Edited (in the loosest sense on the word) by Gary W. Priester
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7 •  November 15, 1999

In this issue:

Winners and Stuff

Several of you, OK so it was only one, requested more details on the procedures used to determine the monthly prize winners. And de-tails is the key word this month, or more specifically lack of de-tail. You see, this month's honors went to Barnaby, our tom cat emeritus (he's a retired tom cat these days), who has been biding his time in your editor's wife's painting studio (which he begrudgingly shares with Mrs. Editor's Wife), while awaiting his 15 minutes of fame in the WebXealot lime light. But as you longtime readers know, things rarely go as planned. Just as Barnaby was about to draw out the wining entry, the Mook, our adorable, tail-less long-haired calico femme fatale walking into the room, distracting the former tom and allowing those rascals finches, Orville and Wilbur, to swoop down and jointly hoist the winning entry in their boxy orange beaks where they proceeded to flaunt it back and forth in front of Barnaby's disjointed nose. They were able to drop the winning entry into your editor's hand and just barely avoid becoming Barnaby's consolation price. It's never easy!

Oh, did I not mention the winner? Silly me. I got so distracted in the minutia of the drawing process I forgot to announce the winner, Ian McMillan, who besides favoring Fall revealed in his comments: "Since my hair is falling out, my stomach is falling down, and my brain cell count is falling like leaves, what other choice could I make?" What other choice indeed! Congratulations Ian. Those who did not win will be automatically entered in the drawing for the second set of EyeWire neat stuff. You can also enter this month and double your chances of winning.

For next month's drawing I have the second of the two complete sets of reference guides from EyeWire . I don't have the room, or typing skills, to list all the goodies but here is the Reader's Digest version: ArtRoom catalogs (printed catalogs of all the ArtRoom images). Circa Art Browser Book, a catalog of antique maps and other ancient art, EyeWire Video Browser Book and sampler CD, Type from EyeWire Type Guide, listings of all EyeWire's fonts, Image Club Resource Book, and a whole bunch more. There are several CD's containing images for comping. This is a great set of references from a great company.

My favorite page is the font sampler. You can key in any text, select one of EyeWire's fonts, press a button and see your text in the chosen font. It's awesome. I receive their printed catalog monthly and find it a terrific source of tips and tricks. Author Robin Williams (not the comedian) writes a monthly column of type. Great stuff. Be sure to request your free catalogs.

Insider Information!

Are we getting closer to Xara 3!!! It's hard to say. As of this writing I have not yet set eyes on the promised beta copy of Xara 3. I am expecting to see this thing of beauty any day now and as soon as I do, you readers will be the first, (make that second) to know.

The Featured Artist for the month of November is Paul Shotan. Paul does things with Xara that are nothing short of amazing. Be sure to check it out, but only if you're feeling very confident. Otherwise, you might just throw up your hands and say, Why do I bother! The November Trompe L'Oeil Room offers an intermediate level tutorial featuring a carved Jack O'Lantern, just in time for Halloween 2000!

You're editor wishes to thank all of you who used the form to submit your entries and your encouraging comments. Feedback is always welcome, as are questions and even criticisms. The feedback on the new user information was overwhelmingly positive.

©1999 Gary W. Priester, All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any way without the express written permission of the author.