Gordon is an associate member of the Society of Animal Artists: “...founded in 1960, [SoAA] is devoted to promoting excellence in the artistic portrayal of the creatures sharing our planet, and to the education of the public through art exhibitions, informative seminars, lectures and teaching demonstrations.” On his website, he shares links to woodworking groups and links to fellow wordturners:

American Association of Woodturners
Association of Woodturners of Great Britain
Association of Woodturners South Africa
National Association of Woodworkers New Zealand
North Shore Woodturners
​South Auckland Woodturners Guild
The Irish Woodturners Guild

For more about Gordon, view his recent works here, and get in touch with him here.

MORE about ARTISTS' PROCESSES

For more peeks into art- and craft-making processes, have a look inside Canadian textile artist Laurie Swim's studio, where she filmed the making of a landscape quilt. We get to watch her work over the course of nine months, compressed into three and a half minutes. You can watch it here.

And, watch Lexus's documentary Takumi: A 60,000 Hour Story on the Survival of Human Craft. The folks behind the luxury car created a newly formatted way of watching a movie online, which they hope gives a sense of the human work needed to become proficient in a craft.  

The premise behind the movie is to match the length of the film to the time it takes to become a Master Craftsperson, or Takumi. That time is estimated to be 60,000 hours. The documentary features four craftspeople: a carpenter, a foraging chef, a paper-cutting artist, and an engineer (who works for Lexus).  

We get to see the skill that goes into learning a craft, and we’re offered some wonderful insight into the importance of craft-making from a curator, a journalist/programmer, and a futurist. You can find the documentary here. Be sure to read the directions in the blog post that explains how to speed through the footage.

You might also like to explore our posts about American Craftspeople and American basket-makers.

Japanese Takumi Documentary

A real-time documentary about craft meant to be sped up by the viewer.

You might also like to explore our posts about American Craftspeople and American basket-makers.

Modern Woodblock Printing

It’s always exciting when a craft that seems stuck in time gets nudged into modernity. It reminds us that we can have fun breathing new life into processes we’ve taken for granted or relegated to history.

Woodblock printing has been around as a method to print on fabric since sometime before 220 AD, in China. Examples of using woodblocks to print on paper can be found from the 7^th century AD, and, as a technique, survived into the 19^th century before falling off in popularity.

What may first come to mind when we think about Japanese woodblock prints are landscapes and seascapes created by Katsushika Hokusai. 

Jed Henry and David Bull have teamed up to bring woodblock printing into the 21^st century. Jed, an American illustrator, and David, a British master woodblock printer, collaborated to create Ukiyo-e Heroes, featuring woodblock prints of video game characters, handmade in the Japanese woodblock tradition.

To make a woodblock print, you start with a block of wood with one flat surface, and carve away the parts of the surface that you ultimately want to be the white or negative spaces. Areas of wood left intact on the surface will be inked, and that will become the woodblock picture. To get the image you want, you need to cut away wood where you don’t want any ink.

Once your image has been carved in the wood, ink is spread evenly over the surface, and sticks to it until you transfer the ink to another surface.

If you want a multi-colored print, you need to make one wooden block per color in the print, figuring out where the color and the white (negative) areas are, and carve accordingly. Then, you’ve got to make sure that your blocks line up perfectly at each new color block printing, so that colors don’t overlap where they’re not meant to. 

Woodblock printing is a finicky endeavor, and takes years for a craftsman to become masterful at creating woodblock print images.

In the 2013 video from Creators wao, Jed gives insight into his passion project of modernizing the stories told through woodblock prints.

Once an image is decided upon, it’s up to David and his staff at his Tokyo-based collective workshop, Mokuhankan, to create a series of wooden carvings on cherry wood blocks. Each color in the final image needs to be printed on the paper one layer at a time, from individually carved blocks. Each round of adding the next color is done by hand, making it a time-consuming craft. And, since it’s layered using a fresh coat of ink at every pass, each print is unique.

You can see the step-by-step layering in a series of photos on Mokuhankan, which show the building up of the image of the print “Rickshaw Cart.” Click on the small black and white drawing in the center of the page to start the slideshow.

Below is a video of the process:

You can read more about David’s woodblock printing business and his printing process here and here. 

You might also like David Bull’s YouTube channel, and The Jed Henry's Instagram account. There are links to subscribe and to purchase prints via their Instagram bio.

For further reading, John Brownlee that goes deeper into Jed and David's woodblock printing collaboration. It’s a great 8-minute read, with a slide show of 13 early woodblocks inspired by Super Mario Kart, Metroid, Star Fox, Donkey Kong, Kirby’s Dream Land, Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter, Mega Man, Pokemon, Secret of Mana, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

POPULAR POSTS

How to Darn Holes in Sweaters and Socks

When my younger son asked me to repair his favorite sweaters recently, I had two reactions. I was really proud of him that his mindset was to repair rather than replace (and yes, it would be great if he learned to darn and make his own repairs). And, I realized it had been a while since I’d done any darning repair work. So, I did some research to refresh my memory.

I learned to darn from my thrifty grandmother, who was a deft hand at mending wool sweaters, jackets, and the ribbed knitting on collars, cuffs, and hems.

She would carefully make a blanket stitch around the inner circle of the hole being repaired, and then create a woven patch to fill in the hole. She used a darning egg, darning needle, and an embroidery thread that closely matched the item’s color. Sometimes, she was able to retrieve a piece of wool from her stash and use the leftover yarn from a sweater she’d knitted. (This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases - at no extra cost to you.)

In darning, it’s important to stabilize the unraveling, damaged area first. Then, you can take the time to shrink the hole and add stitches, or create a woven patch.

You can use a color that’s a perfect match, as close a match as possible, or not a match at all. You can try and make your repair as invisible as possible, or go in the opposite direction and create a patchworked look using contrasting colors. The style is yours to choose! Hide your stitching or showcase it - whichever 'look' makes you happy.

If you don't have knitting yarn, you can use embroidery/needlepoint thread. You’ll want to get a close and workable thickness of the yarn you’re replacing, so you’ll need to determine how many threads is equivalent to the diameter of the yarn.

Knitty has clear photos of mending projects in different stages. They also outline good tips and tricks for dealing with holes in knitted garments. 

   · Don't miss: How to Knit for the basics, and Knitting Videos for beginner to advanced knitting videos.

Below are 4 great instructional videos about mending knitted items from VeryPink Knits, River City Yarns, KNITFreedom, and Professor Pincushion.

Blog post screen grab via River City Yarns video.

POPULAR POSTS

The Craftsmanship of Making Ink 

We are surrounded by printed items in our everyday lives – in magazines, books, newspapers, product packaging, food packaging, posters, signs, and more. Our world is made more lovely, vibrant, and interesting because of the inks in these items.

Anyone who has made prints with ink - lithographs, wood blocks, letterpress, or silk screens – probably loves the processes involved in creating artworks using them. And they love the qualities of inks that best suit their needs. What better than to be able to work with color-dense ink that handles easily and consistently?

Inks vary in the depth and complexity of color, viscosity, glossiness, and the time it takes to dry.

Sometimes it’s fun to watch the process behind the product. In this case, we get a tour of ink-making from Peter Welfare, of the Printing Ink Company. He’s passionate about the crafting process of making a high quality ink, with designers and artists in mind.

Watch the video below to see the varnish and powder go through heating, crushing, and mixing to create a high gloss ink with intense color. And, see how the company uses computers for quality control.

POPULAR POSTS

Extreme Knitting with Jacqui Fink

Jacqui Fink is an extreme knitter. She works with large scale needles and merino wool from her home country, Australia. Her super-sized stitches can become the extreme knitting she’s known for - large scale textiles, installations, and wall hangings.

She began working on large scale projects using wool that’s unspun, called Merino Tops - or roving (the type of wool used in needle felting). But roving is fragile, and not durable.

To create projects that have a lasting durability similar to regular knitting yarn, Jacqui found a mill that helped her develop a process of twisting and felting roving wool. Her resulting large-scale yarn can be worked like regular wool yarn.

Since switching from roving to working with her company’s felted K1S1 yarn, she’s created textile art projects for interior and exterior site-specific pieces, using hand knitting and knotting techniques. Jacqui’s K1S1 opens up possibilities for textile artists, knitters, designers, and crafters to take quantum leaps in what can be crafted from wool.

    · Don't miss: Our list of 25 Best Selling Knitting Books.

Watch Jacqui’s videos below for casting on and getting started, dealing with the weight and bulk of large yarn, and finishing off a project. Then, for clarity, watch Wool and the Gang’s regular-sized yarn tutorials for casting off and knitting a garter stitch (at the bottom of this page).

·You might like our blog posts: How to Knit, Yarn and Knitting Basics, and Knitting Videos.

Feeling inspired by Jacqui's work? Check out her commissioned pieces on her website’s Gallery page.  You can find her yarn for sale at Little Dandelion, and explore more videos and projects on her Online Tutorial page.

POPULAR POSTS

Extreme DIY Basket-Making

John Plant makes baskets using only what he finds in the woods, without the distractions and tools of the modern world. That makes his videos interesting from a crafter's point of view.

John is a historical re-enactor and primitive technology enthusiast who films and edits projects making practical objects from what’s available to him in the woods of northern Australia. His YouTube channel Primitive Technology features videos of handmade projects based on his online research about early tools and techniques. 

He’s made a hut with a tiled roof, pottery, a draft furnace, woven sandals, a woven mat, a bow and arrow, a forge blower, and more.

John’s videos are fascinating. We can watch him traipse through the woods looking for materials to use, and wonder about the animal noises we hear in the background. When it rains and we can see the soil turning into mud, it's a relief to see him be able to duck into the hut he built, and imagine that he'll want to work on making floor mats next.

In Primitive Technology: Baskets and stone hatchet (below), John makes two types of baskets, and a celt hatchet.

 · Editor's note: Fans can support John directly by donating to his Patreon page.

You might like our blog posts: American Baskets, American Crafts, and Making Simple Shoes From Scratch.

Don't miss: Our Resources Page.

POPULAR POSTS

Getting Started With Linoleum Printing

Hand print designs for art prints, posters, cards, announcements, and more.

Below are five videos which we've curated to help you get started in linoleum block printing. The first three videos, hosted by Kati Henning for Blick Art Materials, clearly explain the step-by-step process of making a linoleum block print. The fourth video, by The Virtual Instructor, explains how to transfer a drawing to a linoleum block using carbon paper. And the fifth video, by Maarit Hänninen, shows how to transfer a drawing via an inkjet printer.

The first video below, Getting Started, covers the materials you’ll need to make a lino print, including hard and soft linoleum (mounted and unmounted), cutting tools, paper, brayer rollers, a bench plate, and ink (oil- or water- based).

The Virtual Instructor shows how to transfer a drawing onto linoleum using pencil rubbings. 

You could also simply use carbon paper: put a piece of carbon paper between the drawing and the linoleum block. Trace all of the lines of your drawing, then lift off your drawing and the carbon paper to check to make sure all the lines have been transferred to the lino. If any of the lines need to be darkened, simply trace again directly on the linoleum.

Watch the video below from Finnish printmaker Maarit Hänninen to see how to transfer an image to a linoleum block via an ink jet printer and either carpenter's wood glue or Mod Podge:

​

​Block printing is a great way to produce a series of the same image. In the video below, Kati shows how you can also create multiples of the same image but with variations in color and background choices. She also provides lots of tips for a successful print. 

Finally, the video below shows how to produce a series of multilayered linoleum prints. If you’re making a lino print with many layers using multiple lino blocks, you’ll have to create a system for lining up your paper for each printing layer, so the different layers align properly for each print "pulled."

It’s easy to lose track of negative and positive sections when you’re busy cutting. Cutting away can’t be undone. So it’s a good trick to mark the areas that you’ll be cutting away as a good visual guide of positive and negative spaces. You can simply take a pencil and use the side of the point to fill in the areas that you’re going to be cutting away.

Don't miss: Altered Book Sculptures, Museum Collection Images, and Vintage Graphics for resources and inspiration.

· All the products in this video and many others are available at Blick Art Materials and Amazon. Or, click on the items below to get started with supplies. The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission - at no cost to you. (Learn more.)

Yarn Bombing Sisters

Sisters Lorna and Jill Watt work together to make knitted and crocheted yarn bombing projects in the San Francisco Bay area, where they create commissioned installations and guerrilla-style public art.

Below are two videos which follow the sisters in their planning, knitting, execution, and installation of several projects.

To keep up with Lorna and Jill, follow them on Instagram, and check out their website for tutorials and to see photos of commissions and recent projects.

For even more, head over to their Etsy and Ravelry stores, where you can find their self-published downloadable knitting and crochet patterns. See what new projects they're sharing via their New Crochet Pattern and Yarn-Bomb-Along page.

 · Don't miss: watch London Kaye yarn bomb a New York City subway car, and learn to knit with Knitting Basics, Knitting Videos, and 12 Advanced Knitting Techniques. 

Below are some books on yarn bombing, craftivism, and extreme knitting projects. The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

POPULAR POSTS

Learn How to Make a Stop Motion Animation 

Some of my favorite movies are stop motion animations. The people behind these movies can manipulate the facial and body expressions of their characters so well that we get pulled into the story line and nearly forget we're watching bits of clay.

Of course, there's a lot that goes into making the movie work so that the audience gets lost in the hero's journey* - the characters, sets, editing, music, sound effects, costumes, camera angles, and lighting. Figuring out how to assemble all the pieces you need - and where to start - can be daunting. But, there's a pretty simple way to figure out what you need to know so you can start animating like a pro.

HERE'S A PLAN FOR YOU

A good place to start is by paying close attention to how some of your favorite animated movies have been put together by breaking down what's happening on the screen during a scene. Set yourself up so you can watch the scene several times, and take notes as you're learning what makes the scene work. You're going to pay attention to your reactions to what's going on in the scene, and then figure out what happened in the scene to make you react.

Picking apart scenes is a really good starting point in your own movie-making apprenticeship. It's something you can do with family and friends. Your goal is to deconstruct a scene, name the elements that make up the scene, and figure out what they make you think about and how they make you feel.

Once you've figured this out, you'll understand how to build your own scene, and how to get your audience to think and feel a certain way about your story. And remember, once you understand all the elements and layers that make up an animation, you'll be able to add your own layers, which will make your movie more engaging.

The movie makers have spent months - and sometimes years - to formulate a combination of dialog and action to make you feel a certain way. Are you feeling happy, sad, scared? Can you pinpoint the moment you started to react? Great! Go back to the beginning of the scene and take notes of everything that you notice going on.

SOUND IS PROBABLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU REALIZE

Is there a sound in the background that makes you know that something is about to happen? Did you hear a door open, and you're waiting to see who entered? Does the music sound happy, or start out low and get louder, and creepier, and make you scared? Does the lighting tell you anything - like where you should focus your attention?

Watch the scene at least one time through with your eyes closed, and pay close attention to all the sounds that make up the scene - dialog, sound effects, and music. You'll be surprised how much information is conveyed just through the sound tracks. 

FILMING THE RIGHT WAY FOR EDITING

You need to understand a special rule about camera placement:

LEARN BY DECONSTRUCTING ALL THE ELEMENTS

Watch a scene over and over until you can name everything going on, including where the focus of the action is as the conversation is going on. If there are two characters, does the first shot in the scene include both characters, and then focus on only one character at a time as the scene progresses? Does the camera get closer to the characters as the dialog becomes more focused and intense? (And, can you see where the camera was placed, and can you see that they are following the 180 Degree Rule?)

Did the editors cut back and forth between the two characters as an argument got more heated?

Next, pay attention to how the scene ends, and how the next scene begins. Is there a fade-out and fade-in? Are there any music cues or sound effects that carry over from one scene to the next? Can you figure out why the movie-makers made those choices?

Once you understand the different elements that make up a good movie, you can use these elements to make your own animated story come to life. You can make characters from clay, Legos and other toys, puppets, or figures that have a bendable wire interior. (You might like to watch a video about Callum Donovan, who makes his own characters out of found objects.)

* THE HERO'S JOURNEY

Do you need help coming up with a story? Watch the video below for guidance on how to get started. 

When you're ready to start animating, you can try out using a program like HUE Animation Studio. [The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more]

For fun and for learning, watch stop motion animator Andy Bailey's behind-the-scenes tour of miniature animation sets and puppets from Laika Live's exhibit at Comic Con 2018. Laika Live animators are the creators of Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link. 

Do you feel ready to tackle stop motion animation? I hope so!

Don't miss: Free Comics Course and  Callum Donovan. 

POPULAR POSTS

Mechanized Flip Books

Artist Juan Fontanive has created a series of mechanized flip books of birds in flight.  Called Ornithology, the series of animated images are made from 18th and 19th Century natural history illustrations. Juan created collages from the illustrations and set them to flip at the right speed so that what we see is a continuous loop of birds in flight.

You can find more about Juan Fontanive on his website and on Instagram.

You might like to try your hand at making a flip book with the FlipBookit Maker Kit and the instructions found here. [The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more]

Don't miss: How to Make a Pinhole Camera, Vintage Graphics, and Free Comics Course. 

POPULAR POSTS

How Jacquard Looms Work

The four videos below are a fun introduction to connections between science and craft. Jacquard looms and early computers both used punch cards, which store binary system information. 

In a Jacquard loom, a weaving pattern is stored in punched cards which are strung together for the length of the desired pattern. The cards are made up of grids containing combinations of holes and closed spaces. The videos below illustrate the workings of the binary-based punch cards - the history of the mechanism, how the cards are made, and how the looms work to create the Jacquard fabric.

For a detailed description, read Some Introductory Notes Concerning Jacquard Technology written by Garth Fletcher.

Please note that three of the videos do not have narrators. The third and fourth videos have no sound.

More on Jacquard Looms, from Wikipedia:

  · Don't miss:  Tapestry Weaving, American Crafts, Ari Embroidery, and Soumak Weaving.

Below are thumbnail pics of some best-selling books about weaving. Click on a book cover for more information, or find them here - on Amazon. [As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).]

POPULAR POSTS

How to Make a Pinhole Camera

A pinhole camera is a light-proof object with a small hole which can be opened and shut manually, allowing light to pass through the interior of the object and land on either negative film, negative paper, positive paper, or slide film. An image will be captured on the film or paper, and will appear after a reactive chemical developing process.

The pinhole is simply a small opening to allow light to pass through a dark area and land on something coated with photographic emulsion. There is no refractive lens involved in taking images with a pinhole camera. The body of the camera can vary, depending on the size and shape you’d like to use. 

Pinhole cameras have been made using diverse sizes and shapes: simple cardboard boxes, small matchboxes, hand crafted wooden boxes, a Campbell’s soup can, a round oatmeal container, a coffee can, and cars and vans.

Using Negative Film with Your Pinhole Camera

Film cameras use negative film, which gets chemically treated in order to develop the negative image, and then gets turned into a positive image via an enlarger, contact sheet, or a scanner and computer program (such as Photoshop or Adobe). You can use this process in taking and developing pinhole camera images. 

For a clearly written guide on developing and printing images taken with negative film, check out Paul Turounet's guide Printing Photographs in the Darkroom.

Using Negative Photo Paper with Your Pinhole Camera

But there's an alternative which you might find easier - making a negative using photo paper instead of film. The two videos below deal with this easier method.

The first takes you through the steps for making a pinhole camera. The second focuses on using a paper negative, and developing the image using items you’d find in a kitchen: water, dried mint, baking soda, Vitamin C tablets, and lemon juice.

You can find further instructions and links for the developing process from The Royal Institution’s Young Scientist Centre: How to Make and Use a Pinhole Camera, using the items listed above.

Download: Camera Template

Making a Positive

You can get a positive from a negative paper image several ways:

• You can take a digital photo of your negative with your phone, and reverse the image. For detailed instructions and a video, check out PandaPix's Instructables tutorial How to Convert Film Negatives with a Digital Camera/Smartphone
• You can scan the negative image into your computer, inverting it to a positive image using Photoshop or a similar photo program, where you can also tweak the contrast, etc.
• You can make a contact print from your paper negative image, and develop the positive using chemicals, using the instructions below: 

• Or, you can use a direct positive print paper (good for both pinhole cameras and photograms). [The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).] 

If you’d like to try your hand at taking photos with a pinhole camera, you’ll have to get used to working under low light conditions for loading, unloading, and developing your film (you might want to invest in a film changing bag), including cutting the paper down to the right size, and being able to tell by ‘feel’ which side should be facing the pinhole.  You’ll also need to learn how long your pinhole should remain ‘open’ under different sunlight conditions.

Ilford states that all of their black and white photo papers are suitable for pinhole photography. For more, explore Ilford’s Pinhole Photography FAQs. Also useful is Ilford's Pinhole Camera Exposure Calculator. 

  · Don't miss: Mechanized Flip Books.

POPULAR POSTS

The Making of a Landscape Quilt

Don't you wish you could watch the process of someone creating a quilt from start to finish?

Well, if so, you're in luck! Canadian textile artist Laurie Swim filmed the making of a landscape quilt. We get to watch her work over the course of nine months, compressed into three and a half minutes.

Watch the video to see her thinking, taking breaks, placing fabric, stitching, and layering, over and over.

In the end, we see a landscape taken straight from Atlantic Canada. Laurie has captured Canada's northern light in this gorgeous quilt - in her careful choices of colors, and the long shadows she's created with patchwork.

It could be Peggy’s Cove on the Southern Shore of Nova Scotia. She's created a scene populated with a lobster fisherman with lobster pots, a dory, a house, and some small out-houses on a bay - all out of pieced and stitched fabric. 

It takes a lot of planning and experience to get a landscape quilt to look so realistic, with shading in the sky, reflections in the water, and top stitching that acts like lines drawn in perspective.

I’m so glad Laurie let us in on her creative process, from start to finish.

   · Don't miss: How to Make a Quilt from Scraps, How to Sew a Simple Quilt, How to Care for Quilts, and Crafting Resources.

Screen grab via Sea to Sea Productions Ltd. Time Goes By.

POPULAR POSTS

How to Make a Special Slime

In the DaveHax video below, we see the making of a gooey concoction that gets pulled towards a magnet. To make the magic sticky clay, he adds together Elmer’s Glue, water, Borax powder (or, you can substitute a laundry detergent or liquid starch that contains Borax), and iron filings.

If you'd like to make a ceramic sculpture using a magnetic clay mixture that will dry out, check out ceramic artist Jólan van der Wiel. He uses a mixture of slip (a combination of clay and water) and iron filings to create a material which he can manipulate using super magnets. His clay mixture is typically 90 percent clay to 10 percent metal.

You might like Magnetic Clay, Mechanized Flip Books, and Dragons.

POPULAR POSTS

Magnetic Clay

Ceramic artists working with magnetic clay can play with the forces of nature to create fantastical structures.

Dutch designer Jólan van der Wiel uses a ceramic mixture that contains iron filings. A super magnet placed above his work space causes the magnetic slip to reach towards the magnet, or detach from his applicator and stick to the magnet. The magnet helps shape and form an organic-looking structure. The material cures within a half hour.

Below are three short videos which show Jolan's working process with this special concoction.

Below, Art Insider’s video featuring the NYC-based ceramic artist Sabri Ben-Achour shows his playful manipulation of magnetic clay to create pieces inspired by natural forms.

  · Don't miss: American Crafts, Crafting Resources, and Craft Museums.

Below are some popular books on contemporary and ground-breaking new practices in ceramics. Click on a book cover for further information. The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).

POPULAR POSTS

A Young Artist

Sometimes he gets an idea and tries to recreate it. Other times, he finds a piece of metal that serves as inspiration for a sculpture and goes from there. Callum always keeps a look out for bits and pieces of metal that might be useful and inspirational for making his sculptures.

A lot of his sculptures look like they were crafted for a movie or opera set. They have theatrical personalities, and an air of compelling mystery surrounds them. 

It’s always exciting to see a young artist with a focused vision for making things, for experimenting with processes, and to see such fully realized objects from someone so young. We look forward to seeing Callum's creations in the years to come.

POPULAR POSTS

Free Comics Course

Comics storytelling is serious business.

Graphic novels split storytelling straight down the middle between visual and textual information – making the structure a unique art form. Getting the story's text and picture balance just right is what makes great comics and graphic novels work.

The California College of the Arts has a Comics Department for both undergraduate and graduate studies, and offers an MFA in Comics. Matt Silady, an Eisner Award winner and current Chair of CCA's MFA in Comics Program, is the instructor for an online Comics course that’s free – Comics: Art in Relationship.

The adaptive course is made up of 5 sessions, with an estimated 10 hours of work per session, geared towards all levels of mastery in Comic-making.

What you need are pens, pencils, access to a scanner or digital camera, and a printer. And, you need to sign up for the course, which is held twice yearly. 

Here’s what each Session covers, as described on the Course sign-up page: 

Session 1: In this session, we will ask a few fundamental questions about what makes comics such a special art form. We’re also going to attempt to identify the basic building blocks we can use to tell compelling stories with the comic book medium.

Session 2: This session will explore text-image and panel to panel relationships and how to utilize these relationships to create dynamic and engaging comics.

Session 3: In this session, we'll explore the role time and space play in comics and how we can utilize the concept of compression and decompression to create exciting narratives in comics.

Session 4: Each comics page can take on a different personality depending on its panel layout. In this session, we'll explore the impact layouts have on the story you tell with each comic book page you make.

Session 5: In this session, we'll take a close look at planning out a multi-page scene through the use of thumbnail sketches.

Free Comics Videos

Want more Comics and drawing info? Check out Mark Crilley's YouTube Channel, and click through to read about the San Francisco Comics Festival, which Matt Siladay helped to start.

You Might Like...

You can explore Mark's books here. Or click on a book cover below to find out more on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).

POPULAR POSTS

Great Big Story's video The Man Making Socks for Canada’s Homeless features Bob Rutherford, a retired farm mechanics instructor who was looking to put his skills to good use. Bob had used his ingenuity and DIY attitude when accepting a tough challenge from a friend: build a sock knitting machine by hand, from scratch. He took on the challenge and built two machines, which could knit an impressive 90 stitches per second.

After the loss of his wife, Bob was thinking about the next chapter in his life, and looking for something to do. His son, Scot, helped him figure out a project that made a lot of sense: start using his tube sock machines to make socks for folks in need.

His handmade machines turned into the basis for a project to supply socks to those in need in Western Canadian provinces, distributed through community centers and outreach programs.

        · Don't miss: check out Charitable Crafters for ideas and links to charitable groups.

You might like:  American Crafts, How to Knit - For Beginners, Yarn and Knitting Basics, and Knitting Videos.

POPULAR POSTS

The video The Guts and Glory of Object Conservation, below, showcases conservators preserving items from pre-Soviet Siberia.

The curators and conservators had to figure out what materials the items were made from, and then develop a plan to mend, repair, and preserve them.

The Museum collaborated with native Siberian groups in the preservation process, and then made a trip to share information about the pieces with the Siberian community.

Native Siberian scholar Vera Alexseyevna Solovyeva was a key link in the conservation process: 

“This collection’s very important because it has, probably,  the most elaborate collection in the whole world  about our peoples’ pre-Soviet period. It has…the full range of the material and spiritual culture...When Soviets came to power they tried to erase the memory of people…they destroyed all items that belonged to the shamans, that belonged to the rituals. When the Soviet Union collapsed, indigenous people started to have interest to revitalizing their culture and their spirituality.”

POPULAR POSTS

The Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery, which includes the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, is home to a vast collection of American art, including photography, paintings, New Deal art, African American art, Latino art, modern folk art, and self-taught art.

In the Smithsonian's video A Measure of the Earth: The Cole-Ware Collection of American Baskets, we are introduced to seven basketweavers from different regions of America who use various materials to make baskets by hand, from sourcing and preparing the raw material to shaping the final item.

The Basketmakers

Stephen Zeh, brown ash basketmaker

Lynette Youson, sweetgrass basketmaker

Anne McCauley, honeysuckle basketmaker

Jo Campbell-Amsler, cultured willow basketmaker

Jennifer Heller Zurick, willow bark basketmaker

Aaron Yakim and Cynthia Taylor, white oak basketmakers

POPULAR POSTS

Making Batik Fabric

Batik Videos

Batik of Java: A Centuries Old Tradition by the San Francisco Asian Art Museum

   · Don't miss: To read a transcript of this video, scroll down to the bottom of this page.

Batik Documentary by Alvyn Fabrics

Unique Batik from Tanzania by Bernd Riebe

Batik Documentary Transcript

"Many places in the world pattern textiles by applying wax to protect certain areas from dye. During the dye process, the waxed areas resist the dye, and when the wax is removed, a pattern emerges. Both the technique and the textiles produced are called batik. The word “batik” may derive from the Javanese words “to write” and “dots.”

Nowhere in the world is this method of patterning textiles as highly refined as in Indonesia. There are two main methods of making Indonesian batik: one using a small tool called a canting to draw patterns, the other using metal stamps to apply the wax. Stamps produce textiles faster for both export and domestic demand. In this way, batik can be made at a lower cost, and finished garments are more affordable.

The most refined and expensive batik is produced by hand. Patterns are drawn using a canting or wax stylus, a method called batik tulis or “written batik.” The stylus consists of a bamboo or wood stick with a small spouted copper reservoir for wax at the end. The artist dips the cup into a pot of hot wax, blows on it to assure smooth application through the spout, and then applies the wax, drawing patterns with the spout. After both sides of a cloth have been waxed, it is ready to be dyed. For a complex pattern with many colors, the cloth is waxed and dyed many times.

Let’s look at the process of batik by visiting a collective of artisans in the village of Kebon in Central Java. The first step in making batik is to apply the design. The design is first drawn on paper and then transferred using a pencil, or non-permanent ink, to fine white cotton cloth. The design may be a centuries-old traditional pattern, or, as in the case here, it may reflect the contemporary aesthetics of the artisans. After the pattern is transferred, the cloth is ready for the first layer of wax.

Batik wax is a combination of paraffin, beeswax, and resin. It is a translucent yellow when it is fresh, but may look dark brown or black after many reuses. The artisan retraces the design on the cloth with wax using the canting. Some areas are then filled in with decorative detail, known as isen-isen. A skilled batik artisan will know hundreds of isen-isen.

The artist applies the wax with steadiness; years of practice that often began as a child allows her to work quickly, with fluidity and accuracy. Once the wax has been applied to the entire cloth, it is ready for its first immersion in a dye bath.

Many communities in Indonesia use imported synthetic dyes; however, there is a growing trend to use natural dyes, as we find in this collective of artisans in Kebon. Traditionally, the ability to make dyes was extremely important in textile-producing communities, and villages would be known for the quality of dyes produced. Some frequently used colors are derived from indigo leaves, jelawe fruit, mahogany wood, teger wood, tinggi bark, and mango leaves.

The dye is heated in outdoor pots. Nothing goes to waste in the countryside where wood and ash waste from the fire will feed hungry chickens. The dye is transferred to a basin where the artisan ensures the cloth is immersed. After the first dye bath, the cloth is dried in the sun. Then, certain areas are covered with wax, to preserve the first color, before the cloth is dipped into a second color.

The artisan is familiar with the finished design, and knows where to apply the wax. Fine cantings are used to draw lines to contain the colorful design. Cantings with larger spouts will be used to “hold” large areas of color that will be preserved during subsequent dye baths. This process of applying wax to the cloth, dyeing, adding more wax, and further dyeing and drying will be repeated several, if not dozens of times, depending on the pattern and number of finished colors in the batik cloth.

Between waxings, the textile is sometimes immersed in boiling water to remove wax, and then rewaxed to protect different parts of the pattern from subsequent dyeing. Once the dyeing and waxing is completed, the cloth is ready for final wax removal.

The textiles are taken to a neighboring house where large pots of water are set up for wax removal. The wax will be collected for reuse by boiling it out in several pots from very hot to cooler water. The reclaiming of the wax is part of the sustainable practice in this community, where recycled wax is used again.

Finally, the cloth is wrung out and returned to the village, where it is hung to dry a last time. Finished batik cloths can be used for many purposes. They are worn as sarongs and made into clothing and accessories for both local uses and export. Today, contemporary fashion designers are also incorporating batik into their designs. Batik remains an important element of costume for dance performances and for ceremonial dress in many parts of Indonesia and neighboring countries Children learn how to work in a community of artisans, each generation passing on to the next the cultural heritage of this remarkable cloth."

Creative Commons Attribution/Non-Commercial/Share-Alike

POPULAR POSTS

Tapestry Weaving

In the video below, you'll get some insight into the preparation needed to make a large scale work, including transferring the drawing onto the loom’s vertical warp threads, choosing a color palette, dyeing the wool, preparing the bobbins, preparing the loom, and weaving.

The video was produced in conjunction with the Getty Center’s exhibit “Woven Gold: Tapestries of Louis XIV.” Click through to the Getty's Woven Gold page to see exhibition photos and tapestry details from the 2016 exhibit.

          · Don't miss: How to Make a Soumak Weaving, Craft Museums, and 600 Free Art Books Online.

POPULAR POSTS

In the wonderful video by animalnewyork (below) we get to watch crochet artist London Kaye yarn-bomb a NYC subway car as commuters get on and off the train.

On Valentine's Day in 2014, London boarded a NYC L train, which connects Brooklyn to Manhattan, running under the East River and along 14th Street.

With the backdrop and bustle of the subway car as her inspiration, London gets out her yarn and hook, and proceeds to wrap the poles in Valentine-themed colors as New Yorkers look on.

POPULAR POSTS

Scandinavians developed a technique for making fabric that pre-dates knitting. The technique involves taking short pieces of yarn left over from weaving, and crafting them into smallish items like mittens, hats, socks, nets, sieves, and bags. The technique they used to make these items is called nalbinding.

Nalbinding items are made with a single needle, using short pieces of yarn which are pulled through previous stitches, creating dense and warm items which don't unravel the way knitted items do.

Nalbinding spread from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. Outside of Scandinavia, nalbinding became a lost art once knitting was introduced. In Scandinavia, nalbinding has continued uninterrupted as a craft up to the present.

In the the video Good and Basic (below) we can see nalbinding up close, and how some stitches are made.

POPULAR POSTS

The 17 minute documentary Printed Fabric Production gives us a look at the workings of a modern cotton print factory (filmed in Hong Kong and Zhejiang, China), which prints fabrics for Alvyn Fabrics.

Alvyn Fabrics began its cotton printing business by specializing in making cotton fabric for quilters and crafters. 

In the video below, we can go on a virtual tour of their step-by-step production processes used in their flatbed and rotary printing methods, which can print fabric that has up to 16 colors.

Below are some screen shots of the processes shown in the video.

     · Don't miss: How to Make a Linoleum Block Print and Preserving Textiles.

Following a trip to Indonesia, Alvyn Fabrics shifted their focus from novelty and juvenile prints to batik prints. To see a handmade batik wax-resistant fabric-making process, check out How Batik Fabric is Made.

POPULAR POSTS

In the past few years there’s been a creative movement in PNG that's given rise to a radical shift in the way people think about bilum, and an expansion in the way it's used. 

A shift happened in bilum-making PNG communities when Florence Jaukae Kamel, a Papua New Guinea artist and designer, radically changed the way people thought about the fabric. Florence challenged the norm and started to make dresses and hats using the bilum technique, considering bilum as a fabric rather than just a process for bag-making.

This artistic shift in thinking about bilum as a design element and technique has helped spread the word about bilum and bilum-makers.

Below are videos that give insight into the making of this amazing hand-crafted fabric.

POPULAR POSTS

POPULAR POSTS

How to Make a Scrappy Quilt

POPULAR POSTS

Su Blackwell's Fantastic Landscapes

You Might Like...

Brian Dettmer creates fantastical book sculptures. He uses a take-away process, using a skilled and patient editing artfulness, digging through layers of a book’s pages. He looks for text and pictures to save, and cuts away the rest.

There are at least a few aspects of books as objects that Brian works with – the spine and hard covers which act as solid building blocks, the flexible pages, and the variability of content on each page.

The books that are best suited for his work are large, old encyclopedias and dictionaries with sturdy spines and packed with illustrations and text.

Once Brian chooses a book that suits his next project, the magic begins – the aspect of his work that makes it uniquely his. His carving away at pages are his particular poetic choices - excavating for words and pictures that will be juxtaposed next to (or on top of) each other. He’s looking to create stories out of whatever book he chooses to work with, searching for meaning to find and share. He works at creating a meaningful story with literal layering in sculptural form.

Brian crafts single, stand-alone books, or connects and intertwines several books into a new shape. He has shaped books into skulls, skeletons, animal remains, carousels, and totems before doing his excavations on the texts.

"It's a completely sculptural subtractive process. So, in a way it's almost a metaphor for reading, because while I'm carving through, I don't know what I'm going to come across.

It's an excavation so I'm not adding any color or doing any drawing. I really want the actual book to become a collaborator with me."

Brian Dettmer

You can hear Brian talk about his work in the TED talk Brian Dettmer: Old Books Reborn as Intricate Art, below.

POPULAR POSTS

FOR YOUR LIBRARY