📙 #044 - Why we do what we do, dress for the job you want
Excellent SEO goes here.
Truth be told, I kinda love the process of making art more than the art. I'm trying to work out a way to phrase that in a way that doesn't make me look like I don't care about the art 'cause I do. Just that often the process is sometimes more interesting than the result, to me anyway.
This became more obvious when I was thinking about doing my year of Arts-Based Research, where any "artefacts" that came from it were going to be byproducts of studying the process of doing what we do.
Although my process for both art and my research has been hampered by the sale of the old studio (see below)
Which is why I enjoyed documenting the process, because...
# Dress for the job you want
Why we do what we do.
Congratulations to Gorilla Sun for his new gig writing an (educational) newsletter for fxhash.
He's been writing his weekly newsletter for over a year and a half, which includes news roundups, mini (and sometimes not so mini) tutorials, interviews, advice, insights, and so on.
So now he'll be writing a weekly newsletter for fxhash that includes news roundups, tutorials, interviews, advice, insights and so on.
This is sometimes the dream for a creative person: doing what you do, and then someone comes along and says, "Hey, we love what you do. Can you also do that for us, and we'll pay you?"
Re: all artists with a day job, making their art in their spare time.
For me, the long-term plan was to keep making art, tutorials, videos, newsletters, and so on and then, in a couple of years, be in a position where I could say, "Hey, look, this is what I do. I can probably do this for you!"
Turns out that opportunity came along a couple of years sooner than expected, the best laid schemes o' mice an' men, and all that.
This is all to say that in the past couple of weeks, I've known three people (great anecdotal data points, I know) who've sunk years into their work and who've just gotten gigs to continue doing what they do.
Mind you, now they have to do what they do, twice.
# High Flow Acrylics for pen plotting?
I've been experimenting with Golden Paints' new High Flow Acrylic ink in a 0.7mm technical pen. It's too early to give a verdict, but I think they're pretty good.
TL;DR They've been working on a method to make very fine-particle acrylic ink that can work through airbrush nozzles (and, therefore, pens). They're slowly introducing their old colour range as they work out how to do each colour.
Technical stuff here: https://goldenartistcolors.com/resources/high-flow-acrylic-colors
For the sake of this argument, there are two types of ink;
Dye-based, which is basically coloured water. It comes in all sorts of bright, exciting colours, often in fibre tips, and can be put into all kinds of fountain pens and technical pens, which is excellent because those have metal nibs and don't wear out.
They also tend NOT to be lightfast and will fade in sunlight, often surprisingly quickly.
Making them both beautiful, un-archival and therefor a terrible idea to sell.
OR...
Particle-based, which ARE (generally) lightfast, archival, often dull in colour and because there are particles involved, tend to clog up all those nice metal nibbed pens we have.
The particles are suspended in a solution, which allows you to draw with them; the solution then dries, leaving the particles on the paper.
How particles suspended in water is different to dyed water I'm not sure because I failed chemistry but probably something to do with solubility and moles?
Golden Paints has been figuring out a way to make the acrylic particles small enough to be used in pens (and airbrushes). I wouldn't want to use them in a fountain pen (well, I tried, and it didn't go well), but I have been testing them in a 0.7mm Staedtler Mars®️ matic, and so far, so good.
As long as I clean them out right away.
The colours are still on the duller side compared to dye-based ink, and so far, they haven't super-mini-particle-sized their more toxic inks, and as we all know, the more toxic the ink, the better and more fun the colour 😷
But they are releasing more colours nearly monthly as they perfect the process for each one.
The ones that are exciting to me are the iridescent and fluorescent inks, which are far from dull.
Fluorescent ink particles tend to be relatively unstable and not lightfast. As I understand it, Golden Paints has managed this for their "High Flow" range by coating each particle in a UV protective shell, which, of course, makes the particles larger.
BUT... so far, this ink has been working just fine in the 0.7mm Staedtler.
The effect is very mild on black paper, so it's not the 80s neon extravaganza I was hoping for, but it's looking pretty good on white paper. It also glows under a blacklight, but I don't have my UV torch on me to test this.
Ultimately, all I really want is a good range of reliable, lightfast colours that I can use in refillable pens and that are unlikely to be discontinued any time soon. Also running paint through a standard technical pen is pretty sweet!
It's early days but I'm really hoping these High Flow inks are an answer, and I kinda trust Golden Paints to know what they're doing.
This is not an AD!
# Old Studio News
It was nearly three months ago that I was told, and wrote, and recorded that there was just one last thing, just one more question that needed to be answered by the end of the month for the sale of the old studio to complete.
And that question was answered.
This is the sale that I've been putting everything on hold for, the Arts Based Research, the tutorials, the zines, sending stuff in the post, the feeling of being able to move on, breath.
Somehow, we're near the end of this month, and I'm waiting for a different just one more question to be answered. This is the fourth time since February that we'll be able to complete the sale after this “one last thing”.
This question (from the bottom of the chain to the next one up, my buyer's buyer's buyer) to the management company is: "Will your building be built according to the latest fire regulations that you're legally required to build to?"
And one would hope the answer would be "Yes".
The question was asked two and a half weeks ago (and followed up every couple of days), so we all sit and wait for one person to email that "Yes" reply.
As frustrating as it is for me (all the things I've put on hold and others I've let go of doing), I feel for my buyer.
He's what we'd call an "Older Gentleman" who's moving up here to Shrewsbury to be closer to friends and has watched a Spring, and then a Summer spent living here slip away.
I've started filing complaints.
# The magic do everything box
I know this is basically an advert (get sent a machine for free, say nice things about it), but I really like the direction things like this are heading in.
The thing that caught my attention here is the inkjet (no black) attachment. So you have a laser cutter/engraver, a paper/fabric blade, pen plotter and printer all in one. And, because the same machine does it all, you know your printing, cutting, engraving, outlines and so on are all going to line up.
Not sure how many wooden things with burnt edges you have to sell to cover the cost, but boy do I fancy a box in the corner of the room that makes stuff. Just needs a robot arm on each side to load/unload it and press the button for you and you’re all set.
# THE END
Short one this week because, well, I'm now working 11am-6pm, and I have a Papercamp presentation to put together, and 'cause I'm travelling down to London tomorrow, I have to fit editing weeknotes in somewhere.
All while trying to not let the sale of the old studio piss me off too much. The imaginary conversations I have just before getting to sleep with these unknown people are reaching epic proportions. You can be damn sure they're all sorry and have sorted their shit out by the time I've finished.
This morning, I even sent a strongly worded email 😾
Love you all,
Dan
❤️
Thank you for the shout, made a Tweet, but then remembered that you're not on TwiX anymore. 🫶 Also wait... just read your previous newsletter—congrats on your own gig as well!