Extrude and Bevel your Cello

Having explored 3D in adobe Illustrator recently with the 3D revolve effect, I was keen to try extrude and bevel. It was incredibly easy because the default settings of -18 X axis, -26 Y axis and 8 degrees z-axis rotation seemed to convert my cello drawing into a 3D instrument.
This drawing was inspired by the fact I wanted to go to a concert a friend of mine was playing in. To do this, my dog needed to go into the kennel for the first time. I was anxious and imagined all sorts of scenarios except the one that happened. She was ill in the night and made a horrible mess of my living room so we didn't even get as far as the kennel.
So this is my imagination running riot and my dog being remorseful she prevented me going and taking up cello lessons.

How to draw medicine pills in adobe illustrator

For a diagram I was asked to do recently, I needed a pile of pills and realised I didn't know how to draw in 3D. So I have just worked it out by trial and error. First mistake I made was to try the effect on a whole pill when in actual fact I needed half a pill. Then I realised I needed to 3D revolve around the right edge, not the left. Finally when I tried to rotate my pill I got something like a centrifuge rotor so I tried changing the Z-axis as well as the Y and finally had what I needed to create my drawing.

How Long it Takes to Write a Novel

Like many people all over the world I started writing my first novel during National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org) last November and ended up with 25,000 words and, most importantly, a beginning, middle and end. Now I am past the target 50,000 words I was supposed to have written in a month and expect to finish an average length novel (about 75K) before next November. I was surprised how little time it takes, considering the busy four months I’ve had starting this year. Realistically though, the answer to the question How long does it take to write a novel? is probably fifty years in my case. Certainly my story is derived from experiences I have had over the last thirty years.

Probably a more interesting question is Why does a story suddenly have to be written? I’m a cell biologist, not a novelist. I think the reason why most people get through life without writing a novel is because they never found an urgent need to. There has to be a driving force to make it happen.

As well as the words I have written so far, I now have a synopsis and a design for the front cover with the help of Adobe Illustrator. The novel is based largely on a remote Scottish Island, something I’ve struggled to draw convincingly so I used a puffin in the fore-ground instead which was much more fun.