This month’s post is a little different. This Week in Aurebesh is a project that exists within a digital space. I started as an artist working in physical media. Nothing beats the satisfaction of putting a pencil or ink on paper, but I have created the bulk of my work on a computer.
To be or Not Adobe
I’ve been using Adobe Photoshop version 1.0. In 2013, Adobe switched to a subscription model that I would generously describe as predatory. Even back then I’d hold off on updating Photoshop for as long as possible. Since I was not interested in subscribing to the Creative Cloud, I’ve been using Photoshop CS6 since its release in 2012. To be very honest, very few of the updates to Photoshop I missed in the last fourteen years have felt essential, and I’ve been plugging along happily without them.
But time marches on. My beloved iMac which allowed me to both play SWTOR and work with Photoshop is showing its age. Modern programs won’t run on it, and even the older stuff that still works can be janky. Last year I acquired a new Mac and have been making the transition to the new machine. Thankfully SWTOR runs wonderfully on it, but I was faced with a dilemma. Was it time to bite the bullet and subscribe to Photoshop?
Adobe’s whole hearted embrace of generative AI simply does not sit well with me. I fully understand the easy appeal and the tremendous power of AI, but to me it is fundamentally at odds with the simple act of and satisfaction that comes from creating art. I do not feel right paying a subscription fee to a company that no longer shares that vision.
Fortunately in the years I’ve been puttering around in CS6, a host of new programs and viable alternatives to Adobe have sprung up. It’s been fun and frustrating and occasionally infuriating, but I am endeavoring to learn to use these new tools. I’ve never more appreciated the image of an old dog learning new tricks as I do when I sit down to work these days.
The Kids Love This One
The point of this story is to highlight that working in digital art is very different than working with physical tools. Not worse or better, just different. Certainly I’d give my kingdom for a real life Undo button, but I also appreciate that I don’t have to subscribe to use my favorite mechanical pencil.
I’ve always treasured those moments when I can hold something I made in my hands, seeing my work in a store, or seeing my art in the newspaper or printed on a poster. Even if it was created entirely on the computer, having a printed version makes it feel more real in both a figurative and literal sense.
This Week in Aurebesh, however, has existed almost completely online. Until now.
Earlier this year I arranged for three of the illustrations I created for Pets of the Old Republic to be printed on stickers. I’d received a few requests to have stickers of them, and I also wanted to have something like that for myself.
And it was a wonderful feeling to see them in person. I have shared a few with friends and long time supporters of this project and it’s been neat to hear the reactions to see them stuck on my friends’ favorite stuff.
But I did print a lot of them, and so I’ve also set up an Etsy shop to sell them to anyone who might want some stickers themselves. Rest assure that this is not a cash grab. I would have to sell the majority of my inventory to just break even, and I’ve tried to price them as affordably as I can. I didn’t get into the sticker game to get rich!
But SWTOR merchandise is hard to come by, and if I can fly under the radar and put a few tiny droids, Ginx polliwogs and Vulptilla pups into the world, I don’t see that as a bad thing.
But times are tough, and I can assure you this silly blog will be ad free and full of as many fake space letters and, maybe, a few more Pets of the Old Republic as I can find. And with the conclusion of Legacy of the Sith and this week’s news of 8.0, there is lots to talk about. Stay tuned!
