• Exciting news, I should be able to finish all artwork for RADIFY this summer!
• I have taken my RADIFY FB and Instagram pages down for now out of concern that the visual work will become even more vulnerable to unwanted copyright abuses from AI and social media. New social media sites will be created once the book is done and launching.

Best wishes to everyone in these almost surreal hard times. Stay safe and take care of yourselves.

The post Progress Update January 2025 appeared first on RADIFY by Emily Mode.

I am still drawing pages, but felt the need to spend some time reconnecting to the script, to see how the screenplay texts work with the drawings. In October I researched and began “visual scripting.”

• Visual scripting is a technique used by some graphic novelists, in advance of drawing, to “layout” the cells (typically in grids) with the texts (typically dialogue, thought bubbles, narration, description, etc.) in book-format. This can be done using a program like InDesign which allows them to write the book and add image ideas, photos, or notes to guide their drawing process.

• I chose to work in reverse of those graphic novelists, using visual scripting to add text (dialogue, thoughts, narration, description, etc.) to all the images/pages I’ve already drawn. This was easy as I already had a screenplay to work from.
  • This reverse process enables me to work in both directions – to rewrite text or rework drawings as needed. I can now play with fonts, bubble shapes, and text-image integration while keeping both editable.
  • I find the images have more weight in the story telling through this approach.

• Each month I am learning new methods and shortcuts within InDesign thanks to generous practitioners on YouTube. RADIFY is now moving into a “book” file, a file that will eventually go to the printer/publisher.

It is very exciting to start seeing the book emerge!

The post Progress Update December 2022 appeared first on RADIFY by Emily Mode.

• In September I was fortunate to go on a residency in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA).  It was a truly restorative experience after a year and a half of intense social isolation and no vacation or overnight getaways.  I met many wonderful artists and writers there, and the studio space, conversations, nature and swimming opportunities gave me so much joy!
• Much of the fall was about drawing, drawing, drawing and I am loving my new large-scale drawing method. It’s really helped with the pace and the fluidity of the page layout.
• One necessary but draining activity was redrawing around 30 of the initial pages of the book.  They were made in a two-layer process that, once scanned at pro resolution, could not be salvaged without more work than it took to redraw them. The paper I used at the time was different, as well as the drawing technique – this meant the color, texture, and style weren’t up to par. (A time consuming process I was pleased to get out of the way in 2021)
• During October we stayed at a friend’s upstate cottage, which I used as an opportunity to draw as well as attend  “Dismantling Eugenics: Legacies/ Reckonings/ Futures a Convening,” an intersectional cross-disciplinary online conference that will help with tweaks and updates for RADIFY’s dialogue.
• I also began splicing together and photoshop retouching the new high-resolution scans of all artwork finished so far.

SPRING 2022 NEWS

• The months of January and February were a minimal RADIFY productivity period, because I went to assist my parents with medical, care, and home needs. We got a lot done, but I will be setting up more help for them over the coming months.  My brother and our partners have been sharing in the load – so big shout out to them!
• March brought me back to NYC where I am returning to my home studio production mode.

The post Project Update 2022 – It’s been too long! appeared first on RADIFY by Emily Mode.

The post Heading to VCCA for artist residency! ✨ appeared first on RADIFY by Emily Mode.

• NOT FAST ENOUGH! In October I realized that while I had been improving my drawing speed, the process I was using wasn’t fast or consistent enough. So, I tested new methods and finally chose a slightly altered process and enlarged the scale of my paper (and by necessity some drawing tools) so that I could draw an entire book page on one large sheet.
• HALF DRAWINGS DONE! I kept drawing all fall and by years end I finished drawing half the book.

SPRING 2021 NEWS

• WARPING! The early drawings began warping. I was terrified I’d loose them. (This has to do with the process I use.) I researched and spoke with a paper archivist, learned how to de-warp the earlier drawings and prevent further warping. In addition, I have begun experimenting with drawing on thicker paper.
• PRO SCANNING UPGRADE! I was a scanning dunce, but only realized it in retrospect.  After a year and a half of scanning drawings and trying to color correct in photoshop to no avail, I realized I’d have to upgrade my technology to get consistent color, true blacks and whites.  During my research I was relieved to discover that a small investment in pro scanning software would do the trick.  A friend, colleague, and animator gave me a wonderful tutorial in the software he uses and I rescanned the first half of the book over a month. Scanning drawings is an art form of its own.
• WEBSITE DOWN! The RADIFY website was taken down for a month due to Malware. Ugg.  I had to spend a few weeks cleaning the site, updating themes, and with the help of a web developer get everything online again. It’s back up now.
• MOCKUPS! MOCKUPS! MOCKUPS! Before I draw each page, I create the entire page (sans text) in Photoshop, making an intricate collage of photos. This takes more time than the actual drawings.  I spent two months doing this on the computer until body aches and burn out forced me to take a break.
• Now I’m back to drawing.

The post A General Production Update – June 2021 appeared first on RADIFY by Emily Mode.

Here is just my first test scan, done to near perfect – – though it’s now super easy to adjust color, levels, white balance, white and black point, etc before scanning via VueScan:

The post Scanner Software Update – Finally! appeared first on RADIFY by Emily Mode.