Random: Transformation Diary: Manipulated Me (2009/08/08)

The change occurred overnight. It did not sink in right away.

Realizing what had happened, it took a picture in the mirror. Would anybody believe what happened?

It got dressed, and waited by the window, steeling its resolve, working up the courage to exit its home, unsure of what was waiting for it outside. No longer human, would it still be a part of society, or would it be outcast, a plaid freak with no place in the world? At least it would finally be cured of its nail-biting habit, one way or another.

Leaving home, it looked around, amazed at what it saw - everyone around it had also transformed as well, appearing much as they always did in its inner vision. Whatever had happened was not restricted to itself; apparently the whole world had changed. The peculiar thing was that nobody else seemed to notice that anything was different. It began to worry. Was it the only one who remembered life before this, or was its memory of its human past the delusion? Worse yet, was this reality the delusion, brought on by too many years of fantasy and introspection? Or perhaps the slightly nervous unease was because everyone was going through the exact same thought process, nobody willing to question that which seemed normal to everyone else. It decided that answering these questions would be difficult and would likely result in more problems for itself; it would leave well enough alone, and live in the world where it belonged.

Tuesday morning I liked the way the light was streaming through my bathroom window, and since I'd been thinking about photo-manipulations again (after messing around with it for the first time in over 10 years the night before), I thought that if I'd somehow been transformed overnight, this is probably the situation in which I'd realize what had happened. Then I'd start to wonder, "Now what?"

The hardest part about doing a photo-manipulation seems to be getting the edges of skin to look right. I can see why most photo manipulations are of the furry sort — it's a lot easier to cover over that stuff when you're putting fur over everything, rather than trying to recolor smooth skin. It's also very easy to fall short by not accounting for skin's tendency towards specular highlights, and also the subtle textures introduced by the camera itself.

If pressed I will show how these images were put together, for anyone else who is interested in this sort of thing (you will not have to press very hard). While this is far from amazing high-quality work, it might still be helpful for someone else.

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2009/08/08: Monsters of Webcomics

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Thanks again for submitting your work for the Cartoon Art Museum’s Monsters of Webcomics Virtual Gallery.

I’m pleased to say that your work has been selected for inclusion in our exhibition, and will be featured in the Virtual Gallery along with a wide array of webcomics from around the globe. This historic exhibition will include over 100 artists, making this one of the largest exhibitions in the Cartoon Art Museum’s 24-year history, and we’re thankful for your participation.

I am pleased as well! My stuff will be in a museum! I think this is only the second time this has happened.

Here's a full press release of the exhibit, and also you can read more about the goings-on at the Cartoon Art Museum on their LiveJournal.

In any case, if you happen to be in or near San Francisco, the exhibit opens tonight, and will be running until December 6th. It would be fun to have a shared outing so as to meet up with as many readers as possible; I know a bunch of you are from around here too.