The Creative Portfolio of Melissa K. Vassar-Belloso

Oekaki 101

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Basic Information/FAQ

What is Oekaki?

A growing trend on the internet and originating from Japan, oekaki boards have become a haven for artists. The word translates to “scribble” in Japanese, but the term is used in general to refer to any drawing BBS. There are literally hundreds of sites with oekaki boards for public use. Some boards are populated by expert artists, and some are small, private communities. Oekaki internet forum systems allow artists to draw pictures with a drawing program stored on a server and post their drawings on the internet forum. Artists do not upload their images on oekaki internet forum systems; they draw pictures inside web browsers with a computer mouse, a graphics tablet, or a touch screen. However, some versions of oekaki software do allow uploads, and usually the rules of that oekaki will state that only x number of uploads in a week are allowed. The underlying computer technology used in oekaki can be a Java applet or ActiveX. Some oekaki systems offer enough features to create professional-looking images. The resulting picture is usually in dimensions of a few hundred pixels wide or long. The most popular applets used on English internet forums are OekakiBBS, PaintBBS, and Shi-Painter. If the internet forum and the program applet are both equipped for it, the artist can choose to use an animation feature which allows the internet forum users to watch a stroke-by-stroke animation of the image being drawn. Some oekaki internet forums also have a Continue feature (also known as Retouch), which allows the artist to save the image to the internet forum and continue work on it later. Some implementations of Continue/Retouch retain image layers only when an image is saved as an animation. (read the the rest at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oekaki and http://hokuten.net/?page_id=38)

Which oekaki application is best to use?

If you are not familiar with oekaki drawing applications the best way is to try each one and see which you like best.Tablet users will get the most use out of Shi Painter Pro because it has pressure sensitivity.Chibipaint is ideal for those used to the UI of Gimp or Photoshop.

I’m new to oekaki.Where do I start?

If you’re not familiar with oekaki you can google “oekaki” and you’ll get tons of results.There’s also a section on all the apps further down on this page.

How do I use pressure sensitivity with my tablet?

If you are using a tablet and want to use pressure sensitivity you’ll have to use Shi Painter Pro.To activate it you have to double click the P in the top right over the scrollbars.A small box will open and you can adjust the various settings to your liking.Jtablet should be installed with the boards here but if it’s not working for you you can download and install it from http://sketchstudio.cellosoft.com.

How do I update my java?

It’s important to update your java when updates are available to ensure that the applets will work properly for you.To download the latest version of java you need to go to http://java.com/en .

More About the Apps…

This section will tell you all about the different apps and also provide links to tutorials to get you started.

PaintBBS

Information/tutorials coming soon!

Shi Painter/Shi Painter Pro

Information/tutorials coming soon!

Chibipaint

Information/tutorials coming soon!

Ready to start drawing? Join the Project HaevenArts board now using the Draw Now link in the blog sidebar!