Half my Macbook Pro display is suddenly covered by huge white pixels. And my warranty expired 20 October.. This is just ridiculous!

Those of you who have read my earlier posts may have noticed my search for the perfect camera. I need a new digital camera and I purchased a DSLR a year and a half ago, but I just never bothered to take it with me anywhere and I sold it several months ago. I loved the quality of my photos, but the camera was just to impractical to carry around. I want a camera that offers great quality images that I can use in my work, maybe even print in an A2 format, but that can be carried around without much effort. I also need something that is fairly easy to use because I’m not very interested in spending hours reading my way through the instruction manual. I HATE instruction manuals! I don’t expect a pro photographers result, but I still want amazing crisp and strong coloured images. I’m on a budget here, I’m thinking to spend about £400. Of course, less would be great, but certainly not more than 400 quid. Is it possible to find something that meet my needs at that price? I’ve spent days online searching for the perfect camera and the closest I’ve come is the Canon Powershot S90.

Any suggestions? Anyone know this camera? It’s like a digital camera jungle out there, it is so hard for amateurs like me to find the right camera. Help is much appreciated.

Today is actually my graduation day but I am in Bergen, Norway and the graduation is in St.Albans, UK. I couldn’t go for several reasons, one of them being economical and the other one being I would have to go alone since no one really wanted to come with me (which I perfectly understand), and who would want to go from Norway to England to their graduation ceremony all by themselves? The funny thing is it doesn’t matter since I got the swineflu a few days ago, I couldn’t have gone anyway. I’m still contagious and think about all those people I could have infected on both the airports and the ceremony. I don’t have the strength either, I get exhausted from walking up the stairs and need to rest everytime I move between floors. I think it is a little sad that I am missing my graduation, but that’s life. You can’t get everything you want. So, instead I am enjoying som peace and quiet, drawing, drawing and drawing.

Even illustrators may find themselves in the situation where contagious nasty stuff like swineflu infect the healthiest of the healthiest. I’ve been chained to bed since Sunday, and I’m dying to get back to work. I am working on a couple of designs for Christmas wrapping paper and I’m thinking black lines on some sort of offwhite or eggshell. I am finally going to buy myself a new camera this weekend, my ever so long blog posts will be joined by some nice coloured photography. After all, this is an illustration blog, it should contain illustrated posts..

No updates in almost a month does not mean that nothing is happening, it just means that I’ve been far too busy to manage the blog. I have to apologize about that and I definitely should prioritize keeping my friends and followers updated, I really appreciate those of you who stop by on a regular basis. So, what has happened?

Well, I got some sad news. The publishing company who was interested in maybe publishing my book backed out last week which means that I have to start from scratch on that one. But that’s the life of being an illustrator, there are usually more downs than ups. But the trick is to never give up and try a little bit harder next time! So I am working on the manuscript at the moment, trying to make it stronger and more engaging, I can definitely see the potential of improvement there.

I am also making a series of ink drawings for a new Norwegian website called epla.no which basically is the Norwegian version of etzy.com   I am going to open up my own webshop where I sell quality original ink drawings at affordable prices. I may also open up an etzy shop for international customers but it depends on the demand.

I am considering getting my website redesigned by a true professional, I don’t have the time, the skills, and can’t be bothered with doing the website all by myself anymore. I would love to know if you know of someone who might be able to present my work at another level.

Until the next update, take care!

I am giving away some self promotion material FOR FREE! I’ve got posters, postcards and folders making up a lovely pack presenting myself as an illustrator. Whether you’re a potential client or you just would like something pretty in the mail, email me your name and address at   post@ninaarctander.com  and I’ll send you the samples completely free with no strings attached.

I have installed Snow Leopard on my iMac now and so far so good although I have had some compatibility issues with a few applications. Luckily I know a couple of highly skilled people who managed to help me solve those issues, and now everything seem to work just fine. Main issue now is I only have one external HD, a 500GB western digital MyBook studio edition which works lovely, but that is my main HD for Time Machine and I need another one where I can back up my work and leave it safely in someone else’s house in case of fire or some other terrible event. I was thinking of buying either a small WD 320GB passport HD or WD 1TB studio HD but I haven’t made up my mind yet.

see my work in action HERE!

My latest commission. It is for a Norwegian childrens book club website and considering I only had one day to do it I’m rather pleased with the result. Will post the url when the website has been updated with the new design.

Only three more days and then Snow Leopard is released. I pre-ordered my copy today and can’t wait to try it out.

It is supposed to make your Mac faster, easier to use and more reliable. If you want to know more you can read about Snow Leopard here