Cheap sketchpad sketch

[avram]

Wow, that really is a crappily-put-together sketchpad — the slab of board that serves as a front cover fell off the first time I used it. I think it’s bonded to the first sheet of paper with rubber cement, so easily enough fixed once I can find mine. But sheesh!

Another art-related concern — I was reading an interview with Colleen Coover (creator of Small Favors, a woman-friendly lesbian porn comic that I still haven’t managed to find an actual copy of) and saw the following:

ST: You use a lot of zip-a-tone effects in Small Favors. Is that actual, physical zip-a-tone, a computer-generated substitute, or something else entirely?

CC: It is really zip, which I was using a lot when I first started working on Small Favors. However, as my supply got lower, and it became apparent that I wasn't going to be able to replace it, I have been working on using different techniques to create dynamic light and shade without it. [...]

I couldn’t believe that Zip-a-Tone wasn’t available to a dedicated cartoonist, but googling around and searching through art supply store sites didn’t turn anything up, not even under the generic terms (mechanical tone or benday screen). Now I know why kuronekogirl orders her tones from a Japanese comics supply house. This must be more of that Getting Old stuff.

Comments

[chatworthy.livejournal.com]

Self-adhesive half-tone patterns, formerly sold by the sheet. If you had a large area to fill with a pattern, you'd get out your zip-a-tone and an xacto knife and carefully cut the tone to shape, then peel the backing and apply it to your drawing.

Nowadays, what tends to happen is that the original drawing is scanned into a computer, then filled using a paint program.