Okay, You Illustrator Enthusiastz

Your push back is duly acknowledged. My video series Illustrator CS4 One-on-One: Fundamentals is done, and it features the Queen of Murder rendered as both a skateboard and a surfboard. For the extreme sportz setz, don’t you know?

skate and surf

And now for the full story . . .

Tonight marks my last night in Ventura, California for 2008. I will miss the Holiday Inn Express and the hideously organic smells of its neighboring mushroom farms and their various malodorous fertilizers. Forgive me when I say that this very beautiful part of the world (I’m on the balcony overlooking the sweeping harbor) smells like a dead rat lodged in a very old man’s crotch. A three-day old cigar dipped in rancid butter would serve as an air freshener.

But I shall not miss the completion of my diligently comprehensive video series, Illustrator CS4 One-on-One: Fundamentals. Because I finished recording the last movie, “Sharing with InDesign, Flash, and Photoshop,” a couple of hours ago. This 170-movie series (21.5 hours before editing!) is slated to be available for your viewing pleasure as part of the massive, value-oriented, and extremely satisfying lynda.com Online Training Library in January of 2009.

My fresh-as-2009-Spring Adobe Illustrator CS4 One-on-One book is in the works as well. Will keep you posted.

Oh, btw, you will not believe the myriad ways in which multiple artboards in Illustrator CS4 (the most requested new feature every year for more than a decade) manifests itself. As a long-time vector-graphics zealot, I’ve been nothing but continually amazed. The skate- and surfboard hail from Artboard #2 of a three-page Illustrator document, ‘case you’re curious.

And never fear, Shenbop is here, this time rendered in the controversial color of purple.

Run, Shenbop, run! The queen wants to murder you! (She really does. As those of you who know know, there are so many major and minor plots associated with these things.)

Next entry:The Ice Fields

Previous entry:Ho Ho Ho, Free Training for the Holidays!

  • Wohooooooo!!!

    Deke, I hope it will be as good as it was before (maybe better? who knows)
    But I’m asking when it will be available at lynda???
    And is this series also consists of 3 parts (as 1 on 1 for CS3)


  • Shenbop Rules All

    Congrats Deke! I know the feeling (and the wondrous smell you reference). I look forward to digesting the myriad ways in which multiple artboards have been portrayed in your training. By the way, you DO realize that you can make FAR more money selling licensed Shenbop toys (I want one! I want one!) than you can using Shenbop in training videos….

    Mordy Golding


    http://rwillustrator.blogspot.com

  • You da man!

    Can’t wait to take all your trainings on CS4… AI in particular as I use it extensively for artwork. I love vectors more than anything…how BIG can it go!

  • \“Filled\” with Wonder…. O Sweet Vectory!

    Thank you for returning to an Illustrator topic.

    Your “stroke” of genius never fails to “fill” me with wonder as you lead us down this “path”. Ok, I’ll stop “meshing” with the Illustrator puns. But you do seem the “Open Type” and rather “resolution independent” for the time of year.

    One question though that bothers me: Does this mean a departure from the “Department of Antiquities” theme? I hope not…. it seems a such a fitting theme for Illustrator in so many ways and I still have so many unanswered questions…

    What other Atlantis souvenirs has your scuba-diving chiropractor recovered? Did you ever learn to stop breaking priceless artifacts with your hammer? What’s up with Robot in Space and the Mayan calendar? Have you discovered a practical use for the tilde key trick? You’ve developed some great projects through the years and I look forward to seeing more of them in the new videos and book.

    Thank you for all the time, hard work, attention to detail and sheer wacky brilliance you put into this stuff.

    Thomas

    Thomas Benner


    The Art Institute of Austin

  • The Tonalpohualli lives

    By which I mean the 260-day Aztec spiritual calendar that we all know and love, and use quite a bit this time of year. As witnessed here.

    And so easy to draw once you know how. Also among the living are the Eye of Horus, the Ojibwe Mishipizheu, the Anasazi stop sign, and much more.

    The cloying Uzz has been recast as the monstrous Zorble. He remains a post-modern corporate mascot, but now he works for a kind of nonprofit/thinktank foundation. Which is why Zorble is so hor’ble.

    If all that sounds mildly insane . . . well, it makes more sense in context. (Whenever I tell strangers what I do for a living, I am met with the most ghastly silences. Why is that?)

  • Should be out in late January

    And yes, it will be three parts.

    Hopefully, the fact that the first part includes 170 movies will keep folks busy for a while. (I really do hope. I really do hope.)

  • \“Teachers\”

    We are all, “Big and Small”, students and teachers, but you stand on MY Pedestal, this year!  “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most admirable one of all?  Deke McClelland!!!

    I wish you and your all your “precious ones”, a very “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”!  billie

  • Merry Christmas Deke, Colleen, and dekeCommunity!

    Because we’re a day ahead, and because my mum is German, we’ll be having our traditional Xmas festivities this afternoon/evening at the farm - and then we’ll do it all over again on Xmas day with dad and all the Maori side of the family. So I’ll be overfed and overbeveraged for the next….possibly several months, at this rate. :-D

    Take care on the roads, everyone - stay safe, and have a wonderful holiday celebration. Thank you for being here and sharing your knowledge and wisdom, personality and fun!

    Lotsa love from the upside down Kiwi one. :-)

    Egg Nog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1IWv1-3pBY&feature=related

    Xmas song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtqIM_bPTws

    Enjoy!

  • Merry Xmas everyone

    I would like to wish you all Very Merry Xmas and Happy New Year 2009. Thank you Deke and Colleen for all that great work. Thanks to everyone who makes this forum happening and thanks the rest for contributing.

  • Merry Xmas to everyone.

    Merry Christmas everyone.
    I am pretty new to photoshop and have learned a lot from lurking here. Thanks!
    Greetings from all at Maplecrest Farm!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/maplecrest/3133263448/

  • Merry Christmas Renaissance Man Deke

    So it’s Christmas morning and I thought I’d take a break from playing with my kids toys (we have most of them out of there boxes and full with battery power). I notice a couple of new post here at dekeBLOG. So I decided to take a read. Once there I found this special bit of descriptive writing, “A three-day old cigar dipped in rancid butter would serve as an air freshener.” How do you do it Deke? You are a true Renaissance Man. Master of design, software and language.

    Here’s a small challenge: Write something as sweet and dripping with happiness as the above comment is sour and disgusting.

    I’m sure the Renaissance Man Deke can do it. But will go against his natural grain!?!

    Roger


    Head Camp Counselor
    Camp Photoshop

    http://www.campphotoshop.com

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