Author Archives: leslie

State of the Weekend

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The weekend was a split here- one shiny sunny gorgeous day and one much needed rainy chilly day. Saturday I met with Jane to discuss our progress on Put it on Paper or as I like to call it PioP (pronounced pie-op, like some secret operation involving pie…) We've both made great progress on our respective parts. It's so nice to go to a great little coffee shop get a great cup of coffee and talk about art related things as well as the business of starting up a new zine.

I picked up a copy of Sony Vegas for video editing. Supposedly it's got more oomph than the program I've been using and ehhh, well, I'm learning it. It's slow going. The set up  make more sense to me as I've been using it but it does have a large learning curve. The good thing about it, is that it's relatively popular, unlike the last program I was using that had never been updated from the moment I bought it. The next goal is to get a better camcorder and some audio recording equipment. Hopefully as I learn the new program  my videos will only get better and better.

I didn't get  a lot of drawing done, actually I spent much of my time writing things that needed to be written.

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Chip off the old Midori Traveller

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I liked my large sized Midori Traveller Notebook knock off (TNKO) so much I decided to make a pocket sized version to hold a few jotters. Once I made it I realized I could wedge my Canson Blue Book into it and make my art and not taking need marry into one refillable slab of leather. And it works, marvelously, perfectly and addictively. I’ve sketched, journaled and made notes in nothing else* since I made this thing. Oh baby. I took the leather from the first incarnation of the 6×9 inch TNKO and recolored it with artist grade artist paints in a couple of shades of brown. Then impregnated, that sounds dirty, it’s not but it is kinda messy, the leather with cold wax and then straight up bee’s wax and heat. This leather is waterproof and so soft and smooth it’s awesome. I’m pretty amazed at how well it came out. I didn’t know what to expect when I hit it with some wax and light heat, I knew it would take it and take it well but I was shocked to see how well.
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I also stitched a pen loop and a pocket into the back, a pocket may end up in the front as well. I’ve started to stuff random things into the pocket- business cards, receipts, stickers and scraps of paper that I acquire throughout my days. Under the elastic my iPoo is comfortable along with a pen. It’s really allowed me to pare down my on the go journaling needs to a journal, a jotter and a pen or 2. I’ve got more to write about concerning pared down journaling and how it’s really opened my mind to possibilities.
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Review: Fountain Pen Serwex 962

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It has a chrome cap with a standard brass colored clip. The clip is springy and feels quite sturdy. It clips to the pen loop of my journal securely. I have managed to dent the cap already by letting it bang around in my bag.  The cap is relatively lightweight and for once I don’t mind it being posted. I don’t normally posts my caps so you may feel differently. The cap screws on securely with 2 full rotations. I polished my cap with a very mild polish and rubbed the brass right off the clip. I actually prefer this as I feel the clip now matches the cap.
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The plastic of the pen does not have a high gloss but has a satin finish. The piston knob blends quite smoothly with the body of the pen. The piston was quite stiff at first but I found quickly loosened up after moving it a few times. It holds 1 ml of ink. There are is a large ink window around the pen just above the section. Where the ink window attached to the body of the pen is a sharp step up. I may sand this down to make the pen more comfortable but I don’t find that it rests on my finger uncomfortably as of yet.

The nib of this pen is the smallest nib I’ve ever seen on a fountain pen. It reminds me of a crow quill pen that we used to use in high school art class. It’s mini. It  was scratchy at first but I looked at it under magnification (iPod touch w/ macro lens) and aligned the tined and then gave it a quick smooth on a nail buffing stick. Perfection. It writes with good flow and is nice and smooth. I was surprised that it was so smooth with so little work. The nib is what I would call a fine. It’s not what I would call a wet writer but it’s not dry either. I also have it inked with Noodler’s Black which tends to have great flow.
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The pen is very slim, about BIC stick size, so for me it’s not the most comfortable pen to hold and use. But I have found myself reaching for it continually since it arrived.

I think it is a great pen for sketching or writing.

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PioP

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Part of the reason for the blog hiatus has been PioP, which is well you need to go here and read exactly what it is. I’m just going to point out that I think it’s awesome and I can’t wait to see everything that is going into it.

I can’t even tell you guys how excited I am about it, so excited.

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More on the Break

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I took a  bit of a blog writing and reading  break the last month. It was an unintended consequence of having the flu, then allergies and then the DayJob needing me to adapt my schedule. I realize I do this pretty frequently. I stop reading everything I can get on my screen and mindlessly wander Hulu in search of some mindless entertainment. I look at this as time for my brain to get calm from its typical go-go-go NorthEastern work ethic. Normally I wake up thinking and go to bed thinking. Non stop.
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Except during this typically brief sojourns from reading and writing blogs. It’s like my mind says to me, “Screw you, I CAN’T GO ALL THE TIME. I need a DAMN break. So I’m taking it now, even if it isn’t convenient for you.” And, so, my brain takes a break, greedily sucking up X Files and Grimm episodes and taking a break from things like, that fountain pen class which I’ve been researching and writing for too many months, or one of the million other things I’ve got going.
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Somewhere in the middle of all of it, I beat myself up about not working on the stuff that drives me, but then I realize this is part of my process. I need this time to creatively recuperate. My brain needs downtime from my art just as we all need downtime from our DayJobs. It’s just how it is.

I write this to encourage you to take the downtime you need and so you don’t beat yourself up about it.

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State of the Weekend

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It’s been a crazy few weeks. I had to help count inventory a while back for the DayJob and it threw me for a loop. I’ve been trying to get back on track ever since I was sick and having my schedule screwed up really just put me back to spinning my wheels in the rut again. This weekend was a good one for getting me back into the flow of things. Jane and I met and had a good cuppa at one of my favorite places, Atomic and then we took a walk in the park here in town. Where I sat and sketched and we talked about PioP, which is shaping up to be really really cool. I can’t wait for the reveal of what it is. It’s going to be awesome.
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This is the first sketching I’ve done in awhile. I could make a lot of excuses but I won’t. Honestly life has been flying at a million miles an hour and I find that instead of sketching or arting I make a few notes in my journal or veg out watching Hulu* at the end of the day. Fortunately though those notes are all forward progress, important tidbits of information. I’m looking forward to sharing those with you once everything is in place.
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I picked up a copy of Kerri Smith’s new book, “Finish This Book.” I’ll have a review on it here soon.I’ve also picked up a bunch of new fountain pens, some inks, a brush and a few other odds and ends. Hopefully this week I’ll get to writing up a bunch of reviews. That means I’ve got Thursdays covered. Hopefully I’ll be back on track with my blogging as well as my journaling. I've also been attempting to practice some "ultra light weight" journaling/sketching. It's centered around my Midori Traveller knock off. I"ll get a post up about that too. Lots of good stuff is in the works.

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Midori Traveler Style Notebook

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I've been using a knockoff of the Midori Traveler notebook system for about a year now. I decided to make one for a friend and while I was working on it  I tried a few things and really liked how it turned out. I then decided to make myself  a new one and a pocket sized version.

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I really like how deep and dark the leather is and how supple it's surface is while remaining stiff. I can't wait to put these through the ringer! For the large I used an edge of the hide that had numbers and letters cut into the surface. I buffed a ton of cold wax into the surface, which I used a light iron to heat into the leather, to really deeply impregnate it with the wax

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This time instead of punching a hole directly through the center of the cover I made 2 holes, one on either side of the "spine" area. This lets me use a smaller knot and I like how it holds things together.

While I was at it, I figured I'd make myself a strap for my camera. I made it a touch too long but  I do like it. The hardest part was finding a heavy duty clasp to hold it to the camera.

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Some construction notes: For thelarge notebook I started with a 9×13 inch sheet of leather and then trimmed it once I had the cover constructed. For the small I started with a 6×9 inche sheet of leather, which I again trimmed down excess once I had the elastic installed. In both of mine I'm using my own notebooks but the small would hold any 3.5×5.5 inch notebook, like a Moleskine Cahier, Doane pocket notebook, Bandit Carnet, field notes etc… Any of the small pocket sized notebooks would fit in the small size, and likewise for the large, any 5.5×8.5/9 inch sized notebook would fit.

Review: Airmail 69T Fountain Pen

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The Airmail 69T /Reg D is an Indian fountain pen that I purchased from Kevin at FountainPenRevolution.com It costs $16 plus shipping. I call it the Reg D due to the markings on the pen, but Kevin lists is as the 69T. For this review and currently for writing I've got the pen filled with Chelpark Royal Blue, a very nice regularly colored blue ink.

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This is a good looking fountain pen. Of all the Indian eyedropper pens I've ordered this is the best looking. The blue swirled acrylic is shiny and bright the surface is perfectly smooth. The clear acrylic portion of the pen is also perfectly smooth and crystal clear. The clear acrylic has the thickest wall of all the pens I've ordered from FPR and would not crack easily. It's very sturdy feeling. The pen is thick, but not too thick just  enough to encourage a loose relaxed grip which is fantastic for long periods of writing. The section is made of the same swirled blue acrylic as the cap.*

P4033955The trim is all silver colored while the fine pointed steel nib is gold colored. I always find this odd. The nib arrived quite scratchy. I used the macro lens on my iPoo touch to find out that the tip was not aligned, the left side was higher than the right. I was easily able to adjust this down. I then ran it over a nail buffer to smooth it out. I further adjustted the nib to write a wet line, rather than the somewhat dry line it was writing. Writing and sketching with this pen is now pure joy. In it's scratchy state it was okay, adjusting the nib would have sufficed, but the added smoothing of the nib just made it better.

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It is an eyedropper pen. For sealing it all that is needed is a small amount of silicone grease, I went ahead and added a small o-ring. Before tuning the pen I noticed some blobbing but I suspect that won't be the case now that I've adjusted the pen. The pen holds around 3ml of ink, which is pretty standard as far as eyedropper pens are concerned. It's also a pretty lengthy amount of drawing, especially with it's fine nib.

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Over all, now that this pen has been tuned to perfection I'm quite happy with it. It's a great fine pointed pen that is great for writing or sketching.

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So Little Time So Much To Do

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I filled another journal, in 27 days. It’s that Canson Blue Book I’ve been tweeting about. I’ve got a review coming on it but it won’t be posted here, it’ll be published someplace else. (hint hint) I burn through a small 3.5×5.5 journal every spring, and I don’t see this slowing down anytime soon. I’ve been crafting a class around my spring journaling style. An anything goes sort of class using a small inexpensive journal and everyday materials, a pen and something to add color. It doesn’t get much more simple than this method. The difference is the approach. I’m keeping much of that to myself, but suffice it to say there is a reason why I return to this journal burning method every spring.

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In the stack of small journals that sit above my desk I shake the dust of winter out of my head, embrace the blossoms of spring and come up with some fantastic. My spring blaster journals are where I’ve had some of my best ideas and some of my worst. I can’t wait to bring the 2 classes I’m working on to ArtJournaling.Ning.com

Part of my spring funk blaster is daily journal work. Not just making a pretty page, but real actual digging deep into my head- drawing, mind maps, lists of ideas, observations and the like. I purposefully stretch my mind in this journal. I enlist my creativity and get art centered.
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It’s not a 5 minute a day kind of thing. It’s not even a 10 minute a day sort of thing. It's a mind kind of thing. I take this journal with me everywhere and I blast my way through it, spending every available moment working in it. That journal and a pen are ALWAYS in my pocket.

I’m very excited about this and the fountain pen class. The FP class is becoming a book with videos to further explain points. I have so much to do on it and so little time! I can’t wait to take my vacation so I can work on it for  full week with no interuptions!

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(This guy was drawn in a 10 minute wait for the train.)