I
don't like to communicate verbally, because I make so many mistakes: I appear
foolish, stupid, or tactless. I communicate best by drawing and writing. It
also means I have to be very organized to find anything in the studio, file
cabinet, or bookshelf. My brain damage could have begun at birth (the cord was
wrapped around my neck). I have always been 'different.' The most difficult issues began with trauma seven years ago.
In
both mediums, drawing or writing, I start with a general idea: a rough sketch or draft on paper
with a pencil that has an eraser. Handy to have is a very long eraser in its own
handle. Also useful, an eraser "shield" - it is a holdover
from pre-PC days when illustrators produced work by hand. The shield allows me
to cover up what I don't want to erase. They are sold in art/drafting supply
sources.
The next phase is to refine a drawing or edit my article. Usually, I print it to see how it will look on the page to help me see the mistakes. An article may require many drafts before publication to get it as close to perfect as my ability allows. It's the same with a drawing or illustration.
Then I may color with highlighter
pens, and ink in the pencil marks with a fine Sharpie™. I also use drafting
pens that are sold with precision point widths for some illustrations. A line
drawing must convey precise information with simple lines and shapes. The goal of a drawing is to present the subject with as much clarity and little distraction as possible.
The final step is to re-draw the chart on the desktop computer. I love the benefit of having 'artificial intelligence.' It is faster for some applications.
If you want to learn to draw on a computer,
I recommend the program Affinity™ to begin, rather than Adobe
Illustrator™. Adobe Illustrator is a highly complex system while Affinity is
more 'amateur-friendly.' But Illustrator does have some features that are not
available on Affinity. I also use the free version of Grammarly™ to check my
work, and "Google" for miscellaneous questions I may have. Henry Ford
is purported to say he didn't have to know everything about automobiles as long
as he knew who to ask.
Before
retirement, I worked mostly as a temp or free-lance. It got the jump on getting
fired for my social gaffs. It also taught me many ways to do things, having so many
different employers. I should add that I loved my work and spent my time
working as opposed to office-politicking. I was fired from one job and told
later that they had to hire 6 people to replace me. I asked why they didn't
call me back. The manager said he called me, I already had another job, so he didn't ask.
For
word processing, accounting, and charting, I use Microsoft Office. Working as a
temp, it was the 'most often' used software by employers, though I did have to
learn some more refined office software on occasion.
Compatible with Word and Excel, the knitting symbol
font called 'StitchinKnit' was my choice. You can learn more about it here: Knit Symbol Fonts/.
There are free fonts available. I just happened to like this one and paid a small license fee.
I
made a pair of templates in Excel for graph paper, but I also have a free
software called: Graph Paper Printer. It has been around a long time and has
many applications, including music and scientific papers.
More tomorrow . . .
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