The Blog of Illustrator TC Krantz

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My Work Space

I am an individual who is interested in finding and applying what works in my life. So, much to my husband's discomfort, I'm very willing to move things around to see what best works in our home. Just in the last few days, I realized after some quiet consideration that I work best in our dining room on the table.

This is the same place I finished my first short story on the last vacation from my "real job." I decided to try it again this vacation. It worked, more aptly, I work better here. I think I shall continue to work here even after vacation is completed. Hm, but to find a way to put away my gear quickly, efficiently, organized...hm, yes. I shall find a way so that I can work better and we can still have a nice dining room for when guests come over.

I Love Everyday People!

I was StumbleUponing today (for creative inspiration and networking purposes - really!) when I came across this captivating site of one-frame art by Cathy Thorne called Everyday People. The simplistic yet spot-on life experience cartoons offer such a blessed feeling of commonality with everyone, especially women, it became an instant love of mine. This is rare for me, because the only "newspaper" cartoon I follow these days is For Better, For Worse and that's direct from the site. My decision is due to the fact that most of the cartoons in the local paper are rehash, dumb and a waste of ink. I need connection to the characters and truth. I put this series of art right up there with FBFW and I shall do what I can to pass the love around for Everyday People.

Help Your Children And Their Dreams

I came across this fantastic article over at Pick the Brain called 5 Ways To Help Your Children Turn Their Dreams Into Reality . Well, go read it! :)

Miss Potter

I recently had the pleasure of watching "Miss Potter" on DVD. It is the Hollywood-ized version of the life of Beatrix Potter, illustrator of the children's book stories of Peter Rabbit. The movie has been out since 2006.  For the life of me I can't understand how it never received much publicity. I am quite sure that if I would have seen the advertisements of this movie, I would have made a point to catch it when the movie was in theaters.

The visuals were very appealing to me, coming through the perspective of Miss Potter, who viewed her art as real. (Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-duck are quite the characters assuredly.) This and the view of most people toward women as being more creative than being just housewives and mothers (which takes a special breed!) are what resonate with me the most from this tale. All I knew of Beatrix Potter growing up was that it was a name on the Peter Rabbit books that other children read while I was off on my own artistic adventures. Did you know that not only Miss Potter was a pioneering creative, she ultimately acquired around 4,000 acres of northern England land for preservation? Yes, Hollywood-ized or not, Miss Potter's life story is one to discover and learn from on so many levels: Follow your bliss, be yourself, be a light in the world.

Networkin', Networkin'...and Yes, Networkin'

Okay, I've spent the last two days getting settled on networking sites (off to the left, here). I think I can take a break from this aspect for the week. (I hope my art coach is proud!) I look forward to doing more, though, especially meeting/networking with creatives from this action. The possibilities...

My Con Kit

It's been one week since I went to the Phoenix Cactus ComiCon. My inspiring introduction to Tess Fowler and Travis Hanson prompted me to really kick start my networking and gathering what I dub my "Con Kit."

The kit has several markers, writing pens, a couple of lined notebooks, a set of pencils, business cards, business card holders and badge holders. As I gather more information on what I need to start on the con circuit, I'm sure the box will begin to really fill up.

Back to TypePad

One of my goals for this new year is to be more cost effective and de-cluttered in all aspects of my life. One of the moves I made was to at first downgrade my TypePad account from the Pro to Plus. To show myself that I can really get simple, I then canceled my account to create my blogs through Google/Blogger. I figured that after about three years Blogger wouldn't be so buggy (which was the main reason why I sought out another blogging service). Well, despite being attached to Google, Blogger hasn't changed in my book and I am going back to what works. If it means paying at least $4.95 a month, then so be it.

TypePad, I'm back.

The Creative Habit

Recently, I started catching up on my suggested reading list I glean from Alyson Stanfield's Art Biz Blog. I am currently on Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life. It's for our kindred to get into the everyday habit of creating, to get passed procrastination, distractions, and fear; to find what works for you and stick to it.

I find it rather a blessing to start reading this when I needed it the most. I so long for my own way of being creative, yet find myself fixed to my position because I don't know where to start. There are so many things I want to be doing, too, so many projects I want so much to finish, or to be a part of.

Here's to finding my own rituals and getting over the ruts and through the fears.

The Art of Akiane

I am so excited to find out that one of my favorite artists, Akiane Kramarik, has an art exhibit here in the Valley until December 16th! The exhibit started in November. I am going to go check it out tomorrow!

I came across this gifted soul's art one night a few months ago, a time when I was questioning my own art's purpose. I was compelled to learn as much as I could about Akiane, and so bought her first book about her art and poetry. I related so much with her in regards to her relationship with her art (in essence, herself). I am so thankful that Akiane is very blessed to have parents, family, who love and respect her for her Self.

I am very much one who supports young people in pursuing their artistic dreams. This is 1) because they were sent here to do good with their talents, to bring light into the world, and 2) full support was never given to me when I was younger.

Bless you, Akiane, and your family.

The Art of Fine Model-Making - RMS Titanic

In my recent reading adventure I came across a fantastic article about an 18.5-foot scale model of the RMS Titanic by the Fine Art Models of Royal Oak, Michigan. The model was commissioned by Harland & Wolff, the Belfast, Ireland company which built the Titanic. It is exact down to the rivets, which is an impressive dedication to the art of scale model-making.

I've had a fascination with the Titanic since picking up "Titanic: An Illustrated History," with Don Lynch and illustrator Ken Marschall in 1994. I remember seeing the book on an end stand in one of my favorite book stores. The curiosity to find out more about the doomed ocean liner became kindled due to the detailed illustrations of Mr. Marschall. By the time I poured over every page, Mr. Marschall's art helped me to connect to the humanity of the event. I can dare say that such art made the ship an entity in my mind. Titanic isn't just an "it," but more like a "she," something I am sure any true crewman of any liner (whether sea-faring or air-faring) can understand.

This post is in appreciation to my fellow creatives who bring understanding of life through their works, and who inspire me to do the same for others.

Muse to the Max

About two years ago, I decided to invest in an iPod due to music being such an inspiration to me. I figured it would be in my best interest to keep a lot of it around and quite convenient to access at such short notice. After doing some media player research, I bought a 60 GB iPod Classic (the 60s aren't being made anymore, so a link to the next highest product is provided). I quickly realized as well, when it comes to media players, if you love music -- get the largest capacity player you can get. Also, the newest generation look tempting, but it's better to wait awhile to buy one after it is introduced so the kinks can be hammered out.

It felt right to get an iPod and I haven't ever regretted it. Why? Because my Muse (yes, I name my tech) is a very custom jukebox, a photo album, a 24/7 theatre, and a recorder in one -- all points of major interest to me. The music and movies are muses; the photo album can carry files of artwork to view as a presentation; and the recorder allows me to interview fellow creatives (with permission, of course), record lectures and make audio notes of something I saw that inspired me when I was out for a walk or drive. Also, the iPod video can act as a portable hard drive (when the option is checked in iTunes), meaning I can transfer files like Word documents, web pages, and even applications (depending on size) to another computer. If you want to get your family into having iPods, know that you can share your media between different iTunes libraries all on the same computer.

I am open minded in trying new things, which led me to buying one of these Godsends. When it comes to items where an investment over $300 is concerned, I tend to stay with what works best for me as long as possible before I try something else like it. Muse works for me. What works for you?

Thunderbird

A recent entry at Alyson Stanfield's Art Biz Blog  about one of Firefox's wonderful new extensions has inspired me to share with you my discovery of Mozilla's   Thunderbird as   an e-mail/RSS reader/calendar client. (Thank you, Mozilla!) 

The reason I changed over to Thunderbird earlier this year was due to Yahoo deleting my signature line and my POP accounts. Yahoo decided I had too many lines in the signature (8), and that I had too many POP accounts, so they were all deleted without a warning. I found that rather unacceptable, so I canceled my Yahoo Plus account and moved over to Gmail, which allows jpegs for signature lines. But I found that adding my POP accounts and checking the e-mails inconvenient in Gmail, therefore I revisited some e-mail clients I had used in the past. The first one was Thunderbird, due to it being free and going along with Firefox. I set up all of my e-mail accounts on it and found that signing in, or clicking on the "Get messages" button, checks all the accounts under a minute, sometimes not even that. Other features that I've found very appealing are: it doesn't delete my signature lines, POP accounts and RSS feeds because I have too many; I have all my news, cartoons and blog subscriptions in one place; can create different address books, templates, and add custom stationery, can create as many folders as I want for each account, the extension Lightning, which is a calendar in Thunderbird (full view or as a snippet in the lower left hand corner of the main window),   and being able to sync my calendar to my iPod.

I had noticed some minuses to Thunderbird, but they were resolved when I took the time to go through the extensions offered   (such as finding the extension for a calendar in Thunderbird,   syncing my calendar to my iPod, and deleting wrong RSS feed   addresses from my subscription list).

I checked out the other e-mail clients on my list, such as Outlook, but I realized that I found what I was looking for in Thunderbird. Sometimes, the best things in life are for free. One just needs to reach out and grab the opportunities.