Art on Paper Archives - Page 5 of 7 - Art and Creative Living

Sketchcrawls Explained

A sketchcrawl is a full-day of sketching or drawing in a journal, or on some other art materials such as paper, canvas, etc.

It’s usually part of a stroll, alone or with a group, looking at scenery at or near a specific destination.

Sketchcrawl Supplies

It’s best to use whatever sketching supplies you’re most comfortable with. They should be light and portable.

Be sure you can use then while standing, with no other support to lean against.

Here’s what I carry with me:

A small notebook or sketchpad as a journal.

Suggested: US Art Supply’s 5.5″ x 8.5″ set of sketchbooks. The covers provide good support for sketching while standing up

A pen or pencil, for drawing lines.

Suggested: Any everyday pencil, if you’re planning simple line drawings. I like an HB (lead firmness) pencil, or a standard 2B school-type pencil. If you’re going to do shaded sketches entirely in pencil, it’s good to use a set of pencils. Amazon Basics’ set is pretty good and includes erasers and sharpeners.

My favorite pen for drawing lines is Sakura’s Pigma Micron, with an 08 tip. It’s waterproof, so I can use watercolors or felt coloring pens over it, almost immediately.

An eraser, if you’re sketching with a pencil.

Suggested: I carry both a kneaded rubber eraser and a standard drafting-style eraser. (Both are in the Amazon Basics set.)

Something to add color, like watercolors (and water, and a brush), or colored pens or pencils.

Suggested: The Sakura Koi set of watercolors is very good. If you’re going to use colored pencils, Sargent makes a good, portable set. But, you may want to try something unusual, like a Petallush pencil. (Note: I haven’t tried them for sketchcrawls, yet.

Tape, to fasten ephemera in your art journal.

Suggested: I’d use a temporary tape, like blue painter’s tape in a narrow width. Then I’d use glue or something more permanent once I returned home. (Then I can decide the best position, angle, or page for whatever the ephemera is.)

Snacks, in case you get hungry.

Suggested: Carry both a protein-rich snack (like a protein bar for sustained energy) and something sugary (for a quick, late-in-the-day burst of energy).

Optional: A camera (you can use your phone), in case you want to add printed photos to your journal, later.

In general, I suggest keeping your art supplies simple and as light (and perhaps small) as possible.

The most essential item will be your sketchpad or journal. Be sure you can lean on it and sketch without other support.

More Sketchcrawl Supplies Ideas

Can’t find the perfect watercolor set? Here are some ideas for making your own mini-watercolor palette:

What a Sketchcrawl Journal Looks Like

Sketchcrawl supplies and examples Your sketchcrawl journal (or sketches) will look like whatever YOU decide.

There are no rules.

Would you like to see an example?

In July 2009, I took part in a sketchcrawl around Boston’s Freedom Trail. (You can see some of those sketches and photos at Sketchcrawl Notes – July 2009.)

Sketchcrawls are great practice for creating travel journals, too. The materials & techniques are the same.

See if you enjoy it!

Get Started Now

You can go on your first sketchcrawl right now.

You could try a sketchcrawl somewhere near your home, even in your backyard.

Then, try a few more sketchcrawls, on your own or with friends.

It’s okay to organize your own sketchcrawls. This has always been a very fun, informal way to create art as you explore cool and interesting locations.

Online, you may find sketchcrawl announcements, too.*

You can follow me at Facebook (as “Aisling Creates”) for my sketchcrawl plans, and other artsy news.

Sketchcrawls – Not Just for Walking Tours

You can use those same sketchcrawl supplies — carried in your purse or backpack — when you travel. Whether it’s a daytrip, a road trip, a holiday, or a vacation, sketching can provide you with wonderful keepsakes when you get home.

(Traveling on a plane? remember some airlines’ four-ounce rule on liquids… no big containers of gel medium, glue, or tubes of paint.)

For me, sketching – with pencil, pen, markers, or watercolors – is a relaxing way to enjoy the scenery, wherever I am. Whether it’s a local scene or a trip abroad, art journaling helps me notice — and appreciate — more of what’s around me.

*Note: The sketchcrawl (dot com) site is one place you’ll find sketchcrawls announced.

However, that site’s owner claims that the term “sketchcrawl” is trademarked. Umm… no. Checking the trademark registry regularly, I still don’t see sketchcrawl registered as a trademark.

I’m not sure it can be trademarked (or copyrighted) since the term has been in use for decades, or perhaps longer. Not unless it’s connected with a very specific project, and only for that particular use. (For example, “ghost hunters” couldn’t be trademarked, but it could be licensed, just for the TV series.)

So, I’m reluctant to recommend that sketchcrawl website.

Zine update – Sketchcrawl theme

[This was for a March 2010 artzine. Obviously, submissions are no longer accepted.] After considering various topics for my first/continuing zine issue, I’ve decided to make it about sketchcrawls. (If you’re not sure what a “sketchcrawl” is, visit Sketchcrawl.com or see my examples at this website.)

So, I’m looking for articles and sketch samples — in b&w, or color images that also look good in b&w — for this zine. Every contributor selected for this issue will receive a free copy of the zine, in the mail.

Your article can…

Describe a sketchcrawl you’ve been on, with sample sketches.
Share art tips for a successful sketchcrawl (or travel journal), such as how to deal with wet media.
Offer ideas to make a full-day sketchcrawl fun, such as ways to avoid blisters or tiredness, what snacks to bring, and how to cope with crowds.

Articles should be a single 8.5″ x 11″ page, unless there’s a really good reason to make it longer. (Two pages are the max… ask me, first.) If it’s easier to make your page 8″ x 10″, that’s okay, too.

The articles should be sent to me in PDF format.

The best way to do this is to write the article in DOC format, in Microsoft Word or in Open Office, or something like that.

Please use 1″ margins on all four sides of each page. Use a standard font that came with your computer. (If you’re not sure what’s “standard,” use this list: Common fonts…) The font size should be between 10 and 14 pt, though the headline can be up to 18 pt.

Scans of your artwork should be at 300 dpi, but no less than 150 dpi, and they should be part of the PDF, not separate.

Be sure to include your name and your website URL (or Flickr account URL) on the page, so people can find you and your art, online.

Then, save it (or “print” it) as a PDF.

The first sketchcrawl of 2010 is February 27th… now you have another good reason to get out and sketch on that day!

My current plan is to publish this zine in March 2010. February has sort of flown past me, as my mom – also an artist – was hospitalized. Of course, that’s upset me, and has affected my schedule.

The Return of the Zine

schoolglue This is from my archives, when I sent “creative somethings” (including zines) to my subscribers.

Recently, I’ve been thinking of restarting this project, perhaps through Patreon. If that sounds interesting to you, let me know.

The zines are returning in 2010.

They’ll be in three versions:

1. Paper copies (“old school” b&w) for previous subscribers.

2. B&w digital copies – free or very inexpensive downloads

3. Digital copies in color – downloads available for a fee to cover bandwidth

The first/new issue

If you’d like to be included in the first zine — the theme is sketchcrawls, so anything related to that is fine — see that page for details.

This first issue will be 8.5″ x 11″ pages… letter size.

Stay tuned for news about the issues that will follow.

What’s ahead

In the future, I may be interested in half-sheet articles (8.5″ x 5.5″) with color illustrations that will also look okay in b&w. I need graphics at 150 dpi or better. (If you have no idea what that means, just send me a photo. Most digital cameras take pictures large enough to print well.)

For later issues, I’ll be especially interested in:

– Journal pages
– Gluebook pages
– Sketchcrawl examples
– Dolls/figures: cloth and assemblage
– Shrines & mini-shrines
– ATCs and ACEOs (artist’s trading cards – including art cards editions & originals)
– Fabric art (quilts, wearables, etc.)

I’m planning to focus on paper & fiber arts, and perhaps some fine art (watercolors & oil painting) and dimensional work… but mostly paper & fiber arts.

I’m interested in art-related topics, too, particularly about being organized as an artist.

In addition, since this is primarily intended as an “old school” style of zine, I’m interested in anything with a vintage or antique theme related to arts & crafts. Funky fun or serious re-enactors’ stuff… I’m very interested.

Keep it “office safe”

All art and text should be “office safe” (that is, if your boss catches you looking at the zine online, during a break, he/she won’t sputter and raise an eyebrow).

Avoid religious & political controversy, too. (Yes, I’m passionate about both, but I want this zine to encourage creativity, not turn people off because they shift into left-brain mode over some statement-as-art.)

Please don’t think your work “isn’t good enough.” Generally, I prefer art (visual, written, photos, music) that is raw and unpolished. When it gets too polished, it’s a yawn for me. So, send it anyway.

You’ll receive a free paper (b&w) copy of the zine with your work in it, and the digital downloads, free, as well.

Past subscribers

If you’re a past subscriber to my zines or “creative somethings”, please update your address at this form. [Link]

Important: That request is ONLY for people who were paid subscribers in the past. This is NOT a freebie.

In late February 2010, I’ll be sending out postcards to previous subscribers, to confirm your postal (snail mail) address.

Free Zine #1

Years ago, I put together a single-sheet zine as a sample for my students in my Artfest ‘Make the World Your Art Gallery’ workshop.

Mostly, I was demonstrating different techniques for zines, especially using torn-paper elements in them.

It’s not an absolutely fabulous zine, and it’s not even much about art.

I simply used topics trending at the time I taught the workshop, and tried to make each page kinda-sorta referenced that topic.

So, this zine is just a series of random pages. You could probably put them together in any order, and this zine would make equal sense.

Or, to be honest, not much sense at all. But that’s part of the FUN of zines… They don’t need to be The Meaning of Life. Or have much “sensible” meaning, at all!

How to assemble this zine

Print the PDF, two-sided, on 8.5″ x 11″ (US letter sized) paper. If your printer asks, tell it to print two-sized and flip horizontally along the longer side.

Then cut the printed sheet in half (horizontally, across the middle)

Place one half-sheet on top of the other. Then fold – and maybe glue or staple – the zine in the middle.

(You can see sketches of how this works at my Single-sheet Zine Designs page.)

As I’d created it, the front cover was the one with “Tour” in big letters. The page that talks about travel should probably be on the back of it. (That is, the “Tour” page is at the front, and then the “Travel” page is on the other side of it.)

But, as I said, it doesn’t really matter how you assemble this. It wasn’t intended to make sense.

You may need to adjust the size or shift the paper so that the pages line up correctly, when printed back to back. But, when it’s assembled, it’s an 8-page zine (four, two-sized pages) from one sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper.

Here’s the link. You can right-click to save it to your hard drive, or you can simply click and open it as a PDF, and print it immediately.

Click here for the PDF of the zine

If you’d like to make your own zines, browse my other zine articles.

Zine Layouts

Here’s what you need to know about zine layouts…

Zine sizes

From what I’ve seen, the majority of people who create homegrown zines use letter-sized printed pages (8 1/2″ x 11″) and fold them in half. Each sheet of paper is four pages of the zine.

An “average” zine is five to 15 sheets of paper, meaning 20 to 60 pages. (But really, there are no “average” zines. Each is unique, as it should be! )

In swaps, most zines are at the small end of that figure… five or so sheets of paper, and often less.

In fact, plenty of them are just a sheet or two of paper. They’re printed or photocopied (and sometimes cut). Then they’re folded, and usually stapled to make a zine. That makes them four pages… depending upon how they’re cut and folded, of course.

The single-sheet zine layout

The classic zine design is funky.

If you’re a purist, you’ll love this.
If you’re on a budget, you’ll also love this: It’s a 16-page zine created with just one sheet of legal-sized paper. (Yes, just one. Really!)

Note: I don’t count the cover as a “page” when I number my zine pages, so my own version of this is 12 pages, plus an outside cover & inside covers. Here’s how it fits on the legal-sized (8.5″ x 14″) sheet of paper:

Cut on the solid lines and fold on the dotted lines.

Staple in the center. One staple is usually enough.

How to swap, mail, and share zines

If you’re mailing one of those single-sheet zines, one stamp on the envelope is usually enough to mail one of them.

Where to send your zines – You can tuck them in with your bill payments, with your notes to friends, with your other swaps, and so on!

Swaps by mail – Tell your friends what you’re doing. Ask if they’d like to play, too. Or organize a swap on social media, on your website, in a forum, etc. Learn more about zine swaps here.

Digital swaps (and shares) – You can also scan your zine, uncut, and put it online so others can print their own copy, cut & assemble it. Easy!

But keep in mind, if it’s a zine like the single-sheet (8.5″ x 11″) zine shown above… Well, it won’t hold much info unless you write VERY small, or you find clever ways to expand the available space, such as adding fold-out pages & stuff.

That said, the 16-pages-from-one-sheet-of-legal-paper is regarded as a classic zine, if we’re talking about all kinds of zines, including poetry, fanzines, and so on.

Taking zines to the next level… or not!

There are other ways to make zines. Look at books about making handmade books, for the best inspiration.

Here’s a favorite:

Handmade Books - Alisa Golden — Click on cover to see it at Amazon.com

The general concept is the same as zines, but zines are usually smaller & more informal than handmade books, that’s all.

If you want to create a zine that’s a work of art, that’s fine. If you want to get wild & crazy with design, that’s fine too.

However, keep in mind that a zine can be one piece of paper, b&w, printed on both sides, and folded in half. And that’s a four-page zine.

Many of these single-page zines are still in my collection.

Whatever the zine, make it yours!

Put your art & soul into your zine, and don’t worry about the size or technical stuff.

I love almost every zine I see. Size, expertise, and visual quality often have nothing to do with how enthusiastic I am about a zine!

What I’m saying is: If you’ve wanted to create a zine for fun, or just to see what it’s like to make one, just do it!

The bonus is, if you swap your zines with others, you’ll receive fabulous zines in return, which you might never see if you hadn’t swapped.

My zine history

I published my first zine in 1977. It was one piece of paper, printed on one or two sides, folded, stamped, and sent out with someone’s name & address written on the outside.

In time, I graduated to two or three sheets of paper, and I started rubber stamping & glittering my zines. Yes, each one was hand-decorated.

Since then, I’ve explored nearly every possible variation on the zine theme: Color and b&w; on 8 1/2″ x 17″ paper, and on a single 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet, folded in half; and so on.

Late in 2024, as I’m updating this post, I still love zines, and plan to make more of them in the coming months. Yaaayyy for zines!

A very basic, single-sheet zine layout or the expanded version of that page
A free, simple single-sheet zine (PDF)
A free printable zine from 2010: The 24-Hour Zine Thing Zine
How Zine Swaps Work – one of the best ways to share your zines, and – in return – receive zines from others!

If you have questions or answers, post a comment below.

Zine Basics

For years, I was the list moderator for the botmzines group/list at Yahoo!Groups, I decided to throw together some pages about zines.

For starters, the “botmzines” name came from the group that inspired it, the Book Of The Month list… BOTM. So, although botmzines swaps aren’t on any specific calendar, the group started with that name and so it remains.

With that bit of trivia out of the way, let’s discuss zines!

Schedules

First of all, if you want something that is published on time, and is proofread, has high-quality graphics and writing, and generally sticks to the theme it had when you subscribed to it… subscribe to a magazine. You know, like Time, or Newsweek.

Zines are published on whim. Oh, sure, some people manage to write right-brained zines on a left-brained schedule. My hat is off to them. I have no idea how they manage it.

For fun, not profit

Zines are labors of love. We don’t make money on them, or if we manage to show a profit on one issue, we go crazy writing & re-writing the next issue, including color pages or something, and–bingo–we’re back in the red again. In other words, zines are not a way to make a living. Or even pick up some extra spending money. For most of us, zines cost money to produce but we love ’em anyway.

Zines are fun in a way that can’t be put into words. If you’re driven to create them, you’ll get a sense of satisfaction (and some angst) when you complete one and it’s in the mail to others.

Receiving a zine can be… well, I hate to say ‘better than chocolate’ because that’s such a cliche, and very personal.

That said, when a zine is cool, there aren’t enough superlatives for it. When a zine is weird, it’s truly out there… and usually fascinating, as well.

It’s often a love/hate thing.

There are almost NO generalities that can be made about zines, so let me tell you about my own eccentricities:

They make me crazy, but I love them anyway. And I love having zines to swap so I can get others’ zines.

My zines are published at odd times, vaguely quarterly. They bear a variety of names, also whim-based. They may be half-pages (printed on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper, folded in half), or bigger, or even smaller. Some have cardstock covers, but most are all on the same kind of paper (and color) that came out of the photocopy machine.

Most of my zines are b&w. Most of them are loosely related to art, especially paper arts. Most are a mix of printed text, scribbled-in notes, and my own graphics.

Generally, after six months or so, I lose track of when people’s subscriptions started, so I close down new orders for awhile, and send out more than the subscription’s worth of copies (meaning that early subscribers can end up with two or more times the number of issues that they ordered). And then I start up again.

(Yes, that’s embarrassing. It’s also not unusual among people who create art zines.)

Generally, I make zines when I receive someone else’s zine and my batteries get recharged.

Why people create zines

From the classic guide to zine-making, Zine Scene: The Do It Yourself Guide to Zines, by Francesca Lia Block & Hillary Carlip:

“Tell your story… your obsessions, your fears, your dreams, in words and pics, because it is powerful, because it kicks, to express and connect, even if it’s not always pretty, cool, or slick.”

Also from Hillary Carlip, “Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.”

Worried about how it will look? Here’s another quote from Zine Scene:

“Who knows what Baroque pearls and sizzling diamonds of content lie buried in the impossibly small print, or floppity-sloppity-scrawly handwriting of a rough-to-read zine?”

In other words, say whatever you want to, and don’t worry about how it looks.

Or… go crazy with how it looks and forget about saying anything overtly pithy.

Either one works–or both!

My favorite resources & inspirations, offline

Others’ zines. Plain & simple. Get your hands on as many as you can. The easiest way is to swap! You can swap through the botmzines list at Yahoo!Groups, linked above.
The Garage, Issue No. 2, published by Diane Moline. As far as I know, Diane makes her zines in very small numbers, and only for swaps. I’m thrilled to own two copies of The Garage.
Dog Eared Magazine, Issue Five, about Zines. For more info, see dogearedmagazine.com
Zine Scene: The Do It Yourself Guide to Zines, a book by Francesca Lia Block and Hillary Carlip. It’s considered a classic. When I checked in mid-2006, it had been out of print for awhile. If you see a copy, old or new, snag it if you’re serious about zines.

ATC Tutorial 4 – Memories – Finishing the ATC

Continued from ATC Tutorial 3 – Memories – Giving it meaning

The card was very nearly finished. I liked the colors and the general design of the image, but it needed just a little… something else. I didn’t know what, yet.

This is the part of the process that can take forever, since it’s trial and error. There’s a feeling that you’re almost there, and it’s only working with a set time limit that prevents the card from becoming a two-week continuing project.

I remembered an ATC that I made earlier, with a photo of a little girl and her teddy bear.

Suddenly, the new card was about a frail and elderly woman, remembering her days as a “flapper”. She was remembering her childhood near San Francisco when she and her father would go to the pond by the Palace of Fine Arts, to feed the birds.

I still had the layers from my earlier card, so it was easy to copy the layer with the little girl and position her on this new ATC.

I liked the effect immediately.

Before flattening the layers, I selected that band of natural color where the water meets the land, and I increased the saturation.

Then, I chose the inverse selection and lightened it, reducing contrast as well.

Finally, I flattened the layers and reduced the image size to fit on a 3″ x 5″ ATC.

I added the border and text, using the P22-Monet font. I deliberately overlapped the text and the image a little, because I wanted it to look like the lady had written this on the card herself.

Here is the completed card:

right-click on the card to save it to your hard drive

You can print this card at 150 dpi to create you own copy of this 3″ x 5″ ATC. (It’s okay to adjust the size to fit the more popular 2.5″ x 3.5″ format.)

ATC Tutorial 3 – Memories – Giving it meaning

Continued from ATC Tutorial 2 – Memories – Adding More Layers

At this point, the card was pretty… but it had no real theme or meaning to it. And, while “pretty” art can stand on its own merits, I rarely choose to make art without another layer of meaning. So, I started examining the card for clues.

I increased the contrast and lightened the background layer. I knew that something needed to go in front of it, and by reducing the “obviousness” of the background, it helped me to focus.

I was still drawing a blank.

So, I went to my copy of Photoshop Secrets of the Pros: 20 Top Artists and Designers Face Off for ideas. (If it’s selling for under $10 at Amazon and you enjoy this kind of art, get a copy. Otherwise, see if your public library owns it. If they don’t, tell them to buy a copy.)

I was inspired by the work of John Henry Donovan, of 5pieces.com.

another step in the ATC process - inverting color

I tried inverting color (Image–>Adjust) in strips with five-pixel feathering. However, once the stripes were dark, I needed to duplicate the layer with the Paris-Draped figure, to make it more opaque.

I wasn’t too sure that I liked the effect. In fact, it was pretty much ick. And, having set a three-hour deadline–trying to mimic my one-hour ATCs but allow for this documentation–I needed to finish the card quickly.

I deleted the extra layer of Paris-Draped so that the figures were transparent again. And, I desaturated the layer. But, as I was using the Hue/Saturation screen for this, I accidentally altered the background hues… and liked the effect.

I started selecting rectangular areas of the background, and changing the hue of each of them and then switched them back again.

Finally, I worked with the area nearest the middle and altered it back to its original, natural colors.

Then, I chose Select–>Inverse and tweaked the remaining background image and adjusted it until I was happy with it.

Finally, the Paris-Draped layer had to be adjusted as well, both contrast and hue.

Now, I was getting a theme. The Paris-Draped figure was clearly from the past, and the single band of natural/real coloring in the image was like a faded memory… only part of it was accurate and the rest was a little surreal.

Conclusion: ATC Tutorial 4 – Memories – Finishing the ATC

Memories – A Digital ATC

This card was designed to document the creative process when I’m working on digital ATCs.

I’ve written four pages–with thumbnail images of each step–to explain how I work on these cards. It shows you how to go from initial idea to finished card.

This card, with documentation and HTML work, took about three and a half hours. I think that I spent an hour on the card itself. That’s what I’m trying to maintain as a challenge.

To read how the card was made, and why I made the choices that I did, see How to Make a Digital ATC.

Everlasting – free digital ATC

Everlasting by Aisling D'Art (c) May 2005

After a wonderful weekend in New Orleans, I was in the mood for a slightly eerie, somewhat nostalgic ATC.

The ATC image started with my photo from a Massachusetts park, taken early one April morning.

Next, I added a public domain photo of a little girl. I have no idea who she is, but she appealed to me for this particular card.

In front of her is some scanned text from Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations.

In back of her, just to her left, I added a Celtic cross photographed in Ireland, courtesy of pdphoto.org. I tried the cross in several places, and when it was slightly lower than the top of her head, it looked less ominous.

(While some see this as a Halloween ATC, the cross is – as far as I know – not a grave marker. However, I’ll admit that the card damy have an eerie vibe.)

Finally, I added the word “everlasting” in Baskerville Old Face (font).

I tweaked the layers, did a lot with color and lighting effects, and finally resized the image so that it will print as a 3″ x 5″ ATC. (You can adjust the size on your own computer, if you’d prefer a smaller size.)

If you’d like to print this card at home, right-click on this link and save it to your hard drive. Then, print it at 150 pixels/inch.

The card is copyrighted, of course, but you can print it for your own use. After all, that’s what swaps – even digital ones – are for!

Category: Art on Paper