The Ink Stained Wretch #168: 1/8/25
Free Subscriber Edition! This week: A Bust(er) of a Sketch, a Chilling Anniversary, and a New Studio Gadget!
We're back from the holidays with a silent but deadly sketch, a very sad anniversary, and a review of a new piece of equipment in the studio... on with the 'Wretch!
Sketch o'the Week: Buster Keaton!
Click here if you are interested in this original sketch.
This week's sketch was inspired by a post from my pal Mark Evanier's sensational (and long running) blog News From ME, in which he waxed nostalgic about Saturday morning TV, Cheerios, and "The Buster Keaton Show". As Mark talks about in his post, this show was shot (live) and aired in the early 1950's on a local Los Angeles station. Reading Mark's comments about the show and Keaton's legacy, I realized I had never drawn the legendary comedian/filmmaker. This one was drawn primarily from the photo Mark posted in his article, which is of an older Keaton well past his glory days. His face is pretty fascinating, and the older version has a lot of both character and worldly weariness. Keaton was, of course, famous for his deadpan expressions in the face of outrageous physical action by himself and things around him. The older face makes that expression even more intriguing, in my option.
As always, Premium Subscribers are unfairly subjected to a video of my doing this drawing, during which they will surely be wishing it was made during the silent film era. If you want that to be you…
Un Triste Anniversaire
Yesterday marked the ten year anniversary of the massacre at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly satirical magazine established in 1970 that featured many cartoons. On Jan 7th, 2015, Two armed islamic terrorists forced their way into the magazine's headquarters and killed twelve people including two editors and four staff cartoonists. It was a dark day for journalism and free speech.
I was president of the National Cartoonists Society at the time, and while I am not an editorial cartoonist I spent a lot of the time over the next week or two answering questions and doing interviews about the reactions of professional cartoonists over the murders. I did the above cartoon shortly after hearing about the horrific event.
A free press and its ability to criticize, inform the public, and hold those in power accountable is crucial to any free society and to democracy itself. Charlie Hebdo did not let this event silence their voice. In fact their next issue came out on time, and went from a production of 60,000 copies to 5 million, with all the money raised going to the families of the victims. Ten years later... je suis Charley.
Touring Tourbox
My wife, The Lovely Anna, gets very frustrated with me around the holidays. When asked for some gift ideas for me, I always come up blank. She says it's because whenever I find something I really want, I buy it for myself leaving nothing for her to get me as a present for Christmas or my birthday. I beg to differ, as I really want a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS in Guards Red, but I have refrained from buying one in hopes I get one as a gift. Of course, she'd have to win the lottery for us to afford that, but that's besides the point.
This year I admit I bought myself a Christmas gift, but in my defense I did not know this device existed until after the holidays when I ordered it. It's called a "Tourbox", and I have to say I think it's one of the best, most useful things I've gotten for my work since I got my first Cintiq.
My process straddles the line between traditional media and digital. The majority of the illustrations I do start with either a traditional pencil or digital rough sketch/comp, then move to traditional inks on Bristol, then a scan of the inks and color work on the computer in PhotoShop. My current setup is a Mac Studio computer and a Wacom Cintiq 27 Pro, plus various scanners and printers. If you'd ever watch me working on the Wacom you'd see me with my right hand doing the drawing on the screen and my left on my keyboard. The left hand uses keyboard shortcuts to switch between tools in Photoshop, and do some simple stuff like increase and decrease the brush size ( the [ and ] keys). This is a bit cumbersome because I often have to look at my hand so I hit the right keys, and I all too often hit the wrong key. I also use PhotoShop’s interface toolbox on the screen for things like selecting the rotation tool, the zoom tool, drilling down to find saved actions to run, etc.
Enter the Tourbox.
This compact little gadget looks like a game controller, but it is a fantastic replacement for the keyboard shortcut method of working in Photoshop. The unit connects via Bluetooth (although you can opt for a USB cable connection if you prefer). It's full of knobs, buttons, dials, and wheels that can control whatever you want them to control. Although fully customizable, the Tourbox comes with pre-programmed presets for various programs like Photoshop that are an easy place to get started, and right out of the box it was a revelation for me and my productivity doing digital artwork.
The main knob in the center controls the size of the brush (or eraser, or whatever size-adjustable tool I am using) on the fly. Turn it one way, brush gets bigger. Opposite way, it gets smaller. I programmed it so clicking the knb sets my brush to “multiply” mode, which I use often. The wheel on the upper left zooms my image in or out. Press the dial to zoom to fit screen. The dial on the lower left rotates the image. Pressing the dial resets the image to original orientation. Just those three controls alone makes this thing worth the (admittedly expensive) price, but there's a whole lot more. Each of the various buttons is programable to do anything a keyboard shortcut can do. I have buttons that select between brush tools, eraser tools, selection tools, save the file, undo, and best of all frequently used Photoshop actions like this "fill" trick I do a lot. Plus a lot more.
There are probably a number of other devices out there that do this sort of thing. The Wacom itself has various buttons on the underside edge that I have programmed for some of these functions, but like the keyboard I often press the wrong one. I have found the Tourbox to be incredibly well designed. The odd conglomeration of button designs are actually very well thought out. The combination of different sizes, textures, and shapes makes using it without needing to look at it very easy to get used to. There’s also a hapic response that helps with this. I do not find myself hitting the wrong button. The unit is kind of heavy but that keeps it from moving around under your hand. It feel solid and stable.
I am slowly training myself away from the keyboard and am using the Tourbox for 90% of what I used the keyboard for, or what I needed to go to the tools palette in Photoshop for. I have noticed a jump in productivity already, and once I really get used to it I think it will be indispensable. Seriously, I haven't found a tool for the studio this useful in a very long time. It will only get more useful when I have mastered the real intricacies of it. There are combinations of buttons and dials that can be set to do dozens of other things, like controlling the opacity of your brush, cycling through layers, adjusting brush hardness or flow... you name it.
I very seldom endorse any products, and I need to tell you this was not given to me for review... I paid my own hard earned money for it. I am not endorsing this one. I am just loving it so much I had to share my experience with it.
It is a bit pricey. I got this one, the "Elite" model, on sale for $200, so it's not cheap. In my opinion it is the best $200 I've spend on a piece of studio equipment in a long time, however. If you want to see more about it, visit their website.
