TuxType typing game

I love to blog. I love writing about things that interest me and, hopefully, readers will find informative and entertaining. My big downfall in all this, though, is neglecting the typing skills I learned in high school.

Even though I learned how to type, over the years, I’ve fallen back on the “Hunt and Peck”method of typing. I find myself looking at the keyboard to find the keys. I glance at the screen only occasionally to see where I am am in the sentence or paragraph. And, I find myself having to spellcheck what I just typed. I probably spellcheck and correct my writing more so than most folks who use traditional typing skills.

But, this is going to change over time.

Thanks to Linux, there are many typing tutorials available for me, you,  and kids of all ages. These programs can help hone and improve your typing skill.

One such program is called TuxTyping. I stumbled on this program while looking for a typing tutorial in my Linux repository. I installed it and gave it a whirl. Don’t be fooled by the cartoony look of this game. It’s challenging! But it’s also fun to play and you’ll be improving your typing skills.

TuxTyping has typing lessons, different challenge levels, game variations, and a very intuitive and easy to use interface. The kids will love it.

I’ve played it and I’m hooked! I’ll be combining this game with other “learn to type” software to improve my typing skills.

The great thing is, all this software is available with Linux.  Simply download this wonderful OS, install to your computer, and you’ll have access to hundreds of software titles. And all are free.

Get Linux.

Like a lot of cartoonists, I’m always on the hunt for the perfect pen. Over the years, I’ve used a lot of different pens. I’ve probably experimented with dozens of pen brands, makes, and styles. I’ve used fat nibs and thin nibs. I’ve purchased expensive and economical pens. I’ve bought pens in a box and one at a time. After all the searching and test driving, I don’t think I’ll ever find the perfect pen. But looking for one sure has been a lot of fun over the years!

Just to be clear, when most cartoonists talk about pens, it sometimes becomes an inclusive word to mean markers, flair pens, porous tipped pens, dip and ink nib pens and everything and anything containing ink. For this blog post, I’ll limit myself to porous tipped pens. I use these more and more to produce my cartoon work due to their fast drying ink. It’s very easy to draw a cartoon and seconds later, slap it down on the a scanner without smudging and smearing the artwork.

I like pens that have nice, dark ink and allow me to produce thin and thick lines when I vary my hand pressure..

Here then, are the top five pens I use to draw cartoons:.

5.) The Classic Paper Mate Flair Pen . This is a porous nib marker and gives a nice quality of line. Like most porous nib pens, the lines fade over time, but if you scan your artwork, you’ll always have a nice crisp copy of your cartoons! The only problem with the flair pen is the nib tends to mash down and lose it’s crispness over time. But this is an advantage of sorts. As the nib mashes down, it starts to produce a wider line. You simply line up the pens next to you, newest (thinnest line) to oldest (widest line). Grab the appropriate pen for whichever line you need. I learned this from Art Sansom, the creator of the comic strip The Born Loser. It’s a method I believe his son Chip still uses to draw his late father’s comic strip.

Flair Pen

4.) The Pentel Rolling Writer is a great pen for cartooning! It gives the same kinds of great lines as the Flair, but because it’s a roller ball pen, the nib is very hearty and won’t mash down! I use this pen when I need a consistent even line. The ink is nice and dark, too!

Rolling Writer

3.) The Sanford Liquid Expresso Pen is a cross between the Flair and the Rolling Writer. Its nib is as hearty as the Rolling Writer’s, but it has the feel flexibility of the Flair. The nib doesn’t appear to wear down. It stays flexible and crisp

Sanford Liquid Expresso

2.) The Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen. I recently blogged about some supplies I received from the nice folks at Faber-Castell. In the package they sent me, they included the Pitt Graphics Artists pen. This pen is quickly becoming one of my favorites. You can get it in a variety of pen widths. But the bigs selling point is that it uses true India ink. It makes lines that are dark, crisp, and fast drying. And the ink is light fast. Your original art won’t fade over time.

Pitt Artists Pen

1.) The Tradio Pen. This is absolutely the most amazing pen I’ve ever used! Made by Pentel, it’s everything the first three pens are and more! It has a fountain pen shaped nib that holds up over a long period of time. It gives thin and thick lines and has a great looking ink. It uses replacement ink cartridges. This replacement cartridge also contains the pen nib. So when you run out of ink and replace the cartridge, you also get a new pen nib. The only part you don’t replace is the pen body. This is the same system used by a lot of upscale executive pens like Cross and Parker.  The pen initially is pretty pricey. It costs about $12.00 and comes with an ink cartridge. The ink cartridges are approximately $3.00 each. It’s a terrific pen and I use it all the time!

Tradio Pen

Even when using all these terrific pens, I still make mistakes. So I recommend picking up a BIC Wite-Out Pen. It handles just like a pen and covers inking mistakes in a single pass. For major corrections, I’ll scan the artwork and digitally edit it using the Gimp.

Bic Wite Out

All these pens are available at Amazon.com. Do a little online shopping and give them a try. As I said earlier, half the fun in cartooning is trying out different pens. At times, the journey to find a pen is more fun than actually finding the pen.

Summer is quickly drawing to a close. You can see the signs everywhere. The kids are going to back to school, the evenings are starting to get cooler, football games are cropping up on T.V. and in neighborhood parks, and roadside stands are selling fresh corn on the cob, vegetables, and fruits.

So, I’m making a point to take advantage of these final days of summer.

As I drive the country roads near where I live, I stop at those roadside stands to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables. And I absolutely make sure to grab a couple dozen ears of corn.

Most of these stands are self-serve. The honor system is at play here. Pick what you want and leave the money in the till. It’s a nice change of pace from swiping debit cards at a large Wal-mart.

And to make sure I drink in these last days of summer, I’m going to grill as much as I can.  I’m buying hamburgers, chicken, and brats. I’m picking up fresh buns and cheese. It’s time to shuck corn and drop ‘em into a large pot of boiling water. All the ingredients which make for a great close to summer.

So, take advantage of these last days of summer. Get out of your “studio.”  Take a drive on a country road and grab some fresh picked corn. Get some burgers, chicken and brats. Fire up the grill, cook out, and take it all in!

The Gimp editing a George cartoon strip

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity of speaking to various schools, libraries, and organizations. My talks on cartooning detail the way I draw the characters, how I structure a comic strip, and the tools of the trade.

In recent years, when speaking about the various tools I use, I also include an overview of the computer and graphics software. When I touch on his subject, the most often asked question (usually from parents) is which version of PhotoShop to buy. If not PhotoShop (due to its steep cost), is there a comparable program available?

In my Window days, I would’ve recommended PhotoImpact, PaintShop Pro, or Serif’s PhotoPlus.  All of these programs are very good. But they all retail at approximately $60.00 (and  up). Moms and dads want to give their kids access to digital graphics tools, but they’d prefer these to be a bit more affordable.

Well, how about FREE? Is that affordable enough?

Since moving to the Linux operating system, an entire treasure of free, open source software was placed at my feet. One of the best graphics applications, and available for all platforms, is The Gimp.

The Gimp is every bit as powerful and easy to use as many other graphics applications. It’s perfect for families on a budget. It’s available for Windows, Mac, and Linux as a free download.

You can download The Gimp at: www.gimp.org.

You might be asking yourself, “How is it that a powerful graphics application is available absolutely free?”  The Gimp is built by a community of volunteers and licensed under the free software agreement.

Because Gimp is free software, its free to download and free to give. You can download the Gimp, burn it to disk, and give it to friends and family. You can share it everyone at school, if you like.

You can also contribute your time and expertise to the Gimp project. One way people contribute to The Gimp project is by building various filters and plug-ins. These are free to download, too!

Even though The Gimp is available for Windows and Mac, it runs best on the Linux platform. It’s built specifically for Linux. If you really want to experience all that The Gimp and Linux have to offer, I recommend downloading any version (distribution) of the Linux operating system and installing it on a computer.

Chances are good that you have a second computer system sitting quietly in the corner gathering dust. It’s not running because it’s a Windows system and probably infected with a virus or malware.

Grab that system, reformat the hard drive, wipe Windows off, and install Linux. You’ll instantly have a brand new computer that is safer and more secure than Windows! And it will have the Gimp already installed.

Download Linux (and The Gimp) and give your kids an entire computer packed with software that allows them to express their creativity. And it’s all free.

And yes, I use Gimp every day in my studio.  I use it to create all my comic artwork and features.  I’m a Linux user and have been for the last six years.

I own a nice, large, traditional drawing table.  I used it all through college to draw my comic strip George (Go Buckeyes!).   It moved with me from dorm room to frat house to back home.  And then it made the college rounds again years later when I loaned it to my nephew Tom.

But as the digital age emerged, and I had no need for such a large drawing surface, I opted for something a bit smaller and more efficient.   It’s called an Editor’s Desk and you can get it from Levenger.

I love this desk!  I’ve had it for about ten years.  It has a nice slanted surface for drawing and I use the back shelf to keep sketches, drawings and printed templates at hand.  Plus,it has a tray for pens and pencils and a ledge at the bottom to keep papers from falling off.

It’s the perfect size for drawing cartoons and somewhat portable.  (Well, at least, it’s easier to move than a large drawing table.)   I’ve set mine up on a larger table.  I can always pick it up and move to another table or desk.

If you’re thinking about getting a drawing table, give the Editor’s Desk a look.   You probably already have a desk or table that you use. Just add the Editor’s Desk and you’ll have an instant drawing board!