Start with a sketch

Before I work in Illustrator, I always create a sketch first. This gives me a sense of what I really need to focus on when working. Clearly by the sketch,  the forehead and her left eye were going to give me trouble… and they did.

Jess Sketch

2nd Hour in Illustrator

At this point I have traced over Jess’s facial structure with the pen tool. You can see that there are still jagged lines, which are used merely as reference points. I work on hair towards the end and it helps me properly lay out facial features.

2nd Hour in Illustrator

Hour Three:

At this point Jess casually reminded me the yellow dots were her favorite part of the sweater so I drew them in for her. I tried giving Jess some pink color to her cheeks but removed them by the next photo-it looked too fake in my opinion.

I also started some lips, but took them away also.

3rd Hour in Illustrator

Hour Six:

I finished the hair and it reminded me of a comic book illustration so I left it at that. In the reference photo Jess’s nose had more definition and shading, but I felt it was complete. Her eyelashes were suppose to be uniquely drawn, but they just didn’t work. Even though long eyelashes are very lady-like, they looked too mannish when I illustrated them. I illustrated and deleted Jess’s lips probably 15 times. Each time, they stood out way to much. In the final product, lips made a great focal point. But that didn’t happen until hour 9.

I have also started filling in Jess’s amazing American Eagle sweater.

Hour 6 in Illustrator

The final hour (10):

At hour nine, the piece really started coming together. All of her features were completed, even the lips! All that was left was final touches like refining shadows and highlights and making her sweater look like clothing and not blobs of gray.

Hour 10 in Illustrator

So after ten hours, I now have a final product I am really proud of. If you liked this progression, please share it or leave feedback below.

Deal Sites

There are hundreds of video game deal sites on the internet, and I have found perhaps the best one out there: Cheap Video Games at gamerdeals.net. The folks over at gamerdeals.net will post every deal on the internet and department store to their site, and will save you a ton of time and money. Other notable sites are: Amazon’s Video Game Outlet and Video Game of the Day sites and gogamer.com’s 48 Hour Madness sales.

…Follow Deal Sites on Twitter

I love Twitter. If you hate looking for deals, have them tweeted right to you. Follow these video game tweeters for your next deal:

• @gamerdeals
• @CCGamers
• @360Deals (same guys as @gamerdeals, just filtered to Xbox 360)
• @slickdeals (they tweet more than video games, awesome deals on everything!)

Weekly Circulars

Sunday newspapers are packed full of games on sale. Granted, you will never find ridiculous sales, but may actually learn where to score that new release for $20 off. When Left 4 Dead came out, I refused to pay the $60 sticker price so I waited a little while and was able to snag it for $40 at Target using this method. Sunday circular’s are great places to seek out pre-orders and save some cash and probably pick up some free swag as well.

Game Trading Sites

I love swaptree.com, if you get sick of a video game swap it for another and only pay shipping ($2.50). I recently discovered this site, and was skeptical especially where I have been scammed in the past from similar sites. However, they appear to have their stuff together. Once I post a game for trade and choose games I would like to have, Swap Tree uses a custom algorithm to find those games. Even better, it will try and match you up with a trader that is closer for quicker shipping.  As an added bonus this site will not allow crap games like Madden ‘96 for Nintendo 64 to be traded for a recent Nintendo Wii release. The shipping part is nice as well, they offer on-site label printing with tracking information.

Thrift Stores and Flea Markets

Where else will you be picking up some 8-bit Nintendo classics? Finding video games at thrift stores are a gamble. However where they are constantly putting out new merchandise hitting these once a week will eventually land that rare copy of Dragon Warrior 3 or an Xbox 360 game you don’t want to play but could swap it on Swap Tree (hint hint).

Take Flea Markets with a grain of salt, most vendors know what they are doing and will clearly mark up the games that are worth more. I have seen video games that sell on half.com for less than $10 dollars marked up to over $20.

Did I miss something?

Did I forget a strategy? Agree or Disagree with these methods? Post a comment or tell me on Twitter.

So I was walking to work this morning and for some reason didn’t push the “walk” button. Realizing I did not push it, I reached for it and to my shock someone had wiped blood all over it. Blood… really Portland?

If I had not been paying attention as I usually am in my “need more coffee” stupor, I would have put my thumb right into it.

I am not really sure I understand the thought process of wanting to wipe blood across a cross walk button, but I am sure it was not accidental.  It is really disturbing to think about pressing your thumb on someone elses smeared blood. Not really sure what I would have done without a bathroom nearby. Walk with it on me to work? Wipe it on a street sign?

• New Melee Fighting System (using objects as weapons.)
• New Weapons including a Chain Saw.
• 4 new characters.
• New special infected.

The first playable level appears to be called the Parish, and judging by the game trailer will be taking place in the south. Hopefully, if the game play is anything like the trailer, perhaps we will see a wider array different looking zombies and the ability to shoot off limbs.

Here is the trailer:

I never said you couldn’t make money from RSS feeds. Most newspapers rely on advertisements to pay staff and paper production, why not offer advertisers the option to put an ad in a feed? If the majority of your readers are local, why wouldn’t that business down the street want to reach them.

As an added bonus, the more RSS subscribers you have the more money you can charge.

Can’t find a local sponsor? There are plenty of RSS feed money generators out there. 8 Easy Ways to Monetize Your RSS Feed is a great article to get started in making money.

If you are worried people will never come back to your site, here is an easy solution: Only include a short clipping of the story to entice readers to visit the site.

Am I missing anything? Leave me a comment below.

Work on cleaner layouts

I know the job of a newspaper is to deliver the news and not a stunning website. Why does data have to be ugly? When I visit the site, I should be able to determine which article is a feature story and which one is local. If images are used to compliment articles, then banner ads should not be used near them.

RSS feeds are a must
It is hard to believe news sites exist without leveraging RSS technology. I should not only be able to subscribe to the headlines via RSS, but also be able target my news. If I want to subscribe to “High School Sports” within 50 miles of my zip code, it should be there.

Site should be search-able
If I can’t search a site, what is the point? When a user is trying to find information the first thing they go to is google and run a search. Why would it be different on a news site. When I am looking for news about Company X, I should not have to go page by page to find an archived news article.

Don’t sell readers old news
I truely detest newspapers that sell me outdated news. If I could find the same news on another site for free, why would I pay for it on your site? Great: your site has a story about a local charity back in 2006. Bad: I have to pay a $39.95 annual fee to access it. Great: you had the story. Bad: Google has it, three of your competing newspapers have it and numerous bloggers have it.

Friendly URLs
When I am reading an article the URL of the page should be /news/2009/12/23/title-of-article not /news/article.php?id=123455667788?cat=23234. The reader may not care about the URL, but your newspaper should see an increase in search engine traffic. As a bonus, if the reader navigates to the /2009/12/23/ directory they could see all the articles for the 23rd of December and then navigate day by day.

More?
Upcoming topics will include: community integration, using social media, having reporter profiles and website coding standards. I will also update periodically on the progress of the news site with pictures and tutorials.

Am I right or wrong?
Leave a comment below or send me a message on twitter: @CalvinGilbert

Zombie movies seem to always have 3 elements to them: being chased, feeling overwhelmed and helpless and adapting to change.

People hate being chased, whether it is a horde of zombies or a dog it is a scary feeling. When watching a zombie flick, notice from beginning to end the actors are being chased. Even if the survivors find a safe place to hide, zombies will start breaking down the doors and the chase will continue. Usually by the middle of the movie, an actor will start feeling overwhelmed and helpless.

People do not want to feel helpless. Who would want to be firing shots at a zombie and run out of bullets with several hundred left to kill? It is also the same fear with someone who lost a job and is unsure how to buy next weeks groceries or pay next months rent.

Zombies are overwhelming, because they are always there. Hundreds, even thousands at a time. People need space. I for one, hate being in crowded areas with a lot of people (if I can’t handle that, I am toast in a zombie apocalypse).  Malls, concerts or certain cities can often cause people to feel overwhelmed. Being elbow to elbow with other people can give you an idea of what it might feel like being overrun by zombies. 

Whoever said “change is good”, clearly was not talking about zombie mobs taking over the planet. Who wants to wake up one morning, not go to work anymore, not hang out with friends or family and never relax on the couch anymore? Preparing for an unexpected change is almost impossible, which can really add to the horror of zombies. No one can handle a drastic change of that caliber.

On the plus side: games like Left 4 Dead and Resident Evil have been grooming video game geeks for the inevitable. Could I run around with double pistols slaying zombies? No, but I like to think so.

*Image Credit: This is a drawing from my sketchbook.

According to Film Junk everyone will be back, Judd Apatow will be producing it and I will be in line at the theater for it.

Is this a leaked video from the movie (found on usandv.com)?

Oh yeah, you are welcome world. These zombies don’t kill themselves. I should be back to blogging soon. My gamer tag is CalvinGilbert, I should have the xbox live gold membership once my tax return rolls in.

So then I read online today this article from yahoo news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_re_us/palin_media 

Maybe it is coincidence, but did Sarah Palin read my blog? Am I one of the pathetic anonymous bloggers?  I hope so, that would make posting these very rewarding.