Domestic Geek

I have been doing a lot of web wandering the last couple of days. I don't know how I came across it, but I saw this really cool Simpsons drawing that was posted on deviantART (an online art community if you're not familiar with it):


The Simpsonzu by *spacecoyote on deviantART

The artist did such a remarkable job that somebody took notice:

*spacecoyote was offered work with Bongo Comics owned and started by none other than Matt "Simpsons" Groening. She will be doing pencil work for a short manga style version of the Simpsons and on top of that has been contacted by 20th Century Fox to potentially work on the upcoming relaunch of Futurama!

How freakin' awesome is that?

Here's the original work the artist based the drawing on:

One of the things I really missed while being underemployed was getting Photoshop User and Layers magazines. At $10 a pop, those were one of the first things I cut from my budget. Well, Friday I splurged and got an issue of Layers. I'm hoping in the next month I can get my subscription going again. Anyway, there was an ad in there for a magazine I would love to get: Adobe® Illustrator® Techniques. Unfortunately, a yearly subscription to that publication is $80/yr. Out of my budget right now unless I can find it monthly at the newsstand. I love working in Illustrator and really miss learning new techniques. One of my goals is to become Adobe Illustrator certified.

There was a PPP opp today that I didn't take, but the content of the site that wanted a review reminded me of something from awhile back. When I was in school, my web design instructor also taught the advanced computer illustration class. He was playing with a program called Terragen, a free scenery generator program that can be found at Planetside. He was creating some really cool effects with it. I had intended to download it and play with it, but that guy rear-ending us put my life on hold for awhile and I totally forgot about it. I'm glad I was reminded of this program's existance.

Over on the PPP boards today, Amy Jo pointed out a really cool holiday Firefox theme that's available called Tinseltown. I installed it and am loving it (except that I keep forgetting the reindeer head is refresh...that throws me a bit!). My browser is so festive:


If you haven't downloaded Firefox, you really should! It's my favorite browser ever!

I really hate crooks on the internet. You know the ones. They think just because you post something online, it's theirs for taking to do with as they please. Every once in a while, I need a cute little graphic for a post and don't have the time to make one myself. One site that I used to go to to grab and appropriate graphic was http://www.graphicgarden.com/">Graphic Garden (and I always either gave a text link or hyperlinked the graphic itself for credit). I popped over there yesterday because I wanted a cute little graphic for my sticky Christmas card post and she's taken all but two of her free sets down. Here's why she is no longer offering very many free graphics:

Sadly, I have had to remove the free websets from the site. Every single day I get reports about clipart galleries spreading my graphics, people selling them on eBay etc.. There are even companies in Mexico and Taiwan massproducing and exporting stickers, stationery and other products!

That is such a shame. I will have to get myself a CD or download some of her graphics once I'm employed again. She really does do some wonderful work.