Search form

How "bad" does it get?? Or, the "comical" side of professional cartooning.

12 posts / 0 new
Last post
How "bad" does it get?? Or, the "comical" side of professional cartooning.

So there I was..........

Working on a storyboard. Got the thing done, and noted my supplies were low on some stuff.
I knew this for a while know and I was in a holding pattern since I'm in the midst of a move between provinces.
Okay, I've actually been AT the destination province for 2 months now, but we are just about to move into our own place--after staying (and working) in a relatives basement for the duration.

So, past couple of weeks I've been casually looking for a few supplies to top up my stockpile.
I'm still doing boards traditionally........a sort of "tradigital" approach involving doing them on paper first, scanning and then doing tweaks and labelling in Photoshop. I know, a full digital approach should negate the use of or need for ANY paper media, but I have a small 4x5" Wacom and cannot afford anythign snazzier right now. So paper it is.

I use a variety of tools and media on the paper boards.
3M removable tape and post-it notes make doing additional posed panels on the board soooooo much easier, so those are staples in my art supply stockpile.
The tape is easy to find..........most major office supply stores stock it........

...but the post-it notes........they have become my new nemesis of the month.

What? You say that post-it note products are as common as blades of grass??
Why yes they are.........but I seek a specific product in the line.
3M PLAIN, 4x6 self-sticking ( not super sticky) notes.........in canary yellow.
Must be un-lined, plain...and in the bland canary yellow.......
See, I lay them puppies down on a 'board page and they are JUST translucent enough that you can trace off things without a light-box if need be.
Been using them for years--slap 'em down trace off the lines and such you need.....shift the note if you have to.......adjust......... draw a border with a black Sharpie and tape with the removable tape when you are done (I use removable so a correction is as easy as peeling up the taped down panel--which comes up easily but holds with enough tack for years. Does tear the paper either.).
Truly great products....and I rely on them.

But those post-its...........I've been looking.......today I ramped up the search............been looking HARD.....and do you think any jackanape office-supply place this modest sized city carries them in the size and style I need them?

Nien, Nada, n'yet, uh-uh. Nope.
They got lined ones, orange ones, blue ones, pinks ones.........all useless to me.
And I'm too cheap to order them online because it'll cost me $60 to get ANY amount to my door from any of these stores that do mail-order.
Which, by the way, some of these places offer them (apparently) on their web-sites, BUT NOT IN THEIR BRICK & MORTAR STORES!

I want to slap something. And spit.

Looks like I have to do things the hard way from now on.

That means playing with scissors.

Yes............me, and sharp pointy cutting tools..........in my horrid little hands. And a brain that schemes.

Be afraid.

The point of all this? If you are curious at all about the daily travails of a pro cartoonist.............getting frustratingly anal about post-it notes is just more of all in a day's work. Its a glimpse of life on the inside.

Ken Davis's picture

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

Check to see if there is a school supply store in your area, art supply, and college book store.

Check to see if there is a school supply store in your area, art supply, and college book store.

Done that.

No joy on that score, hence my frustration.
The retailer(s) that used to carry the stuff I want, either have closed shop here, or no longer carry that specific product. Nutty, huh??
Like I said, I can adapt to work with out them, and probably will stop using paper media entirely in a couple of years ( yea, fat chance!).

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

How "bad" does it get?? Or, the "comical" side of professional c

muurtikaar is an ingrate and clueless. muurtikaar will never get any questions answered on this forum ever again.

Ken, I picture you North in some farming country. Not alot of office supply stores, are there?
Uh....would you like me to look for some and mail it to you?

Ken, I picture you North in some farming country. Not alot of office supply stores, are there?
Uh....would you like me to look for some and mail it to you?

I'm "east"......in Saskatoon.........again.

For all its modern amenities, Saskatoon can come up short in a few things--which is kinda surprising.

Let's keep the offer in mind though.....I've got a spider-sense ( post-it note-sense) hunch that I'll stumble across them here.......somewhere.
Something like this cannot be this big a pain to find.......can it??

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

I know the feeling...

I know the feeling of getting used to something and loosing it. I had a little black detective like notepad with a back and a flip open top. The pages were blank and there was a little holder for pen. When I lost it, I searched countless number of stores looking for a replacement. I would find pads that had some of the characteristics, but never all. IÕve given up. One day I may stumble upon a replacement worthy of the first, but not now.

Ken, check if there is a Kinkos near you, they might have it.

Ken, check if there is a Kinkos near you, they might have it.

I checked.......no Kinkos in the province......up here, they double-duty as Fedex depots. We have a Fedex depot, but no Kinkos.

I'm probably gonna have to take Gerard up on his offer.........LOL!

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

This do?

I hate to see you suffer.

This do?

I hate to see you suffer.

Nope, it will not work actually.

Oh the product is the right stuff and they have it--and I thank you for that lead.
But I'm in Canada land....they are in NY state, and I'd have to pay shipping....exchange rate of about 20%, federal provincial taxes on top of the cost.
Yes, the stuff CAN be had........but not locally, and not for a cheap bastard like me.

Which is sort of the moral of the story here.....art supplies can be fickle in terms of their availability. Trying to find the right tool for the job can eat up an inordinate amount of time and its not something that makes the job easier.
Its not just my travails here, but the lesson herein.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

I tried again. http://justnotepads.ca/stickypads.php It's got a Canada suffix.