A Mother’s Day mystery

This morning we woke up to find a Mom’s Day thank-you gift on our table (photo at left). Our cat denies having any part in it, but the sawdust on his feet makes me highly suspicious.

As told in the cartoon, he apparently tip-toed out while we were asleep, drew out his idea, used my tools to make a little present (wearing hearing protection like a good cat), and then slipped back in to the house. In true cat fashion, he left a mess in the garage for me to puzzle over-and clean up.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, and all the women in our lives who take such good care of us.

I was invited to be a guest writer for the “Blogger Tips and Tricks” website, one of the main sites for technical help with websites like mine. I was asked to talk about how I make my short animations (.gif’s). My article was just posted at:

http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/2010/04/animated-gif-images-blogger-and.html

It’s a technical explanation of how I make them, and is of interest mostly to graphics and tech types.

Whether or not your interests run to technical details and software, I thought you would want to know its there.

 Getting better with .gif’s

These are some more recent .gif’s. I think I am starting to get a feel for drawing with the mouse, working within the very limited number of pixels (200 x 200 pixels) and telling a story in very few frames.

Because .gif’s repeat endlessly, I tried to make little stories about cyclical activities.

Top: Design Process

For me, design involves seemingly endless rounds wracking my brain, getting inspiration, developing an idea and disappointment when it doesn’t work. I even managed to work two cartoon classics into this cartoon, the inspiration light bulb and the swearing symbols.

Upper Middle: Catnip

Our cat LOVES eating catnip.

Lower Middle: Waking Up

Some days it is just SO hard to wake up, even with a strong cup of coffee

Bottom Sleeping Cat

This plays with the inactivity of a sleeping cat, and the hyperactivity of most .gif’s. It starts out with a long pause (paws?) just to fool you, and-like a watching a real cat-makes you wonder if anything is going to happen. When something does happen, it isn’t very much.

CLICK ON .gif’s LABEL BELOW TO SEE MORE .gif’s