Update on Jennifer

Update: We’ve hit $1,087!

THANK YOU! I’ve sent the full amount to her sister, and they’re setting it aside for either a tablet or a laptop, once she knows what exactly she’ll need.

Any additional gifts will be put in a separate fund for Jennifer’s college tuition in the fall.

-h

Today something amazing happened. We raised $490 (so far) for Jennifer.

But I’ve been thinking, and talking with her sister about what exactly she plans to do with art, and apparently she wants to do concept design for creatures for video games. After seeing her sketchbook on Sunday, I think she’s got a really good shot at doing that if she gets the right training and tools.

The plan to raise $500 for a computer was intended to get her a base model PC laptop, but if she’s going to do design and art like she hopes to do, she’s going to need an Adobe suite subscription and probably a Mac.

If you haven’t chipped in yet, would you consider doing that? I would really love to see Jennifer given the opportunities she needs and not be set back financially (like so many of us were when we “got out”).

5 thoughts on “Update on Jennifer

  1. Friend of mine was a storyboard artist for DreamWorks. He still does that for a living, but now has his own cartoon show. His best tool is probably a WACOM drawing tablet. The price difference between a PC and an iBook would pay for a drawing tablet. You can get used ones cheaper on Craigslist or eBay.

    Then again, speaking from experience, it’s best to wait until you’re in school and find out what you really need before actually getting anything. That way no money is wasted when other things are more important immediately. I didn’t buy a tablet until 2nd year because I needed some animation software first.

    If she’s capable of doing 3D modelling (Maya, 3D Studio Max, or Blender), she could also start selling content through the Unity3D asset store which is currently the fastest growing online content asset store for video games. I’m currently making some for myself.

  2. Hi, Adobe has student pricing for their products – much much cheaper than the standard price.

    Also, a Mac might not strictly be necessary – what’s important is computer specs itself (to run the software – rendering 3D, video, large digital paintings etc) in my humble opinion.

    Of course Mac/PC also depends on the dominant OS used in her classes. For example, it might be a Mac dominant computer culture (because of the perception that Mac is better for design) and so getting Mac would be better.

    I’d second a WACOM tablet. It doesn’t have to be latest & greatest Intuos one.

    I’m someone who studied multimedia & graphic design in Asia tho, so yea, it might be different in the US…

  3. Thanks for the advice, both of you. She will ultimately decide what technology to purchase, but the general idea is that we don’t want her to be restricted from getting what she needs. And thanks to everyone’s massively generous assistance, it’s looking like this will be possible.

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