Scribe

Who is this?

Hello.

That's correct.

Yeah, I guess for the consuming I wrote down like the books I'm reading, which I guess if I was thinking more about pop culture, I would have been a little bit more honest because the studio work has taken up so much that my reading sort of regimen has died down. But so I guess I'll name the main one that I'm reading, I guess, and it's the condemnation of blackness. It's by Khalil Muhammad. And that is if, when we get, we'll get, I'm sure we'll get to the work that I do. But it's all about black history and that's sort of the sort of main vein of the work that I do. And this one sort of talks about the criminal, the broad sort of aligning of criminality and blackness in the late 19th century and early 20th century. And it's just a really amazing breakdown of how, how that process worked out. It's also a very depressing book, as you might imagine. It's really pretty dark. So yeah, that's the book that is probably my main read right now as far as writing in, I guess I should say what I'm writing with. I mean I have a. Obviously I have tons of pencils and I use a different one every Day. But the one I'm most excited about is the. Is the general drafting pencil that I've hack winged. It's, you know, since it's, you know, an American hardness, it's a tube, it's like, feels like a 2B, but, you know, that's not super soft compared to like a Japanese one. So I really like that balance and I love the design of it. I like the round barrel and the sort of dark maroon color. So that's what I'm pretty excited about right now. Also, the core is real thick. I think it's kind of. I really like that. And writing with writing on is I just got one of those red dot lectrums and it's nice. The paper is different than I usually use their grid, and it's definitely different. It's a little slicker, sort of like a Rhodea, but it still does the job. I always have the field notes Illinois State Fair in my pocket. And I did just get. Not too long ago, the Midori 10th anniversary notebook had some real weird margins and grids. Like, the grid doesn't even. It's just weird. It's almost like they're used because they don't touch the top of the grid and they're like half a millimeter, I think. But the margins are really cool. And such a amazing, minimally designed book. The pages are like almost trans. I mean, they are translucent, but they still. I mean, they can take a fountain pen. Yeah. It's a really nice book.

This is the. The only other thing I've ever had of theirs is the pencils. So I do have the book and then I bought the little. The book cover that comes with it. And it's. I mean, it's so delicate and well designed that it's like. It makes me nervous on, like, how I think you have to write every write and draw everything so perfectly or you'll ruin it, which you think would be discouraging, but it's actually encouraging.

Pressure's on, right? Yeah.

I have not.

It's very cool. Yeah, yeah.

When I think of him, I kind of just think of Thomas Newman's uncle, because I love Thomas Newman. I'm pretty sure they're related.

And they're not the only ones. There's like a bunch of Newmans that are Paul Newman. Well, yes, but this family of Newman's like Thomas Newman did. I mean, my favorite is the Road to Perdition soundtrack. He does like all Sam Mendez's movies.

Yeah.

I mean, that casting was so obvious.

I mean, it was almost even more so than when they casted. Oh, gosh, am I going to forget his name? Who played Che in the Che movie that looks just like him. The famous.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's really sort of impressive how they incorporate that magic realism into the show.

Oyster roast.

No.

This guy, man.

Yeah, I guess I kind of did cover it at the beginning, but I really like that. Lectrum 1917 red dot, and the Midori 10th anniversary gridded margin notebook. The Midori I think I'll talk about, because I like it better not to say that the Lectrum isn't wonderful, but what's cool about it is, I mean, they're really meant to take that, to have that sort of COVID around them, but they still work fine without it. But the spine is exposed, so it's like it looks like if you had a hardcover book and you just ripped off the hardcover. And so you have that sort of like almost looks like gauze, but it's just like the book binding tape. But it's really nice and it lays flat, amazingly. And like I said, the paper, I mean, it's translucent. I wouldn't say it's super translucent. I mean, it is, but it's more of just not opaque.

Yes. And, yeah, it's just really. It's really nice. It makes me, like I was saying earlier, want to write better and take my time.

I was. I mean, I really like getting into Mike Hagen getting me into pencils. I just ruined me with fountain pen. I should tell the story about how he came in. I work at Art Cupid's art supply store in Urbana, Illinois, and he came in one day and was like. I think he was buying, like, a Baron fig or something. And he was talking about Pencils and stuff. But. And I was super into only fountain pens. I was like, are you into fountain pens? He was just like, nah, no, no, man. I was like, oh. And you know, he always would come and he was showing me pencils, like, oh, pencils, that's neat. And now it's just, I don't use anything else.

Yeah, yeah.

I think that's all that I can think. I mean, I'm sure there are probably a million things, but I'm just not thinking of them now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Clip.

I love.

Why would they do that?

Yeah.

Yeah, I always. I always feel like that I'm probably pissing them off.

Yeah.

I actually did.

But I didn't. But see, I was wise and I didn't use my hand. I used an electric sharpener.

Neither.

I'll take that.

Well, so, I mean, I've been doing art since I was a kid. Like, so this is always what I've done and what I've, you know, expected that would be my life would be. As far as getting into art supplies is I've. For about 13 years I've worked at the local art supply in Urbana called Art Coupe. And that's sort of kind of opened the door for me with, I mean, more so. I mean, before I worked there, I mean, I was using art supplies, so I was actually buying them from there. But it's sort of like given me access to pretty much everything and given me ability to mess around with things that I'm never going to use in my own practice. But at least I can have a little fun when I'm getting tired of what I'm doing. Yeah.

So in general, my work is about. It's history painting in the figurative term. I mean, literally, I Rarely paint, like, physically with paint. The work that I do, I mostly use the imagery is made with pastel, and they look like paintings, but they're really drawings. It's all grounded in black history, American, African American history. And kind of the goal in the artwork that I do is try to sort of tell the story, stories that are missing in the general understanding of the American narrative. Because, I mean, vastly more than half of the sort of subjugation and oppression of African Americans is not a standard thing in school and not framed correctly. And that's basically what I try to do with my work. What I'm working on right now is I'm having a small show in Chicago next month, and it's in sort of a house gallery. It's essentially the concept is when people have a home space that actually can be converted into a gallery, so they do that. My friend Megan Diddy, I knew her because she got her MFA here in Champagne Urban at the University of Illinois. And she's sort of curating it and working, putting it together with me, but sort of going back to what I was saying with the work that I make, I mostly focus on history, but a lot of it is connecting history with problems and issues that happen today. The series that I'm going to show in the show is about the sort of the superhumanization of African Americans in the sense that where there's this sort of notion that there's evidence throughout history of African Americans are stronger, we're more sort of can withstand pain better. And basically these are sort of all of these assumptions that were created consciously and unconsciously to justify oppression, specifically with enslavement. And you see it from. I think the earliest example that I'll be sort of highlighting in this show is from 1602, where a. Where a. Like this European, this Duchess explorer was in guinea on the coast of the west coast of Africa, and he witnessed these African women giving these water births. And they would have the children, and then a day later, you know, there was a good birth and they would be back to work. His perspective of this was like this amazing and crazy thing that they were able to do that. And not like. He describes women. Women in Europe almost die, but these women are fine. And instead of thinking like that's a positive, he thought, well, that just means they're more like animals. So you have that, and then you can fast forward it to today where when you have the killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Darren Wilson describes Mike Brown as. When he grabbed Mike Brown's arm, he felt Like a child holding onto Hulk Hogan's arm. And you're talking about a man who. Mike Brown was. Weighed much more than him. He weighed 70 pounds more than. But they're the same height. So they're roughly the same size. He's a trained police officer. This is an 18 year old kid. But he describes him as being Hulk Hogan. Yeah. And so. And you know, and there's examples in between that. And so I'm taking I think five or six that I found and sort of presenting that sort of like say like show this trend and show how it still exists. And that's kind of what I try to do with the work that I work, that I make.

Yeah, right.

And they just removed his statue into New York. Right.

Yeah. Yes, he's been. I didn't want to use him in this because I feel like other people are already doing that for me. But yes, absolutely. That's a perfect example of it. Yeah, that's cool.

Yeah, so like I mentioned before, I was really into fountain pens. It's all I used. And part of the reason, because I liked. I like the. Actually like how they. You need maintenance and you have to take care of them. And it's a hobby. It's not just like this tool you can just grab and don't have to think about. But the thing with fountain pens is they're kind of expensive and pencils aren't. And especially with like this, the hack winging of these pencils, I really can. That sort of replaced that idea of maintaining fountain pens. They're cheaper. I like the sharpening of it. I like the writing of it. I like going in and out of different hardnesses and different pencils and all that and that kind of thing. But it's, you know, cheap. The. What really like I was sort of gradually going through like, like transitioning from fountain pens to pencils. And the one thing that I kept sticking on is, well, pencils aren't permanent fountain pens. I mean either are fountain pens technically, but it's, but it's. But you know, you can just erase pencil mark and I was in Chicago, and I was at the small bookstore, and one of the things I do with my work is I make these sort of, like, mock documents. Like, I'll make, like, something that looks like a piece of paper from, like, the 1890s. And. And a lot of times that's because the actual paper is from the 1890s. It was just blank out of a book, and I printed on it. So I was looking for these old books. So I found a book from 1891, and inside of it, there is all of these notes written in pencil. And I was like, wait a second. This book is from 1891. And it's in this. You know, this graphite's still here. And so I was like, you know, pencils are just as permanent as pens unless you erase them. So I was like, okay, I don't have to worry about it anymore. That was like, a big thing where I was like, okay, I'm really. Besides the sort of, like, natural progression towards them, that was sort of like the guilt of leaving fountain pens was, like, gone after that. So that's sort of like, why I've made such a transition. I mean, they're really the. In sort of like, when you were talking about that book about, like, the guide of Pencils, like, it's such an interesting thing to think about, like, these. These companies, like, you know, like, especially, like, you know, long time ago, like, 50, 60, 100 years ago, that were so meticulously trying to design these things that no one really cares about. Like. Like people. Like the people who. Like, some people like, oh, yeah, that's a good pencil, but they don't appreciate what was put into them. And I find that interesting. I mean, I do that a lot with my work. I mean, you can see the process of my work on my Instagram. But when it's done and when it's in a gallery and it's on the wall, like, you can't actually see what I did. Like, some of the frames that I build, because I build, like, a lot of, like, sort of ornate frame, like, giant frames for the work that I do. But, like, I'll have this cross section of, like, wood molding that, like, took me so long to figure out how to do. And it was so painstaking. But by the time the work's done, it looks just like one piece of molding, and nobody knows what it took to put it together. And I sort of. I sort of like that. I like that it keeps me humble because it means that. That I'm doing this for me. Yeah. And it's not for, like, so it's not for recognition. It's just because I really like, like what I'm doing. So that's. I feel like that there's, like, sort of, like, this emotional connection between that and pencils, to me. Yeah.

And I do. I do like the absurdity of it. I mean, these pencils, I mean, it's going to run out. Like, it's sort of like you're going to sharpen it to a nub, and then it doesn't work anymore. And I like the absurdity of still, like, the initial design that the company put together, but then also, like, what I'm doing to them is, like, sort of adding to the design and altering something that's finite. Yeah. Again, it goes to, like, what I was saying with my work. It's like, that's how I know I'm doing it for me.

Well, yeah. I mean, one of the funniest things is people are always like, oh, can I see your sketchbook? And I was like, yeah, I don't have any sketchbooks, because the way that my practice works. And again, if you look at my. I should say my artist Instagram, which is jasonpatterson, is. I really have a regimented and sort of like, relatively conservative studio practice where it's all about, like, okay, I have a plan and I execute it. I think a big influence or a surprising influence was because, again, I live in Champaign in Urbana, Illinois, and the University of Illinois, which is a lot of state, it's the largest university in Illinois. It's an engineering school. And when I really started Developing my practice, which is about 10 years ago. I was living in a house with. With six other roommates, and all of them were engineers. And so I was like, oh, that's how you work hard and efficiently. And so I took. I was. I took this, like, how these engineers would work and applied it to my art practice. So it's all about, like, it's. There's no, like, oh, I'm just gonna feel this and see what happens. Like, I. That is not the kind of artist I am. I'm like, okay, here's a plan. I'm going to execute this plan. And so that's where, like, the pencils and the notebooks come in. So instead of having sketchbooks, like most artists do, I have tons and tons of mostly lectrums where I am taking notes, like, drawing out plans for woodworking and other things. And again, talking about, like, where that I'm mostly a history painter. Like, 80% of the work that I do is actually reading and research. So I take so many notes. So writing pencils is, like, makes for my practice. Makes much more sense than. Than, you know, drawing pencils, which I think sometimes makes people mad when I tell them, like, no, I don't have any sketchbooks. I don't really. Yeah. All these pencils that are so elaborate. I just use them to write stuff.

That's usually kind of the reaction to it.

And also, I should point that my grandfather was an engineer, and I like to think that. And he also, when he retired, like, he made art. And so I like to think that that's sort of like. Sort of like a genetic influence maybe. But, yeah, so, yeah, I tell people all the time my biggest influences were mechanical engineers.

Well, again, Mike Hagen, sort of. He showed me the Erasable podcast, and I think it was like, right after you guys released the stickers, and I was like, what's that? And he was like, well, let me show you. And I've been doing this. Doing this stuff so much that it's like, I. You know, I've been thinking about this, and I was like, I can't remember exactly, like, the. I can't remember the thoughts I had when I started doing it. It took me so long to remember what the first one that I did was. But, yeah, I think it was just that. And I think that it was just like the, you know, remaking a pencil and working with, like, trying to figure out the. Like, the aesthetic and the design of it is just sort of, like, kind of addicting. And it's. You know, I get a lot of questions on how I do it, and it's. I try so hard not to be condescending because for me, it's really easy. But I mean, it's sort of like woodworking. I mean, literally is. I mean, these are pieces of wood, so I understand. I think I have a little bit more understanding because of all the woodworking I do is like, how glue is going to work, how things are. Like the. I mean, these things are. It's such a scaled down sort of way of woodworking, but it is like, I definitely use those skills that I've developed in this thing, which is just, you know, putting different erasers on pencils.

So it's funny because I remember thinking it was the best hack wing ever. And it was like, what's the point? I'm done now. But it was the. It was the Mitsubishi, the 9800 EW, the raw wood one. And I put Blackwing 24 Feral on it. I was like, this is the coolest thing. And it's all right.

Yeah, me too.

Well, I really like designing things, and I kind of use that experience I've had in my own artwork to do this. Like, I mean, the design. The way that I sort of design, like, which feral, which eraser, and that kind of thing is really. It's just following the aesthetic that already exists. So, like, if the text on the pencil is silver, then you put, like, a number one or a 54 ferrule on it and sort of, like, keep that sort of match going and, you know, using complementary colors. Like, if the pencil's green, you know, a red eraser might look really good on it. I mean, it's really simple stuff, but that's. To me, that's the cool thing about design, is, like, you can do stuff that's so simple and so straightforward and elementary, but it's still, like, the perfect thing. I mean, it kind of goes back to, like, Midori notebooks. Like, they're. They're so simple, but it takes, like, you know, real design understanding to know how to, like, you know, pull that off and make it. Make it really look nice. And that's kind of like what I use. Yeah, there's that skill set.

Well, so you guys might remember early on, I was experimenting with dyeing the feral.

That never worked. I mean, it worked to where I could take a picture of it, and it looked cool, but, I mean, because it's metal and it's not porous, like, it would just scratch off. And I'm sure I could try to, like, keep experimenting and find something more permanent, but I kind of just like, that's when it was going too far, like, the time consumed.

Like, how did I.

Well, what I was doing was we at Artcoop supply store, we have this. We have just, like, this general, like, dye that you can. It's not just for fabric. You can dye other things. And I would just soak it in it, and I would soak it in it, let it dry, then soak it, soak in it again. And then they would start getting darker and darker, and it would look really nice. But, like, you know, you scratch it with your fingernails, it comes right off. So that one. So that's why it didn't really last long. It was just. It's really hard to do. And on top of that, it wasn't really. Didn't really last.

The most emotional one was probably when I. Those. The yellow Baron figs, the ones that were, like, the nod to Ticonderogas, we were Talking about earlier, I dyed that green, but I think there was just some moisture on my finger. So when I was touching it, I just took the. It was really hard to make and it looked good, but I just took some of the dye and just rubbed it down the side of the pencil.

So, like, it was like, oh, this is ruined now. And I think that was probably when I stopped dying. This isn't gonna work.

You know, again, that's where that woodworking sort of kicks in. Like, it's actually. I really found a good system on When a pencil already has an eraser on the back, it's already sort of like thinner in the back, so you can just slide it on for the most part. But when they don't. When they don't come with one, and you do have to sort of like shave off like a 32nd, an even 32nd of an inch, or maybe even like a 16th of an inch around the back of the wood. And yeah, then it was difficult because I had just started, but now, I mean, I can do it real fast.

I think with an X?

Yeah, I really like. Like I mentioned before, the General's drafting really like that one. Other ones, I really like the. Let's see, the Tombow 8900. That's like a good favorite. My actual favorite one, I think, is the Kitabashi super drawing. Oh, yeah, the 9500. Because, like the. I really like that dark. Dark, like greenish blue. Like, it's almost like if you made a turquoise as dark as you could, and then the gold text is, you know, it's kind of like bold, so it stands out a little bit more. So it really goes well with that. That gold feral. So that's probably my favorite one. And then I really like the. The. What is it? The General's. The General's scribe. That's a newer one I did that I wrote.

Yeah. I felt. I almost felt guilty, but I was like, if you want anything else, like, I mean, you know, the person was really insistent on trading. Like, I have so many. Like, if you want to make a trail. I was like, well, I'm gonna make. I'm gonna make you my favorite ones and really good ones. But yeah, that was a. That was a nice trade. Those two elevens. I really excited about it. I don't. These are my first two 11s.

It's real unnecessary.

Like. Because I really think it breaks the aesthetic of it. Like. Like, especially like on. Like for this example would be like the 24 where it's. Every single thing is black except for the exposed wood at the point. But then you have these two little, like, metal lips that actually don't. You can pull it out without them. The only way I've seen it where it actually kind of like the way it looks is I had an old one of those Faber Castell. They're not like. They're sort of. What are they called? The Necra. I'm blanking on the Nyx. Or that. The ones that had the sort of the ferrule on the back, they're like a grayish blue. Those Faber Castells. So they would have that silver sort of ferrule, like the black wings, but there's little. There's like some marks around at the bottom of it. And it looks older. And so it kind of like, it's not as smooth as these contemporary ones. So it looks. It kind of fits that aesthetic. I put. Why hacked one with like a super old. An eagle, like turquoise to be. And that. That works. I left. I left those little flaps on that one, but the other ones, I just immediately cut them off.

Yeah.

Oh, not counting hack wings. Hagen's really gonna hate this. But I still love. I still love that golden bear. Like, I know it's scratchy. I know it's not soft, but I like it.

Yeah. What else? I like the. What is it? The Tombow 2558 is a good one. I know I'm forgetting something here. Oh, the two new favorites that I really like is the Tombow. Gotta grab all these pencils and look at them. Oh, the Mano 100. Really like that. Then the Mitsubishi. The unique. Like, I really. I really like those. I think those are the ones that I can. And I like, even though it's pretty soft. The Midori's pencil. Yeah, I do. I really like the design of that. The matte white. Even though it's really easy for it to get dirty, but I really like that. Their minimalism. Yeah.

You mean, like, if I could make up any pencil?

Gosh. Well, you know, a pencil that I really liked. I don't know if I have a dream pencil. I mean, I think it would be something I'd have to. I guess a dream pencil would be one that I designed. Like, if, like, if, you know, Blackwing decided to let me design a volume. Like, I think that would be awesome. That idea. I don't know what it would be, but that idea would be. Is like a dream. I really like. It's almost more like I want to. Like, I'm not into it right now, but I do. I've always liked the idea of let's. The raw wood pencils. If you've ever watched that sci fi show the Expanse, I recommend it. At least I recommend the first season. I haven't watched the second season, but it's, you know, I think like 100 years in the future or something. And one of these. One of the politicians, and it is old. And he's unique. Where he uses wood pencils, nobody. I mean, everything's like a pad and. Or just a piece of glass, I should say. But he had these wood pencils that were just like. They look like sort of the Thoreau pencil, but they're blank. But the cool thing about it is that the back of it was a usb, so you just touch it on a screen, and then, like, would open up, like, all these files. But I do, like, just the plain raw wood pencil sometimes. You know, it depends on my mood, I guess. Yeah.

Yeah, that's a really super interesting thing. And it really goes back to. I was saying about how complicated simple design can be, because I was like. When Mike told me about it, I was like, oh, man, this is amazing. And I tried it. I did it on a golden bear, and I was just like, I don't even really like this. And I was like, it's just like, you know, when you. When you strip it off, you realize, like, again, how the simplest things are so important until. And you don't notice them until they're gone. But when. When it's just this raw wood and there's no text on it, it just makes it fall. Like, I mean, you can see the indentations, but it still makes it fall flat. Like, it's like you actually do need some text on that. That raw wood. I've been really busy with, like, my actual studio practice, so I haven't really gotten to explore it, but I'm. I think I'm gonna mess with some of these general barreled, like, round barreled ones and see where it goes. But I'm sure, I mean, I want to at least make one look good, so I'll eventually get to that experimentation.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a. It's a. It's an interesting thing. Like, it's not what I would expect. Like, I thought it would just be again, it's like, where you really see how important design is. Yeah, that's a good.

You know, I don't. Yeah, I don't think so. It's been. It's been fun. Yeah. This is. I think I've covered all the cool things I think about.

About pencils.

Well, the best way to find my pencil stuff is hackwings on Instagram. And then if you want to see all the artwork that I make are mostly the process of the artwork I make, you can see it at my other Instagram, which is jasonpatterson.

Tin.

You're welcome. Thank you.