The Holy Paper Grail

I've been QUESTING for paper. Paper that I could bind into journals and use for cartoons with my copic markers. Just last week, I decided I didn't like the pressure I was putting on myself to make a cartoon page every day. It was stressing me out. THEN I found the perfect paper. If I believed in signs, I'd take this as the universe telling me that quitting is a dumbass idea, but I don't. So there. It's called Rendr and I got mine at Blick's Art Supply. It came in pads and books, but the books didn't open wide enough for me. I'm a lefty, I ned that sucker to really lay flat. So I got a pad. And now I want to draw cartoons again. 

Here's the pad:

I used a REALLY dark copic on it, RV69. Scribbled, let it dry. Again. A third time.

It's like MAGIC!

Hubby's Moley

So, hubby gave me this little moleskine to decorate and he also wants me to design a logo for him - zombie chef. Seriously, he wants a zombie chef logo for his catering gigs to put on his coat. I try to be supportive, and you all know I have a thing for zombies, but NO ONE is going to use Zombie Chef Catering, that's just silly. So here he is, zombie chef. He's on the moley and is NOT going on the coats!

And for the back? Zombie bunny, of course!

Ink test

Did you know that you're not supposed to use Stazon ink with Copic markers? My friend and Copic marker expert, Kelly, told me this - a YEAR after I've been using Stazon for ALL my Copic stuff!!  I just figured permanent was permanent, and that meant Copic-proof. It never even occurred to me that permanent doesn't actually mean permanent. So, I've been using Stazon Timber Brown and it's always worked totally fine, but I really wanted gray and when I told Kelly what it was for, she told me I can't use Stazon with Copics. Then I had to confess that I have been...

Anyway, I couldn't find gray, so I got black and even though I wasn't supposed to, I decided to put it to the test. Here are my results:

The Stazon smeared - for the first time EVER. I've used the brown a zillion times with no problem.

So, the memento made the darkest, cleanest impression and made me the happiest. I let them sit for a couple of days, so it's not like the Stazon wasn't dry. And the paper is Neenah Classic Crest Solar White - my favorite for Copics. Not the best coloring jobs ever, but I was really just trying to see if the inks smudged. The black Stazon does, maybe only with certain colors, since different chemicals are used to create different colors. 

Stupid stamp ink and copics!!

I absolutely hate stuff that is conditional. As in: Is Archival ink copic-proof? Yes, but only on certain papers

This is Stonehenge printmaking paper, left OVERNIGHT:

  

This is after blasting it with the heat gun so long the paper curled:

And this is the NEXT day:

I normally use StazOn with my Copics, which I just found out is a Copic no-no. But it works. It's worked on every paper I've ever tried it on. I only switched because this is supposed to give a cleaner image, AND because I wanted black and there was no black StazOn at Archiver's that day. next coupon I'm getting black StazOn from someplace!! Oh, and sometimes I say "cope-ic" and sometimes I say "cop-ic", even in my own head. I make myself absolutely crazy. If you've ever read my blog and thought "Is this chick completely off her rocker?" the answer is YES. One hundred percent. Wait, one more thing - those are Suzi Stamps!!

Shopping Spree!

My husband talked me into ALL these markers! He really liked the BV04 because I used to have a car that color. Silly man! He loves to shop and is always trying to get me to spend MORE money. 

Cost vs Value

This is an empty bottle of Glimmer Mist. It cost me about $3 (a little less, actually). It's a tiny bottle that came in a sampler pack, and I had a 30% off coupon for Archiver's. 

This is an empty Copic marker. I took it out of the trash to take this picture for you. I paid $7 for it.

Now, I have friends who have that "I can't use it, it's special" mindset. My husband is always "saving" things for "a special occasion". I don't do that. At all. 

Something is only expensive until you guy it. Once it's in your hands, you determine the worth of something. If it sits on a shelf in perfect, pristine condition, it's worthless. My Moleskine journal: $17.95. The smoothest, prettiest watercolor paper: $6.39/sheet. Prismacolor colored pencil: $1.95. If I leave that Moley in its plastic wrapper, then it's worth EXACTLY what I paid for it and nothing more. The instant that I crack it open and it becomes my journal, it's priceless. It's my comfort, my companion. It holds my hopes and dreams and fears. I carry it in my backpack and I reach for it when I need it - it's always there. That Copic marker - I used it all for a ridiculous journal filled with cartoon drawings of my every day life. It makes me smile when I look through it - that makes it worth every penny. I'm practical and I'm cheap - I tried all the other markers first. I resisted going Moley (because you can never really go back). I did a Paper Research Project before picking a paper I loved. So if I'm going to spend $7 on a marker, I'm going to USE it. I know there are so many people who don't want to use their "good" supplies but I don't get it. There is no more special occasion than today. Right now is all we have.

The Funk

Been stuck there for WEEKS but I'm forcing myself to get over it. Art is the key, I know that, and sometimes I still don't do it. Silly Goog. So, here are some ATCs I was playing with yesterday with my copics. I'm still determined to learn how to use those silly markers!!

"Mommy, how do you spell bee?"

I don't know why I don't take better pictures for you. I just like the convenience of the phone for picture-taking, I guess!

Anyway, we had Parent/Teacher Conferences a couple of weeks ago - now remember that my son is in a class called "school readiness" for three-year-old (he just turned four). At the conference his teacher told us things like the letters he recognizes and how they'll start teaching him to read and stuff that sort of goes in one ear and out the other. But one thing stuck with me - she said the word "drilling". Like I'm sitting around drilling this kid on his numbers and letters. Not happening. He knows the alphabet and he can count to one hundred. I had very little to do with that. I am not going to drill the kid. Sorry. Some people do, I get that (I got that when his teacher asked me what my "academic goals" were for him at our first conference in September). We play. We color. We paint. We go to the park and slide and swing. In the winter we sled and watch Dora.

But lately he's obsessed with reading. "How do you spell this? What does this start with?" etc. The other day I found him in my bed, hunched over with his back to the door like he was hiding something trying to sound out words in one of his SpongeBob books. So when he asked me how to spell bee, this ATC popped into my head. This could help, right? Maybe? A little? OK, maybe not but it's cute.

Mermaids

Blogging from hubby's computer. I'm sort of getting used to it. I may have explained this before, but his is a laptop with a badly cracked screen (my son is a maniac) and so it's plugged in to the TV. The screen too high to sit on the floor and use so I usually sit very awkwardly on the coffee table where my feet don't quite touch the floor all the way so I'm on my tiptoes trying to not drop the computer and cause any more damage. Right now I'm sitting cross-legged (did you know it's not PC to say "Indian-style"? They say "criss-cross applesauce" in school these days) with the enormous computer (it's one of those REALLY big laptops) on my lap. It's so big that it covers my entire lap and is still hanging off, so it puts a lot of pressure on my forearms.

Good story, right? I know. Anyway, here are some mermaid ATCs. More copic marker playing, I'm still pretty terrible at it, but practice is supposed to help, right? Kelly? Will practice help me?

Mini Me wants to know what happens when you mix juice and water...

PS Next time please remind me that I hate Stonehenge paper before I cut it up to use for ATC with the copic markers that hate ME, ok? Thanks.

Cartoons!

OK, OK - I got behind again! Some days I just feel too blah to actually draw anything, but I've been trying to at least keep notes on what I do each day so I can cartoon when I DO feel like it.





Now I'm all caught up again! :)

Marker Paper

Seriously? Do you know how much I paid for this crappy paper?? At least eleven or twelve bucks! And it's in my cartoon journal, since I'm testing papers to try and find the one I love. This morning I tore a piece out of my journal because I used a crappy pen and then tried to go over it with a good pen and blah, blah, blah, so I tore out this piece and THEN I thought "Yay, I can play with my copics on it and see how AMAZING it is - since it's MARKER PAPER!!"

Yeah, not so much. I know the following pics are kind of crappy, I had to take them with my phone, too close for comfort so you could see the color comparisons. The copic marker color chart was given to me by a copic supplier, so it's not even like I printed it at home on crappy paper.

This is e000 - a light color, to be sure, but you can barely even see it on the paper at all. If you didn't KNOW it was colored, it just looks white.

This is e00, another light color, but look at the difference between the chart and the paper - ridiculous!

This is b24 for my son's pretty blue eyes. It's SO bad!! Really, really bad.

I just want to find an amazing copic marker paper that keeps my colors true, doesn't feather, blends easily, and doesn't seep through the back so I can use both sides. Too much to ask?

All caught up!!

Please be proud of me! (Someone? Anyone?!?) I'm all caught up with my cartooning!


OK, I'm all caught up with the drawing part - not so much with the coloring!! I know, I know - Man up, Goog! I'm just so scared of my copic markers!! I gotta get over it and I will...maybe tomorrow.

2/5 and 2/6

Just some more cartoons...

I know what you're thinking "Dang, sometimes she narrates them all and sometimes she doesn't type a single word!" What can I tell you? I'm good at being inconsistent. Do what you do well!

Still playing catch-up!

These are my 2/3 and 2/4 pages. I really want to be able to be drawing the previous day's page today. Then spend one day a week adding color, or add it when I'm having one of those Indigo days.

I added some words to the blank panels but this pic was before that! I made red sauce, a friend came over to play video games, we went to Smash Burger (it just opened in EP), and then to the DQ for a mini-blizzard.

This is the day Suzi asked me, Ajae, and Kelly to be her Design Team for Unity stamps.

February Comic Book...

I made this new journal with three different types of paper - two for copic markers and one Fabriano drawing paper. I'm still trying to figure out what papers work with copic markers.
I haven't colored them yet, so I don't have any opinion on that part yet! I've just been trying to "make up" for the days I missed while I was in California. I'm only on 2/3 and it's 11pm on 2/5...

How come no one told me there's a Gina K. paper that copics don't bleed through? I wanna try some, but I don't want to get a pack of 25 sheets in case it STINKS. Gotta try to find it locally!

Disappointed...

I know I have to take my own advice and just keep working at it, but the whole cartooning thing has been SO disappointing so far.
I'm still pretty awful with my copics, and I think Bristol paper is not ideal for copics, which makes me sad because I LOVE Bristol paper!
And I know comic book illustrators don't usually blend their colors well, but it's HARD for me to leave a hard line from one color to the next. I just don't like that look, so I've been trying really hard to figure out how to blend things better.Standing and looking at my journal while it's sitting on the table, it looks pretty fun but up close it's not to great. I can't get a handle on how to color a large section evenly - like this face. (It's Kelly!) So I just keep coloring one coat on top of the previous one and pretty soon the color gets WAY darker than it's supposed to be, which doesn't seem right. Surely there's a way to do this. I got some marker papers today - one 18 pound and one 150 pound. Maybe one of them will be better.

Paper?

Saturday is the day - January 1, 2011. I'm going to start keeping a manga journal. I posted some pictures of my new journal (Strathmore smooth Bristol!) that I've been making comic book panels with. But it bothers me that I can't use both sides of the page because the copic markers that I plan to use will leak through the back. How do I know? Tried it of course.

Front:

Back:

I haven't found a paper yet that the copics don't bleed through. So yesterday Ajae is telling me about a paper she used in some kind of class (clearly I pay close attention to people) that had a coating on one side that didn't let markers bleed through. It sounds interesting except the problem remains the same - can't use both sides.

So I wondered what kind of coating would be OK for copics to draw on and still be blendable? (That's not a word, in case you're wondering.) My first thought was matte medium, so I asked my copic expert (Kelly) and she said I should be able to color over matte medium. (You can't used them over acrylics, it's bad for them even though Teesha does!) So, I tried it.

Front:

Back:

In other words - it WORKED!!! I tried three different papers but NOT the bristol - what was I thinking? I have another journal with Bristol paper that I can try it with and if it works, I'll be able to get two months of manga into my Bristol journals! Yay!

Manga Prep!

I know, I know, I promised better pictures were going to start being posted here and they will, I swear. My new stupid camera didn't come with a cord to connect it to the computer and it really didn't occur to me that I wouldn't have any way to get the pics off the camera. My printer has four card readers and I have a million different cords, but none of them are what I need so I had to order a cord and it will be here by January 3rd. Bummer, huh?

Anyway, this is what I've been working on for the past couple of days! This is my new journal from Ajae - I LOVE the smooth Bristol paper!!
It's comic panels. Theoretically. I'm thinking that having all these prepared pages is going to help with the execution of actually making my daily life into a comic book.
It's one less step to do ON that day, you know? I'm going to prep the entire journal this way so the whole thing is good to go.
The one thing I don't like about the paper is that the copic markers that I plan to use bleeds through. I haven't found a paper yet that stands up to these markers, so for now I'm just using one side of the page which seems like a bit of a waste.
Since I'm anal and obsessive, I've been working on this for two days and I've only got about twelve pages done but I'm really enjoying looking through the pages like they are. I can't wait to really use this book!! :)