Author Archives: leslie

Review: Palomino Blackwing Pencils

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I
have been holding out on getting one of the oft lauded Palomino
Blackwing pencils. I don’t know why I held out for so long. All my
friends said they were great and I knew I loved the Palomino pencils I
already owned.  I snagged a couple from a friend just to see what they
were all about and not sure what to expect. I’m not going to go into the
history of the pencil, you can read all about that here. I suspected going into this that this would be a good review. I've got
many other Palomino pencils and I really enjoy their velvety smooth
graphite core.

IMAG0591When
I opened the package they were secured in some bubble wrap. When I
peeled that away I was presented with some very unique looking pencils.
The black paint on the Blackwing was matte and a nice black. the
printing of the logo was crisp, though not indented and I could see
where it was starting to flake off already. That doesn’t matter to me
but occasionally I’ll notice a fleck of gold on my hand as I use the
pencil. Like fairy dust…

IMAG0581
The
part of the pencil’s look that is the most noticeable is the ferrule
that holds the eraser and the eraser itself. The Blackwing comes with a
rectangular white plastic eraser set into a rectangular ferrule that
turns round to attach to the pencil itself. It’s pretty cool and totally
unique. (Of course the history lesson here will tell you it’s NOT
unique, but I shall only say here, it’s unique to the market TODAY.) The
eraser is easily removed and replaced should you wear it down to a
nubbin. You can buy a 12-pack in white, pink, or black. I found the
white eraser to work but was not the most effective eraser. I rarely use
erasers on the end of my pencils but I found myself using these because
they are cool.

IMAG0587The
pencil sharpened easily with my KUM long point sharpener. It held that
point through a sketching session without breaking at any pressure. The
graphite was smooth and dark. Not a scratchy bit to be found during any
of my sketching times. Light pressure yielded a nice result and heavy
pressure a deep dark mark. Variation in tone was easily possible simply
through varying my pressure and layering.

IMAG0583
I
also had a pair of Blackwing 602 pencils in my package. These have a
nice gray paint job and black erasers. The graphite was slightly harder
and lighter. It was just as smooth as the regular Blackwing. The black
eraser seemed to be slightly gritty but erased much better than the
white erasers. Sharpening was a breeze and thought I filled pages in my
sketchbook I had no breaks nor crumbles.

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IMAG0575
I
also did a little writing with these pencils, just because I had to.
Little pressure produced a nice line. The regular blackwing produced a
nice dark line even with little pressure. The 602 needed to be sharpened
less often. Both were silky smooth to use.

Overall
these 2 pencils are amazing for sketching or writing. They are
attention grabbing that’s for sure. I know I saw someone in the coffee
shop eyeing my pencils, so I made sure they were secured when I stepped
away…

IMAG0579
You can get these pencils from the European Paper Company here.

I purchased these pencils for review, they were not provided to me by European Paper Company, however if you purchase them through the provided link I will be compensated.

Help Xtras Out

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Remember when I wrote abotu Xtras for Creative Reuse?  The cool place to get recycled stuff for art? They were robbed. The money included their rent and money for their truck repairs. This place is super cool and they need help. Even if you can't give money help by sharing this video and information about the center. A tweet or facebook post can help immensely. You never know which of your friends might give the $5 that saves the center.

 

Rings a Little True

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This rings a little true to me… Aj Ning, the zine, the blog… Love not profit. (Yeah the zine barely makes a profit even though we charge for it, review products are $$$)

 

Summer Reading List

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Some of you asked about my summer reading list. The majority of these books have nothing to do with art journaling per se, but they do have a lot ot do with the process vs product nature of the practice.

Introduction to Art Therapy: Sources & Resources
(read)
Art Therapy Sourcebook (Sourcebooks)
(reading)
Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul
(purchased)
Introduction to Counseling: Voices from the Field (purchased)
Art As Therapy: Collected Papers
(not yet purchased)

Also included in the list:

DSM-IV-TR (not yet purchased)

APA Manual (purchased)

Of course, I probably won't read the DSM or the APA manual, they are reference books, not really things you sit down and read. But I have to have them on hand for classes and writing. Saying I have 7 books to read over the summer is a tad bit of hyperbole, I amend that to 4 with several chapters out of another.

Reading Introduction to AT was interesting as it reaffirmed some of the beliefs I hold about art therapy. The book is an overview of the history of art therapy and as such was rather boring, but it's a great reference for grasping what art therapy is all about.

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A few Weeks

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Man,
I’ve had a few weeks. Even without an adjective in that sentence you
know what I mean. Part 3 of the big thing is coming to a close, I’ve got
14 days (10 shifts) until I’m no longer employed by the large multi-national
corporation where I’ve been working of the last 10 years. As the day
approaches I’m getting nervous, but in that excited kind of way. As with
any amount of change things are weird at work, and  I’ve used my
journal to think things out and well, I’ll leave it in the journal.

IMAG0561I’ve
got over 10,000 words written in “My Headlines and Stories,” and I’m
super excited in how it’s shaping up. I’ve started to flesh out areas
that need more explanation and I’ve even started some of the
demonstration images in my Stillman & Birn beta spiral bound
sketchbook. The paper in it is just right for some of the techniques. I
can’t wait to really get into shooting pictures and videos for each of
the techniques. It's going to be kinda awesome.

I’ve
started the required reading for my first class, and I’ve got 7 books I
have to read between now and August 19th. Holy wow. The great thing
about this required reading? It’s completely validating and backing up
everything I’ve ever thought about art journaling and my personal art
journaling practice. I can’t wait to share all the stuff I’m learning
here on the blog.

Exciting times ahead, that’s for sure.

Review Redux: Pilot Prera

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IMAG0569

A
few months back I reviewed the Pilot Prera pen, an all around favorite
in the fountain pen world. My review was less than joyous. I felt it was
too much money for too little pen, while that sentiment still stands
I’ve grown fond of this lightweight little pen. The ink flow is just
juicy enough that the inks look great on just about any paper and the
nib is smooth without any work on it. I find the pen a perfect one to
clip to the side of my Davis Leather simple notebook cover for quick
notes on the fly.

IMAG0564It
can languish nib up in my bag for a couple of days and when I uncap it,
nothing but ink, it just writes. I can't say that for every pen that
sit in my bag over a weekend.

After
I wrote my review I passed the pen off to my partner who then passed it
back to me. She’d beaten it up a little bit, taking it to and from
court. Initially I started to use it to use up the last of the ink in
it’s cartridge, then I refilled it and just kept using it. Then I made one of these for it.

Honestly,
I’ve grown to love this pen. If you can find a decent deal on this pen,
maybe in the fountain pen network classifieds section or eBay, in the
$30 range, spring for it, it’s worth every penny at $30- $35. Paying $50
for it willleave you with buyer’s remorse.
IMAG0568
IMAG0568

Introducing European Paper Company

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You’ll
notice a new addition to the right hand sidebar here at CSS, just below the Put it on Paper link, the
European Paper Company logo. I’m now an affiliate advertiser. What does
that mean? If you follow the link to their site and purchase anything I
get a small portion of the purchase price. It works the same was as the
Amazon affiliate program, but for a great small company.

Over time you’ll notice links in my posts to related items on their pages or
items I’ve reviewed. Basically, the same thing I’ve always done with my reviews
and how-to posts. This will not change my review policy, I’ll still be
doing open honest reviews. If I don’t like something, I’m not going to
pretend I do.* Same as usual.

 

Help a girl pay for grad school, check out the European Paper Company's great products.

 

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Sheep, Sheeples, Herd Brain

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Sheep.

I
have used them symbolically in my art dating back to 1999. Somewhere in
the nether reaches of my studio I have a set of small hand carved
stamps, one is a small fluffy sheep the other is a small carver BAA that
fits perfectly inside the sheep. They measure less than one inch in any
direction. I need to find them.

IMAG0559The
sheep symbolize a couple of things in my art. First and foremost they
symbolize my own herd-like tendencies, the go with the flow laziness. A
tendency toward not asking questions which leads to the eventual
slaughter. Secondly they symbolize herd like people. Yes I know the
whole “sheeple” thing is a tired cliche that’s been overdone, but damn
it, I’ve been over doing it since 1999!

IMAG0560
Generally,
when you see the sheep directed at myself it’s generally a directive
for me to go against the grain and think about what is going on around
me. When it’s directed towards others it’s with disgust at deeds or
inaction.

Lately
I’ve been dealing with some herd like thinking, that includes some
flack and stupidity. It’s caused me some stress and the inevitability of
some distance. I’d go into it more but you know, I can’t not yet. So in
my art journal it stays, eventually you’ll see more of these pages.
Lots more.

Review: Xtras for Creative Learning

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This
past Saturday I went to Xtras for Creative Reuse. It’s this place where
you pay a small membership fee ($5) and then you can buy a full grocery bag
full of stuff for $8. They have other membership levels taht allow you to buy full carts of stuff or several bags at a time. They get off cuts and useful waste from businesses and
other things. They had the leftovers from an entire office that closed
down, from footrests to paperclips. They also had leftover and miss
embroidered items from a shop that makes patches. Large sheets of paper,
fabrics and yarn. It’s basically a massive junk shop. If you think like
me, it’s a toy shop.

To
get there I had to travel into Lynn, MA and down a few side streets to a
spot just off the Lynnway. I should have shot a few pics of the
building. It was one of the huge old industrial buildings with high
ceilings and 100 years of history. It was attractive in that old factory
warehouse kind of way. The area is kinda rough and like much of Lynn
kind of run down. Once I climbed the 3 flights of stairs to their suite I
was surrounded by stuff. All kinds of great recycled cast off stuff.
Entire offices had been dumped into this place, all of it mine for the
taking provided I could stuff it into the shopping bag they provided. There was loads of old Reebok schwag, the kind of stuff company employees are given to make them feel good.

I found all kinds of great stuff for my art. If you have a place like Xtras near you you should check it out.

Next time I'm there I'll snag some pics.

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