It's thirty degrees below zero outside, and the power keeps going off in my house o_O
Oh well, at least it's daytime and I still have light. And it's sunny, so the house isn't losing heat too fast. My laptop is charged and I have internet with my cellphone, but my Cintiqs won't work without electricity, so it seems like a good time to play around with some new markers I got for Christmas. I'd gotten some Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush Watercolour Brush Pen markers in various shades of grey last fall, and I liked them so much that I ordered the full set of colors. I was using the greys to block out tones on manga pages. I like to print out small thumbnails of the finished pages and then color in the lights and darks until I'm happy with the way the pages are balanced. Of course, I could do this on the computer, but sometimes getting away from the screen and seeing the page in print helps me catch problems. And it gives my eyes a rest. Anyway, I got the full set of colors so that I could use the same process in my illustration work. I can print out several copies of the finished lineart and then use the markers to play around with color until I find a combination I'm happy with. The brush pens are great because you can get into really small areas with them. And they dispense a good amount of ink and the tips don't dry out easily. The only thing is, they're water based markers, so I'm not really sure how lightfast they are. So I'll still be reaching for my Copic markers for non-digital commissioned artwork. But for process work, the Kuretake markers are great. I also like that I can use them in my Hobonichi Techo planner. The planner uses super-thin Tomoe River paper, and Copic markers bleed right through, but the Kuretake markers don't. Even the darkest and brightest colors don't bleed. So overall, I'm really happy with these markers. Oh, now my power is back on, so it's back to work for me!

Hi everyone! I'm stuck at home with the flu, so I've decided to try to distract myself from being sick by writing about my new drawing tablet, a Wacom Cintiq Pro which, it turns out, really saved me this week.

For years, I've worked on a Wacom Cintiq 24 HD. I love that tablet, but it's huge. It's literally 80 pounds, and it takes two people to move it. It's great for working in my art studio, but I wanted something more mobile, as well, so I bought a 16 inch Cintiq Pro. Mostly I've used it for sketching in front of the tv. Also, the color on the Cintiq Pro is more accurate than on the older 24 HD, so I use it for color illustrations, too. But I found another use for my new tablet... I can work from bed when I'm sick!

I was working on a contest entry for Shonen Sirius magazine when I came down with the flu. I'd already put so much work into it that I was determined to finish, but I couldn't sit upright for very long and the deadline was fast approaching. Then I got the idea to set up my laptop computer and the little Cintiq in bed. I could still work comfortably while lying on my side, and the work was a nice distraction from the illness. It's pretty exciting how fast technology has progressed in such a short time that I could work from a sickbed! My only complaint is that I wish I had gone a size up and gotten the 24 inch model, since it was more difficult to get nice smooth lines on the smaller workspace. I still prefer my old Cintiq 24 HD, partly because of the larger screen and partly because the screen is less smooth so the pen is easier to control, but it's been great to have a more mobile option for special cases like this.