Author Archives: leslie

Saying NO

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Sometimes as an artist you have to say no. I've been approached to do a couple of murals. I accepted one and declined the other. Why? The pay was good, materials were to be bought from me, the issue was the content. I know my style, methods and my capabilities. Could I have done the mural in question? Yeah. Could I have done it without a ton of headache? No.

At some point there is a point where there is no return on the investment. Sure I could have gotten a bunch of art materials, been paid an hourly wage plus some cash.

But as I researched the content for the mural to create that first sketch I realized I didn't know a lot about the intended subject nor could I get into the subject. The more I reseached the more I realized the less I liked it. So today I declined the offer.

I hate to say no to an offer like that, it's money that comes in from ART and well that feels good, but the road to the goal has to feel good too, otherwise it's just not worth it

 

Fountain Pens and Inks I use

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Dave asked me on YouTube to link up my favorite fountain pens. So here’s a list:

Kaweco Sport– I like it for it’s ability to fit discreetly in a pocket and be converted to an eyedropper. (at jetpens)

Platinum Preppy– for $3 it’s a workhorse, it comes in an array of colors and can be converted to an eye dropper. (at jetpens)

Lamy– To get this to convert to an eye dropper you need to find a clear tube to fit inside the case or find a matching roller ball. Even then you need to epoxy the vents. In my opinion it’s worth the hassle you can get interchangeable nibs and expand your nib size for not a lot of money. (at jetpens)

TWSBI– the most expensive of my pens, it lays down a smooth even line and its a joy to sketch or write with. (not available at jetpens)

Pilot Parallel– These come in a range of sizes and I think act more like a paint brush than a pen. I have a 6mm size and it lays down an awesome swath of ink. (not available at jetpens)

Inks:

Private Reserve– I enjoy their shades of blue. (not available at jetpens)

Diamine– I enjoy their chocolate brown shade. It’s deep it’s dark it’s really nice. (at jetpens)

I hope this list, though not exhaustive helps out make some choices about what fountain pens to start out with and if they are for you.

Please note that I am not compensated for linking to these particular sellers, I link to them because I’m a happy customer who has recieved nothing but top notch service from both sellers. I’m happy to steer people in their direction.

Fountain Pen EyeDropper Conversion

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Some useful info for those of you interested in converting a cartridge pen into a tank o' ink, aka EyeDropper.


 


 


 

For those of you who prefer written instructions here you go:

Kaweco Conversion

Platinum Preppy Conversion

Platinum Preppy- discusses where and how to get the grease AND syringes

(If you live in certain states you cannot get true syringes on Amazon. I found one for 20 cents and free shipping. I also ordered my silicone grease on amazon.)

 

Observations on the iPod Touch

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I've been shooting some new videos with my iPod touch. Using eht regualr camera on it led to some really pretty decent videos. I was estatic. It also made uploading a breeze. One of the issues that I've had with my Everio is trying to figure out which video format do I save in? I really don't want to mess around with that, I want to add a few titles, trim the crap off and upload it. Easy.

The iPod with out iMovie won't let me edit or add titles. It's a one shot video and then upload. I could upload to yutube and use their editor. But I don't want to put stuff up love and then worry that I'll have an embarassing moment of picking my nose or swearing visible. iMovie was $4.99 and well worth the $5.

One thing that I noticed is that it takes more than double the amount of time to load to YouTube as the plain uploader. So what I've learned to do is export to the "camera roll" on my iPod and then upload to YouTube. Much faster. The iCamera app will also let you load directly to vimeo as well, which is nice.

Anyway, check out my videos on youtube:


 

Art Journal Flip- Caution Funeral

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I worked on this journal through the winter of 2010. It was where I decided I really needed to record my daily life. The journal itself was a college admissions catalog from years ago that was designed to look like the standard black sketchbook of the time. I glued together pages and slapped in a lot of personal ephemera and layers a great deal of pain over the top of that. It was  a lot of fun. I did a lot of Ustream videos featuring this journal.