August 30, 2019 - News Post

This comic was inspired by a conversation I had earlier today with my friend Roman.

We live six time zones apart, and we haven't talked in quite some time. He's a super talented artist who I've collaborated with in the past. So what better way to reconnect than to do a Skype session where we showed each other drawing techniques?

Technically, he explained to me how to draw, but that had nothing to do with the comic (He holds the pen in his HAND. Who knew?!?). We called each other, facing technical difficulties along the way. He had mic issues, then computer issues, and required a few restarts.

When we finally sorted that all out, it was my turn to draw. I shared my screen and prepped an appropriate canvas. I raised my pen to the tablet monitor, scraped it across the screen… and nothing happened.

I checked the settings. They were fine.

I checked the cables. Nothing loose.

I tried restarting the monitor and the computer. I still couldn't use the pen.

I checked and saw that Windows had forced an update. Cool. Time to add a new driver.

I downloaded the driver, installed it, and watched in horror as the computer restarted without asking or warning. I had some unsaved notes on the screen, but whatever. Who needs those?

The new driver didn't help.

Two more restarts, another check of the cables, and still nothing.

I called Roman one last time, now 35 minutes into our conversation. He was getting frustrated and so was I. I was about throw the computer down the stairs, when a question occurred to me:

When was the last time I charged the pen?

Turns out, my tablet's pens have batteries. I only charge these batteries once every few months, but it had been quite a while since the last charging. I checked the spare pen and it immediately worked without issues.

Oopsie.

…

For anyone who is curious. I do all my digital art with an XP-Pen 22e. A monitor I can draw on. It's a low budget alternative to a Wacom Cintiq, and I owe it all to my generous and amazing Patreon patrons. Thank you!

While we're at it, my favorite comic drawing software is Clip Studio Paint. I highly recommend it.

(Before I had the digital tablet, I'd use a Sharpie on paper)

…

Before I go, I just got back from a rather large trip that I hope to tell you about soon. For some reason, today I felt like telling you two versions of the exact same joke. I plan on saying more on my journey in posts to come.

Later!

-Jeff