Browser Add-ons; they are not necessary but provide a better user experience.<br />
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In this post I want to highlight my favorite plugins starting with:<br />
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#5 Perspective Tools V2.0 ($15)</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIjzKEJPvvQWt0270QD5l5AKxGAUjMfynhvyJwzYvhV0BImF2M_rI4uCl0Pf5HQ9VKZXKwZXacd7iGVgXLmJGunMpPH9-YZzYcEBnYtRFpBP8vLRJrmdAHzQzIGinT-HVwIfQwZgJIoU/s1600/gumroad-all.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="670" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIjzKEJPvvQWt0270QD5l5AKxGAUjMfynhvyJwzYvhV0BImF2M_rI4uCl0Pf5HQ9VKZXKwZXacd7iGVgXLmJGunMpPH9-YZzYcEBnYtRFpBP8vLRJrmdAHzQzIGinT-HVwIfQwZgJIoU/s400/gumroad-all.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://gumroad.com/l/PT2">https://gumroad.com/l/PT2</a></div>
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<b>Perspective Tools</b> is a small but smart panel developed by <b>Sergey Kritskiy</b>. He has a number of tools and tips published on his <a href="http://hundredsofsparrows.com/">website</a> (if it is down, here is a link to his Gumroad: <a href="https://gumroad.com/kritskiy">https://gumroad.com/kritskiy</a>). This one tool is especially useful for digital artists and concept artists working with environments. But it is also very useful for Graphic artists and Designers who often need to place designs or text in perspective - say on products - on a regular basis.<br />
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#4 GuideGuide</h3>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yfm_Z7tUFTE/XJERYOBbyZI/AAAAAAAAH8Y/hjkT9LKH2MQFreA-0nffaFDEgOM5NzjZQCLcBGAs/s1600/Guide-Guide.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="549" height="181" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yfm_Z7tUFTE/XJERYOBbyZI/AAAAAAAAH8Y/hjkT9LKH2MQFreA-0nffaFDEgOM5NzjZQCLcBGAs/s320/Guide-Guide.gif" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://guideguide.me/">https://guideguide.me/</a><br />
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<b>GuideGuide</b> is perfect for any graphic artist. I said I would never need this, until I wanted to print a 5-Panel-Canvas-Piece ;) </div>
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#3 ColorFriends (Free)</h3>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-msjpYVNtdb8/XJETEivIM6I/AAAAAAAAH8k/MYfJlpn92z8k3p_ZprSqXD-60qVYoqMlwCLcBGAs/s1600/2019-03-19%2B17.03.25.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="657" height="286" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-msjpYVNtdb8/XJETEivIM6I/AAAAAAAAH8k/MYfJlpn92z8k3p_ZprSqXD-60qVYoqMlwCLcBGAs/s320/2019-03-19%2B17.03.25.gif" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ga8q4fV1TSGbHWAxJg6BFm98IfsUPojK9TrExKzaH0W0SkIozU3L77SQgSf7piO16g2BQXHA_DqU2R97e9n4z2izQ1xMMglzG7NyXKOYRA3TloAZXk0Mzh0yvUAuhBT0hRnu5dKX_Rk/s1600/2239f0ac-cd54-447d-918f-ed941e0fe283_1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ga8q4fV1TSGbHWAxJg6BFm98IfsUPojK9TrExKzaH0W0SkIozU3L77SQgSf7piO16g2BQXHA_DqU2R97e9n4z2izQ1xMMglzG7NyXKOYRA3TloAZXk0Mzh0yvUAuhBT0hRnu5dKX_Rk/s200/2239f0ac-cd54-447d-918f-ed941e0fe283_1.png" width="" /></a></div>
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<b>ColorFriends</b> is a nifty plugin that allows you to pick colors and see correlated warmer or colder swatches around your current color. Works with hue, saturation and brightness.</div>
Developed by Vasiliy Kuznetsov in 2012, published with source code on Github: <span face=", , "segoe ui" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif , "apple color emoji" , "segoe ui emoji" , "segoe ui symbol"" style="background-color: #f1f8ff; color: #24292e; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 600; white-space: nowrap;"> </span><a href="https://github.com/vasiliy-kuznetsov/Coldwarm">https://github.com/vasiliy-kuznetsov/Coldwarm</a><br />
Even though it is fairly old, it still works like a charm in the current version of PS (2019).<br />
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#2 Brutus Symmetry ($10)</h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8_CQ0FZWZps/XJFE3vGdI_I/AAAAAAAAH88/ca6i698nF2s6aMQqR1db8AgBEY8n8tZGQCLcBGAs/s1600/AD-Brutus-Symmetry_preview02_500px.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="179" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8_CQ0FZWZps/XJFE3vGdI_I/AAAAAAAAH88/ca6i698nF2s6aMQqR1db8AgBEY8n8tZGQCLcBGAs/s320/AD-Brutus-Symmetry_preview02_500px.gif" width="320" /></a><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O7dBdzlj-Dw/XJFFFgWGOxI/AAAAAAAAH9A/sy2LLA4sais8IbMt0HWE9dwD0P5HwsEsACLcBGAs/s1600/ad_brutus-symmetry_00-.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="" data-original-width="" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O7dBdzlj-Dw/XJFFFgWGOxI/AAAAAAAAH9A/sy2LLA4sais8IbMt0HWE9dwD0P5HwsEsACLcBGAs/s200/ad_brutus-symmetry_00-.jpg" width="" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://creativemarket.com/Dukal/272381-AD-Brutus-Symmetry-%28PS-CC-Panel%29">https://creativemarket.com/Dukal/272381-AD-Brutus-Symmetry-%28PS-CC-Panel%29</a></div>
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Actually obsolete in Adobe Photoshop 2019, so why is it on #2 in your list?</div>
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While it is true that Photoshop has realtime symmetry since 2018, there are many situations where it comes in handy to rotate or mirror a layer with just one click of a button or to find the center point of a document with one click. Or sometimes you find a layer would benefit of being symmetrical afterwards, because realtime symmetry requires that you use it intentionally, right?</div>
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Its use goes far beyond just painting with symmetry even if the gif above does not reflect that!</div>
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The list of actions in this simple panel is something I use at least once a day and many other plugins go away after a few weeks, banned from the user interface, not AD Brutus Symmetry. Since the very first day of its installation I use it daily and don't want to miss it.</div>
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<b>Awesome Job Mr. Dukal!</b></div>
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#1 MagicSquire ($19)</h3>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AxXvFPO16Ec/XJFIVnCmvcI/AAAAAAAAH9U/3rfvzF3ap8oSH92-49u0geVMxVAyMkwowCLcBGAs/s1600/szb4muhmavhi.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AxXvFPO16Ec/XJFIVnCmvcI/AAAAAAAAH9U/3rfvzF3ap8oSH92-49u0geVMxVAyMkwowCLcBGAs/s320/szb4muhmavhi.gif" width="320" /></a><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wlfgH35D_3Y/XJFIVOFdBsI/AAAAAAAAH9Q/8a-On3ND0qYOiR7oo-9oSYLLdY8gDk2UACLcBGAs/s1600/MagicSquire-1-Screenshot2-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="759" height="152" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wlfgH35D_3Y/XJFIVOFdBsI/AAAAAAAAH9Q/8a-On3ND0qYOiR7oo-9oSYLLdY8gDk2UACLcBGAs/s200/MagicSquire-1-Screenshot2-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://anastasiy.com/magicsquire">https://anastasiy.com/magicsquire</a></div>
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<b>MagicSquire</b> is a brush organization panel. Actually Adobe has updated PS with new features to organize brushes better, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. From coloring different sets to having different brush previews as also being able to organize and import both; .TPL and .ABR files as also Mixer brushes and having any brush be an eraser by clicking the ALT key is a bliss.</div>
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There is an alternative out there by <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/brusherator">Sergey Kritskiy called <b>Brusherator</b></a>, but personally I find it a bit too chaotic. For someone who likes a tidy workspace, MagicSquire with all its features is the way. But maybe you try out both and find <i>Brusherator</i> better, who knows?</div>
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Why is it the Nr. #1? Because I use it not just everyday, but every time I use a brush in Photoshop, and that is very often. Having a reliable tool to find and organize all my gems is an important asset and worth every penny.</div>
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Since I always like to improve my workflow, I like to read about your favorite plug-ins or panels for Photoshop. Let me know your list in a comment.</div>
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Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-57961964781962352952018-09-26T16:14:00.000+02:002018-10-09T01:44:34.509+02:00HP Designjet Z6 Review from a Digital ArtistAs some of my readers know I have put together some useful articles about hardware like monitors, tablets and software tools for the digital painter in the past.<br />
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You can find a list about previous articles here: <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/p/blog.html">https://www.fantasio.info/p/blog.html</a><br />
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Today I wanted to write a review about the new 44" Printer that I purchased last week. <br />
If you are in the process of researching Wide or Large Format Printers, check out this previous article:<br />
<a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2015/06/101-guide-to-digital-painting-hardware.html">http://www.fantasio.info/2015/06/101-guide-to-digital-painting-hardware.html</a><br />
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One obstacle I face as a digital artist is that I can't compare my reproductions to an original. I can go the perceptual calibration route because no one except me knows what a piece has to look like. If you are a photographer or traditional artist with existing physical works, you should look up hardware calibration methods and workflows.<br />
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When researching the topic for a new printer, I made a list of what is important for me / the Art-Printer:</div>
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<li>The printer has to have fade resistant inks at least 100 years</li>
<li>It has to support canvas or material up to 500gsm</li>
<li>The prints have to be in reproducible quality</li>
<li>The gamut has to be as close to Adobe RGB 1998 as possible</li>
<li>The printer does not have to be super fast / up to 200 prints A1 per month is fine</li>
<li>The inks have to be pigmented not dye based</li>
<li>The printheads have to be replaceable</li>
<li>8 colors including light colors and at least two blacks is fine</li>
<li>It should be easy to use and setup and not too heavy for two people to carry</li>
<li>Densitometer is nice to have</li>
<li>Spectrophotometer is nice to have</li>
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This list above helped me to identify an "Art Printer" as per the definition of the requirements of a good lasting art print of archival quality. The Z6 Designjet fulfilled 10 out of 11 points from above.<br />
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For me canvas printing was a biggie because that is my main business.</div>
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I work with HP printers for 16 years now and never had trouble, but I also looked left and right this time. One important thing for me was to be able to transport the printer upstairs with 2 people. With Canon or Epson printers that would be impossible because a comparable Epson printer weighs nearly 300 pounds.<br />
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Another valid criteria for me was the number of inks, the warranty and the price.<br />
With the new line of Printers, the Z6 and Z9, HP reduces the number of ink cartridges to about 6 respectively 9 for the 12 inks systems.<br />
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As much as fade-resistant-inks go, there is no big difference between Canon, HP and Epson. They all last around 100 years in daylight and around 200 years in a dark archive.</div>
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So far the theory, here is my experience so far. The blog will be updated with occurring issues or experiences.<br />
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Unboxing and Setting up</h3>
My new printer is now a Designjet Z6 which is <i>brand new</i> so to speak, the model was introduced just 2 months earlier and is the direct successor to the Z2100 / Z3100 / Z3200 Designjets.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I3-6Q6If1AQ/W6tJfGOtk7I/AAAAAAAAHw4/JARcHNxBIHEwH0Mmo3E4fxxXj-cTVuuxQCLcBGAs/s1600/Designjet-z6-unboxing-setup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="880" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I3-6Q6If1AQ/W6tJfGOtk7I/AAAAAAAAHw4/JARcHNxBIHEwH0Mmo3E4fxxXj-cTVuuxQCLcBGAs/s640/Designjet-z6-unboxing-setup.jpg" width="352" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unboxing and setting up the Designjet Z6</td></tr>
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The delivery was on a rainy day and with two people we had a bit trouble to get the huge package indoors. We let it dry for an hour and unboxed it slowly.<br />
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All in all it took around 2 hours from unboxing to setting up and installing the Firmware update. The digital setup process is very intuitive. <br />
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One thing that stands out is the roll-cover on the back.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0ojzD23SpGhdC1ZqmAhCo0GZyMiechEwx_P_1B1AJlRmmnRMg1idUscBEZID9Cjvu_tGMS0KbRw8y7kNwWUcNgHdYMd0ufnf4K0aTyfcPTa6pcIWQ5qJ8dv6uzkqpYN4lzL3Yj1JR1k/s1600/Z5600-Roll-2-Loading-292-v1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0ojzD23SpGhdC1ZqmAhCo0GZyMiechEwx_P_1B1AJlRmmnRMg1idUscBEZID9Cjvu_tGMS0KbRw8y7kNwWUcNgHdYMd0ufnf4K0aTyfcPTa6pcIWQ5qJ8dv6uzkqpYN4lzL3Yj1JR1k/s320/Z5600-Roll-2-Loading-292-v1a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from HP of a 6Zdr with two rolls as example</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When opening the cover, the current roll will automatically be ejected and the printer waits for new material to be installed. That is a huge update from the Z2100 where you have to manually eject and roll up the spindle!<br />
<br />
Another thing that I found is the flat design on top. Together with the Roll cover it makes totally sense because you can also use the printer as table for printouts. Older models were shorter and when printing further you would have to remove the prints from the cover, now you can collect them on top and still print which is a neat extra for sure!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HN_-sh9eU34/W6tNQW9tKMI/AAAAAAAAHxQ/OgzYUuLvWA0G3ji-U-Jz7kkvArtuBo2OwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HN_-sh9eU34/W6tNQW9tKMI/AAAAAAAAHxQ/OgzYUuLvWA0G3ji-U-Jz7kkvArtuBo2OwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4876.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Designjet Z6 Cover table for printouts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
Quality review</h3>
</div>
<div>
I have done a few prints now with the Z6 and I can really say there is no visible difference between the Z6 that uses 6 Colors and the Z2100 with 8 colors in terms of quality. Heck I even switched from Best quality / Max. Detail / More passes - to just "Normal" and the prints are still as good as with the Z2100!<br />
<br />
There is a small difference that I found and I assume that to be the <a href="http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA7-3033ENW&doctype=Business%20white%20paper&doclang=EN_US&searchquery=&cc=uk&lc=en">HP Pixel Control pipeline </a>of the Z6 that enhances the contrasts and detail in each print because compared to the Z2100 whose prints look a bit blurry especially on parts that should be crisp. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZeQstcd-Ots/W6s8zHeaR0I/AAAAAAAAHws/VqdGg7Ta74okKudq7GW0wK6ZrWjVPsc_gCLcBGAs/s1600/canvas-comparison-designjet-z6-vs-z2100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZeQstcd-Ots/W6s8zHeaR0I/AAAAAAAAHws/VqdGg7Ta74okKudq7GW0wK6ZrWjVPsc_gCLcBGAs/s400/canvas-comparison-designjet-z6-vs-z2100.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Left DJ Z6 / Right DJ Z2100 Canvas Print unaltered file, just sharpened and resized for web.<br />You can right-click and "open link in new tab" to view a bigger image of this.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
How much of a good thing this is has to be seen, so far I find it is enhancing the images and it is nothing to bother about.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
So far, the startup speed, setup and especially the prints satisfy. With little perceptual calibration the prints came out all as good as with the Z2100 reference and that makes the switch easier than expected. <br />
<br />
One other nice feature is that the Designjet Z6 also cuts canvas because that is what the Z2100 did not do. Ever.<br />
It is said that this only works with HP Canvas, and according to HP the blade may last 4000 meters with canvas (8000 with paper). So if it is non HP Canvas it lasts a while even if the blade just works for 3000m.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another nice feature is that the printheads are not color encoded, which means you can buy one printhead and replace any printhead with that because they will be color encoded when installed.<br />
<br />
One thing I yet have to test is the Print-from-USB option. A nice thing for batch printing is the software HP-Click. On another note the Postscript option is embedded with all printers of this series. In the past it was a costly additional extra. I don't need it because my work is Raster-based. If you work with typography, graphics or vectors, this might be very good news to you.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
For the price and its class, the Printer is a heavy duty machine geared towards the workload of 150 -300 A1 prints a month. It comes with lots of design features that you might embrace before you know you will.<br />
<br />
In terms of quality I can say that the promise that the new system replaces 8 color printers without loss of quality is not overhyped but true. Most of the technologic advantages are under the hood and not always to be seen on the screen or surface, nearly as with a new "iPhone" for example, it looks similar as the old one but the extra power and features is something you will recognize.<br />
<br />
Having only 300ml ink cartridge is a bit heavy at first if you are used to the 130ml cartridges, but usually HP cartridges can last up to 3 years without loss of warranty so that is a manageable size and timeframe to work with. Actually that means with twice the price of the 130ml cartridges you will get twice the material plus 40ml extra.<br />
<br />
Additionally, if you can save ink cartridges with no real setback and the printheads can handle 4096 shades per color to replace light colors, now that is a step forward in my opinion.<br />
<br />
My experience with HP was good throughout the years and that is my reason to stick with them. I'm confident this positivity will continue. I can recommend the Designjet Z6 to digital artists as also traditional artists (because it can print from a usb stick) and graphic artists alike. If you are a photographer, you might want to check out the Z9 instead.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
<b>If you are looking for a Wide Format Printer</b></h3>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<b>Take your time</b></div>
<div>
I consider my self technologic affine but still it took me some days to wade through piles of technical specs to find the relevant information. For someone not into this matter, it might take weeks if not months to understand the differences between 10 printers or types and what that means for their daily routine.<br />
<br />
There is a website called <a href="https://www.hpplotter.co.uk/worldofhp/graveyard?c=designjets">hpplotter-co.uk</a> and they have a list with obsolete models and successors. Through that site I found that the Z2100 (which troubled me) is obsolete since about 2 years. If HP is your brand of choice, this site could help you a bit.</div>
<div>
<br />
<b>4 /6 / 8 / 9 / 12 colors what to choose and why?</b><br />
I think there is no need to argue that 8 colors are better than 4 in digital printing.<br />
However, for the best quality the number of inks is just one parameter of many. I'd go as far as saying you don't need more than 8 colors (or 6 with the HP DJ Z6) because 12 colors just increase the cost and slows down the printing process for maybe 10% better quality that only 1% of people can really appreciate. More information about that matter <a href="http://www.signindustry.com/digital/articles/2003-01-31-NUR-8colorDigitalPrinting.php3">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<div>
<b>Research known issues</b></div>
<div>
There are always series-specific issues. For new printers some issues could be resolved, some new might appear. This always happen and is kind of Russian-roulette with technology. Ask in forums if you consider to get a used LFP-printer. Some printers require weekly cleaning of the printheads in order to prevent drying out. Others have issues with certain paper types etc.<br />
<br /></div>
<b>Buy a used one?</b><br />
Of course I could go and buy a used one. I did that too with my first 44" printer a Designjet Z2100 and it also turned out to be the best choice ever. But to be honest, I was also super lucky to have 3 years without any errors or trouble. And now one minor trouble that I was able to handle myself in order to have a working printer again.<br />
<br />
My main reason for not going the "used"-route was because the Z2100 as also the others Z3100 /Z3200 Z2600 and Z5600 are obsolete and not or soon not supported anymore. Which means technically a service and spare parts will be still available, but secondary market for inks might raise prices in the near future.<br />
<br />
On the contrary, the Z6 is so new, there is no used printer out yet, when I needed it.<br />
So in my case I could have bought 2-3 used Z2100's for the same price, but I believe it did not get me anywhere in a better spot. Especially if I want to invest in better quality of my output in the long run, which was and is a promise to my customers.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
You see, there is a lot to take into consideration and that also means affinity towards a brand or past experiences. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I hope this article has helped you. Let me know if you have some questions regarding the mentioned printers or the topic in a comment.</div>
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Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-87050886360643364472018-06-05T21:04:00.001+02:002020-08-21T17:47:42.099+02:00The Ugly Truth About Passive Income And Being a Content CreatorPassive income using platforms like Gumroad, Society6 or Zazzle sounds like fun.<br />
<br />
If you are a content creator, you can use Patreon first as your main hub and later release content via Gumroad and earn something extra.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPHkcGmKtBH_QWbxzUn5LTA4h4JIT8u1pdNBkytIdSMQSwLnAevdEzCkpjP5ZTwgTFb3tD7m8ARtHx2SQ7si3UQ4F20YGKNMoMK5zG6qELsDJd4AEX7soeHm6BfCWH0std_Mqaaoh0P8/s1600/blog+header+standard+new+2018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1600" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPHkcGmKtBH_QWbxzUn5LTA4h4JIT8u1pdNBkytIdSMQSwLnAevdEzCkpjP5ZTwgTFb3tD7m8ARtHx2SQ7si3UQ4F20YGKNMoMK5zG6qELsDJd4AEX7soeHm6BfCWH0std_Mqaaoh0P8/s400/blog+header+standard+new+2018.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
But is this concept really viable?<br />
<br />
How much do most people earn and how much work is involved here?<br />
<br />
Why is it that you find 100 ideas on <a href="https://www.google.de/search?q=passive+income+survey&oq=passive+income+survey&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l2.4499j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">how to get passive income on google</a>, but not one survey that shows how much content creators really make?<br />
<br />
First off, the ugly truth is not a subjective opinion thing, it is a matter of fact and it depends on a rule.<br />
If you know the rule, you know what you can do to earn more or to change your circumstances.<br />
<br />
<b>First thing first:</b><br />
Since I am an artist, I will speak from an artist point of view, and like many, I had plenty of merchandising sites online, like Zazzle, Redbubble, DeviantArt prints and InPrnt.<br />
I closed them all down - read on to get an idea why.<br />
<br />
Then later I got Patreon, or better said, I signed up to Patreon when nobody used it and later when other artists made a living from it, I jumped at it and saw if it was any good.<br />
<br />
After 3 years I have tried many things and what follows is my personal solution. I wanted to share it in this article, to inspire others to see things differently.<br />
<br />
So, lets say you are somehow stuck with Patreon, or Gumroad or whatever, because artist xyz makes $2000 a month or more and you receive $67.80.<br />
<br />
Depending on your resilience you try for half a year or a full year to raise the bar...<br />
Let me tell you, I tried exactly that for 2,5 years and didn't get past $70-$80 a month, with Gumroad combined, maybe $100 in total, that is $1200 a year which equals to 960 €.<br />
<br />Lets agree, that is not enough to make a living. It doesn't stop there either. Anyone earning passive income knows that there are fees and taxes that have to ultimately be paid as well. With it being pretty easy to connect with a <a href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/live/how-it-works/dallas-texas-cpa-ea/">certified tax expert</a> online, with TurboTax Live for example (whether you live in Dallas, New York, or anywhere else in the States), paying taxes on earned income is pretty simple. However, if you're not generating a lot of passive income to begin with, any additional financial implications can weigh pretty heavily. <br />
<br />
One could argue that passive income is not meant to make a living out of it. OK, while this is true for most platforms like Cubebrush, Gumroad or zazzle, you could very well do this on Patreon.<br />
<br />
You could say, I have not tried hard enough, or better rewards, better content, exclusive offers, etc.<br />
<br />
I tried everything that is possible, believe me, so I'm with at least 80% of frustrated Patreon or Gumroad users and that gets me a step closer to the ugly truth:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zg7SNf49lXc/WqtwnRLmSaI/AAAAAAAAHe0/MyfzIq4eRAM4mZcfrgSexKQ777KDFWEjQCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-03-16%2Bum%2B08.21.20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="1310" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zg7SNf49lXc/WqtwnRLmSaI/AAAAAAAAHe0/MyfzIq4eRAM4mZcfrgSexKQ777KDFWEjQCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-03-16%2Bum%2B08.21.20.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>There are always 20% who share 80% of the gross monthly income.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>And then there are 80% creators who share 20% of the income that is left.</b></div>
<br />
Let this sink in for a minute.<br />
<br />
<br />
These numbers are not made up, they roughly follow a power law distribution called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle" target="_blank">Pareto principle or 80/20 rule</a>.<br />
<br />
The interesting thing is that it applies perfectly to these platforms as it does for rich/poor people in real life, but that is not the ugly truth as you might think. This is just a rule.<br />
<br />
The ugly truth is that you can try as much as you want, if you are one of the crowd who has to share their 20% income with 80% of other content creators out there, you can work your ass off, but you will never be one of the 20% crop if you keep doing what you do now. Ever. Forget it.<br />
<br />
This might read like the words of an old Eremit or a Mr. Spock in exile, but this is a matter of fact.<br />
<br />
I researched this topic a lot and successful artists on Patreon or other platforms are not "made" like record labels made their stars or a gallery "made" their signature artists. These platforms follow patterns of democracy and thus <u>the critical mass decides what is good, not the creator</u>.<br />
<br />
Vitamin-B can help and being presented in their newsletter helps, but eventually only to the extent of people that are into what you do, not more.<br />
<br />
As creator, you either are good or you are not. Your talent and your 20 awards do not count.<br />
If you have a huge social media following, this can help but not much.<br />
<br />
I started my Patreon campaign with a following of over 15.000 followers on deviantArt and I posted and linked to my content like a maniac. And others do so too. Without effect.<br />
<br />
The one thing that is also a truth; you will never find out if you are one of the 20% or the 80% if you do not try. But the trial period should be set accordingly, maybe a year is a good timeframe to experiment a lot.<br />
<br />
<h3>
If you are stuck and don't know what to do, there are two solutions to this problem:</h3>
<br />
<b>The active one:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This involves a lot of hard work. It requires you to do a lot of market research, do a complete rebranding, change your style, work, look, niche, whatever and start from scratch. Be a different person or artist. For whatever you do, it could take 2-3 years, just to make it into the top 20% on whatever site.<br />
Is that really what you need?<br />
<br />
In my case I could have catered to an audience that liked more NSFW content or furry/yiff stuff or tutorials. But that is essentially not what I wanted to do.<br />
<br />
<b>The passive solution involves thinking outside of the box:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This is something that happened with me and got me rather by surprise and observation. I found that I initially am one of the 20% top earners at conventions, because visitors want to hang what I do on a wall. Naturally I do more work towards this audience, from branding to communicating, everything.<br />
As a result having a solid online presence to build an image and order works online is logical.<br />
<br />
So my solution is to see the equation in the correct light.<br />
<br />
With the money from Patreon and Gumroad combined, I thought it makes sense to use a better platform than Storenvy to host a new shopping website.<br />
<br />
Now a good package like Shopify or any other <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_as_a_Service" target="_blank">SaaS</a>-option costs a fixed yearly fee, lets say 400€ for this. Another 100 for add-ons, support, whatever. Maybe 300€ for advertising campaigns throughout the year and then there is around 100€ left for other promotional material like flyer, business cards, etc.<br />
<br />
Now this is 900€ for a web-shop business on liabilities, opposed to 960€ in assets from passive income, this means even some wiggle room for unforeseen events.<br />
<br />
This also means I don't have the need to sell at all cost like a regular vendor. If I sell one thing, I have made a turnover.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEfkpQ81_F3YNa6Td3UikZX8FEzpSginb5Tk5W54XrMUuBHDyecTx4iksvRqXL264W5viAHW3UzghRg233H4Dnt2zPAa0EihAk4UeVCbU7pYSiB_IAhX9iAsfta5XjLVB0EyCPhFNK7I/s1600/2018-03-16+08.19.09.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="872" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEfkpQ81_F3YNa6Td3UikZX8FEzpSginb5Tk5W54XrMUuBHDyecTx4iksvRqXL264W5viAHW3UzghRg233H4Dnt2zPAa0EihAk4UeVCbU7pYSiB_IAhX9iAsfta5XjLVB0EyCPhFNK7I/s320/2018-03-16+08.19.09.gif" width="320" /></a>The <a href="https://www.fantasio.shop/">Ars Fantasio online-shop</a> I'm talking about is not just another outlet, I created that with the intention of being an inspiring and interactive experience as well as a work of art (or design) in itself.<br />
<br />
At this point I want to thank my supporters who have made this possible.<br />
<br />
It may sound as if I use Patreon only as passive income source, but that is not true; one of my core-policies is still to "<b>post on Patreon first</b>", so whenever I have a new artwork, patrons see it first and also exclusive works and more behind the scenes info.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Why bother, I get my cheque from zazzle every other months or so?</b><br />
<br />
Sure thing. In fact, everytime you get a cheque with $100 from zazzle, they have earned $300-$400 or more with your creation at least. Sum this up. If you are one of the top 20% crop that makes $3000 a month from InPrnt or society6, these companies have made 10k revenue from you.<br />
<br />
Do you bother now?<br />
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k6cOX02k9YI/Wqtxt4eUsEI/AAAAAAAAHfE/C7UKOShQiLUov756rLkGoTb01vGJI31hQCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-03-16%2Bum%2B08.26.18.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1236" height="120" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k6cOX02k9YI/Wqtxt4eUsEI/AAAAAAAAHfE/C7UKOShQiLUov756rLkGoTb01vGJI31hQCLcBGAs/s200/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-03-16%2Bum%2B08.26.18.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
If not, that should be a wake up call to get better at math and book some business courses.<br />
<br />
You could argue that this is passive income because you don't need to do anything for this money.<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course you have to do! More work, new work, constantly, otherwise they won't feature you in their mailings and without that they don't sell much. As some famous admiral once said:"It's a trap".<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion / TL:DR</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The term passive income is very misleading, done right, it is an enormous pile of work, but it is done upfront, with lagged payment. The payment can add up over the years, but essentially if you are a top earner, the companies earn a premium on you and if you are one of the low performers, you invest a lot of time and energy for very little in return - and it does not say anything about the quality or quantity of your work.<br />
<br />
One solution is to use passive income that is generally low but steady, to jumpstart other business venture ideas with that.<br />
<br />
The other solution requires to completely rethink your approach, start from scratch and build a complete new business catering the exact audience that you want to target.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Tip#1:</b> Give yourself an exact goal and timeframe to achieve that goal. This way you don't waste your time<br />
<br />
<b>Tip#2:</b> Do your research and see if a rebranding, new style and new campaign could give you a necessary boost.<br />
<br />
<b>Tip#3:</b> If you don't have the time for that, see if you have fixed liabilities that you can allocate to the passive income assets. This gives you a structured overhead over what is left and frees your mind a bit. This way you can focus on what is really important to you.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, passive income is meant for the long run and requires steady work. Not as much as active income, but if you write on a blog and want an ebook, you have to compile all your articles, otherwise you won't have a book and that is work for passive income.<br />
<br />
Sometimes, in rare cases, such a book can become a bestseller, but I would not rely on it.<br />
<br />
If you do what you do with passion, most of the side hustle come easy to you and it can add up. If it adds up, see it as a jump-start for new business ideas that help you kick off things without much risk.<br />
<br />
What are your experiences? How do you deal with this kind of democracy that can make or break a venture?<br />
I'd like to read that in your comment.Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-7618072892976137232018-05-29T16:55:00.000+02:002018-05-29T17:34:29.172+02:00Curse of the Lost Memories - Cover Art Case StudyThis article is a walkthrough or case-study for the creation of a hard-fantasy book cover that I finished recently.<br />
<br />
The whole project was full of challenges so I like to take the chance to show and tell something about the work I did and why it was an all round awesome experience.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B9wO05dW2ek/WvM4KbXhfZI/AAAAAAAAHlk/REUepT2rB4I0VRmdQ4dpjbf1NdKAz_GmACLcBGAs/s1600/Cover%2Bcropped-to-8.5x11-96dpi-signed-for-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="989" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B9wO05dW2ek/WvM4KbXhfZI/AAAAAAAAHlk/REUepT2rB4I0VRmdQ4dpjbf1NdKAz_GmACLcBGAs/s400/Cover%2Bcropped-to-8.5x11-96dpi-signed-for-web.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
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It is the cover for a project successfully funded on <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1709719996/curse-of-the-lost-memories-dungeons-and-dragons-an?lang=de">Kickstarter</a> by <a href="https://www.griffonloregames.com/shop/curse-of-the-lost-memories/">Griffon Lore Games.</a> <a href="https://www.griffonloregames.com/shop/curse-of-the-lost-memories/">called Curse of the lost memories</a> and is the first volume of the <b>Chronicles of the Celestial Chains</b> adventure path for <a href="http://engl393-dnd5th.wikia.com/wiki/D%26D_5th_Edition_Wiki">5E</a> or Pathfinder 1E.<br />
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My work for the cover was presented on the Kickstarter page as a <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1709719996/curse-of-the-lost-memories-dungeons-and-dragons-an">stretch-goal at $8000</a> which was a great honor and my aim was to do this amount justice.<br />
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Basically it started with a gorgeous briefing, which covered all the details. The initial briefing saw a half-orc to be on the cover with two swords. I'm open to anything, so I carried this idea in the back corner of my mind for about 2 weeks before starting a sketch. What followed was a shame. So much I did not even want to show it here...I did not get a working sketch together. It all felt boring and not inspiring at all.<br />
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But going again through the briefing, I was glad enough to find a fun-o-meter in the 10-pages briefing that on page 2 stated this:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nBhxKVkPxi8/WwwHhZC2KHI/AAAAAAAAHnA/i6436bROPnEJhuIRiAPmN6JjapgP-FecQCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B15.43.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="440" height="165" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nBhxKVkPxi8/WwwHhZC2KHI/AAAAAAAAHnA/i6436bROPnEJhuIRiAPmN6JjapgP-FecQCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B15.43.14.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So I got back to Anthony of Griffon Lore Games and was as honest as possible about the mishap and he gladly offered me that there were around 10 other characters to pick from!<br />
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This was a huge relief for me. Actually I'm not that picky, but when I compare my usual commissioned works with the level I wanted to bring into this project, it was clear that I could not use the same approach.<br />
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The references that Anthony sent me where the pieces below that I created around a year ago:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bM9oEW4ZZgY/WwwIclz4C1I/AAAAAAAAHnI/GJbrzF2aXiA60k98PwLWHorItLkGJsBjACLcBGAs/s1600/demon-warrior_preview.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bM9oEW4ZZgY/WwwIclz4C1I/AAAAAAAAHnI/GJbrzF2aXiA60k98PwLWHorItLkGJsBjACLcBGAs/s320/demon-warrior_preview.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my first pieces with Zbrush</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fop79Y576LI/WwwIch9Lo_I/AAAAAAAAHnM/AsL5O2z0HtEOT0msCfSx4zxxh_DtK0qTgCLcBGAs/s1600/the-menk_preview.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="1600" height="253" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fop79Y576LI/WwwIch9Lo_I/AAAAAAAAHnM/AsL5O2z0HtEOT0msCfSx4zxxh_DtK0qTgCLcBGAs/s320/the-menk_preview.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The menk" a Piece created for Ren Garcia</td></tr>
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This was an important info for me because both works were created using Zbrush and Photomanipulation for the background. A definitely different style from the digital paintings I used to do and thus a big challenge.<br />
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The main difference opposed to the digital painting process is, that in the above shown works, the Figure was created independently from the background and later in the rendering stage the background happened to dictate the mood and was partially chosen to set the atmosphere of the whole piece. The process has more to do with what a director does with a movie.</div>
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Below you see the ingredient stock images that were purchased from Shutterstock and bashed together in one composition to get the base started.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_o8C4QQVy8A/WwwLRaxxC8I/AAAAAAAAHno/35IQVezziG4iHycIgaiTtQGEKACKQiP_QCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B15.58.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_o8C4QQVy8A/WwwLRaxxC8I/AAAAAAAAHno/35IQVezziG4iHycIgaiTtQGEKACKQiP_QCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B15.58.37.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Raw stock images</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wH6XNgQV6F8/WwwLQ_P9eYI/AAAAAAAAHnk/asE5iTr9xaUbuph1_HfXrCEhXE9TayHXQCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B15.59.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1271" data-original-width="1600" height="254" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wH6XNgQV6F8/WwwLQ_P9eYI/AAAAAAAAHnk/asE5iTr9xaUbuph1_HfXrCEhXE9TayHXQCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B15.59.12.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First rough background draft</td></tr>
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The initial idea for the background concept was to get an eerie mood such as <a href="http://www.simonmarsden.co.uk/">Simon Marsden</a> has created in his black and white photography. (Huge fan here)</div>
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In the creation of this landscape I brought to the table all that I have learned about <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2016/05/what-i-learned-from-gil-elvgren-about.html">composition </a>in the past two years or so. </div>
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After getting the initial landscape idea together in grayscale, I added a bunch of existing characters and turned them into a silhouette to see what could work for the cover the best.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1hw_xnmqhrQ/WwwJqjkAEeI/AAAAAAAAHnY/q0rUSU9rICgJkFNffiaPeJBCXluGt-RbwCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B15.52.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1342" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1hw_xnmqhrQ/WwwJqjkAEeI/AAAAAAAAHnY/q0rUSU9rICgJkFNffiaPeJBCXluGt-RbwCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B15.52.21.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
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I used these characters from other artists that I found on pinterest, but they were never intended to stay final, they should just help us to find a pose that strikes a chord. This "mockup-technique" is something I learned through my work with various agencies in the past. Most often the cover design they have negotiated with the publishers are often finally approved before I even got the briefing. My creative job is then to just paint nicely over what they have put together and create something new out of that. Not perfectly what creative freedom looks like, but that is business as usual.<br />
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OK back to work; Number 3 was the right pose for Griffon Lore and that meant I started to go with the theme of a female warrior mage. It was planned that this is the protagonist but that changed through our conversation to benefit a better outcome of the work.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zyyb97HrPBY/WwwNqHpDrkI/AAAAAAAAHn4/1XPb4q6720EZvMAlKAr6DpPqG7F4ut6ewCLcBGAs/s1600/issue%2Bwith%2Bforeshortening.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="630" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zyyb97HrPBY/WwwNqHpDrkI/AAAAAAAAHn4/1XPb4q6720EZvMAlKAr6DpPqG7F4ut6ewCLcBGAs/s320/issue%2Bwith%2Bforeshortening.jpg" width="181" /></a></div>
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After the background was good to go, I started to get my hands at DAZ Studio to get a figure with a wardrobe that fits the theme into pose before working in zbrush.<br />
The <i><a href="https://www.pinterest.de/pin/472315079652528694/">champion outfit</a></i> was not perfect, because what I envisioned was something like this:<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDjIYsfifGU/WwwOHJq3uZI/AAAAAAAAHoA/qzDr4CXHwT4gG_49MPOgo4FM2qcoHdpywCLcBGAs/s1600/847ce69b13dcb913b17493983a13a713.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="743" height="272" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDjIYsfifGU/WwwOHJq3uZI/AAAAAAAAHoA/qzDr4CXHwT4gG_49MPOgo4FM2qcoHdpywCLcBGAs/s320/847ce69b13dcb913b17493983a13a713.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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It has to be less Japanese of course (cuz we are talking D&D and Pathfinder here ;), but I liked the costume design and went ahead to build that in a paintover sketch composition in Photoshop to discuss this idea with Anthony before diving into Zbrush and spend around 25 hours for the design.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ndwB4039nI/WwwO3ZdXp6I/AAAAAAAAHoM/DJ9j2CQXuMMQbWslzwbfa_ilKhkkVuikwCLcBGAs/s1600/warrior-mageGLG-concept-characterv2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ndwB4039nI/WwwO3ZdXp6I/AAAAAAAAHoM/DJ9j2CQXuMMQbWslzwbfa_ilKhkkVuikwCLcBGAs/s400/warrior-mageGLG-concept-characterv2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The initial reaction was positive but the swords had to go and be replaced by something more sinister.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tBNhDtWDHqY/WwwPGT2rFJI/AAAAAAAAHoQ/cAMUccw0p6cqIgfpbpU7EKNinZgp9GK0QCLcBGAs/s1600/just%2Bfront-cover-concept-female-warrior-BG-Flat-including%2Bbleed-v3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1064" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tBNhDtWDHqY/WwwPGT2rFJI/AAAAAAAAHoQ/cAMUccw0p6cqIgfpbpU7EKNinZgp9GK0QCLcBGAs/s400/just%2Bfront-cover-concept-female-warrior-BG-Flat-including%2Bbleed-v3.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
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Like the character is opening some gates to hell... That was also the point the cover changed from showcasing the protagonist to being a NPC that should lure the player into the dark realm of the Wailmoor with all its dark secrets...<br />
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Since the above sketch was approved, the thorough work in Zbrush began.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4H5IKVkynZc/WwwQi6RlMqI/AAAAAAAAHog/Q6A5LMrXTuEwnnCx9Fu_Xw989lu4rp3_gCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-03-31%2Bum%2B14.15.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="868" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4H5IKVkynZc/WwwQi6RlMqI/AAAAAAAAHog/Q6A5LMrXTuEwnnCx9Fu_Xw989lu4rp3_gCLcBGAs/s400/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-03-31%2Bum%2B14.15.53.jpg" width="346" /></a></div>
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After import and getting a different staff (<a href="https://cubebrush.co/my_library?product_id=lomjga">purchased from Cubebrush</a>).</div>
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The pose was a bit of an issue (for me!) because the initial idea was to go towards more action and perspective, but when I thought about what I really wanted to do, I found that I had to work with the composition that was created and laid down in the background first, that meant more strong lines and angles in the figure to double the classic look that I just started to create and being consistent with that... </div>
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Just as my favorite artists used to do:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-po3kLNovDys/WwwRwP4K91I/AAAAAAAAHpA/WnqGRuD_4Q0MpoNjOnZLt6ib51IuEiLZwCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B16.26.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1181" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-po3kLNovDys/WwwRwP4K91I/AAAAAAAAHpA/WnqGRuD_4Q0MpoNjOnZLt6ib51IuEiLZwCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B16.26.48.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top: Karla Ortiz / lower left: Brom / lower right: James Ryman</td></tr>
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Also the idea changed from "just the character" to "character with creepy stuff on her feet that reaches up to her"... this was all my idea and I'm glad I got the creative freedom to do that.</div>
I know it sounds cheesy and every other artist did that, but I knew it would add a strong base to the composition and thus, it was good.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-htM0eguou2w/WwwQjBnBDHI/AAAAAAAAHoo/Ku5Z3b1mRckHakZGtJi0f2lkOK_mKBM4gCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-04-10%2Bum%2B23.14.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1575" data-original-width="1600" height="314" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-htM0eguou2w/WwwQjBnBDHI/AAAAAAAAHoo/Ku5Z3b1mRckHakZGtJi0f2lkOK_mKBM4gCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-04-10%2Bum%2B23.14.57.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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First version in Zbrush with creatures at bottom / also 3d printing base added for later use</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-scQb-zwkgE0/WwwQjDPCXqI/AAAAAAAAHok/hdReqS2Xongs5Ll-joVBoYYNtXfFOwgDQCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-04-11%2Bum%2B11.27.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="1600" height="226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-scQb-zwkgE0/WwwQjDPCXqI/AAAAAAAAHok/hdReqS2Xongs5Ll-joVBoYYNtXfFOwgDQCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-04-11%2Bum%2B11.27.17.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Polypainted version from Zbrush. A screenshot that presented a stare that I wanted to bring back in the final version too. Another huge benefit of 3D work.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuTJA7sXI7BtTWE8ZxHc-VuC76NOSi_Vb-9gYSwbyp9neR6w1HiuVV1xICnPcGsU3AXsPaJ8H7WIOJ1sm-8EAfzeN3-sZbPK5O-iPqz5GA7DlAPZJ19RjgJuC_PeECXxCl1PZL0mBnak/s1600/Bildschirmfoto+2018-04-11+um+13.38.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="1600" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuTJA7sXI7BtTWE8ZxHc-VuC76NOSi_Vb-9gYSwbyp9neR6w1HiuVV1xICnPcGsU3AXsPaJ8H7WIOJ1sm-8EAfzeN3-sZbPK5O-iPqz5GA7DlAPZJ19RjgJuC_PeECXxCl1PZL0mBnak/s320/Bildschirmfoto+2018-04-11+um+13.38.28.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Polypainted full version before rendering in Keyshot.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzb0RFQMWlt_f0Q0O6LrCziw4ntbaVtvBP0EoQ-jhxxlbBBrnOZpyyo7KZC2DLAQOugGQB07wy4eqYUyS9GxQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Turntable view of the polypainted figure</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dP_alpdgzAg/WwwTTRqV8QI/AAAAAAAAHpk/wv69QLRMjRwbZzSbRxzNuxygXGZn-SQTwCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B16.33.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="727" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dP_alpdgzAg/WwwTTRqV8QI/AAAAAAAAHpk/wv69QLRMjRwbZzSbRxzNuxygXGZn-SQTwCLcBGAs/s400/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B16.33.29.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
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12 renderings with different materials</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WAR6Xo5rNo8/WwwSnyoIgEI/AAAAAAAAHpI/LQD8OuYWQ8YTgFWPdl7L9s37BimEiZ_VgCLcBGAs/s1600/base-polypaint1.26-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="994" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WAR6Xo5rNo8/WwwSnyoIgEI/AAAAAAAAHpI/LQD8OuYWQ8YTgFWPdl7L9s37BimEiZ_VgCLcBGAs/s320/base-polypaint1.26-web.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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The final rendering composite out of 12 renderings from Keyshot with different materials including clown pass and AO</div>
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Below is the final version as a wrap around cover (click for full view):</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cP5G6lspJf0/WwwTn3WL-NI/AAAAAAAAHps/6sR638Nv834jXtqPagRmrFURxlnDNd0EACLcBGAs/s1600/wallpaper-female-warrior-signed-only-BG-Flat-including%2Bbleed2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cP5G6lspJf0/WwwTn3WL-NI/AAAAAAAAHps/6sR638Nv834jXtqPagRmrFURxlnDNd0EACLcBGAs/s400/wallpaper-female-warrior-signed-only-BG-Flat-including%2Bbleed2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get the wallpaper in 2.5k size here:<br />
<a href="https://www.griffonloregames.com/2018/05/14/curse-of-the-lost-memories-cover-art/">https://www.griffonloregames.com/2018/05/14/curse-of-the-lost-memories-cover-art/</a></td></tr>
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In the final version there was a lot to paint over, adding effects, blend the photography with the renderings and create a consistent image from edge to edge and in a 10k resolution of course.<br />
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Since the rights to the artwork still belong to me, it is available as poster print over at the <b>Ars Fantasio shop</b> here:<br />
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Or if you are into Pen and paper Roleplaying games, I suggest to check out the adventure over at the shop from <b>Griffon Lore Games</b> as well: <a href="https://www.griffonloregames.com/shop/">https://www.griffonloregames.com/shop/</a><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JBNg6Wnv5AU/WwwUjGmljnI/AAAAAAAAHp0/QGQZs7OsCFgzHBKhRlpaH7wYDZ1qVHNIgCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B16.38.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1222" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JBNg6Wnv5AU/WwwUjGmljnI/AAAAAAAAHp0/QGQZs7OsCFgzHBKhRlpaH7wYDZ1qVHNIgCLcBGAs/s320/Bildschirmfoto%2B2018-05-28%2Bum%2B16.38.42.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
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I hope you enjoyed this walk-through. Let me know if there is something you want to ask in a comment.</div>
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Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-18607000142623069132018-01-25T17:09:00.000+01:002018-01-26T09:02:08.529+01:008 Myths About Digital Painting (That Need To Go Away) In recent times I get many questions about digital painting in general.<br />
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Especially on conventions, visitors that are totally new to digital art, are surprised to learn that my work is not painted traditionally. Marveling about the brushstrokes printed on canvas, the majority of viewers are blown away of what the technique is capable today.<br />
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Besides the usual questions if I am the artist and if this is all drawn by hand, there are many assumptions that are plain wrong. Not in a bad way because in discussions the most visitors love to learn more and appreciate my work and that of many other digital artists much more from that time on.<br />
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Below is a list of myths that I encounter fairly often on a convention and my personal opinion about them.<br /><br />
<b>1. Digital Painting is fast</b><br /><ol></ol>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemflOc1yUrjVAfoAZEUzjbYSdTe2FpzS4r4J67rIT7r5yhhrpuFqTkC5S1Ii_ZuyUBNkTGgsc-u7__a2M-QRV1LIX11pegdRdc1SGwiqXPBxBUEhfcD8t3EyWhXdcI1LSldn0h2eyTj0/s1600/14444242855ICPbF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="615" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemflOc1yUrjVAfoAZEUzjbYSdTe2FpzS4r4J67rIT7r5yhhrpuFqTkC5S1Ii_ZuyUBNkTGgsc-u7__a2M-QRV1LIX11pegdRdc1SGwiqXPBxBUEhfcD8t3EyWhXdcI1LSldn0h2eyTj0/s320/14444242855ICPbF.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Illustration courtesy of <a href="https://altpick.com/alexeivella">Alexei Vella</a></td></tr>
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Not so fast, young Jedi... Digital painting, when used right can save some time (think of shortcuts, filters, no drying-times). But, even when saving some time, most artists are perfectionists, that saved time is easily invested in making an artwork better. Personally I made the experience, when a traditional airbrush piece took me 20-30 hours, a good portrait or full body piece takes the same amount of time to create in Photoshop.<br />The bottom line: Great art takes time, whether digitally or traditionally, in the end it does not matter.<div>
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<b><br />2. Digital Painting allows you to always go back<br /></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of<a href="http://www.pexels.com/"> Pexels</a></td></tr>
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As much as this one is true – think about "CTRL+Z"– that is a blade with two sides; If you ever want to finish a piece, you have to move forward, you can't always go backwards. For beginners it can be a bliss and even for pros, if you accidentally moved the wrong layer. <br />But actually there are better ways like painting over something multiple times. The latter is especially great because analog paper allows only a fraction of erasing or drawing over with colored pencils until the material wears off.<br />The bottom line: If you want to move forward, you can not go backwards all day.</div>
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<b>3. Digital Painting is unhealthy</b><br /><ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ObPQe_V6YTg/WmrWSDNdHkI/AAAAAAAAHbI/4Rs0MArN2l8CT3NhLck4p0Rf1rGwjTeywCLcBGAs/s1600/Download.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="227" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ObPQe_V6YTg/WmrWSDNdHkI/AAAAAAAAHbI/4Rs0MArN2l8CT3NhLck4p0Rf1rGwjTeywCLcBGAs/s1600/Download.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illustration courtesy of<a href="https://altpick.com/umbertograti"> Umberto Grati</a></td></tr>
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I think this comes rather from pros working traditionally sharing doubts about the posture. <br />Of course; sitting all day is bad for your health and so is having a wrong posture working over a screen or pen-display. On the other side, this is a matter of habits. Most clever artists switch to a standing desk within a few years of working digitally, especially in a professional environment. Even better is a flexible environment where you can switch between standing and sitting every few hours. I also did not ever heard of carpal tunnel from anyone using a stylus, which is a must have when working on a tablet. Most hand related injuries come from using a mouse.<br /></div>
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<b>4. Digital Painting does not allow for happy accidents</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NDQQBSL2mnM/WmrWUvUsgsI/AAAAAAAAHbY/NDFFZHLMWdIyppthpvNXy4-LTZKqQX9NACEwYBhgL/s1600/67906bd4ce1e5ca3ea726a034e8ab43c1240cfd6b36524f6b7f9500b38116975.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="560" height="222" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NDQQBSL2mnM/WmrWUvUsgsI/AAAAAAAAHbY/NDFFZHLMWdIyppthpvNXy4-LTZKqQX9NACEwYBhgL/s320/67906bd4ce1e5ca3ea726a034e8ab43c1240cfd6b36524f6b7f9500b38116975.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Ross meme</td></tr>
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This one is as wrong as it can be, just take a look <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckq7CQQ_XOM">at this video demonstration</a>.<br />Painting or manipulating images can create as much opportunities for happy accidents than their analog counterparts. It might not work as you expect from working with watercolors or other painting techniques, but they can occur and it is always possible to foster an experimental environment as in traditional painting. Programs like <a href="http://al.chemy.org/">Alchemy</a> or <a href="http://webchemy.org/">Webchemy</a> are proof that there are actually programs that don't want you to create with them what you intend, but rather focus on what you see.</div>
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<b>5. Digital Painting has no real value</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eqTdebZmqCg/WmrWU9wOrjI/AAAAAAAAHbc/RXfiUbagHN4vplDCc9zxfN1MAfrVhnV3gCEwYBhgL/s1600/andy-warhol-rare-signed-two-dollar-bill-works-on-paper-drawings-watercolors-etc-marker-zoom_1039_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="1039" height="153" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eqTdebZmqCg/WmrWU9wOrjI/AAAAAAAAHbc/RXfiUbagHN4vplDCc9zxfN1MAfrVhnV3gCEwYBhgL/s320/andy-warhol-rare-signed-two-dollar-bill-works-on-paper-drawings-watercolors-etc-marker-zoom_1039_500.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Actual auction item from <a href="https://www.artnet.com/auctions/artists/andy-warhol/rare-signed-two-dollar-bill">ArtNet.com</a></td></tr>
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Andy Warhol had a time when he used to sign magazine covers with an autograph and sell these for around $50 back in the day. Is that real value? And if so, why? Explain slowly and clear ;) There is no difference if I sign a poster print or a magazine cover with my autograph, as long as people want that, it has value. This argument is true, independent from any technique. In that regard digital art is now what photography was in the 1920ies and back then there were great photographers that have proven the world wrong about photography not being art and being of no value.</div>
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<b>6. Digital Painting is cheating</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-9pYAdszUUu5D3NB3wyQMUmWA16pBLq6z5yz-zIIi4P2ILxsqgEuE3-MujgA-QbDB2fgmGup_WkIvWfRC7FPcYf2k5YKtWZBTSK2b49rSBaGDp49GrPYfS81jb06vg02n5FDJkQA29Y/s1600/tracer-insane-51-wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-9pYAdszUUu5D3NB3wyQMUmWA16pBLq6z5yz-zIIi4P2ILxsqgEuE3-MujgA-QbDB2fgmGup_WkIvWfRC7FPcYf2k5YKtWZBTSK2b49rSBaGDp49GrPYfS81jb06vg02n5FDJkQA29Y/s320/tracer-insane-51-wallpaper.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracer / Insane 51 inspired / Yours truly, Oliver Wetter</td></tr>
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That depends on who you are and what your goals are. Cheating usually means to get to the finish-line faster or bypassing the <i>grinding</i> as seen in games (mostly). However, cheating in art, or better in digital art, is a oneway street. You can slap images together and even call the outcome your work, but the internet is small and many people can tell the truth. And then there is also a business for everyone, if you are good at photo-bashing, concept art studios are hiring... So there is a job - but soon you'll learn that you need more to get that job and that there are already established professionals working there who can tell if you have the skills or not. Eventually you find yourself grinding over the fact that you want that job so bad that you really want to be as good as you make everyone believe you were ;)</div>
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<br /><b>7. Anyone can paint digitally</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KU28vsoYUiw/WmrWU5TatxI/AAAAAAAAHbc/1_71YZmfN28G-s5DuMY6xWhSqpooXEsIQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Elephant_%2527Painting%2527_-_panoramio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KU28vsoYUiw/WmrWU5TatxI/AAAAAAAAHbc/1_71YZmfN28G-s5DuMY6xWhSqpooXEsIQCEwYBhgL/s320/Elephant_%2527Painting%2527_-_panoramio.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from Wikimedia / CC3.0</td></tr>
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But only a few stick with it. Why is that everyone claims they can do this or that, but after a while you see them do complete different things? <u>Just because everyone can do it does not mean everyone sticks to it</u>. The same philosophy goes for photography (again): Now, where everyone has a camera on their mobile phones, the gap between professionals and hobbyists is just getting bigger because everyone can do the thing and see their limits in front of them - and you can admit it, without Instagram filters, auto-sharpen and filters, your posts look half as good ;) Same with digital painting, since everyone can try it on a phone an iPad or a small tablet connected with the pc, the sheer amount of hours you consume in tutorials and trying to et better is making the gap wider between those who do and those who wanna-do (but never have the time to).</div>
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<br /><b>8. Mass reproduction makes digital art uninteresting for collectors<br /></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9mGn4n0X53k/WmrdkOTJF5I/AAAAAAAAHb0/mzmfrCwPG7wz4k6wgjEGxtSPVpei-AJSACLcBGAs/s1600/artsweatshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="390" height="202" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9mGn4n0X53k/WmrdkOTJF5I/AAAAAAAAHb0/mzmfrCwPG7wz4k6wgjEGxtSPVpei-AJSACLcBGAs/s320/artsweatshop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Da Fen Oil Painting Village - mass paintings anyone?</td></tr>
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Again something I like you to see with the eyes of a photographer, why should digital art be different than what a photographer does? They don't work in darkrooms anymore - not talking about the exceptions here. 80% of photographers work in Lightroom and in Photoshop these days. Of course you can say they only offer limited prints. Of course that is the biggest scam of all. My personal hero in that regard is the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson who has said :"why should I put a number on any of my prints?".<br />And to put the technique into perspective, why should a handmounted and signed copy directly from the artist be less worth than one of over 100 Master copies made in China?<br /><ul>
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Feel free to share your experience or opinion in a comment if you agree, disagree or whatever...<br />
It might also be that I amend another myth later.</div>
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Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-87080990779196041412017-12-23T18:25:00.000+01:002017-12-23T18:25:03.580+01:00End of the Year Review + Holiday Card ArtIt is that time of the year again. I'd like to look back on 2017 and list what I have accomplished, and what it means for the future – and that includes you; friends, colleagues, clients and customers as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQM6kyTQuen6LzMhkG68GygfV6Ijl3yP7FPjs-3hxYvDzfrctkYhlL37ELNOxNcZJ6llYwpgQRPBcO2gFUBBuw1Pdg-PeL-mLcQSpBb7FCnHb7KUZ_jjw9a9bO5orE5tZQ7iHlPEwIQmY/s1600/k2so-angel2-card-web+Kopie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="882" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQM6kyTQuen6LzMhkG68GygfV6Ijl3yP7FPjs-3hxYvDzfrctkYhlL37ELNOxNcZJ6llYwpgQRPBcO2gFUBBuw1Pdg-PeL-mLcQSpBb7FCnHb7KUZ_jjw9a9bO5orE5tZQ7iHlPEwIQmY/s640/k2so-angel2-card-web+Kopie.jpg" width="440" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Holiday Card for 2017, feel free to share</td></tr>
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<h4>
Blogging</h4>
Looking back while writing makes one thing clear; I have not blogged that much in 2017, shame over me. This is especially a bummer since I expanded my reach by being a guest blogger on <a href="https://blog.altpick.com/tag/oliver-wetter/">Altpick</a> for over 2 years now and also have well-liked posts up on <a href="http://blog.artlords.com/author/wetter/page/3/">Artlords dot com</a>.<br />
Since <a href="https://magazine.artstation.com/2017/12/blogging-artstation/">Artstation also opened up the platform to blogging</a>, I'll definitely put selected posts up there and work in 2018 on new content, promised. Since I'm a pro-member, I believe it as a part of my duty;)<br />
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Going Independent</h4>
The next thing that came to mind was a big change; In October this year I made a decision to step back from freelancing and focus on being an independent artist. I did both for over 5 years now and now I see limits in the freelancing world, where budgets become lower and inquiries fade, selling my personal work has no limitations. In the near future, I will still keep up working with existing clients, but I will not accept new clients for illustration work.<br />
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Health</h4>
Working as a sole visual artist on a board game this year unfortunately taught me what I don't want to do for a living. In general I found working under constant extrinsic pressure seems to make me sick, through stress and physically as well. So stepping back from that game is not only a luxury, but also necessary. The healthy option is clear and means focusing on intrinsic motivation.<br />
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Patreon</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-xYKeqSP345Nhl6cmTweJLvUS6_q3KotgJmVsOPverNUcxOYelHHG95IV3J57Wcj-_6_QleXxoatCsInecAx1DL2hhhbBt69NRHRfi95mIanPRVWumA2B5tEoq8_dYkEBZmv9dWS2G8/s1600/patreon+screenshot+fantasio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="1468" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-xYKeqSP345Nhl6cmTweJLvUS6_q3KotgJmVsOPverNUcxOYelHHG95IV3J57Wcj-_6_QleXxoatCsInecAx1DL2hhhbBt69NRHRfi95mIanPRVWumA2B5tEoq8_dYkEBZmv9dWS2G8/s200/patreon+screenshot+fantasio.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The Patreon platform saw the hardest change, sind I dropped from 2-6 regular monthly rewards to no rewards. This is also due to health issues and stress, but also because I don't wanted to put up mediocre quality just to deliver in time. This has resulted in a new motivation, since I started to produce for Conventions, I feel better, the output has become better and Patreon is still the first platform I release digital works. In many cases it has changed toward an exclusive platform as well. I show behind the scenes and personal observations more than anywhere else. So in that regard it has become more personal. Even if this is still one-sided, I think over time this can become more important. At least it does not cost me more to keep that door open.<br />
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<h4>
Going after copycats</h4>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8tWVJZh4d7U/Wj6QFYq-oZI/AAAAAAAAHX0/WdzsMYDo6a8jZ40lLYXQzhN_jpaslr7wQCLcBGAs/s1600/beware%2Bof%2Bcounterfeit%2Bprints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="1492" height="199" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8tWVJZh4d7U/Wj6QFYq-oZI/AAAAAAAAHX0/WdzsMYDo6a8jZ40lLYXQzhN_jpaslr7wQCLcBGAs/s200/beware%2Bof%2Bcounterfeit%2Bprints.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Since the stealing of my AT-AT Star Wars and Bierstadt homage went out of hand <b>with over 32 shops</b> compared to 3 at the end of last year, I have decided to go on a streak and pull them down one by one. A lawyer I was in talks about that subject seems to not have enough interest, so I'll have to find someone else or other options. It is clearly a part of my new job and I will accept the challenge. The up-to-date news about that project <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2016/11/beware-of-prime-line-gear-fraud-there.html">can be found here</a>.<br />
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Facebook</h4>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BOmxGVCBgAg/Wj6P2C0mZHI/AAAAAAAAHXw/havGCVm6Hl06q1X5VSWYhHOxtzBg_JDPgCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2017-12-23%2Bum%2B18.17.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="668" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BOmxGVCBgAg/Wj6P2C0mZHI/AAAAAAAAHXw/havGCVm6Hl06q1X5VSWYhHOxtzBg_JDPgCLcBGAs/s200/Bildschirmfoto%2B2017-12-23%2Bum%2B18.17.58.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
Since about 8 months or so, I neither invested in advertising nor did I overly used the platform to promote my work. The result is a more balanced self. I mostly use facebook on a desktop with strict custom css hacks, so that it becomes usable and since I use it to consume art mostly, time restriction limited to 20 minutes daily, it becomes acceptable. I feel more productive and at the end of the day <i>I am</i> more productive, earn more and feel less bad about my habits.<br />
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More exclusive and premium physical products</h4>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WmJwOcykM18/Wj6Pk3WMAWI/AAAAAAAAHXs/8dsXrW5tEaMLsfhqUxKJ2ChdDS5qda2PQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WmJwOcykM18/Wj6Pk3WMAWI/AAAAAAAAHXs/8dsXrW5tEaMLsfhqUxKJ2ChdDS5qda2PQCLcBGAs/s200/IMG_4094.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
The time is not just right to post more information about it yet, but I am investing and building around a new premium product that I will introduce on upcoming conventions. As always, <a href="https://www.patreon.com/fantasio">patrons</a> know more, but eventually you'll learn what it is all about. Stay tuned for more informations;)<br />
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Additional Tip-jar</h4>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JP-qUkgpR-4/Wj6PE0_aR-I/AAAAAAAAHXg/hJjJfT9cDnc_vxglJJ9zcTJ2rcsy_qIMQCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2017-12-23%2Bum%2B18.14.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="932" height="103" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JP-qUkgpR-4/Wj6PE0_aR-I/AAAAAAAAHXg/hJjJfT9cDnc_vxglJJ9zcTJ2rcsy_qIMQCLcBGAs/s200/Bildschirmfoto%2B2017-12-23%2Bum%2B18.14.42.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div>
Since not everyone likes to pledge on a monthly or recurring basis that Patreon is good for, I now have a <a href="https://ko-fi.com/F2F86U6N">Ko-fi page</a> that allows you to buy me a coffee for whatever reason, be it that you used my work as a wallpaper for over a year now or bought a <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2016/11/beware-of-prime-line-gear-fraud-there.html">counterfeit </a>canvaswithout knowing and want to do something for your karma now;)</div>
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No annual book submissions</h4>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vCNBYpsmUe8/Wj6PTDxMgAI/AAAAAAAAHXk/f2lo8PKAr50X7_5KS8yQsnisNQNBakAawCLcBGAs/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2017-12-23%2Bum%2B18.15.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="628" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vCNBYpsmUe8/Wj6PTDxMgAI/AAAAAAAAHXk/f2lo8PKAr50X7_5KS8yQsnisNQNBakAawCLcBGAs/s200/Bildschirmfoto%2B2017-12-23%2Bum%2B18.15.37.jpg" width="153" /></a></div>
This year, for the first time, I did not submit my work to Infected by Art and other book publications. There are many reasons; for one, I don't have enough new work that is free from rights of third-parties and then there is the fact that being in 5 Books with over 15 images over the time of 5 years and it has brought me zero response. Not in terms of inquiries, not in commentary and not in job offers. Lürzer's Archive also does inquire about putting work into their "Best Digital Artists Worldwide" etc. but besides the hefty price-tag, it does bring zero return on investment. And since I have decided to do less commission works too, it would be counterproductive to advertise something that I don't have time for.<br />
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<h4>
The year in pictures along with some commentary:</h4>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lkKa3DdBK1A/Wj6Hu-pRebI/AAAAAAAAHXM/YBYa_xdhJJwzXd4Bqa8-KEWO55fLYa-nwCLcBGAs/s1600/websize--mercy1.4-v2-final-3-reduced%2BKopie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="1440" height="228" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lkKa3DdBK1A/Wj6Hu-pRebI/AAAAAAAAHXM/YBYa_xdhJJwzXd4Bqa8-KEWO55fLYa-nwCLcBGAs/s320/websize--mercy1.4-v2-final-3-reduced%2BKopie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3YGeD">Mercy</a> was one of the characters I have most procrastinated upon. The reason was that I had too many ideas but none was good enough. In the end it was one of the first pieces that I produced for conventions and not for Patreon and the reward was huge for me - it was definitely the right decision to create a Landscape around it.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0uuAhANK7EE/Wj6HnXA-L_I/AAAAAAAAHXI/i0updHE6v8cbnn6OCHxmGToldv1Vf3y1wCLcBGAs/s1600/1920x1200px-watermarked-web-Abandoned-Millenium-Falcon-at-Sierra-Nevada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0uuAhANK7EE/Wj6HnXA-L_I/AAAAAAAAHXI/i0updHE6v8cbnn6OCHxmGToldv1Vf3y1wCLcBGAs/s320/1920x1200px-watermarked-web-Abandoned-Millenium-Falcon-at-Sierra-Nevada.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The<a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Wv9dy"> Millenium Falcon</a> was also the most anticipated piece by fans of the series and the success gave me right. While the AT-AT made Top Row on "<a href="https://www.google.de/search?q=star+wars+wallpaper&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig7IWLzqDYAhVO6qQKHfJtAOkQ_AUICigB&biw=1094&bih=701">Star Wars Wallpaper</a>" and No. #1 with "<a href="https://www.google.de/search?biw=1094&bih=701&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=3Is-WtzrK4-0sAeC0r3oBA&q=at-at+wallpaper&oq=at-at+wallpaper&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i7i30k1j0i30k1.31089.32414.0.32607.6.6.0.0.0.0.83.458.6.6.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.6.458...0i13k1j0i7i5i30k1j0i8i7i30k1.0.2TFXbWBOb_M">at-at wallpaper</a>" on search engines, this one is much more popular in real life and that is the biggest win, when you have to see it in real and a digital copy does not do it justice.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3_VHleoVljzpjJFRVMRiY_XVZ1LWHzbWURbXkgzs3-WcuWmejwirHuSd-KkNmZf1Y62f2qyDkhAvKaboaLRNPZL0LD4QVaZJKVqgTYXOT5sxznohoTyzkEtpK9FVLWfO5s8aVUKOeQQ/s1600/light-final-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3_VHleoVljzpjJFRVMRiY_XVZ1LWHzbWURbXkgzs3-WcuWmejwirHuSd-KkNmZf1Y62f2qyDkhAvKaboaLRNPZL0LD4QVaZJKVqgTYXOT5sxznohoTyzkEtpK9FVLWfO5s8aVUKOeQQ/s320/light-final-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
My personal favorite of the portrait experiments from early spring 2017. The textures, brush settings and impressionism taught me lots about portraits and recognizing features. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/fantasio/albums/65218">The portrait-series</a> is not finished yet, it is a great topic to get better and raise the bar constantly.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D-Le2wMFDVw/Wj6Hhpo5G8I/AAAAAAAAHXE/IlrC84HZytYIRy86CDYP2mWDozs02Q7twCLcBGAs/s1600/Menk-work-landscape-final2-smallest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1107" data-original-width="1400" height="253" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D-Le2wMFDVw/Wj6Hhpo5G8I/AAAAAAAAHXE/IlrC84HZytYIRy86CDYP2mWDozs02Q7twCLcBGAs/s320/Menk-work-landscape-final2-smallest.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
One of the few commissions I did this year that I am proud of, was the "<a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/e5d8Z">Menk</a>". <br />A creature/character design for Ren Garcia and his <a href="https://thetempleoftheexplodinghead.com/books/">League of Elder</a> series. The design was mainly realized with the help of Zbrush and 3d design and <a href="https://www.pixelsquid.com/">Pixelsquid</a>. It was really fun to do and it helped me get better with Zbrush.<br />
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All-in-all, it was an overwhelming experience to work less with commissions and more on my own terms. Earning more with my own creations than I had earned in my first 2,5 years of freelancing altogether is a big help to be more confident that the route I am going now is the right one.<br />
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With that, I want to end this blog post and wish all my blog visitors, followers, clients, customer and friends a wonderful holiday season and a great start into 2018!<br />
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All the best,<br />Oliver / Ars FantasioFantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-61220434504558519642017-08-14T14:32:00.003+02:002021-03-06T14:38:16.281+01:008 Desktop-Lifehacks for Digital Painters To Stay Focused<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUd01pcFhL6J5MM2ELwvrIDTYw92kZlEVQ_Ld62Jfuu2eb_ZOX-ZvaUOzVxXxXOgvSWSBK7RV9jR9qeQSdc4APGvhodL7nbGq0bXLUY8RtJhspgg6OxcT5TZT0K7FeHQqIdKo39qXbQ_o/s1600/desktop-fantasio+Kopie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1600" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUd01pcFhL6J5MM2ELwvrIDTYw92kZlEVQ_Ld62Jfuu2eb_ZOX-ZvaUOzVxXxXOgvSWSBK7RV9jR9qeQSdc4APGvhodL7nbGq0bXLUY8RtJhspgg6OxcT5TZT0K7FeHQqIdKo39qXbQ_o/s640/desktop-fantasio+Kopie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /><b>*Edit*</b> Just a quick note that the list below is a bit outdated sine I don't work with Wacom anymore, but some of the hacks still work with XP-Pen or other Pen-Display brands.<br />Also make sure to read my review about the new <a href="https://www.fantasio.info/2021/02/xp-pen-22-artist-2nd-gen-review.html">XP-PEn 22" 2nd Gen Artist Tablet here</a>. <b>*Edit End*</b><br /><div><br /></div><div>---</div><div><br /></div><div>
As some of my readers already know, I'm positively obsessed with work ergonomics and I constantly change my work environment to optimize my workflow.<div>
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In this article I want to dive into some details, into the why and how to do something better.<br />
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The main reason for this obsession is to get easier and stay longer in the flow with less distraction.<br />
This may seem as a contradiction in itself for a digital artist because we are closer to desktop publishing and social media, but that is what painting is about: Get into the flow and get things done.<br />
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Here's the #1 Lifehack for Summer:<br />
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The Ultra-Silent Controllable Fan</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKmZ2kJZTRT8rAZYkY_lQ6RgDtx9RAt0U1TeUgPsQAbTpZS3nEiCl5853PLGR4R96CU2cXx3l1mAcBPckatdvKzrPXHMwvSCta5URI96QJ0qguJwshc-iJjhvnvuIapoGyAAMzizCzC0/s1600/fan-with-speedcontrol-hack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKmZ2kJZTRT8rAZYkY_lQ6RgDtx9RAt0U1TeUgPsQAbTpZS3nEiCl5853PLGR4R96CU2cXx3l1mAcBPckatdvKzrPXHMwvSCta5URI96QJ0qguJwshc-iJjhvnvuIapoGyAAMzizCzC0/s400/fan-with-speedcontrol-hack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The internal Computer-fan that I had lying around is connected to a <a href="https://www.quietpc.com/kazeq">Scythe Controller.</a><br />Basically I took a 5 Volt power supply, soldered the wires to a switch and then from there to the fan-controller and connected the fan. It is also possible to solder the wires to a usb cable, however, the fan will not shut off when the computer is not shut down but in standby mode, So I would consider this carefully. <br /><br />Depending on temperature I can give it full boost or add another fan. In the lowest setting you can't even hear the fan, but it gives a low cool breeze around the face.<br />
Don't ask me for the holder of the controller and fan, I always put things together from findings and stuff that I have lying around, I can't even give you a shopping list because some parts are 20 years and older ... But with a little imagination you might come up with a similar solution.<br />Let me know in a comment what worked for you!<br />
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Lifehack #2 Painkiller<br />
<h3>
Cintiq as Ergonomic Trackpad Holder</h3>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YMT019uv60E/WZAz7edummI/AAAAAAAAHNw/yiQkrQEoc3Y9NU2mx-QB82wMN18dpajmACLcBGAs/s1600/trackpad-ergo-hack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="1600" height="271" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YMT019uv60E/WZAz7edummI/AAAAAAAAHNw/yiQkrQEoc3Y9NU2mx-QB82wMN18dpajmACLcBGAs/s400/trackpad-ergo-hack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Who would have guessed that the empty space around the Cintiq 27QHD can be a nice ergonomic armrest? With double-sided tape I mounted the Trackpad, the <a href="https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B017DJ31GK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1">handrest</a> and a <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-100cm-Acoustic-Foam-Mat-Soundproof-Car-Door-Wall-Decor-Roll-With-Backglue/262673184450?epid=1987066173&hash=item3d288ab6c2%3Ag%3A86UAAOSwTA9X6g0a">foamboard</a>, matching exactly my arm-length. For tasks like scrolling websites, programming and switching between applications, this is definitely better than using the mouse, plus the ways are shorter to get there.<br />
Generally the trackpad is better to stay away from wrist-pain, but having an ergonomic place like this is better for longer stays and invites for a more healthy position throughout the day.<br />
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Lifehack #3<br />
<h3>
Cheap Custom Wacom-penholder</h3>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g7pKUJhkDxU/WZA2wVHlLfI/AAAAAAAAHOA/Q3GncGOsKIE1bWRWBRddgh0H_FG5acXGgCLcBGAs/s1600/penholder-wacom-stylus-hack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g7pKUJhkDxU/WZA2wVHlLfI/AAAAAAAAHOA/Q3GncGOsKIE1bWRWBRddgh0H_FG5acXGgCLcBGAs/s400/penholder-wacom-stylus-hack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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What bothered me the most when using a Cintiq was the long ways necessary to put the pen away after work and the distance to grab it. This is especially bothering for short pauses throughout the day.<br />
In another version I came up with a magnetic solution. But with the trackpad armrest, this solution does not work for me anymore. So I came up with another foam-board solution. This even works for two pens, in my case the (customized) Art-pen and standard Pro-pen from Wacom.<br />
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<br />Lifehack #4<br />
<h3>
Customizing A Cheap Keypad</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqpMynM9Nk81HfpcncaGHyS8m-Fs1-tfJmTXmNr-ZoDSfbi8QeRLscHX7ER0Ombx5Z0b6LzAGBEmphsCJgwLqaRbIY7GoAlv2ZVKd-UVDjgEtVst-_jQEb-0KX3ZYXZ9fApiU3haQ394/s1600/keyboard-hack3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqpMynM9Nk81HfpcncaGHyS8m-Fs1-tfJmTXmNr-ZoDSfbi8QeRLscHX7ER0Ombx5Z0b6LzAGBEmphsCJgwLqaRbIY7GoAlv2ZVKd-UVDjgEtVst-_jQEb-0KX3ZYXZ9fApiU3haQ394/s400/keyboard-hack3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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One thing that I used for a long time now is a custom keypad for working in Photoshop and Zbrush. For a long time I was a user of the Logitech G13 but after the OS X upgrade to Sierra it stopped working and there never came a working update from Logitech so the $90 device became utterly useless.<br />
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As a new and cheaper replacement with even better keys (very silent) I found the <a href="http://www.zykon.com/k1-gamer-keyboard/">Zykon K1 Keypad</a> and instantly thought it was worth to give it a try. What could possibly go wrong for $10 bucks? With USB overdrive I assigned custom shortcuts and with a label-printer I taped the new keystrokes on the device as well. I'm not a fan of macros, I just want shorter ways for some shortcuts and the Zykon Keypad allowed me to just do that. What can I say, it works like a charm!<br /><br />With <a href="https://autohotkey.com/">Autokotkey</a> this can also work with Windows, for Mac OS <a href="http://www.usboverdrive.com/USBOverdrive/News.html">USB Overdrive</a> is a great recommendation as it can separate different devices and assign different keyboard settings by device.<br />
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If you are interested, I can put up a list of keystrokes I assigned, but most can be seen from the photograph.<br /><br />
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Lifehack #5<br />
<h3>
DIY - Finding Keys Faster</h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkOd3-3YgdA/WZA7B-4dOtI/AAAAAAAAHOY/hnx_Pp7sgFQQmDRBpLz4d7b4TgKPiZisgCLcBGAs/s1600/keyboard-hack2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkOd3-3YgdA/WZA7B-4dOtI/AAAAAAAAHOY/hnx_Pp7sgFQQmDRBpLz4d7b4TgKPiZisgCLcBGAs/s400/keyboard-hack2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DUe8gCGmagU/WZA7EEhZAWI/AAAAAAAAHOc/7PsuLAVWmakXJ6fwSmCCwBQ2G4YZNmysACLcBGAs/s1600/Download.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="300" height="330" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DUe8gCGmagU/WZA7EEhZAWI/AAAAAAAAHOc/7PsuLAVWmakXJ6fwSmCCwBQ2G4YZNmysACLcBGAs/s400/Download.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><br />This one seems to be a minor lifehack, but in everyday use it is a life-and-timesaver!<br /><br />Custom indentation or nothches to find keys blindly is a feature that gamers know and use a lot. In workstation and work-environments you search for keyboards with these features. With small<a href="https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B009TNT7VW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1"> selfadhesive plastic buffers</a> this solution is just a few fingertips away.<br />
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On the custom keypad I know my hand is on the right keys without even looking, this guarantees to stay in the flow far longer.<br />
<br />
Lifehack #6<br />
<h3>
DIY Painting Glove Holder</h3>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FJQP3G9gQFQ/WZA9gzjPGJI/AAAAAAAAHOo/BHvmNkFB_0MszzlOA30Mxc4RDerGh2pfQCLcBGAs/s1600/painting%2Bglove-and-holder.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1184" data-original-width="1600" height="295" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FJQP3G9gQFQ/WZA9gzjPGJI/AAAAAAAAHOo/BHvmNkFB_0MszzlOA30Mxc4RDerGh2pfQCLcBGAs/s400/painting%2Bglove-and-holder.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is the easiest and yet most useful hack; Using a Velcro-Spot to hold your Painting Glove ;)<br />
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<br />
Lifehack #7<br />
<h3>
Custom Book and Reference Holder</h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FyF86i-8BPo/WZA-nozqnBI/AAAAAAAAHO0/kb67yWSXZqsbNrjSK6QYLqij2154H3jogCLcBGAs/s1600/book-holder-hack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FyF86i-8BPo/WZA-nozqnBI/AAAAAAAAHO0/kb67yWSXZqsbNrjSK6QYLqij2154H3jogCLcBGAs/s400/book-holder-hack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Since the Cintiq 27QHD is too big for effective use of the Ergotron arm, I misused my <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2013/05/setting-up-wacom-cintiq-13hd-with.html">DIY tablet cradle</a> to hold reference-books these days. This not only saves space, it is also a good light-shade on sunny days. Just kidding, but since I use books a lot for inspiration or technical research, it becomes handy often enough.<br />
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<br />Lifehack #8<br />
<h3>
Use A Glass plate for Drawing</h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LojpaK5tlI/WZBEGmZn2rI/AAAAAAAAHPE/C3AhEolFx_I7h8E0wBCM3rTnMOdW3wQmgCLcBGAs/s1600/wacom-cintiq-glass-plate-hack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1244" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LojpaK5tlI/WZBEGmZn2rI/AAAAAAAAHPE/C3AhEolFx_I7h8E0wBCM3rTnMOdW3wQmgCLcBGAs/s400/wacom-cintiq-glass-plate-hack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The picture above is an old version, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUd01pcFhL6J5MM2ELwvrIDTYw92kZlEVQ_Ld62Jfuu2eb_ZOX-ZvaUOzVxXxXOgvSWSBK7RV9jR9qeQSdc4APGvhodL7nbGq0bXLUY8RtJhspgg6OxcT5TZT0K7FeHQqIdKo39qXbQ_o/s640/desktop-fantasio+Kopie.jpg">from the image on top</a> you can see that the new version goes from edge-to-edge. That is because I ordered a custom glass plate to match my needs. <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2015/01/setting-up-wacom-27qhd-review-wacom.html">In that old article are also some desktop tips</a>, give them a read if you like. The reason for using a glass plate is that you are gliding faster over the surface which results in less wrist pain or none at all. I have some working sessions of 10-12 hours nearly in a row and have no ache. Another reason is that it prevents the Cintiq from scratches. I heard it should be a glass plate but yet I have 2 scratches on my Cintiq which gave me reason enough to use a glass plate.<br />
<h3>
Additional Tips</h3>
<br />
There are also some software and preferences I use everyday. Maybe you know some of them, maybe not. Either way, here goes a list with useful tools:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.rgbworld.com/windowmizer">Windowmizer </a>- Reduce open windows to just a header bar. This reduces distractions to a fraction, the Windows equivalent would be <a href="http://download.cnet.com/g00/WinRoll/3000-2072_4-75959279.html?i10c.referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.de%2F">Winroll</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2017/01/hack-facebook-and-make-it-less.html">A lot of tips to make facebook and social media less distractive</a></li>
<li>Quit notifications, visual and audible notifications distract a lot, quit them wherever possible also on the phone or tablet</li>
<li>Refrain from using wallpaper slides that change every minute. I only use one desktop image, the secondary is just a medium grey background color that works as application backdrop</li>
<li>On OS X hide the Dock, notifications are often visible in the dock even when other notifications are turned off, also the colorful app icons distract from work</li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
<div>
This should not mean I don't like to be distracted from time to time. When I don't have conceptional work on my plate but render work that is often times hours of grinding through detailing, I watch Netflix or listen to Spotify music. But this is controlled distraction and helps to develop emotional connections with my work. Not every show or music does work though, but many do.</div>
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<br />
I hope you found these tips useful. If you have your own desktop or ergonomics lifehack, don't be shy and share them in the comments below. I love to learn and try out new things too.<br />
<br /></div></div>Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-39734366513993363782017-07-12T15:30:00.000+02:002018-10-09T15:01:12.161+02:006 Reasons Why You Should Be "Going The Extra Mile"We usually graduate from school, begin study, graduate from college and if we are happy, we get a good job, work until we grow old and then die.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gTgiAVxquvY/W7ymkUi5VLI/AAAAAAAAHzM/SounqMtJleEQIxW4Xjpt-2lkKoH2qMQkQCLcBGAs/s1600/Unbenannt-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gTgiAVxquvY/W7ymkUi5VLI/AAAAAAAAHzM/SounqMtJleEQIxW4Xjpt-2lkKoH2qMQkQCLcBGAs/s1600/Unbenannt-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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So, why care about extra effort anyways?<br />
Why care at all if you have a good salary, good credit-card status, a mortgage, a nice car?<br />
<br />
Because eventually when you have all the shallow glitter stuff, you crave for something more.<br />
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And eventually you find out that more of the same shallow things don't make you happy anymore.<br />
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Sad story, I know. But true for almost 80% of all people living in modern civilization.<br />
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The cure for that dilemma isn't more work or more friends or more sleep at night; it is about deeper relationships and reconnecting with your true passion.<br />
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<b>Many of us start a career by thinking it is our free will</b>. <br />
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And later on we find out that we actually want to do something entirely different and that our initial career goals were <i>inceptions</i> planted by our parents.<br />
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Bummer.<br />
<br />
The thing is that you can't change professions easily like underwear.<br />
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You have to do it all day besides your day-job.<br />
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But this isn't a bad thing: actually, studies have shown that <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/after-work-what-determines-your-future-spend-one-hour-sundaram">what we do between 6pm and 1am determines our future</a>.<br />
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This is especially true if you consider that you have a labor job with little income and rediscover your passion for music or the arts.<br />
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When you are in this situation, you have a first contact with "<i>Going the extra mile</i>" and what it probably means.<br />
<br />
It possibly means that you decide that exercise drawing and studying books about drawing is more important than hanging out with your friends. It means that solitude becomes a more reliable friend than any friend in highschool ever was. And it means that if you want to go places you have to keep up "going the extra mile" because you can only hope that current professionals in your niche are going to be lazy and your extra mile can compensate for your lack of time so that you are on par with professionals someday.<br />
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I went exactly this route and I had to pay my art school education all by myself and earning back anything I spent on my education now by being a lecturer.<br />
<br />
<h3>
So what does it mean to go the extra mile in a professional environment?</h3>
There are many aspects in which "<i>going the extra mile</i>" can pay off later. <br />
First off, I want to declare what I really mean by it:<br />
Going the extra mile means exceeding everyones expectation, including your own, to excel in any given task.<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Reason #1: Learn to read emails properly.</b><br />No kidding. Assuming the most important thing is written on the top and the least important on the bottom, helps you to find out what is most important to your client. If for example, the delivery date has more priority than the quality, you know already what the client wants and can work toward this goal. If at the end you are one day ahead, you can still give it the extra treatment for quality you are more likely to excel in both; delivery and quality - which ensures that the client comes back.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><b>Reason #2: Speaking up when necessary</b>I had discussions with clients about things they wanted me to do that were utterly ridiculous and I dared to say that I walk away and have better things to do than to associate my name with poor solutions. Now you can imagine what that client did, he came back, apologized and figured out that he obviously hired me because of my expertise and that they will follow. This of course, only works if you lead with a great example of whatever you do. If you are specialized and can show a proof for the success of your solutions, you are actually really better of leaving that client go, if they do not adhere to your professional opinion.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><b>Reason #3: Keeping personal works up</b>Going the extra mile can also mean that you should still keeping up personal works besides freelancing and finding working commitments to do so, such as Patreon or 365 day challenges or doing postcards <a href="http://www.wikiwrimo.org/wiki/List_of_timed_artistic_challenges">for every timed challenge there currently is</a>.... These are harsh commitments but they work. And in the end this determines your professional future as well.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><b>Reason #4: Presentation is everything</b>For independent artists, the gallery showroom or convention booth is their real asset and as such it can bring you much more forward investing in equipment than in the actual product. Because, let's face it, a canvas painting is a canvas painting and you can't do much more than framing to make it better than it is, so why not invest in some better spots or a better name label or some more exclusive business cards? In the end it levels up the value of your brand as a person and helps people to connect you with a high quality product and not a mediocre product. Because what people take with them is a freebie or a cheap version of what they crave, not the original.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><b>Reason #5: Pushing your product</b><br />As a digital artist, you can either put your digital output to a million online stores to sell as mugs, shirts or wall posters and swim with million other artists who thinks they can stick out. Or you can build your own brand and business. In terms of prints, my premium product is the canvas print which is signed on front and back, hand-mounted and unique with a wax-seal. A <u>customized perfect version of what I envisioned</u> that comes in a bubble foil if you purchase it on the spot - let's say a convention.<br />Of course it takes time to print them manually and mount them and deal with the huge 44" printer <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2015/06/101-guide-to-digital-painting-hardware.html">and the whole process</a>. These are commitments like any producer and seller has. And yes, I am a part time seller for my own work. And sometimes it feels like a musician who goes in the studio for four weeks and then he goes on tour for 6 months. This cycle repeats 10, 15 or 20 times. And which musician do you think will stick around after 20 years? That one that uploads all his songs to itunes and spotify or those who go out and play live and sell their merchandise on concerts? From experience, I'd always say the latter. Because, if you loved the concert, you are more likely to take something with you. This is called momentum. Wherever momentum happens, people tend to spend more money irrationally. And as a matter of fact, that happens to work less in the online world, for obvious reasons. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><b>Reason #6: Push your value</b><br />Another important aspect is value. As soon as you get paid for doing what you love, that was your hobby before, you get a sense for value. But don't ever believe you could change a $500 client into a $5000 client, because that never happens, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chasejarvis/videos/10153896119625978/">here is why</a>. I actually was there and learned that the hard way and when going the extra miles, it all comes together: Since I earn more money through selling my own work as independent artist, I have a much better time to send prospective clients away and maintain my value. Thinking more about that matter, the saying:" If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" from Henry Ford becomes more depth.</li>
</ul>
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This is what going the extra mile means for me and even if it sounds like the guy that collect all bonus items in super Mario, he or she is probably the one with the most fun and the best score.<br />
<br />
To finalize this article, let's close this with some suggestions that should keep you thinking and pushing. Some initial things you can do right now is to ask yourself the following questions from time to time:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Can you shift the focus if you attach the value to you as a person and not to your work?</b><br />If your current clients are $150, tell yourself (and believe) they were $1500 paying. Does this work? How long did it take? What were the results? How did you feel by shifting your internal values?</li>
<li><b>What can you do to push your products, not the websites your work is seen?</b><br />What if you create your own shop via storenvy, shopify, bigcartel or etsy and ship yourself? How can you advertise your work on social media? How does it feel to send every buyer a personal thank you message with every purchase?</li>
<li><b>How does it feel working on your personal work again?</b><br />If you can create further on your own IP, how does this satisfy compared to your paying job? What can you do to invite people to give you more honest feedback on your projects? Can you find more creative likeminded people to collaborate on your project, for example via <a href="https://www.artella.com/#/home">Artella</a>?</li>
</ul>
<br />
I hope you found this article motivating and helpful. Feel free to share it on your network or re-blog it where possible with the attribution and link back to my website.<br />
<br />
Let me know your experiences in a comment as well if you like.<br />
<br />Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-53187511606292011392017-05-08T16:27:00.002+02:002017-05-15T20:17:35.177+02:00Cy-Co: The Western - Cyberpunk Boardgame + Kickstarter Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
The campaign is now live on Kickstarter, be part of it <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/villain-games/cy-co-the-western-cyberpunk-board-game">here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/villain-games/cy-co-the-western-cyberpunk-board-game</a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSHuR9hPHh4/WQjhMMO_9gI/AAAAAAAAHIQ/AOgQzrh4c1gzf4iJr3vUED81FRMLUt01ACLcB/s1600/cy-co-spiel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSHuR9hPHh4/WQjhMMO_9gI/AAAAAAAAHIQ/AOgQzrh4c1gzf4iJr3vUED81FRMLUt01ACLcB/s640/cy-co-spiel.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Play-view of the boardgame Cy-Co </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Since about 10 months now I was working on a game project which is now going into a critical phase: it has to be funded. To get an idea what I am talking about in this post, have a look at this page, maybe you want to be part of this project, or if you are a boardgame-geek, this place is for you: <a href="https://www.cy-co.com/kickstarter/">https://www.cy-co.com/kickstarter/</a><br />
<br />
For my artist friends; no this was not spec-work and I got paid for my time and effort, which is very rare for independent publishers wanting to pitch on crowdfunding. "Villain Games" approached me with this project and did not shy away from the cost that such a big project bears.<br />
<br />
Creating all the original assets for this game was a lot of work, actually more than I ever did on a project before. So, regardless of the Kickstarter outcome, for me this was a huge learning experience in terms of managing tasks and my schedule around conventions and other clients.<br />
<br />
<b> What was your task you might ask?</b><br />
<br />
95% of the design and illustrations for the game so far, was done by yours truly!<br />
<br />
The website (created by Villain-Games) for Cy-Co is online already, check it out here <a href="https://www.cy-co.com/">https://www.cy-co.com/</a> for more information.<br />
<br />
Below you see the (so far) final cover of the game that will go on the box.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r1yvoC_mi18/WQjgamHQ3UI/AAAAAAAAHHo/wVC8vk5X3dIrBhImxNkkYYBoco0EABubQCLcB/s1600/cover-skizze-concept-v5.3-plus-rand-final-klein%2BKopie.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r1yvoC_mi18/WQjgamHQ3UI/AAAAAAAAHHo/wVC8vk5X3dIrBhImxNkkYYBoco0EABubQCLcB/s320/cover-skizze-concept-v5.3-plus-rand-final-klein%2BKopie.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Below you see some preliminary sketches and concepts that show a fraction of the development that went into this project. When the <a href="https://www.cy-co.com/kickstarter/">kickstarter campaign </a>goes live, you'll see a lot more of the actual work.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJctoPOVdryus4NljDpPKXH69wU3vWbt0YfvNKbtAJ34z3PLU3pzVh1D5EnLvap4p1UGqg0igEGTfZcA5LjvT_RDk2SUZLdUx69YbWzaJPZ8vkF8khVX-90hA5lSKW6J0ep2xTZvQKfWg/s1600/cover-skizze-concept-v5.2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJctoPOVdryus4NljDpPKXH69wU3vWbt0YfvNKbtAJ34z3PLU3pzVh1D5EnLvap4p1UGqg0igEGTfZcA5LjvT_RDk2SUZLdUx69YbWzaJPZ8vkF8khVX-90hA5lSKW6J0ep2xTZvQKfWg/s320/cover-skizze-concept-v5.2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cover sketch </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
In this version the western / cyborg mix slowly comes to life.<br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SmlYzmsiyYA/WQjggt-YaxI/AAAAAAAAHHs/tm_c5n0jNc41UwVTd39n48Wy7okTNr6lQCLcB/s1600/cover-skizze-concept-v5-klein.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SmlYzmsiyYA/WQjggt-YaxI/AAAAAAAAHHs/tm_c5n0jNc41UwVTd39n48Wy7okTNr6lQCLcB/s320/cover-skizze-concept-v5-klein.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cover sketch rough </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The initial new sketch shows a lot more movement and "tech" stuff we wanted to see.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y6Hx7fvxxVI/WQjglMvyYkI/AAAAAAAAHH0/G4gh1y9y9PwDV4LU2m4rTgMPbAY9QDn8ACLcB/s1600/cover-skizze-concept-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y6Hx7fvxxVI/WQjglMvyYkI/AAAAAAAAHH0/G4gh1y9y9PwDV4LU2m4rTgMPbAY9QDn8ACLcB/s320/cover-skizze-concept-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">preliminary, unused cover concept</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As you can see above, the cover went astray with that first preliminary sketch you see above. The reason was that it fulfilled a lot of clichés but many we did not want to portrait. Also the color-scheme was not working so I cancelled working on it further from my end, not because of the client.<br />
<br />
Sometimes it is important to go one route and see how it works.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j4U3BZRFKSQ/WQjgo0skhqI/AAAAAAAAHH4/8WgACuA-CZMH-j5Lu_2cTdG5yY-8C87kwCLcB/s1600/cover-skizze-concept-v4.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j4U3BZRFKSQ/WQjgo0skhqI/AAAAAAAAHH4/8WgACuA-CZMH-j5Lu_2cTdG5yY-8C87kwCLcB/s400/cover-skizze-concept-v4.1.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">promotional poster art (sketch)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
An idea of my own was to make a simplistic poster available on the campaign. Silhouette designs are not that much work and I had fun working on this. You can see the final design on the campaign and <b>on my booth at conventions.</b><br />
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One of the (Non-playable) character-designs had to be a female outlaw that is based on a given photographic reference. Since the backers of this campaign can "become" an outlaw or civilian, I had to find a way to make them recognizable and yet cool enough for the game ;)<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mUZWGcMgvUg/WQjg0IfVVqI/AAAAAAAAHIE/39XN4PmEtQAjMzoSqtSVjDu0Ld_u3MVzACLcB/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2016-07-07%2Bum%2B12.06.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mUZWGcMgvUg/WQjg0IfVVqI/AAAAAAAAHIE/39XN4PmEtQAjMzoSqtSVjDu0Ld_u3MVzACLcB/s400/Bildschirmfoto%2B2016-07-07%2Bum%2B12.06.27.jpg" width="272" /></a><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IMfOaLXKTuM/WQjgxAfg1xI/AAAAAAAAHIA/e0d0SNcbZwYc_qm08BWk7zGNhxUPgqo6wCLcB/s1600/Bildschirmfoto%2B2016-07-14%2Bum%2B23.17.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IMfOaLXKTuM/WQjgxAfg1xI/AAAAAAAAHIA/e0d0SNcbZwYc_qm08BWk7zGNhxUPgqo6wCLcB/s400/Bildschirmfoto%2B2016-07-14%2Bum%2B23.17.27.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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Crime evil, which is one of the main figures was a lot fun to do. He had to be archaic and evil. That is always a fun combination. The difficult aspect was to get the mix between western and cyborg believable. We agreed on a rather "steampunk" look for him because that is not too far off and archaic enough to make this evil creature work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdzOADDiXd3BBvnXMI7JYNVUFkuYm189sIXFGymffkNN5Ms0vILJZ7t8nAfeUevBfe3GCf-vKG2ZFpdl93nqkkdVtHPmv9dKV6StXB-h3yxPUVgd88o1Yk6BYUfpmM6Z92Nsmbo26J8ys/s1600/cy-co-brettspiel-teaser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdzOADDiXd3BBvnXMI7JYNVUFkuYm189sIXFGymffkNN5Ms0vILJZ7t8nAfeUevBfe3GCf-vKG2ZFpdl93nqkkdVtHPmv9dKV6StXB-h3yxPUVgd88o1Yk6BYUfpmM6Z92Nsmbo26J8ys/s640/cy-co-brettspiel-teaser.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gameboard renderings by M. Cieschinger.</td></tr>
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Another big part of the project for me, was to design the buildings. <a href="https://www.cy-co.com/trudis-casino-gebaeude-skizzen/">On the website</a> you see some articles about how these were developed.<br />
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I hope you got thirsty for some awesome retro western - cyberpunk tabletop game fun and can't wait to see the campaign go live on Kickstarter.<br />
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The campaign will be live on <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/?ref=nav">Kickstarter</a> starting from <u><b>May 15th.</b></u><br />
<br />Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8747613805792201667.post-24061249681299293032017-03-16T16:00:00.000+01:002017-03-16T16:00:01.046+01:00Why Having A Unique Art Style is OverratedQuite recently I observed a very intriguing thing: People participating in a lottery.<br />
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How some people believe they have a chance at winning when the obvious statistics suggest chances are like 1:16.000.000 (Where the 1 is you). Some do this and put $600-$1200 a year into the tickets for the excitement of watching the lottery drawing! Really? Man, you can have Netflix, Spotify premium and full Adobe CC all year for that money!<br />
And you still have something left to support a<a href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=59949"> living artist on patreon</a> and earn lifelong gratitude, did you know this?<br />
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<b>What does this have to do with art and art styles?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AuKVMR2syH0/WJ3DGWPGeaI/AAAAAAAAG1o/vsuryWzeaq41-7yq8Xdcus0gUZROt34_gCLcB/s1600/DS-vs-SF-eyendecker-she-is-my-girl-small-w-text-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AuKVMR2syH0/WJ3DGWPGeaI/AAAAAAAAG1o/vsuryWzeaq41-7yq8Xdcus0gUZROt34_gCLcB/s320/DS-vs-SF-eyendecker-she-is-my-girl-small-w-text-.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Leyendecker Tribute + Streetfighter + Darkstalkers<br /> Going to be published in SFvsDS Comic Issue #1</span></td></tr>
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Very much, believe me.<br />
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We humans are very individual by nature and everyone approaches things different. In terms of drawing or mark-making, that is what some refer to as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_(visual_arts)">artistic style. </a><br />
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In our culture we celebrate certain art styles more than others. A Picasso becomes worth millions, while art created by other famous artists seem worth far less. <br />
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Art is very subjective and yet, capitalism dictates trends, trends set demands and demand creates jobs or kills them.<br />
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To get to the lottery aspect again; Some artists believe they are the <i>one-in-a-million </i>to become famous because of their unique voice. <br />
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So what people are drawn to, is the fascination around the myth that a distinctive style is equal to fame and fortune. This is ridiculous if you think about the fact that everybody is unique and an individual by nature. The fame and fortune of some particular artists has just to do with their ability to stick to their true nature and the luck that they attracted some very wealthy people in their lives.<br />
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<h3>
What Is Your True Nature?</h3>
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I can't say what your true nature is, so I have to speak about myself here.<br />
From the onset I have tried to be unique and do stuff that I would call original, but no one wants to see or buy that. ( Not true right now, but at the beginning it very felt this way.) Every artwork that I put up since around 10-15 years is in one way or the other a homage to another artist but always original. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K6FDeG2nfvs/WJ3DxIe-diI/AAAAAAAAG1s/lcj0dhytvzIfKvdQsPGcbwsGKQ0YCPc8gCLcB/s1600/brom-fma-crossed-alchemist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K6FDeG2nfvs/WJ3DxIe-diI/AAAAAAAAG1s/lcj0dhytvzIfKvdQsPGcbwsGKQ0YCPc8gCLcB/s320/brom-fma-crossed-alchemist.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brom Tribute + Fullmetal Alchemist Inceptionism</td></tr>
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When I put time and effort into a new <i>inceptionism</i> piece, I study the nature of the referencing artwork deeply. It is as if I would get a very close mentoring session with that particular artist and the outcome does reflect that. There is a dialog within the process in which I ask questions and I do get answers. These answers help me to learn adapting the style, light and composition like Sherlock Holmes was able to analyze a crime scene. I love that. I even try to enhance compositions with new details and build upon the existing work instead of subtracting from it. The result resembles me, but also my love for the artist I work after. I never try to copy an artist, I try to create something new with their unwritten (or in case of Brom - written) consent.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Every artist that had a mentor, resemble their master artists in one or the other way. So there is really no difference. If you have many mentors you will resemble certain parts of them into your unique signature.</blockquote>
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Why Ideas Are More Important Than Your Skills</h3>
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Much like a director of a movie, photographers have a far better understanding of a signature style than artists or illustrators. Their medium is more common and less unique. And yet, when 100 photographers turn a subject into 100 different photographs, only 1 or 2 might be really outstanding.</div>
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<b>The more reliable thing than skill is:</b> <b><u>Context, Idea and a viable Concept.</u></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bvvl-bvQ7Sg/WJ3EtLZBelI/AAAAAAAAG10/YShKmehudAMFO_uh-f0G-dxTmIw3rtVWACLcB/s1600/Circe-feeding-final-small-text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bvvl-bvQ7Sg/WJ3EtLZBelI/AAAAAAAAG10/YShKmehudAMFO_uh-f0G-dxTmIw3rtVWACLcB/s320/Circe-feeding-final-small-text.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Circe - mother of Pokemon Inceptionism <br />
after Waterhouse</td></tr>
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From a psychologic point of view, artistic creativity and style are very intriguing things to observe;<br />
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When you consider that many artworks and styles are born from pure accident, things become very surreal at best. People are always drawn to bargains. It is easier to admit something was intentional than to admit it was a failure. <br />
As a result we are surrounded by museums and galleries that show <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2011/06/fear-of-failure.html">thousands of failures</a>. And we believe we get a glimpse of the process by watching a piece of art on the wall? How ridiculous is it now to believe I get answers from artworks that I work with?<br />
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Not so much anymore.</div>
<h3>
Art Style = Limiting Your Growth</h3>
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When you are familiar with your artistic voice you have the feeling that the fun is everywhere but in your comfort zone. That is the best time to dive into a completely new project.</div>
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The <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2014/05/the-ancient-kaiju-project.html">inceptionism project </a>was my personal choice to get out of the comfort zone.<br />
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The Landscape series has gotten so much attention which, for me as a figurative artist, would have remain untapped if I would stick to my figurative working habit. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VAycxyatAE4/U-PHAsGFjRI/AAAAAAAAD1Y/_0229f-zc2c0AD-daAsiAjlPX1Re19QbACPcB/s1600/iron-giant-wallpaper-w-text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VAycxyatAE4/U-PHAsGFjRI/AAAAAAAAD1Y/_0229f-zc2c0AD-daAsiAjlPX1Re19QbACPcB/s320/iron-giant-wallpaper-w-text.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iron Giant at Lake in Switzerland - Savrasov Inceptionism</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aPAyKd_j_6c/VzMzaU15MvI/AAAAAAAAGIM/ynDJ6-5pqIo22aMRR_HpZB-zqfs0pUVHwCPcB/s1600/at-st1.2-final-back-wall-text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aPAyKd_j_6c/VzMzaU15MvI/AAAAAAAAGIM/ynDJ6-5pqIo22aMRR_HpZB-zqfs0pUVHwCPcB/s320/at-st1.2-final-back-wall-text.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abandoned AT-ST in forest, H. Böhmer Inceptionism</td></tr>
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In a way, I never loved landscapes, but these painters have taught me how to love the subtle structures of leafs and how to harness them to create depth.<br />
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Now I can appreciate landscapes far more, even if there has to be a Kaiju or rusted vehicle in there for me;)</div>
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<h3>
The Takeaway</h3>
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This is all very theoretically and has more to do with fine arts, the high or low-brow art sector. Where is the takeaway for artists and illustrators who want to get their foot into the door these days?<br />
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<b>The general takeaway might be that <a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2016/02/why-style-diversity-has-become-necessity.html">style in itself is an illusion.</a></b><br />
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For illustrators it is easier than for fine artist. <br />
Illustration clients always have a certain go-to style that they need.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dYE1byrq4ZE/WJ3Gut49FAI/AAAAAAAAG2E/nQ4HXJfTy88y6yIp13pF9VeqHzS3k0JsgCLcB/s1600/Joker-and-batman1-process.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dYE1byrq4ZE/WJ3Gut49FAI/AAAAAAAAG2E/nQ4HXJfTy88y6yIp13pF9VeqHzS3k0JsgCLcB/s320/Joker-and-batman1-process.gif" width="218" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joker inceptionism in Sebastian Krüger Style</td></tr>
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For example, editorials or cover art, whenever you see those articles and illustrations, if this is what you can do, do that.</div>
Then approach the agencies and get the job. If your goal is working for Wizards of the Coast, do what every artist they commissioned did and do it yourself, then you will get there. Of course, giving yourself enough time for this is important. Sometimes it takes 2-3 years, for others it takes 5- 10 years to get that important call and job.<br />
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For fine artists it is a bit more difficult but also it bears more stylistic liberties.<br />
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The most important aspect for fine artists will be that they have to know their customers. These are not agencies or publishing companies. Galleries work in a very different way.<br />
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Working without galleries is even harder .<br />
In my case, I just need to know there are fans of a certain character and these fans own everything of their favorite screen figure. My take is not everyone's cup of coffee, but it is certainly different than what everyone else does.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lNvFtdwOmiA/WD8HqO3uMqI/AAAAAAAAGsE/zTIu3bsPo24DN4ejuKi58GPuu8jS0WkFQCPcB/s1600/ivy-and-groot-concept1.1final-web-small-text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lNvFtdwOmiA/WD8HqO3uMqI/AAAAAAAAGsE/zTIu3bsPo24DN4ejuKi58GPuu8jS0WkFQCPcB/s320/ivy-and-groot-concept1.1final-web-small-text.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poison Ivy - Gil Elvgren Inceptionism</td></tr>
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In general, fine artists are more depending on trends or fads that inspire the art scene as a whole.</div>
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If you do portraits you might need to keep up with all artists in that field doing what you do and find a way to stand out. On the other side, standing out means probably a huge setback or an enormous gain, it bears huge risks going into a new direction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mHwQZAnDEEM/V2qWatBvIsI/AAAAAAAAGZE/V9umUD40Is4tK05W1aj59oqJrRJSjWUqgCPcB/s1600/gantenberg-jesus-haderer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mHwQZAnDEEM/V2qWatBvIsI/AAAAAAAAGZE/V9umUD40Is4tK05W1aj59oqJrRJSjWUqgCPcB/s320/gantenberg-jesus-haderer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Book Cover Commission Inceptionism based on Haderer</td></tr>
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<br />
That is why I started out with many different styles in the beginning.<br />
<a href="http://www.fantasio.info/2012/03/style-diversity-part-of-process.html">Here is an older article</a> about that matter with other styles not even shown here.<br />
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It felt always easy to deal with rejection because there was always one style of art that did not get as much love as the other. I simply was used to that. When people were done criticising this or that, I was already 2 art styles away from that, delivering to a totally different group of customers.<br />
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The biggest advantage of this approach is, due to different styles, something is always in demand = always a job.<br />
The downside is that I can not get so much fame and fortune as other artists sticking with just one art style. But the gain of learning so much makes up a lot.<br />
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How are your experiences with different art styles? Do you separate them in your portfolio?</div>
Fantasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08627459304312076689noreply@blogger.com4