I had so much fun with the Sketch-A-Matic at Webcomic Rampage, I decided to bring it to Emerald City Comicon. Due to a retweet from my buddy Wil and a reblog on the official ECCC Tumblr, I had people lined up all weekend to “press the button.”
I did a TON of sketches that weekend. I’ll be posting quite a few of them here in (probably) 3 parts. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll have the Sketch-A-Matic with me at any more shows in 2015 since I’m doing all of my convention appearances as part of Cyanide & Happiness. Maybe I’ll do my next sketch drive using suggestions from the Sketch-A-Matic. Perhaps I could call the sketchee over Skype and go through the whole process with them live. Hmm…
If you’re unfamiliar with the Sketch-A-Matic, here’s a bit of info about it:
INTRODUCING THE SKETCH-A-MATIC!
The idea is simple, but the technology behind it is VAST and COMPLICATED!
It works like this:
- The willing participant presses the big, red, impressive button
- The machine SPRING TO LIFE whirring and gyrating and buzzing
- When it finishes processing your individual, one of a kind sketch topic, you will hear a distinctive DING!
- 2 topic cards are spit out of the machine and placed on the sketch generation matrix
- The user may then choose to ad a multiplier card that will irrevocably alter the sketch in heretofore unimaginable ways!
- The machine’s operator (known as: The Artist) begins generating the one of a kind sketch using pencils and pens and paper like some horribly out of date 2D printer
Basically I was getting a lot of similar sketch requests at conventions, OR I was getting a lot of “I don’t know, draw whatever you want,” type requests, so I developed this system to ensure there was always a decisive sketch idea ready to go, and that no two sketches would ever be exactly the same. I’ve tested it out for the first time at Dragon’s Lair Webcomic Rampage in Austin and the results were incredibly amusing. Plus the whole process of “THE MACHINE” is pretty fun.
The machine (almost went with THE DEVICE) is a great idea, because all of those sketches are excellent! Looking forward to seeing more.
THERE. ARE… FOUR. CARDS!!!
Please tell me your cards come from the cards against humanity deck. I just need to know that exists.
The cards are blank. I write them myself. The problem with using CAH cards is the joke is already defined. I would just have to draw exactly what the card says. By using simple 1 or two word suggestions, I get to decide how they fit together and do something original. It's basically an improv game. It keeps me on my toes and forces me to think fast.