Comic:From the desk of

From CGWiki

A short biography

From the Desk Of is a webcomic made by James Wilkins. The first comic was launched on 15 March 2003. But that one doesn't really count. The first comic that really counted appeared on 17 March 2003. The comic has been appearing in chronological order ever since then.

It used to be updated Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That was 2003. Later on it was more like Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Kind of like a college class. More recently it has been more like Monday. And not even every Monday. One thing I can guarantee, it's never had a Saturday or Sunday update. No sir.

FTDO, as those in the know call it, can be found at: [1] Hey that's a reference! Makes this seem almost scholarly.

Popular Topics

FTDO has more than one cartoon dealing with the following topics:

politics neighborhoods bad ideas current events sprites (just kidding, I don't know what these are) a talking bear work movies television kids driving driving kids history

FAQ

do these things really happen to you? Some things do. The bear on the phone was not me, though.

are those characters based on real people? Mostly.

what's vitruvian mean? Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius theorized that the human form could be measured in equal proportions, i.e. the width of four fingers equals one palm and 24 palms equals total human height. Leonardo daVinci illustrated these theories in the still famous sketch, which I have liberally borrowed from in many cartoons.

why are there photos? isn't this supposed to be a drawn cartoon? I try not to worry about mixing my media. Sometimes a photo just works better. Maybe I'll have to turn it all into drawings when I get sued for copyright infringement. A lot of my final stuff is based on photos and photos can be altered very easily, so when does the copyright wear off?

how do i catch up on a particular storyline? Everyone welcome the new kid. There is no storyline. I have several themes that I seem to revisit, but for the most part there are no stories that span more than one day or characters that reoccur. Therefore, the list to the left is sort of bogus. But, then again, I'm not going to restrict myself with any rules.

how are the cartoons done? I use a Wacom Intuos drawing pad. This puts the drawings directly on the PC without scanning. Then I manipulate and set text using Photoshop. I used draw with one of two pens (thin and thick) on a pad of paper that says "FROM THE DESK OF" on it, hence the title. I also have changed my style a bit to the point where I actually care if the final product looks like I wanted it to look. The older cartoons are therefore a little more scribbly. The newer ones, although they vary in style from exaggerated bubble heads to somewhat realistic depictions, are a bit more detailed. Finally, I shrink it to a 480x600 pixel JPG with 300 dpi resolution.

are you really asked any questions frequently? OK, no.

what's a gherkin?

  1. a.  A West Indian vine (Cucumis anguria) having prickly mature fruits that are sold as curiosities. The immature fruits are
         widely used for pickling.
     b.  The fruit of this plant. Also called gooseberry gourd.
  2. A small cucumber, especially one used for pickling.

what's a funny word that rhymes with gherkin? merkin