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 An interview with Jeff Newman, creator of The Drawing Hand Screen Saver.  Drawing Hand, an amazing and unique screen saver, which is available in a basic freeware version, has long been a favorite with TheFreeSite.com's visitors. Just when you think you've "seen it all" as far as screen savers go, Drawing Hand is one of those rare computer programs that is unique and eye-catching enough to draw a crowd of onlookers where ever it is displayed. The screen saver basically consists of lovely drawings that Jeff has created himself. What makes the screen saver unique, though, is that you can see an animated hand actually create each drawing, right before your eyes. It's a wonderful display to watch and it gives you insight into how art is created. Question:: Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? Answer: I’m from Fremont, California, which is just north of San Jose. I’ve lived here just about my entire life. I’ve been working as a engineer for the past 12 years. Although I recently quit my job in order to focus on Drawing Hand Creations. It’s a bit risky but I’m enjoying it. Q: How long have you been involved with computers? A: Well, I majored in Computer Science in college, got my B.A. and have been working with them ever since. So I guess I’ve been working with them for about 16 years. Ouch, now I feel old! Q: When did you first get on the Web? A: I first got on the Web about four years ago at work. There was this strange thing called Yahoo that was pretty interesting at the time. Soon afterwards, I signed on with AOL. Q: What kind of computer do you use? A: Right now, I use a Sony computer that has worked well. I just purchased a Dell laptop that should arrive any day now. Q: When did you first come up with the idea of doing the Drawing Hand Screen Saver? What originally inspired you to do this? When did the first version launch? A: I’ve drawn all of my life and minored in art in college. About 4 years ago I decided that I wanted to learn how to program using Visual C++. So I decide to write a simple paint program that would record my drawings (Draw Your Own). I then wrote a screen saver that would play the drawings back (Render). The people I showed it to were amazed. About the same time I noticed that it was possible to sell shareware on the internet via AOL, CompuServe and other sites. I decided that I would try to sell my screen saver on the internet. My original goal was to just sell one. Q: Do you create the art in the Drawing Hand Screen Saver yourself? A: Yes. So far I have created all of the drawings. Although, I’m currently holding a drawing contest on my web site so that other artists can submit their drawings. Q: Without giving any away "trade secrets," how do you go about creating a Drawing Hand screen saver? It looks like it'd be incredibly complicated. Is it? How long does it take you to create a typical Drawing Hand Screen Saver? A: There really is no secret. The hardest part is thinking of a good subject that will appeal to a large number of people. Once I decide on something, I look for images that I can work from. Sometimes I use a number of different images to create a single drawing. I then use my Draw Your Own program to do the drawing. How I actually draw the pictures is hard to explain. Almost every drawing, as I start it, I feel like it’s not going to work. But, I keep at it. Luckily, most of the time the drawing turns out ok. I think what amazes people who watch the screen saver is that they are watching how I draw a picture. I don’t know why I draw a picture the way I do. If you watch one of the drawings, you’ll see that I keep moving around the drawing. I’m not sure why I do it that way, I just do it. Each drawing takes 3-5 hours. I usually start a drawing one night and finish the next. I rarely go to sleep before 1 a.m. Q: How long have you been creating art? What is your preferred medium? A: As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been drawing for as long as I remember. I remember drawing at a very young age and getting compliments from people. I think the positive feedback kept me going. Once, when I was very young, I was watching a television special on Leonard DeVinci. My father made a comment like “I always wished I could draw like that!?. That stuck with me. I would spend hours and hours looking at small pictures in magazines and books then draw them myself but much larger. I would do this for hours. I now have an 8 year old son that really enjoys drawing and a one year old who already loves drawing on my white board. About two years ago I tried oil painting and really enjoyed it. I hope to one day be able to spend a lot of time doing oil paintings. For now, I’ll stick with drawing on a computer. Q: We've had a number of visitors to The Free Site who said that they were inspired to try their own hand at art after viewing Drawing Hand. Any tips for beginning artists out there? A: Yes. Buy a book on how to draw and learn the basics. Then, do your own thing. Don’t be afraid to screw up and just keep at it. The older you get, the better you’ll get! The Drawing Hand Screen Saver is available here. The program is 2.1 megabytes and is available for Windows. Check out our other Freebies Features:
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