Scribe

It's been beautiful. It's been absolutely beautiful the last few. It's like straight up fall.

Sure. So I work at a after school art program, and sometimes people dump art supplies and craft supplies, and one of the things that got dumped on me was a box of leather samples. Like really nice leather samples. And I've been making myself new pocket notebook covers. Just. Oh, I'd like something that is reddish brown instead of just straight brown or. Oh, my denim damaged this notebook cover. Oh, no, I need to make myself a new one. So, like in the last crumple, crumple, crumple.

Oh, no, it's got scratched. I've just been, like, digging, making myself new notebook covers. The most recent one that I made, I sewed a slot into it so that I can. I found this teeny tiny little titanium EDC pen, as though I've got a little slot sewn into it for that so I can make, you know, important notes at a split.

Practical. So practical.

What?

That's close enough. Yeah, I, I will be stealing that to use with the kids I work with because middle schoolers are like, oh my God. Why are you like this, Leslie? Oh, you have no Riz.

Yeah. So Sigma, I've been using super cheap pocket notebooks. I literally still have a shelf full of collectible field notes. And I picked up some cheap pocket notebooks at Walmart to test out to give to kids because I tried to keep, keep them sketching when they're not in program. And I've been just like plowing through them as well as like the Daler Rowney pocket sketchbooks. They're, they're terrible. They're so bad. But because they're so bad, I don't care about what I put into it. So I'm just filling them up. So, yeah, been using a lot of those. And I just picked up the uni Zentos.

And I, I picked up the sort of gray color pattern because they had, they had another, did a couple of different colorways. It's all black ink, but it's gray, dark gray. There's a cool looking gray. Yeah. I figured if they're gray, they won't look filthy. And I was wrong. Mine all look filthy. I wear dark denim and so the little rubber sleeve on the bottom, pink. Picks up the dye from my back pocket. So mine are, no matter what I do, if I get white pens, they just look disgusting. They're covered in ink from my hands. They're covered in dirt. I work in a print shop, so I have big fat black fingerprints on everything.

I, I, yes, I have the best job most of the time.

80% of the time. Yeah. Anytime I'm working with the kids, it's amazing. And planning for the stuff I do with the kids.

Also the zebra blend, another white pen that looks like trash but writes so nice. The ink in it is really, really, it just flows super smooth. So it's great for sketching out and about. And I've been bombing through a package of those that's Been like, a thing since I started this job is I destroy gel pens so fast.

Oh, oh, no. Like, I bleed the ink. I just use them so much that there's. Occasionally I do think the kids swipe them, and it's. But I. I actually invested in a. So that all the kids have access to Uni Ball 207s in micro, medium, and bold, and they love them, so. So they. They're less likely to steal my pens if I leave them on a table because they have access to other pens they can snag. I also give them out as prizes, which you would be shocked at how many kids are like, yes, a nice black pen.

Like, half. Half the kids are, like, super motivated, like, by a nice black ink pen. So. And they'll ask for them. Like, sometimes, like, I. We have, like, candy that we give out and snacks and things. I rarely use candy as prizes with the kids, but every now and then for, like, holidays and things, like, I'll have a kid be like, can I trade my candy for a pen? I'm always like, you can keep the candy and have a pen. Just because you asked, I'd be like,

Yeah. So those are. Those are my fresh points.

Oh, I only bought one package. They had a multitude of colors at Target Sweet. And I got two different shades of light gray, a purple gray, and then a dark bluish gray. It's like a steel blue. But, yeah, I'm. I'm digging those a lot. Those are great for sketching.

Yeah, that was what I first saw. I was like, why are they calling the one the Zento now? But I think it's. The clip is the same. I think it's just body color.

I wonder if it's a different ink.

Yeah. The refill is labeled UBR Z07. Usually they're. They change the numbering on the. On the gel, on the insert.

If there's a difference in it, sometimes you get. You know, they're the same.

So maybe the ink is a little different.

Are you demure when you do it?

in

You better get out that unisento.

This is. This has become the dad joke podcast.

Oh, the kids always tell me, oh, it's not right when you do it.

I just fire back at them. And it's right when you do it any better than I do.

So.

Is that the HP version?

I was gonna ask, did you get the panoramic version of it or did you get the 3x5 version? I got the 2 by 3.

Yeah, I. God, I get slammed every time I talk about this. I joined the Amazon vine program, so they send me free stuff and I review it, I test it and I review it. And so they sent me the panoramic version of it and I have tested it a little bit and it's so fun. But I've used some of the Zink printers before. Polaroid had one. I did a lot with that one. HP has a couple of them. Canon has one. But yeah, the HP seems to print the best.

Yeah. It makes like passes in different heats. It's, it's a, it's a weird, they're like little packets in there. I, I read a bunch about it. It's a really bizarre and strange technology.

Yeah, I need a bag.

That's a good point.

Yeah, it's really. It's really hard for me to not hit. Buy it.

I won't.

Yep.

Hopefully.

Yeah, so I do. I live in, I live in Beverly and I work in Lynn.

So I am an art therapist and I work at an after school program. I used to do the RSVP podcast about stationery and various other things. We struggled to stay on topic and

We learned it from watching you.

And God, where, where was I going?

So, yeah, so I've been. So I've been working at this after school program for the last. I just had my third workaversary. Yeah. So it's, it's a cool program. We do art groups based in art therapy. So it's kind of like we do this, this thing where we ask deeper questions of what you might get in a regular art classroom to kind of get the kids to dig a little deeper, add some therapeutic content to what they're getting. We also, you know, network out and get the kids help that they might need, depending on what that issue might be, whether it's struggling with homelessness, food insecurity. Do they need a therapist? We work to make sure the kids have all of that. And a lot of the kids fall through the cracks at the schools because the school doesn't offer that same stuff. So I co lead our leadership program. So we work with the kids to kind of train them how to be in leadership in the future, which has been really kind of amazing to do that through art. So sort of my credentials and outside of that, I've recently, actually it's now been two years where I've become a long distance cyclist.

Cool. Uh, yeah, I've been, I've been riding my bike a lot this summer so far. Tomorrow I will hit 800 miles on my bike since the end of June.

They are. And my, my, the, my thighs too have. My, my body has Completely changed. My thighs are like rocks, my calves are like rocks. And I keep getting into, keep riding, riding on trails I probably shouldn't, so. But I've been. I, I got to. This is totally off topic and cut this out if you want to. I found myself, what last weekend in a wildlife preserve that I had was. I had no idea this was there. I just wanted to cut through the wildlife preserve to get to another road that was going to loop around home. And so I would hit my 75 mile mark for the day. In the end, it ended in a swamp and I couldn't get through. But I'm like standing there trying to figure out, do I walk through this swamp for the 30ft so that I can, I can get to the other side and, and can I push my bike through this? But I got to see the like native water snake that we have in this area. Which I'm sorry if people aren't into snakes. I'm not really all that into snakes. But like, I didn't know we had a native, non poisonous water snake. It was kind of cute. So it has blue eyes. And I disturbed its lunch because as I was walking through, every frog disappeared and the snake kind of just looked at me like, what have you done?

Why, why have you done this? But yeah, there's, I've just been like discovering all kinds of cool stuff in the area by my bike.

Thank you.

Sure. So professionally at the after school program, I sort of specialize in sketching, art journaling and printmaking. And I like to make sure the kids I work with have good supplies. So. So, you know, pencils are a big part of that. Like, we start out with pencils, we move into other supplies. When I took over my studio space, I was really dismayed when someone, the person who was there in that space before me, had ordered a gross of Amazon basics pencils. There's still half there because I hate them so much. I hate putting them out on the table. They're only three years old and it's a cool, dry environment in my print shop. And the, the erasers have already dried out and leave like Gross, gooey gray, pink across paper. So I traumatized the kids by cutting the erasers off with this trim snipper I have. They're like, why do you keep cutting the erasers?

Well, I. I turn around and I buy them really nice block erasers. So I. Because they're my favorite, I buy the. God, what's the brand? The Sumo erasers. And they. They walk away because the kids are like, I love these. So, like, I try to get those. I get a bunch of, like, eraser. The. The dust gathering. So anyway, like, we use a lot of pencils, and I like to make sure that the kids have good supplies because it's a lot easier for them to have success if they're using really good supplies. So they get professional grade stuff most of the time, and good pencils are a part of that.

And. And because of those Amazon basics pencils, I raided my stash because I was. I was kind of at hoarding level, and I decided I was just going to clear out all of my stash except for two drawers and my vintage collection. So I have these two little storage drawers that have still way more pencils than I'll ever use in my lifetime. And then my vintage pencils. But I took the rest of them to work and I mixed them in with some, like, other pencils. But it's, like, super cool to see which kids notice, like, which pencils they're using and notice that there's a difference. So, like, you'll see the kid, like, look at the pencil and be like, what kind of pencil is this? They really like the pen and gear number twos that are made in India as well as the Baron Fig Archers. Like, I have kids who will go through the. The pencil cups and look specifically for the Baron Fig Archers.

Yeah. It's just. I don't know.

No. Which I realized they took them in. I was like, ooh, maybe I shouldn't have done that. But whatever. It's, you know.

So I use. I use pencils myself in my art journal for sketching. Also for sketching out ideas for prints that I'm making and working on, as well as groups. So pencils, in terms of printmaking, I use, like, a soft, dark pencil because it transfers really easily to whatever substrate that I'm going to be using to carve. So I primarily do relief work.

So I am generally of the mindset that any pencil is an art pencil, but I always gravitate towards pencils with dark and smooth cores. So I look for cores that are easy to kind of manipulate and move around the page. So anything with a. I look for the kids, specifically, and for, like, my own stash of pencils that I use, things that have a range of hardened softness. And that's what I classify mainly as an art pencil. So generally speaking, when I'm. I'm sketching and drawing, I'm not using anything below an hb. I tend to have what's considered a heavy hand. I tend to push down on the paper pretty hard. And if I'm using anything harder than an HB or even a hard hb, I leave a big indent on softer paper. So for me, having soft pencils works better also. So part of that is the ability to shade without bearing down on a pencil. So when you're working in graphite for Drawing, what you're trying to do is eliminate as much of that sheen that you get when you really bear down with a pencil and you push hard. So when you're sketching or you're doing, like, graphics, graphites based art, you move through the different softnesses of the pencil and the darknesses of the pencils as you need to change your tonal value. So the darker you want it, this, the softer the pencil, the darker the pencil. So you might start out with an HB, move to a B to a 2B, and so on and so forth. So I don't know, does that. That kind of like skirts around the question, but I guess answers it.

Right, right.

Yeah. And the. The Mars Mars Lumograph. The Statler Range is like a standard. I know for anyone who's Gen X. Like me, if you were in an art classroom in the 90s, that's probably what you. What was your first set of graphite pencils was the Mars Lumograph.

But, yeah, I mean, I will say that the Venus was my first as well, but. But that's because my dad took some design classes and we had the Venus at home, but at school it was the Staedtler.

I will fully admit that I do segregate my drawing pencils from. So I. I keep the nice, soft, smooth HB pencils on the table just for general doodling and sketching and stuff, like when we're first starting out. But the. But the really nice, you know, probably B and up are kept to the side because once you start getting into that range of pencils, it's, it's about money. I only have so much of a budget for, for supplies for the kids. And when you get into the softer, darker pencils, they will chew through them so fast. We also use an electric sharpener and it does auto stop, but the kids just keep jamming them in there. So, yeah, I do keep those pencils to the side and we get them out and they know, okay, this is an art pencil that goes into this bin. So they're really good about keeping those to the side as well.

Yeah. I think the great thing about pencils is that they allow for a huge range of tonal value. With the pencil, you can get super light to super dark. If you walk into the museum and you've got an HB, a 2B, a 4B, then like a 6 or 7, that's going to get you pretty much every tone that you could ever want. As you're sketching, you can also, you know, change the, how, like how thick the tip is. So if I sharpen it with a masterpiece, is it a masterpiece? Yeah, the masterpiece. You can just peel off the wood and not sharpen that to a point and get an entirely different look from your pencil versus getting that super fine little point. So you just get different textures and different tonal values really easily from a pencil that you just don't get with a pen unless you're, you know, using a fude.

Yeah, yeah, that's cool. You know, it's funny, like when you're sketching, like often you'll see those little boards with the sandpaper on it. That's specifically what that's for, is to shave off and create a chisel point if you want it.

I always start with, is the lead smooth, is it soft? And is there a difference in tonal values from one grade to the next? So I have a tendency to work with sort of the. Like the HB, the 2B, the 4B, and then 6 or 8B and like, skip the 3B's, the 5B's. Because I found that in a lot of brands you don't. There's not much of a difference in those tonal values between A2B and A3B. Some brands have absolute, like, difference between those. Those grades. But for me, that's what I typically look for is that I want something smooth, which has been interesting, like working with the kids, because not all of the kids like the smooth pencil. They'd prefer something with a little bit

Yeah, I think different types of paper too. It's like, why. Why did they like the Baron Fig Archers? Yeah, there's a little bit of grab in that pencil depending on the paper.

Only the kids with Brizzy.

in terms of that question, starting out this Statler Mars Lumograph. That set, it's a classic for a reason. Is it my favorite? No, it's a solid set. It gives you some good difference between the tonal values. I find them a little too hard, especially like in the HB B and 2B. 2B is like, where I would start with that, but that's. It's a solid set. It's been around forever. It's a classic for a reason. But if someone wants to try something a little upper from that. The Faber Castell no glare set, there's a little bit of carbon mixed in with the pencils to tone down the glare you get when you apply pressure. It kind of grabs the paper in a way. That I'm not totally a fan of, but what I really like is how good the pencils look on paper. Also a little on the harder. The harder side of things set. You know, the European pencils versus, like, Japanese in terms of. With the graphites. But yeah, that Faber Castell. No glare set. Andy, I can look up the name of it for you later. I don't remember exactly what it's called.

And if you're like, into that no glare set. The Generals. What is it? The 9xx.

Yes. Yeah. That thing is crazy. It doesn't fit into a regular sharpener. So the kids that I work with kind of hate it, but they also love it because it's. It grabs the paper, but it's so black that they're like, oh, this is black. Like, my soul. Middle schoolers are dramatic.

Yeah, that doesn't need to be remade. I'm sorry. Some. Some stuff needs to be left to sacred.

The. What is it? The. The Kum2Step, the basic one, is a good choice for. Particularly if you like working with kids and they're just starting out. Like, I've got a couple of those in the studio that the kids kind of pass back and forth and. And that it works great for art making because you can peel off the. Just the wood and use the, like, chunky lead left behind. So that's. That's one of the ones that, like, is pretty basic. But for a lot of the art pencils we do just use. And what is. What is. I don't even know the brand name of the pencil sharpener. It's the brand that everyone was talking about that did the super long points or short points.

Yes. So I have an amfat and we. That's what we largely use in the studio. We have some hand sharpeners, but this amfat only does one like point size, and it's relatively long, but we use that for most of the art pencils until. Until you get up into the softer grades. And if we're using charcoal pencils, which I think is like a whole other conversation that everyone. If you're interested in making art or doing urban sketching with pencils, getting some good charcoal pencils. And I have to say that when it comes to charcoal pencils, the general's charcoal pencils are pretty much my favorites. I love that they're made in America. Oftentimes their cores are shattered. Depending on where you buy them, don't get them from Amazon.

Dear Lord, the worst choice ever. Every core is shattered and your kids will be like, why are you still breaking? Why? Yeah, don't do it. So I, I actually drive out to. There's a local art supply store that I use, artists and craftsmen. And I. I call in advance. I'm like, I need three packages of the 2B, the 4B, the 6B generals. Like art pencils. Do you have them in stock? And then they special order them for me because they know I'm going to come and buy them all.

Yes, they are. They are.

They're. They're so used to me walking in with, like, bizarre requests or calling in advance being like, I need 15 of these particular sized panels and can I. How soon can I have them?

And then the other thing in terms of sharpening is I teach all my high school students how to sharpen their pencils with knives. We. We use.

I. So we do. Oh, no, I do a lot of carving things, but also, like, we have. I do a full safety conversation with them about how to use an X acto knife. How they will lose the privilege if they horse around with it. If anyone does any, like, little dances. If I see the gritty Happen. No, if you, if you are grittying with the knife, sit down and give me the knife back. Actually, I, I joke around about this, but I actually work with amazing kids and when they, they actually listen to the safety conversation and they are generally really good about it. If you're gonna gritty, put the knife down.

Yeah.

No, they just. I have a kid who draws cats on all my tables. Yeah. And then they're meowing, so.

They're. They're one of my favorites. But anyway, they, they're actually really good about learning how to sharpen their pencils with knives and with. That's what. Actually, that's what we use the Amazon basics for. So they, they all learn. They get an unsharp Amazon Basics and then whittle it down so that it's

Yeah. So, yeah, knife sharpening is a skill to learn if you're going to draw with pencil or charcoal pencils.

Diane Wright is really familiar, but I don't know why.

for people specifically, Specifically pencil art? Not so much pencil art. I'm trying to find. I'm going, I'm. Right now I'm going through my YouTube subscribers subscriptions or even just any of

Drescape. So he is a comic artist that does a lot of urban sketching and sort of documenting his life through sketches. And he does a lot of stuff with fountain pens, food A Nibs, brush pens. But he also did a couple of. Of videos about pencils quite a ways Back but just his. His channel right now is just absolute gold. Like I. And he's so. He's a teacher, professor of art in Singapore. And he's just so chill. Like I put on his videos to relax, but also like I'm soaking in knowledge because he's just like talking about. Think about your contrast. And he's got this like super soothing voice. So yeah, Drescape is right up there.

who else? Danny Gregory. His stuff is mostly in pen, but he does the everyday or started out with Everyday Matters as a book and that just blew up and now he does Sketchbook School.

Yeah, he's his passionate, very passionate. And then his co runner of Sketchbook School. I'm gonna butcher her name. Kosha Kune. I can't say it. Kosha Kune is just also really amazing. Again, she does a lot of stuff in pen, but she does a fair amount of stuff with different dry materials as well. But yeah, her. Her channel is just because she also talks about the basics of drawing. And whether you're working in pen or pencil, that's the medium doesn't matter as much as the instruction. Do this kind of stuff to get this sort of feel. And one last one is this English guy, Toby, Sketchloose artist and urban sketcher. And his whole thing has a show

Yeah, his videos are just like. Again, it's like the like low key vibe of just like sketch anything and enjoy it. And he does most things in pen. He does a little loose sketching in pencil to start and then he does a watercolor wash over the top of it. And his whole thing is keep it loose, let it represent what you feel as well as what you see. It doesn't have to be exact, which is just like something that I try to. Perfectionism isn't necessarily very helpful for kids and breaking them out of that. Perfectionism really helps their art and helps them. So that's another one that I suggest to the kids. There are a couple of other people that. Oh God, what's his name? I'm gonna. I'm gonna screw it up. His last name is Dunn. Yeah, Alfonso Dunn. He does mainly like really detailed pen and ink, but he does stuff with pencil as well. He recently came out, there's a huge controversy about his pen and ink drawing book. Basically someone copied his self published book and ripped it off. And so that's how I actually found out about him. Was like, people were like, talking about the fact that, yeah, this is a ripoff, and then got to discover the fact that he's actually an amazing artist and he does stuff with all point pen pencils. And he's another guy that I like to introduce the kids to because he's just. Just draw. Keep drawing. Here are exercises that will make you better and determining what is better for you.

Cool.

I. I can't speak to that right now.

but I don't know if it could actually happen.

Yeah, they're super busy lately.

You're on the air. We're recording.

I'm gonna. I'm gonna take the a moment to plug my two YouTube channels. So I have two separate channels. I've got one channel called Comfortable Shoes Studio where I do art instruction and lately just been recording a lot of myself drawing either outside, out and about or in the studio studio with just an overhead. I did 100 faces over the winter, so that was one of my goals was like, I need to return to drawing faces. And I started doing a kind of vlog thing and so bumped that out into its own channel where I talk about health and fitness, and that's called Less is more Healthy. So it's L E S S is more healthy because. Well, this. My doctor gave me a speaking to and basically said, you're gonna die young and horribly if you don't start moving. So the whole she. She was much nicer about it than that, but it was like, move or die. So I took that seriously. And the whole channel is around me getting more Healthy. So I put up ride videos. So if you want to see some unfinished rail trails and me just getting crashing my bike, I. That you could see that on that channel. Yeah, I've only crashed once.

I've run it. I've. I've run into other things though.

Yeah, sure. I also have a Ko Fi account and I don't even have it open right now on my computer, but it's.

Yeah, it's. Yeah, I've got a Kofi account. I need to be a little bit more active on it. There it is. Yeah, so I've got the Kofi account. I post about mainly art stuff there. I muse about art and art making and all of that fun stuff.

Yeah, sometimes I get. I get, I get, I get distracted and make stickers. So. So then I will make. I will make hundreds of them and send them to all my friends and people who are on my Kofi.

I'm glad you got those.

I didn't know if I had your correct address.

Don't follow. Well, Instagram. I'm on Instagram. Original LC Harper. I'm not as active there as I used to be. I'm on threads a lot more.

Yeah, I've gotten some stuff that's blown up a little bit over on Threads. I'm more if. If you follow me on threads, you're going to hear cycling content mainly and occasionally some snarky stuff about work. Not about the kids, but my co workers who I love and adore entirely.

Yeah. But I'm not mainly like. The best place to find me if you want to get in contact is either through my blog, comfortableshoesstudio.com or through YouTube.