Frank's Sketchbook Entry of the Day

I went to a workshop at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), back in April. There was a security checkpoint gate when first driving in, but the building where the meeting was did not actually have airport style security. Then I started thinking about what type of security NIST would have. After all, these are the people who have the platinum meter, the atomic clock, and the standard byte in the US. (OK, so that's not true, doesn't matter.) I imagine they'd be more interested in making sure people conformed to all the required standards. And thus this cartoon.

I sketched it and then inked it and then our scanner died. And then my laptop died. Actually, both are currently mostly dead rather than completely. Anyway, I finally was able to scan it in, color it and clean it up a little. I should have scanned it as a black and white image rather than gray scale, but I forgot.

In the first sketch, all the heads were way too big. I fixed that. Then I showed my friend Deepak the pencil sketch and he commented how the perspective on the metal detector was pretty bad. I had drawn the 1st draft while sitting in the audience at the workshop, and in general I am unable to draw a straight line. In that circumstance, it was hopeless. However, I redid the scanner, applying a slightly better perspective to it, and the x-ray machine. While I used a ruler to draw the line (actually, it was the edge of a book), I inked it freehand, because I didn't want those few lines to stick out as being better than the rest of the lines. Did some simple coloring and shading in Photoshop.

I realized the perspective with guy on the right with the ruler is screwed up too, but didn't feel like redrawing him or both him and the guy with the shoe (the "floating midget"). So I decided the guy with the ruler took the measurement and then walked away from the guy with the shoe to show the audience. Simple, eh?