announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:40:39 +0000

So here’s what happened:

Somewhere between me attempting to update one of my plugins and me doing nothing at all, one of my plugins decided to die on me. Unfortunately, this happened to be the plugin that runs the slideshow of feature posts atop the front page of my site. Even more unfortunately, none of my attempts to restore the plugin files to the versions from the day before solved the issue. Eventually, I had to restore the site back to a backup from the previous week, which had the most unfortunate effect of erasing some of my most recent articles.

It could definitely have been worse, but I’m not to happy about it, especially given the effort I put into getting the design of my site to where it was.

So I’m regrouping right now, giving some thought to what I want to do next. There will be some more animation writing from me and the site will continue; I’m just not sure in what form yet.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:05:01 +0000

Yup, Futurama is back with an all new season that started last Thursday.

Oh, and I’ve got a new article ready to go up this Wednesday.

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:31:50 +0000

You may have noticed that there haven’t been any new articles on The Ink and Pixel Club for the past couple of weeks. As I noted in one of the last updates, I have a new puppy who is monopolizing the time to the point where I can’t sit down at the computer for more than a few minutes at a time unless my husband is home to supervise her. So updates are going to be sporadic at best for the foreseeable future. It may be another month or longer before I can put in the time to write full length articles again.

In the meantime, you’re more than welcome to browse through the archives and read any articles you may have missed. Comments are always welcome and I’ll try to respond to them as my schedule permits.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:31:00 +0000

My home and driveway got buried under over a foot of snow yesterday. My husband and I spent the entire day either shoveling or recovering from shoveling so that we could go back out and do more shoveling. Consequently, this is the first time I’ve been on my computer since Tuesday. The new article just needs to be assembled and will be posted sometime later today. Sorry for the delay.

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:31:49 +0000

A few days ago while I was checking what sites were sending readers my way, I came across a site that was using one of my screen captures. Since there was a link to The Ink and Pixel Club accompanying the image and the image was being used appropriately (in a nicely written biography of Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Disney’s Snow White), I have no problem with it. But it did get me thinking that I should have a clearly stated policy for anyone who wants to use one or more of the images found on my site. Now of course, I don’t own these images, but I do put some time and effort into finding, saving, and editing them, which is why I would like to have a little say over how they’re used. So the new image use policy and request form can be found in the new “Site Policies” tab on the site menu.

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:02:28 +0000

A combination of long weekends and busy Mondays has prompted me to start posting new articles on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

Also, since I can’t get WordPress to stop putting every single article into the “miscellaneous” category and not letting me remove them, I’ve changed the name of the category to “animation.” It’s not a solution I like, but I prefer it to having all of my articles labeled “miscellaneous.”

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:39:03 +0000

Hi everyone. I wanted to let you know that The Ink and Pixel Club should be resuming regular Tuesday updates within the next two weeks. The move is taking a little longer than I anticipated and I don’t want to dive back into the site until we’re settled and I can devote all of my energy to writing new articles.

In the meantime, you’re probably aware that The Nostalgia Critic is going to be reviewing The Pebble and the Penguin this week. I know I’m looking forward to watching him savage the film. So while we’re all waiting to see the penguins get tarred and….refeathered, check out my review of The Pebble and the Penguin? If you read it before, it’s a good refresher course on the movie and what flaws the Critic may pick apart. If you haven’t, it’s a great introduction to the film and what you’re in for.

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:52:44 +0000

I’m going to be taking a one month break from the Ink and Pixel Club. Why? Well, it’s been over a year since I started the site. I’m also going to be moving starting next week. And my computer has been having some issues that may require a trip to the computer doctor. All in all, it seems like a good time to take a little vacation, recharge my batteries, and think about what I want to do with the site next. I may still pop in with a quick post now and then if I come across something I really want to share with you. But there won’t be any regular Tuesday updates until late September.

Now for the opportunity: I’m putting out an open call for guest articles. I’ve wanted to have articles from people other than me on the site for a while and the start of my hiatus strikes me as an ideal point to make an official request for submissions. Here are the guidelines:

All submissions must be related to animation. They can be reviews, commentaries, explanations of a certain technique, biographies of people in the industry, opinion pieces, or whatever. Just as long as it relates to animation.

There is no maximum length. However, I reserve the right to split particularly long articles into multiple posts.
You may submit your article at any time. I want to make guest posts a permanent part of the site.

Articles previously published elsewhere are fine. However, you are solely responsible for abiding by any agreements you article may be under currently. I need to be informed upfront if your article is going to require a link back to another site or if you need to obtain permission from someone to publish it on my site. If I get an angry letter from another website saying that they have exclusive rights to your article, your article will be removed and you will not be writing for The Ink and Pixel Club again.
Not all articles submitted will automatically be accepted. You may submit a proposal or outline for approval before writing the finished article. However, publication of your article is not guaranteed until your final draft is approved. If you submit a proposal for a review of a film that is accepted and your “article” is literally just “I liked it” or “It sucked,” you’re not getting published.

I will check your article for spelling, grammar, and HTML errors. This does not mean you shouldn’t proofread your work. Articles with an excessive amount of errors will be sent back for correction or rejected.

I will ask you to make any changes I want that are more substantial than minor corrections. Your first draft may be perfect and ready for publication, but keep in mind that you may be asked for revisions.

You are responsible for any links or images that you want in your article. I can help you with the HTML if you don’t know it and do a small amount of image editing, but you have to get the link addresses and image files yourself. I may add in a link if I think it would be useful or grab a screenshot if I have the source material handy, but don’t count on it. If you want to use an image that you found on the web, get permission from the owner first.

All work you submit must be your own or be properly credited to the original creator. No exceptions.

I can’t pay you. The ink and Pixel Club doesn’t currently make any money. I pay for the domain name and the webspace, so the site operates at a loss. What I can offer you is an audience for your work, a link to your website (personal site, blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed, whatever represents you on the web), and the same amount of promotion for your article as I do for my own. You also retain the rights to your work and the freedom to publish it elsewhere, though I do ask that you provide a link to The Ink and Pixel Club if the article was published here originally. If my terms for guest posting ever change, I will contact you so that we can discuss these changes. (Please notify me if you change your e-mail address.)

If you’re interested, please e-mail me (replace text in parentheses with appropriate symbols and punctuation) with your article proposal, outline, or full article. You can leave a comment on this article, but I would much rather discuss article submissions privately than in public.

Don’t be shy! You can do it!

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:52:03 +0000

No, not me. It’s The Ink and Pixel Club’s first birthday! Yes it’s been a whole years of stories about animation, from ink to pixels to every other style. I’m going to celebrate by considering what I want to do with the site over the next year. In the meantime, here are some fun facts about the site and the date:

The very first Ink and Pixel Club article published (after the introductory post was Brave Little Tailor – The Measure of a Mouse.
The first article written for The Ink and Pixel Club was Famous Firsts: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, though it was not published until Septmber of 2009.
The Ink and Pixel Club started out as a LiveJournal blog. It changed over to a WordPress site in March of this year. The LiveJournal site still exists, but only contains links to the latest articles.
Including this one, there are currently 85 posts on The Ink and Pixel Club.
Currently. the five most popular articles on The Ink and Pixel Club are:
On June 29, 2009, the top animated movie at the box office was Up, coming in fourth place. Monsters vs. Aliens was Ups‘s closest animated competitor in seventeenth place. Coraline, Battle for Terra, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs were also in theaters, though not in the top twenty.
Mickey Mouse will celebrate his 82nd birthday on November 18 of this year. Bugs Bunny turns 60 on July 27 (not counting a few earlier cartoons starring rabbits similar to Bugs). Tom and Jerry celebrated their shared 60th birthday on February 10.
The Ink and Pixel Club would not be possible without you, dear reader, so give yourself a hand!

Comments, well-wishes, and suggestions for the future are all greatly appreciated.

announcements - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:43:46 +0000

Don’t panic.

The LiveJournal version of The Ink and Pixel Club hasn’t really gone anywhere. All that’s changed is where the domain name leads to. Why does it lead here? Well, this was supposed to be a surprise, or at least something that didn’t get revealed until I got the new version all set up. But i found out after the fact that I had to point my domain name here in order to edit the new blog. So, here we are.

I have nothing against LiveJournal, in case you’re wondering. It was a great, low-pressure way for me to get started blogging. But I feel like I’ve kind of outgrown it and it can’t really do everything I eventually want to do with The Ink and Pixel Club. WordPress seemed like the best option after a little research. It may not look like much yet, but I’ve got plans.

For the time being, updates will continue on the LiveJournal blog as usual. Meanwhile, I will be customizing the new blog, moving all of the content from the old blog over here, and adding in a few fun new features. When everything is ready, I will make a post of the LiveJournal blog announcing the official opening of the new site and the future of the LiveJournal blog.

This message may self-destruct, by which i mean I may delete it at a future date.