Just Outside the Box Cartoon
Cartoons just a little bit out there and home of Doug the Dung Beetle
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Doug the Dung Beetle: the long roll home
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Just Outside the Box Cartoons by Marti is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.justoutsidetheboxcartoon.com.
Feel free to share my work for non profit purposes, but please attribute my website. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at justoutsidebox@gmail.com.
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Looking forward to this. I love your artwork. I was wondering (that is if you don’t mind me asking) if you draw on a device (ipad, Wacom, etc) or draw then scan. I am looking at getting a Intuos pen for ipad but have only drawn/painted paper or canvas before. I only ask because I love your work!
Hi Love Happy Notes! Thanks for dropping by.
I initially started with hand drawings and then scanning and importing into the iPad for colouring in. I no longer work with paper (as much as I love to), but I found the shakiness of my hand annoying. So I converted fully to the iPad (I would love a Wacom but the one I want costs heaps and I can’t justify it). I do most of my cartoons in iDraw, which is a vector app and b/c the iPad restricts dpi/file size, vector is perfect as I can import and not be restricted by pixel problems. Having said that, vector too has its limitations, so I occasionally dazzle up my drawings by importing from the vector app into say Art Studio, Procreate or Sketch Book pro and use their fancy brushes to add pen stroke interest.
Over a year ago I looked into a tablet pen to try and mimic the Wacom and pressure sensitive functionality. At the time, I wasn’t convinced the technology was there yet with reports of it either applying too much pressure or not enough with no gradation in-between – not sure what the latest is on that front
Hope that helps
Marti
Hi Marti,
I am so grateful for your reply. I’ve got Procreate and Artrage but I am useless at drawing with my fingers. Is that how You draw on your ipad? It’s difficult making the transition from paper. My scans and photos of my drawings never seem to look very good. I will look into iDraw, Art Studio and Sketch Book Pro. I’ve got a Jot pen which is terrible, many times it just doesn’t work. So I was looking into the Intuos Pen as I’ve heard that’s much better, but I won’t know till I try it.
Thank you so much for your time and detailed information, and congratulations on your amazing work.
Much Appreciation 🙂
Love Happy Notes.
Heya, I can’t draw with my fingers either. I use a cheap stylus from the $2 shop (I’ve experimented with different types from $2 to $25 and couldn’t discern as they all worked well and all lasted for around the same time (up to 6 months).
Transitioning is hard and that’s why I now use iDraw as it is a vector App. This means each line I draw is an object which I can select and tweak by using a set of dots with little arms to alter the shape of the line. Another thing to consider is that some Apps (Adobe ideas – non vector and you can’t alter once drawn, iDraw) will have what I can an anti shake feature. It allows you to set the sensitivity of the brush stroke and will smooth out any shake you have. This is why I draw in iDraw and sometimes then export to ArtStudio (to get all the funky brush features, at the cost of not being able to tweak or avoid anti shake).
Marti
Hi Marti,
Thank you so much for your comprehensive information. I really appreciate it. iDraw sounds really great. It’s good to know all these things when you are transitioning. It feels so different drawing on glass. The anti-shake feature would be a great plus, and then the filling in, in ArtStudio. I’m so grateful to you for taking the time to give me this advice.
🙂 Many Thanks LHN
Hello, I have just found your website as I am interested in having a go at illustrating. I am completely new to it, but would one day like to make a children’s book like what you have done. Could you please let me know how you got your pictures from Idraw in to a childrens book and how you published it on amazon? Sorry if that is a silly question! Thank you. Kayleigh.
Hi Kayleigh,
I have iDraw on my Mac and I export the drawing file as a png. (I could do an export from my iPad too, but the iPad limits you on dpi per image and this can cause reprint resolution problems if your book is made into print on Amazon).
As for making a kids book on Amazon, it’s best if you go onto Amazon and create a Createspace account for print on demand books and/or a KDP (Kindle) account for an e-Book to be read on Kindle. Check out the on line help and forums to get you going. Both sites are very user friendly.
Good luck and send me a link to your finished book once you’ve uploaded it!
Marti