Useables! And my first Zine.

Here ya go. Have some free snaps and textures to do with as you please. For personal or business use.

Me? I'm made a quick Zine. Pulling some random selections from one of my 2015 sketchbooks. Which include some pics of snack wrappers and paper ephemera. I glue all sorts of dumb things into my books.

You have my full permission to use these images for your own project. Do whatever... Just go make something!
Show me and I'll feature your work here or on Facebook.
I'll even trade you Zines.

Like em? Want more? Let me know in the comments and every once in a while I'll toss a few up.

Oh yeah... Zine how-to here.
UPDATE: When using the template instructions in the link. Revers the "front page" and "back page" positions. otherwise your Zine will open in reverse.

Learned something after a recent flea market scavenge.

Remember in the old silly symphonies (or was it Looney Toons) how Goofy (or was it Bugs?) would take out a pencil and give it a teasing lick before writing? When I was a kid, I always wondered why cartoon characters would lick the tips of their pencils. I asked my mom and she she had nothing for me. Eventually I settled on it simply being a gesture of initiating concentration.
But, could they have been using these pencils?

At our last Flea market scavenge I picked up this box of old pencils. Thought "Hey, cool. Old drafting pencils!" We once found a box of old dip pen nibs. Most of em are completely usable!
Plus, I think it was just $2 for a full unused box. So why not!
Got home and took a closer look.

Indelible copying pencil?... What does that mean. Quick to Google!
Blah blah... Used for making permanent signatures "ok, cool."... Blah blah... Turns purple when dampened "Wow, that'll be fun!"... Blady blah blah... Acne, lung problems "WHUT! What did I just buy a whole box of?!"

As Wiki has it...
Or, if you don't care zoom down to the bottom for an example sketch and video.

Copying pencil

A copying pencil, also indelible pencil, is pencil whose lead contains a dye. The lead is fabricated by adding a dry water-soluble permanent dye to powdered graphite—used in standard graphite pencils—before binding the mixture with clay.^[1][2]

Copying pencils were introduced in the 1870s, and were originally marketed for copying documents, especially for making permanent copies of a permanent original. This was achieved by creating a hand written document using a copying pencil, laying a moist tissue paper over the document and pressing down with a mechanical press. The water-soluble dye in the writing would be transferred in its mirror-image to the tissue paper, which could then be read in verso by holding it up to a light source.^[1] According to conservationist, Liz Dube, "By the 1870's, letter copying books became the ubiquitous copying tool for businesses. These volumes contained hundreds of leaves of thin tissue paper, often high quality Japanese papers, bound together for the purpose of bearing copies of outgoing correspondence and other business documents."^[1]

The most commonly used dye was aniline which produced a stain that was bright purple, mauve, or some color in between, depending upon the manufacturer. Since the aniline dye was poisonous to humans, many injuries and illness related to copying pencils were reported in the medical literature, especially in the late-19th- and early-20th centuries.^[2]

By the end of the 19th century, better copying methods had become available. Consequently, the copying pencil was being used as an indelible pencil, a precursor to the ball-point pen. When used dry, it left a slightly-purplish gray mark on paper, not dissimilar to a lead pencil's, but which could not be erased.^[1] When used wet, its tip moistened repeatedly by water or saliva, it produced a bright purple writing. The copying pencil served as a convenient substitute for the fountain-pen: it could be carried on one's person without need for ink or fear of leaks.^[1] Furthermore, for producing copies using carbon paper, copying pencils were considered superior to both ordinary pencils (whose writing in the original could be erased) and fountain-pens (whose nibs could not always withstand the pressure needed to produce the carbon-copy).^[1]

Copying pencils saw extended use in World War I in the completion of a wide range of paperwork. However, with the advent of refined ball-point pen technology in the 1930s, their use gradually died off in much of the world.^[1] They saw longer use in some places. In India, they were commonly used for writing addresses on registered mail parcels which were required by law to be wrapped in cloth. For writing an address on cloth, a moistened copying pencil was preferred to a pen, whose nib could easily get caught in the weave. In Italy, their use is still mandated by law for voting paper ballots in elections and referenda.^[3] During their heyday, copying pencils were also associated, across the world, with the image of a railway conductor, who famously carried one tucked behind an ear.

Health risks

Indelible pencils were the cause of significant health risks due to the presence of aniline dyes. Exposure to aniline dyes could lead to eczema, acne and carcinoma. Penetration of the pencil lead into the body commonly leads to severe and debilitating effects such as fever, anaemia, elevated white cell count, gastro-intestinal upset, kidney and liver damage, anorexia and necrosis of the tissue surrounding the wound. Such risks are not associated with ordinary graphite pencils. While these symptoms may appear after a couple of days they often develop only after weeks have passed since the injury was sustained. Surgery is required to remove the lead and the infected tissue and "the necrotizing action may be so severe and extensive amputation is necessary".^[4]

Ok great, I have a bunch of pencils I'm afraid to use... But they might be the answer to my childhood question. "Mama, Why does Goofy lick the end of his pencil before writing?"

The dye just swirls off the lead, filling the water drop.

"Not a single cloud"

"Not a single cloud".
Painted on Polypropylene watercolor paper with random brand craft acrylics.
And inked with Pass Color, Sepia Gouache.
And is for sale HERE.

dig that "real medium" shine.

This is my first time using Polypropylene paper.
The TLDR of it... It's a thin but resilient, bright white sheet of velvety smooth plastic. Meant as a watercolor paper it has a feather light tooth. Allowing for a wide variety of inks, watercolors, gauche and acrylics. And I love it!

To be frank, I hardly have any experience with watercolor. I love the look of the medium and admire those who can whip it good.
On regular watercolor paper I struggle. I didn't know what to expect and had no preconceptions of how it would behave. Therefore all I could do was pinch my nostrils closed and jump right in. And boy did this paper make the water temp a nice pee warm. First off one of the biggest benefits is that it's doesn't warp, wrinkle or buckle! After all it's plastic so there's no worries of water fatigue. You don't have to stretch or mount it. No pre-prep needed you can just start back handing it with all the water you want.
Which exactly what I need. I complain at the end of every year that I hardly have any finished work to show for it. And it's due to my own "every last detail" obsessions. Everything has to be planned perfectly before I make any large moves. Sketches trudge on for weeks as they are worked and reworked. Usually leading to the project being abandoned.
I've been rightly accused of over working an idea right into the ground.
But that's my own personal problem. And I've gotten off track...

This paper was super smooth to work with. I can imagine the lack of tooth may throw some off at the start. Brush strokes just glide over the surface. Like painting on butter with oil. The color medium sits on top of the surface rather than absorbing. Which can take more time to dry for larger puddles of color. Tread lightly if your going to use a hair dryer to speed up drying time. You could very well push any soppy wet color right out of its own brush stoke. Just like blowing ink spiders with a straw when you were a kid. Or heat scorch the paper, causing ripples. As plastic tends to do in the face of a heat source.
One down side is that you have to treat this paper like it's going to be dusted for fingerprints. Any oils on the surface will handicap the medium's ability to stick and can cause it to break off into tiny flakes when passed over again by your brush.
Also the color can be scrapped off if scratched heavily enough. I don't really see that as a con, really. Cause any paper surface can be scuffed, scared or damaged. I see it as a potential plus with this paper. I can envision taking an X-acto blade to it and scratching out intricate patterns or re-revealing white negative space.

In conclusion, a quick note about the inking of this piece.
The inking was done with a Hobby brush. Initially purchased for vinyl custom painting, but the long, slenderly tapered bristles make them great inking brushes. It doesn't matter if your hands are shaky. By the time the tremor travels down the bristles it gets dispersed and you're left with a smooth line. You also get greater control and comfort thanks to the triangular handle grip. These brushes are made for painting tiny details in tiny areas. And that basically my default work setting. I suggest you give em a try!


You can expect I'll be doing more with this paper.

BIRTHDAY gluttony

Back in April I became another year older...Again.
The in-laws gifted me a toddler free day and the husband took a half day from work to take us out for a nice quiet lunch. Then to a bakery I hadn't yet set foot in. I couldn't ask for anything more!
Fat girl surrounded by cups of cake! Heaven.


This cupcake you see here! This cookies and cream monster had a solid ice cream scoop of cookies n' dream cream perched precariously on top. Like bowler hat. But when I saw it had a cream filling. On top of all that mess, well, that's when I decided "F all! It's my G D birthday! I'm already fat so I'm just going to animal out on this mutha. I'ma kill this cupcake." Make it mah digested biznoch n' what not! I only get to Legally (under Street family house laws) animal out once a year and I was going down spraying bullets.

...Enter Failure.

Midway through, the sugar buzz became too much to bear. When you can feel your own atoms vibrating and the sounds of an ant silently walking along the sidewalk, become earth quaking stomps... it's time to throw in the frosting soiled towel.

The weeks following were spent doing some birthday shopping.
Thanks to a collected stock of amazon gift cards and gifted loose cash, I amassed myself a nice little haul.
We have the following:
Golden Open-slow drying acrylics. The modern theory set.
Golden Open-slow drying acrylics. The Traditional color set (Thanks Bro-in-law!!)
Golden acrylic medium thinner - 4oz
Color Mixing Bible - by Ian Sidaway
and a
Magic Palette Color Mixing visual guide - the larger 24" version.
Oh and a 20ml tube of Pass Color - Sepia gouache. An accidental extra from 'dick Blick.
THANKS DICK!