Author Archives: leslie

Wordy Wednesday: Paring Down

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The recent trolling has given me pause and forced me to think about how I spend my time and what the benefits are from my activities. I wrote previously about how I was burning the candle at both ends and that it was simply not sustainable. It was a great thought, but I never followed through with trimming my activities. It’s become apparent that I simply must trim some activities for my own health and sanity.

I’ve started to make a list of what is important to me and what is less so. Clearly there are things that I can put off until I am able to give them the time that they deserve. My list of important items is short, necessarily so, and to the point. They are as follows:

  • Family
  • Art,
  • AJ Ning
  • Writing

That’s it. I can live without twitter, facebook, ustream and a host of other things. I’ve been splitting my attention from the top 4 things too much and I feel it shows in the quality of stuff I’ve been producing or rather, haven’t been. My drawing practice that I worked so hard on last year has deteriorated because I’m not giving it the time it needs.

One of the things I’m giving up is UStream. I had scaled back and taken a break and I was hoping that when I came back to it I would find that same excitement I had when I first streamed. I didn’t. I totally fell out of love with UStream. Add to that the malicious troll attacks and well… Yeah. Giving it up. What I DO plan on doing is some special event UStreams. I’ll advertise them well here. You can think of what I plan on doing as a free or low cost mini class. I’ll put up the items you’ll need with perhaps an instructional PDF and the demo it during the show. I don’t know how many of these I’ll do, but it will be on a whim sort of thing.

I gave up TV to make more time for art but I’ve replaced that void with watching UStream. I plan on watching SOME shows but just not the amount I’ve been watching lately. I love the interactive shows but I get sucked in. I used to watch while I arted along, I’ve stopped arting along. I need to focus on art while watching the shows. I’m going to focus on those shows that I really enjoy. (Not telling which) Obviously I am not able to make many due to my work schedule that won’t change.

I’ll be cutting back on twitter and facebook. I’ve been using them as distractions to feed my procrastination. I’ve got 10,000 words of my book written and I’ve hit a rut and I’m doing everything I can to avoid thinking about the rut, how to get out of the rut , and worst of all not doing anything about but avoiding the topic.

I’m strongly considering downloading one of those internet timers that will lock me out of the internet for periods of time. Alternatively I could show some willpower… Right.

I’m looking at some of the other things I’m involved in and seeing how I can free up more of my time to devote to the top 4. You can expect more posts on this topic.

Review: Noodler’s Flex Pen December 25th Edition

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The pen I’m reviewing today is something I bought on a lark used off the Fountain Pen Network’s for sale page. I have to say that the Noodler’s Flexible Nib pens have been well marketed and sought after by many pen enthusiasts. Especially those like me, who are interested in pens on the lower end of the spectrum of price. This pen fits that bill. Its suggested retail price is $14. Noodler’s has come out with several special edition pens; the flex nib that I purchased is the December 25th red and green edition. I purchased mine used for $10, shipping included. It’s a piston filled pen that hold 1ml of bottled ink.

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It’s a nice cheery red color with marbling throughout. The marbling is supposed to be green but I notice little if any green in the marbling. The nib is steel and an unusual design. It does not have a vent hole, instead it’s got a very deep channel cut into the feed that allows a lot of ink to flow. It’s labeled as a flexible but most users report that it’s a semi-flex given the amount of pressure needed to flex the tines. The nib reminds me of a crow quill dip nib. It starts as an extreme hairline point that I’d label as a double extra fine. Flexed fully I’d call it a double broad.  With normal writing or sketching pressure I’d say it writes a fine line.

While I was writing I found that my traditional cursive, learned way back in 3rd and 4th grade adapted itself well to the flexed down stroke with this pen. It made it look old fashioned and could be useful for meditative and mindful journaling. There are a lot of tutorials out there for scripts that use a flexible nib. Writing with this nib is NOT the easiest thing ever. In fact I’d say my forearm got quite a workout. I’ve decided that to better learn how to use this pen I’m going to start filling out all the forms at work with the pen, in script. I figure that using it across the day will make life more interesting, give my forearm a break and exercise throughout the day. I’ll also get a lot of practice in USING the pen.

For the artist the place where this pen really starts to sing is in sketching. Flexed it’s not going to keep up with a rapid pace, but the hairline is great for putting down a few delicate lines and then regular pressure gives you a nice fine line. When flexed it gives a nice solid line that is great for shading. I tested it out on a variety of papers. This pen lays down a HEAVY line of ink, especially when flexed frankly you’ll need to find a sketch paper that can handle the flow. Papers that worked well: watercolor paper, better quality drawing paper, Bristol, and heavier sketchbook paper.  Using this nib on gesso’ed paper is going to cause issues. Gesso is gritty and gritty surfaces grind down nibs. Writing on gesso will ruin this nib (and most) fast.

Some images of the various papers:

 

 

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Here’s my verdict for a $14 pen it’s a lot of fun and worth the money. I have pretty strong forearms and hands and I found using this pen tiring for writing. If you have a light hand this pen will be very difficult for writing use. For drawing this pen really shines in its flexible line width. It does take some practice to use but it’s enjoyable and creates a really dynamic look. It’s comparable to a crow quill dip pen in line variety and it less likely to shatter with heavy handed pressure. It does take a heavy hand for writing to get the full flex out of it. It’s a very adaptable little pen as you can adjust the ink flow pretty easily. (Goulet pens is planning on doing a how to video on this and I’ll link it up when it hit.)

I found the slower pace forced by this pen great for meditative thoughtful writing. It took some practice to get something decent, well that’s something we can argue, but passable.

The major con of this pen is how slim it is. I might try fitting the nib into a pelikan body and see if it’s more comfortable. The flex forces a less relaxed grip and less comfortable writing style that I’m accustomed to, but then again, you aren’t really meant to write for 3 hours with this thing. The second con of this pen is that it holds only 1ml of ink, which is the same amount as a cartridge, and yes I did measure it. I’ve gone through 2 fills of Private Reserve Sonic Blue ink.

 

Wordy Weekender: Circle the Wagons

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As many of you may know my blog was trolled last night due to a blog post I wrote about trollz. My point was immediately made and I really feel I don’t have a lot more to add to the conversation. Read it and you’ll understand what today is about.

Today it’s time for the art journaling community (and anyone else) to circle the wagons around the campfire, put on some good eats, and a pot of coffee and talk about love, forgiveness and community.

If you would like to contribute a design to the cause, let me know and I’ll load the image up to zazzle and you’ll be able to buy a shirt with your design on it. I’m going to play around with some sketches and upload some images. The consensus seems to be that we should go with pink butterflies on chocolate brown.

There will be a stream-a-thon as well. If you are planning on streaming today; post a link and time in the comments so everyone knows when you’ll be streaming. I’m flexible in when I stream but I’ll stream after 2pm.

 (For peolpe interested in zazzle, the image needs to be 150ppi, and for a small image 600x600pixels wide, if interested in other sizes, or a full image on a shirt message me and I'll get you the zazzle info.)

Wordy Weekender: Real Friends

Earlier on twitter I started a series of tweets with the hashtag #trollz. It was juvenile and to me, funny. Ricë said it was too negative. I was attempting to get a group of people talking about the recent rash of trollz in the art twitter-verse. I ended up encouraging people to tweet about a more positive bend with the hashtag #realfriends. It got some conversation going.

I have written before about how I think internet issues should be handled, like adults and “behind the scenes.” Etsy calls the public outing of a person “naming and shaming.” I had a recent interaction with an Etsy seller, who I shall not name*, that was negative. In fact I left my first negative feedback on Etsy, ever, in years of purchases and sales, I’ve never left negative feedback.  Selling me something and then never shipping it, is a reason to leave negative feedback.

What I did, I propose all people do if they are cheated on Etsy, eBay, or another sales site. Handle it appropriately; first file a claim with PayPal. I pay for everything online with my paypal card. Why? I can file a claim in all of 2 minutes no matter how I use it. It’s easy, painless, and fast. I keep an eye out, if I don’t get my purchase within 2 weeks, I write in my planner when 30 days is up. At the 15 day mark I contact the seller and try and resolve thing privately. If I still do not get satisfaction or I’ve been assured that the product has been shipped, I contact the seller again at 30 days. At this point I give them an ultimatum, give me a tracking number in 24 hours or I contact paypal and file a dispute.

I don’t back down. I draw a line and I stand behind it.  If I don’t get a tracking number I file a dispute with paypal. I’ve had to do this twice, and in each instance I’ve gotten my money back in 24 hours.

What I don’t do is make public tweets, defamatory comments, or anything that could be libelous or slanderous. I try and keep in mind that most of the people I deal with online are real people, trying to make a living just like me. When I’m a happy customer I talk about those instances, I rave about great customer service and FAST shipping. I make positive tweets, face book posts, and blog posts. What I don’t want to do is tear people down, I want to build up the people that are doing a good job and send them more business. **

In my personal dealings I never want people to think of me as a troll, it is to me perhaps the absolute worst insult one can throw on the internet. Trollz ruin internet fun and activities. When a troll enters the chat you are on high alert, worried about the inevitable contrary attacks on some little comment. If you say you love something they hate it and disparage it. They call you names, make fun of your appearance, and send you private messages in the hopes to get you going. They make empty threats and say nasty things. Internet drama is a drug for them and they feed off of it, they are addicted to the high of making others feel bad. For a moment the delight of making someone’s day a little worse builds them up. The problem with any addiction is its need to be fed, constantly, as the addiction grows the need for the high grows and soon enough all the troll does is seek a new thrill. It’s a sad spiral.

I suspect and hope that this post will be the last post you hear from me on the subject of trollz. I’ve gone through and blocked them all and won’t look at them again. I suggest you do the same, they aren’t worth your time.

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Flickr FridaY: ThermoMix

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ThermoMix
Originally uploaded by Laura Serra

 

Images like this remind me that you can see the beauty in the everyday object. the simple, ordinary, and everyday object can be transformed into art if you only look at it the right way. Maybe what you need to do is turn the object on its side and look at it from a different angle, or maybe you need to adjust how you view the world.

No matter this pic is a perfect image of how that works.

Review: Moleskine 6×9 Sketchbook

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This sketchbook contains 80 roughly 110lb plain cream colored pages. They are contained within plastic covered hard black covers. The plastic is imprinted to look like leather. This sketchbook is very often suggested for people started out in art journaling.

The paper is stiff and smooth. It’s good for writing and drawing. I find that the paper has a coating that repels wet media like watercolors, which it absorbs but gives a blotchy appearance. It does the same with some inks. It can be quite a pain in the rear. I’ve found that if I got through my sketchbook and spritz the pages with a little water so they are evenly damp and then allow them to dry before working in watercolor or ink the blotchiness is minimized.

The paper responds favorably to pitt and zig pens. They remain perfectly black and don’t show any blotchiness. The paper is also heavy enough to support many layers of collage and acrylic paint. When working with wet media it’s best to be aware that the paper will cockle and remain wavy even after it dries. I like the wavy paper but most don’t.

The heavy weight paper does not show strike nor bleed through except when using sharpies and copic markers. Fountain pens do just fine on this paper. Some fountain pen inks get blotchy.

The sketchbook has a great form factor with its smooth hard black covers, pocket in the back and elastic closure. I can’t say that the paper would be a reason to recommend it. The pages can take abuse but if you erase too much or scrub the pages with a brush you’ll end up will pilling of the top of the paper. I’ve read reports of the spine breaking on these sketchbooks but I’ve abused the heck out of mine and never had a broken or damaged spine, and I’m not gentle with my sketchbooks and journals. The price however is quite prohibitive at $18 for 80 pages.

If you are looking for a sketchbook that handles a variety of media relatively well, with a nice hard cover, at a ridiculously high price this is a good sketchbook. There are others similarly shaped and sized that will work as well at a lower price.

 INterested in purchasing a moleskine sketchbook? Follow this link, it was the best price I could find on them:

 

Not So Wordy Wednesday

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It’s wordy Wednesday again! How the time flies. I’ve been sick, yet again, some sort of sinus thing and I managed to catch a company policy manual with my face. Needless to say I’ve been feeling a little under the weather and foolish.  Paper cuts on the nose will do that to you, every time.

I’ve been in a rut.  There I said it. I haven’t written in about 2 weeks. I’ve done some art but it hasn’t held the kind of feeling that I usually get from it. Instead it’s been flat, lifeless, and without passion. Add to that my weird sinus issue seems to be back, after only a week of it being gone and well I’m making excuses. My face and sinuses hurt, though I suspect the book to the face only did minor damage and really the issue is with my sinus issues.

Excuses. Really I need to let them go and get back to doing what I do. Writing and art needs to be something I stop avoiding, well I’m not avoiding I’m simply too tired after a full day at the DayJob to really get anything done.

I can’t wait for spring, this cold snow filled winter really has been hard.