just the FAQs, ma'am.
Yes, I know, bad pun. 8^)

     
    Where did the concept for “Blue Canary” come from?
    1. Ever hear of They Might be Giants? Get their album, Flood and listen to the second track, “Birdhouse in Your Soul.” One day I was listening to it and the idea just grabbed me and wouldn't let go!
    Why do you sign your work "ryn"?
    1. They are the last 3 letters of my name, the part everyone misspells. They will ask for a "K" or a "C" but assume the ending is "erine." Ug. I guess it's my rant. That and it looked cool.
    Is “Blue Canary” available anywhere else?
    1. Not currently. It did run in the Herald, the campus paper of Arkansas State University, located in Jonesboro, AR, while I was at college. I graduated in December, 2001 and that ended Blue Canary's run there. They should have those past strips their website. Go to http://herald.astate.edu , click on archives and look through the for the Fall 2000 semester, then look in the“opinions”section. The first strip began on September 1, 2000. You'll have to search through the issues to find the rest of them and they didn't run in every issue. Those archives can be a bugger to go through, which is why I have a website for my comic. Good Luck searching for them if you go that route, but as those strips were the same as the ones I later put in my archives, I don't see why'd you bother.
    What programs do you use to make your comic and what type of computer do you use?
    1. I have used both Macintosh and Windows platforms, but mainly use Windows because that is what I have at home. I loved the G4s in the Graphic Design lab on campus, but I did gradutate and that restricts my use of those Macs and I can't afford one as of yet. I scan the comic in, sans dialogue and speech and thought balloons, with a Umax scanner. I did have a Microtek, but the bulb went out on it. From there I use either Adobe Photoshop (5.5) or Corel Photopaint (9.0) (depending whether I'm at school or home,) and do touch ups and add gray-tones with my Wacom tablet. I have been known to use Painter 7 to do colors and gray-tones since I got said Wacom tablet.  I then export it into Adobe Illustrator (8.0) for better control of placing the text and balloons. Finally, if it's for print, I export that as a TIFF, like I did for the Herald. For the web, I take that and turn it into a GIF or JPEG depending on which is smaller. Whew! Lots o’ work for one little comic! I'm thinking of making the images all PNG files in the future for faster loading. Downside is, you'll need the newest version of your web browser to view it.
    What art supplies do you use?
    1. 11” x 17” 110 lb. Cardstock (Wausau Exact Index, I believe,) is the paper I use. I have a small triangle and a metal ruler to help draw the panels. I did use Sakura Micron Pigma pens, but when the local art store stopped carrying them I switched to those by Zig Memory System. I use the point sizes: 08, 05, 03, 01, 005. My next goal is to learn to ink with a brush. Right now, I'm experimenting with brush pens to better get the feel of it.
    How do you come up with ideas?
      Oh, boy. This is the question is so hard to answer and have it explain the process adequately. Sometimes they hit me at random or songs or pop culture just transforms itself into a joke. Other times, it's like the characters are living in my head and I'm only a camera documenting their bizarre life. Usually, though, I run ideas by my boyfriend who tells me which ones are good, gives suggestions and helps me tweak punchlines to their funniest. For some reason, I think up my best stuff when he's around.
Your question not here? Then, ask me why don't ya? 8^)

Copyright © 2000, 2001 by Kathryn White. All rights reserved. This web site is a publication; and this web site, and parts thereof, may only be viewed as presented by, or hyper-linked from, the URLs http://bluecanary.keenspace.com or www.blue-canary.com. No other reproduction in any form is allowed without permission from Kathryn White. In other words, I own this cartoon, but if you ask nicely, I might consider it. I'm a starving artist trying to make it, folks. Have a heart and don't steal my art, ok?

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