Roz Wound Up

Video Chat with Danny Gregory and Me

Readers of this blog already know that my work is included in Danny Gregory's new visual journaling book, "An Illustrated Journey," which showcases travel journals. (I wrote about the book when it was released.) I'm thrilled to be included.

Well today Danny has a video chat that we made in February this year posted on his blog. 

I'd never done a video chat before and I was still recovering from the winter "crud," but I got through the entire interview with only one mild cough!  You get to see me talk about my favorite supplies and my "Bat-utility belt" (as in Batman) of a fanny pack.

I hope it will encourage you to go out your door today and sketch what catches your interest.

Also, I have finished reading the new book (I hadn't seen it when we did the chat, and then when I did get the book I savored it, reading a few entries a day). I believe it's a marvelous gift to be able to peek into the sketchbooks and journals of others. We get to see what caught the artist's attention, how his eye focused and edited. We learn something about the artist, but we also learn something about the world. And all of that learning we can take back into our own lives so that we can look again at our world with a fresh eye. 

A book like this also allows us to hold the sketches in our hands and look them over at our leisure. The book contains many artists whose work I've only been able to see online and I love being able to peer at it away from my desk, to turn pages, as I would if I had the journal.

I grew up as a third culture kid. I write in my interview in the book that the gift of that experience is that I am always an explorer, "I feel like an alien from another planet who is just trying to get her bearings by scrutinizing what everyone else is doing and processing it internally."

It's a joyous experience because every moment there are little epiphanies—or even more fun, little moments of discovery which send you off to do research. That discovery always been my real "job"—but I also think of it as the greatest game going (not to be confused with The Great Game). And anyone who picks up a pen or pencil can play.

I hope Danny's new book encourages you to do just that whether you're traveling half way around the world or just ducking out to the local grocery store for a quart of ice cream. Maybe there's a park on the route. And if there's a park, there's a pigeon. We can learn a lot from pigeons too.

Of course you can elect to sketch the people in the park. Be sure to listen as you sketch. What are people talking about? What matters to them? How are they talking? What are the patterns of their speech? Even if they speak a language unknown to you their body language and the inflection of their voices will tell you volumes. There's endless stuff to find out, you just have to look. And be present.  

 

Roz's 2012 Minnesota State Fair Journal

If the embedded video of my Minnesota State Fair Journal doesn't work please watch it on YouTube.

Finally today I'm able to post my 2012 Minnesota State Fair Journal. A family crisis in August limited my personal time. While I was able to spend time at the Fair there was no time to process the experience by scanning drawings and writing about it the experience….The project has been sitting on a shelf waiting for attention. 

During the final two weeks of 2012 my time opened up and I used it to work out some "glitches" with a new camera. As I did that I realized that the long, multi-part post I thought would be necessary to explain my 2012 Fair experience was unnecessary. I could show it quickly in a video. Is it as detailed and exact as I would like it to be? Nope. But the video does give you a sense of what was going on in my mind and why I made the choices I did.

I say in the video I didn't want to write a novel-length post, so I'll stop now and let you watch the video. I have one additional comment, which is a sort of correction. I speak several times about using the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's Calligraphy pen. It was one of my preferred tools at this event. However, there are many drawings which have very fine lines and those were completed with the Staedtler Pigment Liner (most often the .3) which is not mentioned in the video. You'll see what I mean when you watch the video, and even if you forget to wear your glasses (as I did when shooting the video) you'll see the difference.

I encourage you all to sketch even when you don't believe there is time to sketch, even when your life seems impossibly full or stressful. Those are the times when sketching can provide the greatest benefits by focusing our minds in the present moment and touching our wonder and our sense of play.

Note: I use Nichiban masking tape when I'm taping off areas before painting. It comes in a variety of widths and easily removes from "most" papers. (Do a test first—just about anything will pull up fibers on some of the softer printmaking papers.) I only rub down securely on what will be the wet edge (to keep paint from creeping), and I remove it as soon as the paint is dry. Tear the tape off slowly and carefully especially if the tape goes all the way to the edge of your page—it can catch fibers easily there and you could tear into your entire page. Sometimes I use decorative Japanese masking tape that is popular right now—I leave that in place on the page. You can see how I used decorative Japanese tape in my snow piles sketch here. Other times the tape will even be an important part of the image—you can see how I left decorative tape in place, even made a "sketch" with the tape, in this sketch of a finch here.

The Fourth Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out

Above: The group of sketchers assembles—25 in the photo and 4 other sketchers not able to stay for the meeting. (Note: there is one person in the back who wanted to be anonymous!) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 was the Fourth Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out.

Despite temperatures inching above 90 and threatened thunderstorms (it was fair all day) this year we had 29 people sketching at the Minnesota State Fair throughout the day.

Other sketchers were unable to join us on Tuesday and sketched earlier in the week. Some will be sketching later this week before the Fair ends. We caught animals, people, and architecture on paper. We jotted down fun facts and recorded overheard conversations. We observed and documented. The sketchers worked in pen, watercolor, gouache, pencil, and oil pastels.

You can view a selection of the sketches at Urban Sketchers—Twin Cities.

We were joined by writer Amy Rea who wrote about our efforts on her blog at WCCO—Wander MN: What Else to See At The Fair.

While this is the fourth annual "organized" event, there is a core group of artists who have been sketching at the Minnesota State Fair for decades. This year we had returning participants from previous sketch outs as well as first-time participants who boldly whipped up their courage to sketch and paint in public. (Actually if you're going to paint in public it's my belief that the Fair is the best place to start because with all the folks walking around sporting "Fantasy Hair" no one gives you any notice!)

We even had one sketcher from Chicago join us! (Note to prospective sketchers for 2013—the Fair runs 12 days in August and September through Labor Day every year; make your travel plans! The sketch out date is usually a Saturday or Tuesday and will be announced in the Spring.)

I want to thank everyone who participated this year in the Fourth Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out. Grateful thanks to Marty Harris who graciously provided the fabulous illustration of the "largest boar" for this year's button. Thanks to Marty and to Liz Carlson for helping get the word out to sketchers. (You can contact Liz on Facebook.)

Thanks to Ken Avidor for taking photos of people's sketches so we could have a selection posted on Urban Sketchers—Twin Cities. Thanks to MCBA Visual Journal Collective members for also spreading the word and for showing up year after year. And thank you Amy for helping spread the word for the future!

I can't tell you how exciting it is for me to see the fabulous and unique ways in which you each captured the events of your day. You help me see things with new eyes. Let's do it again next year!

Where to Find a Selection of Minnesota State Fair Sketches
Want to see selections of sketches from this year's and past Minnesota State Fairs—check out the following:

Marty Harris' Flickr site; also Marty's Flickr Group: Sketching at the Minnesota State Fair

On Roz Wound Up (here) check the category Minnesota State Fair or go to RozWorks.com to find some older State Fair Journals

On Urban Sketchers—Twin Cities see keyword Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out or Minnesota State Fair.

Note: If you attended the Fair to sketch this year and posted your art on your blog or your Flickr account, please send me links that I can add here so other people can enjoy your work.

For Folks Who Can't Come to the Minnesota State Fair…

The Minnesota State Fair is on right now, and continues through Labor Day. (On Tuesday, August 28, 2012 we'll be having the Fourth Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out.)

If you can't get to the Fair I thought I'd give you a little taste of what you would see. I have a new camera that has a panoramic "mode."  You can get some interesting things. I took these today handheld.

One of the things that will be immediately apparent—the crowd of people. However I hope you'll take a moment and look at these and enjoy the architecture. I rarely draw scenes or buildings at the Fair because I'm too busy drawing the animals—I want to make the most of my access to them. (OK, and I don't really draw buildings much anyway—if there weren't animals to draw I might work on my buildings.)

Above: A look at a portion of the swine barn. This is the northwest corner of the building, looking 180 degrees. Sheep and goats are in this part of the building. Look at the kid in the tie dye shirt and paper hat at the bottom left. By the time I got around to the end of the shot he was walking down the row perpendicular to my starting point. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above: Inside the Cattle Barn. Look at the ceiling and the tall windows on the sides. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above: Another view inside the Cattle Barn. This time I stood in the center aisle and started at the left, which is the northwest corner and panned so you could see the windows, fans in the roof, banners, and of course the other end of the building with the high entrance. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above: Here I am on the corner near the Grandstand (center right). People everywhere here stop to eat corn (the roasted corn stand is to the left). There are a bunch of roads and walkways that meet here and take people off in different directions. It looks like there is a lot of space between people, but it was jam pack crowded today! Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above: I'm walking out of the Fair and I do this by walking down towards the Midway (where all the games and rides are—I don't do games and rides). (No I won't tell you where my secret parking place is.) It's about 2:50 p.m. in this image. Click on the image to view an enlargement. 

Fourth Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out Meeting Details

Above: Map showing the location of meeting for our sketch out.

RAIN UPDATE BELOW AT END OF POST:

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 is the Fourth Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out.

We will be having a meeting at 4:30 p.m. on that day, at the location given in the map above.

I know the location "as near the Taffy annex to the food building," but it is also near the Ag-Hort Building (where I suggest you stop and view the Crop Art Display). But if you're less familiar with the Fair buildings, then note down the street names in the map and find us that way. 

We can't reserve a table in this crowed food court, so if you arrive a little before 4:30 scope out the entire area for people hanging on to sketchbooks. One year I found Ken Avidor outside the Ag-Hort building on his folding chair, sketching the crowd while he waited for the rest of us to show up.

We'll use our meeting time to share our work, our fun adventures, and even great conversations we've overheard. We'll commiserate about exploding pens, and toes crushed beneath stollers. I'll take photos of pages you want to place on Urban Sketchers—Twin Cities; and of course I'll also pass out the great year 4 button featuring Marty Harris' drawing.

Unlike past years we won't be having an earlier meeting during the day. One meeting will be plenty to keep track of, and it will be easier to plan your sketching route without having to walk back and forth across the Fairgrounds for the next meeting.

Keep your eyes open for fellow sketchers and say "Hi!" 

You'll probably see me in one of the barns, though I'm hoping to do some building exterior sketches this year (I say that every year and get wrapped up with the animals). If you do see me, come over and say hi, show me your work, and get your button early! (If you want to know more about the 4th Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out Button please see my post from Wednesday, July 25.)

Fourth Annual Minnesota Sketch Out UPDATE August 28, 2012 7:30 a.m.:

Just saw the weather—looks like it might be raining this afternoon for our meeting— Rain or Shine meet INSIDE the Ag-hort building (which is right next to our current meeting spot) in the CENTRAL hall right outside the CROP ART EXHIBIT. The building has a sort of open central area, like the hub in wheel. We'll meet there and we'll be dry, Rain or Shine, meet there. See you at 4:30 p.m. (Someone will come out and look for stragglers at the original non-rain site, but we'll all meet inside, rain or shine.)

Project Friday: Gearing Up for the 2012 Minnesota State Fair

Above: Pen sketch of a ewe at the 2007 Minnesota State Fair. (The sketch is on a 7 x 5 inch journal card made of 300 lb. watercolor paper that was prepainted with acrylic ink.) To see other selected cards from that year's Minnesota State Fair Journal please click on this link.

I like to plan ahead and figured that you would too, so this week turned into Minnesota State Fair Planning Week with posts related to the Fair.

It's time to break in your new shoes, or test out whether or not the old ones are still supportive for a day of walking and sketching. It's time to increase your exercise regimen so that you build your stamina. There is still plenty of time to schedule practice sketching events of stationary animals at the Bell Museum of Natural History and follow up with practice sketching the live animals at the Como Zoo. And there is no time like the present to get all your pens and papers sorted—in case a crucial tool is missing and has to be ordered.

I've written at some length about all of these and other aspects of the Minnesota State Fair. To make it easy for you to find what I consider "essential posts" I have gathered my favorites together onto a page. The page list is located in the left column of my blog, just below the category list. So you can go to that page list and click on Minnesota State Fair Round Up. (Or click on this link.)

If you click on the category Minnesota State Fair in the category list you'll find all the pieces I've written on the Fair—which might overwhelm you, another reason I created a round up!

In the Round Up you'll find my advice on dressing, art supplies, and sketching moving animals and people. It will almost be like going to the Fair with me.  

Also check out my posts on Direct Sketching with Pen and Ink: Drawing People From Life and Direct Sketching with Pen and Ink: Drawing Birds and Aniimals from Life—Another Look. There really is no time at the Fair to erase!

So this Project Friday is about getting ready for the Fair. Think about how many times you're going to go and buy advance discount tickets. Plan your trips to coincide with the events you want to see or, most important for me, the animals you want to sketch. You'll find all the entertainment information and much more on the Minnesota State Fair Website. Read my various posts for ideas on art supplies to take and sketching tips. Do a practice sketch out for an hour or two using the materials you've decided to work with just to see how it goes. Yep, today is about getting ready, making a list, formulating a plan.

Yes, I know you can just jump in the car and go to the Fair with no planning at all, but I'm assuming that you want to have the best sketching experience possible so I've tried to suggest a couple ways you can achieve that goal. This is my favorite 10 days of the year.

It's going to be great fun.

New Foods at the Minnesota State Fair in 2012

Think everything comes on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair? Not really. To see the list of new foods that will be available this year at the Minnesota State Fair click on this link.

You'll find camel burgers, chocolate peanut butter cup fudge puppies, chicken nachos on-a-stick (OK a couple new items this year will be on a stick), a walleye roll, Duke's poutine, red funnel cake, and a couple gluten free items to list just a few new offerings.

What is Roz interested in testing? I have to say that the lamb fries look tempting. I also think the bacon ice cream is calling my name for an end of day treat. 

Be sure to check the list because not every item will be available every day! The list also provides the vendor name and location.

The best advice I can give you for eating at the Fair is found in my post Minnesota State Fair Prep—#5: Fair Food Made Simple (and Some Thoughts on Exercise).

It's important to start with a good breakfast, work hard (with no sugary or fatty treats to distract you and disrupt your output), and then enjoy the Fair food offerings in moderation.

Have a great time planning your Minnesota State Fair Feasts. And don't forget to sketch your food!

 

Buttons for the Fourth Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out Are Here

 

 

Left: the buttons for the fourth annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out. The illustration on this year's button is ©2010 Marty Harris—it's the largest boar from the 2010 Minnesota State Fair. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

 

 

 

It's time to start thinking seriously about the Minnesota State Fair. 

The Fourth Annual Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out will be on Tuesday, August 28. (More details and a map to our 4:30 p.m. meeting place will follow.)

Buttons will be given free to participants (while supplies last).

How do you get a button?

1. If you have participated before and are going to the sketch out, ask me when you see me. I'll give you one (I know you'll sketch at the Fair). Or show up at the sketch out meeting on August 28, and get one then. (I'll have buttons at the August MCBA Visual Journal Collective meeting for past participants who are repeating.)

2. Show up at the Fair on Tuesday, August 28. Then find me (probably sketching in the barns) before the meeting, or at the 4:30 meeting—show me your life sketches of the Fair. I'll take photos for the UrbanSketchers—Twin Cities blog and I'll reward you with a button.

3. If you miss connecting with us at the Fair just draw something at the Fair from life. Then send me a jpeg at rozjournalrat@gmail.com. by Wednesday, August 29, 10 p.m. Drawings will be posted on UrbanSketchers—Twin Cities (and I'll put a bunch of links around elsewhere too). I want people to see how fun it is to sketch at the Fair—all the great things to see. And I always enjoy seeing everyone's individual take on the Fair. Once I get your jpeg I'll save a button for you. You can pick it up at any of the Collective meetings. (There's a deadline for me to receive your jpeg because you don't want to get behind in line of the next group of button folks…)

4. Our first year we met on a Tuesday, then we met twice on the first Saturday. It was time to return to a Tuesday. (If you have to ask why we shuffle between the first Saturday and the Tuesday of the Fair then you aren't a fair goer!) I realize that just as many folks (or more) work on Tuesday as on Saturday. So if you attend the Fair on the first Saturday of the Fair (or any day before our meeting) and you send me a jpeg before Wednesday August 29, 10 p.m. I'll post your drawing. I'll put your name on a list after the Tuesday sketchers. Any buttons left over after the meeting (and typically there are buttons left over) will go to people on that list in order of image receipt.

5. Life finds you at the Fair on a day following our meeting—same thing applies as item 4 above, except that you will be in line behind people who actually sketched on Tuesday or before. Scan or photograph your artwork (drawn from life) and send me a jpeg. You'll go on the post-meeting list, in line for a button, while supplies last. And your work will go up on the UrbanSketchers—Twin Cities blog.

You cannot get a button if you don't go to the Fair and draw from life and send me images to post on UrbanSketchers—Twin Cities. (I am not bribeable. It's a button folks.) 

I could give you a whole list of reasons why sketching at the Fair will make you a better person, but you either get it or you don't. It will make you a better artist, because you'll be training your eye, hand, and brain. We all need practice. When else do you get to practice and eat corn dogs!?

So get out there and sketch.

(More details on the meeting will follow, as well as additional Minnesota State Fair items of interest.)

Profile: David Steinlicht—Crop Art Time

I've written about artist David Steinlicht's comic "In this corner" before, but I just found a fun interview that I wanted to share with you.

Altered Aesthetics' interview of David Steinlicht can be found here.

David makes fun and amusing art. And nowhere do these two aspects come together better than in his Crop Art. If you go to the interview you'll see what I mean with stunning examples of his crop art portraits.

And if you wonder how he does "that," well it's one seed at a time. I've watched him!

Readers of Roz Wound Up know that I love Crop Art. David keeps a blog, "Crop Art diary" where you can check in on his progress for his State Fair pieces and find other related Crop Art news.  You can also visit his blog, CropArt.com.

Check out this local artist now, and if you get started immediately you might just be able to get your crop art done before the 2012 Minnesota State Fair!

More Adventures in Bookbinding—When You Can't Go Outside

Above: Recent book batch with an emphasis on what I might be taking to this year's Minnesota State Fair. The book at the back left has a cover label depression and is black fabric with gold/brown fiber flecks. I used Nideggen to make 10 signatures for a lot of pages without a lot of weight. The other two books in the back row are slightly larger (7.5 x 9 approx) and both are covered with navy bookcloth. Both also have a cover label depression. (I like to put my spin art images on the covers of my State Fair books.) More about these below. Click on the image to view an enlargement. (Because I couldn't get the blue fabric to light up I put a detail of the label depression at the end of this post.)

I was confined to the house last week for a couple days and after a day my mind went to its default—making books. Spring obligations were over and I had a breather. I started thinking about what type of journal I'd like to have for this year's Minnesota State Fair (end of August).

I sometimes use journal cards, but for the past few years I've enjoyed having a bound book. I thought It would be fun to do a bound book again this year and I was having so much fun with the Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media paper that I decided to make a journal out of it for the Fair. I wanted something rather large for me (7.5 x 9 inches or so) and that meant it was going to be a heavy book.

Before planning a State Fair Journal I look at past visits and work out what my average number of visits is and how many pages I use on each visit. Then I look at my current obligations and what number of visits I hope to make this year. Then I plan accordingly—I figured that I'd need a 10-signature book. That would be fat and heavy with the lovely and thick Strathmore paper. 

Since events often come up to derail our best laid plans I thought, what if I make two books that look alike and are the same size except one has 6 signatures and one has 4 signatures? That's still 10 signatures (though I lose a couple extra pages because of the binding of the second volume—letting the pages themselves act as endsheets). Under that scheme I only have to carry around a 6-signature book for the first 3 visits and then if I'm fortunate enough to go two more visits I can take the second 4-signature book. If my extra trips get canceled I'll have a nifty 4-signature book to use for something else.

BUT, I've really enjoyed working in my journals made of Zerkall Nideggen paper lately. I've been working with pencil and gouache and doing lots of other experiments. As a lighter weight paper I also know I can get more signatures into a thinner spine and have less to carry around.

I decided that I would also make a 10-signature book with Nideggen. It too has a depression for a cover label. If the State Fair rolls around and I've been painting on lots of tan or toned paper and want a break I can use the Strathmore books for a break and vice versa. I'll be happy with either solution, so all I have to think about now is which pens I'm going to take.

Of the two books in the front of the photo—those are both made with Nideggen. The one on the left was made with scraps leftover from doing the larger 10-signature volume. The one on the right is about 7 inches square. I had two sheets of the 22 x 30 inch Nideggen and made it into a 3-signature book. My friend Suzanne Hughes likes to use this smaller sheet of Nideggen and since it is available locally and not a special order I decided I'd make these special books. When better to do that then when I was stuck at home for a couple days! Suzanne had told me that the sheets were 21 x 30 inches and despite what the two stores I called about this paper said (both claimed it was 22 x 30 inches) the sheets I bought were as Suzanne said, 21 x 30 inches. Be aware of this possible sheet size variance and wait to make your final size determinations when you have your paper in hand. Buy a couple extra sheets than you think you'll need in case your tearing doesn't go well. If you buy them at the same time they should all be from the same batch and sized the same. 

I hope that you are already thinking about plans for the Minnesota State Fair—the Sketch out is on Tuesday, August 28, 2012. More details will follow, but start getting ready! (Yes there will be buttons!)

Below: Detail of the cover label depressions on the navy and black books. The depressions are about 2.5 x 2 inches and were cut into the board before I added the fabric covering. When I finish a journal like this I make a label from my artwork and size it to fit the space, laminate it and adhere it. You can see this on past Minnesota State Fair journals for instance. Click on the image to view an enlargement.