janiemoe

[janiemoe]

How’s it going?

Jane Mattimoe (aka A Case for Pencils).

I've been interviewing mainly New Yorker cartoonists on here for close to nine (!) years, which is wild to think about! A lot has changed since I started this blog in 2014— back then, I had a broken wrist from a fall I had while working in a restaurant, and I didn't have the money for a laptop for months, so I would go to the New York Public Library to use their public use computers to work on Case during the daily half hour increments that were allowed at the time. I currently have a mostly working laptop and a fairly healthy wrist, which is a great improvement!

Here I am at my desk, repping the NYPL on my mug. I know it looks messy under my desk, but I promise all of those art supplies are neatly stacked!

I started this blog as a young baby artist who wanted to open up a world to people who might not otherwise have a chance to learn from some of the greatest living artists of all time. I never went to art school (I found it unaffordable), and knew there were plenty of folks out there like me who might not be able to go to classes, but who certainly deserved to hear from some of the top professionals in their field. Since I had known many New Yorker cartoonists for a couple of years at that point, I figured why not see if they will help me out? And, well... they did!

Doing this blog is a LOT of work, but it has been thrilling to hear many many young people (several of which that I have interviewed on here!) say that they learned a lot from reading it.

I don't put myself on here very often, so I thought I might take the time to talk about some of my more recent art projects. Above are some of my watercolor portraits. I have been working hard on trying to achieve more luminosity in skin and watercolors are a beautiful tool for achieving that. The key is lots of layers and lots of patience!

To the left is a recent painting I did of some ruins. Again, my goal is create light. The painting to the right is a pet portrait that I did a couple months back.

I've been learning lots of new crafts. To the left is a bird house that I painted using the cheapest acrylics possible. Usually with art supplies, cheaping out is disastrous, but for some reason, 80 cent acrylics seem to be working out for me? If you are an acrylics artist, please feel free to tell me why I'm wrong to use them. I also have been having fun with decoupage (photo on the right), which is basically using special tools to glue fancy tissue paper etc. onto various objects (I've slowed down on this a bit because I've run out of things to cover in decorative paper).

I've been having a lot of fun making decorative objects—I feel that it is important to make beautiful things for yourself when you're an artist. Having pretty things doesn't have to be expensive if you make them yourself, and they become keepsake items. I made this little gingerbread garland pictured above by cutting out felt and frosting it with fabric paint.

I've also been having lots of fun with sewing. This is a two piece set that I made recently. It's really fun to be able to think of something I would like to wear, and make it! Sewing is a different kind of art for me—with painting, I am in a strange incoherent state. But with sewing, I am following all sorts of instructions, and thinking about it in a far less abstract way. It's definitely a different usage of my brain, which has made it a fun challenge.

I hope you all are doing well, and learning new ways to make art! I appreciate all of the support over the years, and hope to continue this blog for quite a while longer. Thanks for reading!

You can find my Instagram here, my website here, and Twitter here!

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If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute to labor and maintenance costs, there is a Patreon, and if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee, there is a Ko-Fi  account as well! I do this blog for free because accessible arts education is important to me, and your support helps a lot! You can also find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram and Twitter! Thank you!

[janiemoe]

Gustavo Magalhães.

Bio: My name is Gustavo Magalhães and I am a Brazilian illustrator/cartoonist. I live in Caçapava, a small town in São Paulo state. I have worked as an illustrator since 2013.

As an editorial Illustrator, I've been published by The New Yorker, Golf Digest, Forbes, The New Republic, GQ Magazine among others. The first time I was commissioned by The New Yorker was in 2021, for "The Critics" session on a portrait of Sandra Oh" for her new show at the time, "The Chair," which aired on Netflix.

Sketch, refinement, finished piece.

I also have a web comic strip called "Curb Talk." It's published  twice a week in a classic Comic Strip format.

Lately, I am a Senior Illustrator at a Studio called "Fried Design Company ,'' in Springfield, Missouri. But I work from Brazil.

AOIKTYE Procreate Keyboard for Ipad / Apple Pencil / Ipad Pro

Mac Mini / Asus Proart PA248QV Monitor / Huion Kanvas Plus 22 Display

Tools of choice: My process of work is mixed, I like to sketch the first thumbs and sometimes more advanced pieces on paper and "ink" / color them using digital tools. It's been 5 years that more than 90% of my final pieces are done in digital, and along that period I discovered that I'm a person that likes to do a significant amount of tests while inking, and digital tools help me a lot in that.

Lately, I've been trying to achieve an inking process that I could do both on paper and on digital, that way I could do my pieces however I feel on that day, and my comic strip has been a good place for this test field, and I'm enjoying that mix very much.

Pentel .09 Mechanical Pencil / Staedtler Water Brush / Staedtler Pig LIner 0.3 / Royal Talens No. 2 Brush

If you were asking me "You are on a desert island and can bring just one setup with you," I'd say I would bring my iPad. It allows me to sketch with an "analogic feel," where it's important to feel that you are actually crafting something. But it also gives me all the testing possibilities the digital work has.

Huion Display pen Battery Free Pen PW517

Tool I wish I could use better: Coloring in general, but mostly painting. It's always a struggle to translate what I have in mind to the final piece. And there are some aspects of texture and rendering that you can only get in analogical tools like gouache, oil, watercolor. Of course there are excellent artists that do those digitally, but there are certain aspects that you need a physical touch to achieve and I have never done anything like that. Maybe one day.

Tool I wish existed: A chair + desk set that automatically corrects your bad posture whenever your body is hurting or sitting in the wrong way. I hate having lower back and wrist pains while working, haha!

Tricks: One thing I brought from the full analogical days is an adaptation of the "drawing from your shoulder thing." Personally, I found it very hard to do, so I use a bandana on my pen hand, and use the other hand to pool this and drag. This is a thing that helps me a lot when drawing straight lines with a handmade feel, instead of just using shapes in Photoshop or any digital tool for precise lines.

Misc: "Go easy on yourself and have fun!" I never thought I could work with illustration. I spent almost a decade working in the aircraft industry (half of it doing freelance illustration jobs for local bands and brands) and the factory mentality lever left my mind, just now (after 10 years as an illustrator, 7 as my main activity), I'm recovering the passion that I had as a young doodling kid. Everyone sees artistic careers as this romantic thing, but it's always a struggle (at least for me) to face your passion as an obligation day to day, and make this trade of time and love for money. So after several years going hard on myself I am finally learning how to be lighter and having more fun and joy in my work.

(Outro/Editor's note: I asked Gustavo if he would care to discuss how working in the aircraft industry affected his work as an illustrator):

I think the biggest influence I got from this industry was the routine and how to deal with work. Artists naturally tend to be less rigid in the aspect of routine because of the nature of creativity, and I think that having almost a decade working in another industry in a more conservative environment helped me in how to take it more serious in all aspects, from my day to day process, to how to treat my clients and deadlines.

That's basically the biggest influence and learning I got from this period. How to understand that the work isn't just the drawing and thinking, but everything that happens behind it, from the clothing choice I pick to work at home, from the time management I need to have in order to balance all simultaneous projects I have.

Website, etc.

Portfolio

Curb Talk Comics

Instagram

Twitter

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If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute to labor and maintenance costs, there is a Patreon, and if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee, there is a Ko-Fi  account as well! I do this blog for free because accessible arts education is important to me, and your support helps a lot! You can also find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram and Twitter! Thank you!

[janiemoe]

A Secret Floral Grotto.

I went on an adventure to see all of the spring blooms and attempt to get some reference photos for painting (though honestly, the delicacy of flowers seems to elude me at this time). It was the perfect day for it—beautiful weather, no crowds, and nature was clearly trying to impress someone. I was overwhelmed by the amount of beauty I found during my wandering. Everything I saw had the possibility to be my favorite photo, and things kept catching the light just so...

I saw some beautiful Camellias (I think that's what they're called--plant experts, please chime in), and I felt effervescent. I got up close to take a photo of one of the flowers, when I noticed that it looked as though there was a pathway running through the bushes. Naturally, I took it, and found myself inside what appeared to be a chapel built to venerate nature. It was like entering another realm. Light dappled the ground, which was carpeted with fresh petals. It felt like a perfect moment in time, with conditions that wouldn't exist if I were to have happened upon it tomorrow instead of when I did.

I accidentally took a video of it, which you can see below—if my mind hadn't been champagne bubbles, I would have taken a better footage, but I'm glad I didn't. I got to experience walking into another world through my own eyes, rather than my camera.

The interior

I felt a tug almost, and noticed a sweet little Tufted Tit Mouse (Old English for small bird) on a branch near me. It felt like a kindred spirit. The bird flitted about the leaves while sunlight streamed through the foliage. I let the light warm my hands while we shared a quiet camaraderie.

I'm sure any passerby may have been confused, watching me disappear into the bushes. But sometimes, when something mysterious and beautiful presents itself, it's important to see where it leads. Maybe it's a gift...

[janiemoe]

Well, it’s been four years since I posted any art here… I think I got better in that time. I’ve been more interested in letting the paint express itself by using it more transparently (vs building it up really thick). So this is a Carolina Wren (I got into birding during the pandemic, and even got flashcards to learn their names), and I painted it in October of 2021, which I had decided was “Birdtober,” a month long period of time where I tried to paint as many birds as possible for no particular reason. I set a goal for myself, and surpassed it, but complained bitterly about it, even though it was something I had chosen to do on my own. I did not celebrate Birdtober last year (instead I got really into decoupage (gluing stuff to other stuff), which I can write about another time). I have been doing so many arts and crafts, probably to my detriment.

I don’t know anyone who uses tumblr anymore. Everyone I used to follow has vanished. This is sort of like going to hang out at your old high school after the apocalypse. Hello? Is anyone here? I will probably continue to write little posts in my mysterious corner of the web. I miss writing, but god knows I don’t need to have a mass audience. People bother you when you’re a writer. Terrible.

[janiemoe]

Accidentally cooked the bag full of gizzards in a chicken today. The bag was paper instead of plastic, so it was fine, but it was a bit upsetting all the same. I had to pull the burning hot bag out of the chicken while it made a horrible squelching sound and I was going “Ahhh!!!!!!!” while doing it. Anyways, here I am in the lovely frock I wore to do that.

[janiemoe]

Wow! I haven’t used Tumblr regularly in about 5 years or so... bizarre to come back here and have it be a weird time capsule of my early to mid 20s! So many weird essays that I threw into this dark well of obscurity! I don’t know anyone who is actually using Tumblr regularly, though some people have been claiming that it’s making a come back. I might write more weird little things on here, and stick some of my art up, and talk about all the things that I’m interested in again. I missed doing that. 

[janiemoe]

I painted this a couple months ago, and don't think I stuck it up on here yet. Choosing to paint that many trees was a decision I came to regret while working on this, haha!

[janiemoe]

This blog is mainly defunct, but I painted a dog recently, and I think it turned out nice, so I'm sticking it up!

[janiemoe]

Painted a lot of birds recently. Watch ur back, Audubon! We have sparrows, a black capped chickadee, and a yellow house finch.

Birds are relatively tough to do, so it's good practice. I think the key to animal portraiture is a dynamic pose (not too dynamic-- you don't wanna have em look like they're having some sort of issue, haha!).

[janiemoe]

I painted some landscapes. Started em around the end of December, and finished em two weeks ago. These are the views that surround you while growing up in Charlottesville, Virginia. I started all three at the end of December and sort of rotated them when I got bored. I actually painted four (redid one). I took some weeks off because I was trying to let ideas and techniques germinate. I used watercolors and aquarelles.

[janiemoe]

Painted a baby pug!❤❤ watercolors

[janiemoe]

My latest pet portrait! This lil baby stuck her snout in some snow!

[janiemoe]

I’ve written about my experience at CHS on here in years past, but I never thought the NYT would be writing about that school. This is pretty good, but the media keeps wanting to portray Charlottesville as this conservative town. It’s not. It’s Portlandia levels of liberal. Charlottesville High School’s motto is “Embrace Diversity and inspire dreams.” And yet, despite all this liberalism, the top level classes were 95% white and middle class. The Lower levels were 95% black and the majority of those students qualified for government free lunches.  It was clear, even as a kid, something wasn’t working, which is why though the most popular club at school was the Young Liberals (it had well over a hundred members), I never felt comfortable aligning myself with something that clearly wasn’t working, though I wasn’t sure how to verbalize it (and I certainly wasn’t conservative). I think I was better able to articulate my feelings about watching liberal rich people operate in NYC (whose elite schools are way more segregated than Charlottesville High School, racially and financially). 

I am not defending the situation at CHS at all, but don’t want people to think that folks weren’t trying to close the achievement gap. This was something that was discussed and that parents and teachers were trying to figure out. There were public forums on it, at least when I was there. I also don’t believe it’s accurate that the parents of AP students want segregation. If CHS parents didn’t want their kids to go to school with non-white students, they would have sent their kids elsewhere. Plenty of the surrounding county schools were majority white. And like I’ve said before, I hadn’t ever met an out and proud Republican under the age of 50 until I went to the University of Virginia. That being said, it is a massive problem that things clearly have not gotten better since I went there. 

What really gets me, which I can’t understand why nobody seems to get fully in this article– of fucking course the low income black students who were stuck into the lowest level classes at age eight aren’t performing as well on tests than the more wealthy kids. All these well-meaning liberal people allowed all the low income kids be separated into the lowest level classes with no real explanation. Imagine being a kid who is simultaneously facing poverty while basically told that they aren’t smart. Do you think that their going to try their hardest on standardized tests??? I think after a while of being told you’re not intelligent or worthwhile, you begin to believe it. I remember one despairing general level (what the lower level classes were called) teacher hung himself, and apparently it was because he felt like he couldn’t help the kids. 

There were wild fist fights every day, and nobody was allowed to wear shirts with neighborhood names, for fear of gangs. Rap battles were outlawed. There was a stretch of time where we had a bomb threat at least once a week for months, where we all had to go outside and sit in the parking lot. One time I was walking down the hall, and found a bloodied piece of hair weave that had clearly been ripped from a girl’s head. This doesn’t even begin to cover it all of the crazy things that went down. On the other hand, there were some brilliant teachers, and the music program was bizarrely good. Somebody described the school as Dawson’s Creek meets The Wire.

My education was fairly good, but despite being in the highest level classes, I still didn’t learn math. I wrote about it– all my teachers were either not qualified to teach it and were demoted and/or fired over it (not because of me! I didn’t complain and always assumed something was just wrong with me, but it was ridiculous!), or just didn’t care. 

On a side note, I checked wikipedia to make sure I got the CHS motto right, and the entry still proudly states that (in 2004!) the school received a fresh coat of paint and asbestos free flooring. Also, a lot of people seem to compare going to high school with jail, but apparently our high school was actually designed by someone who specialized in designing prisons (which explained why it had almost no windows. Almost every classroom didn’t have windows, which was awful, haha). The majority of windows seemed to be around the administrative offices (naturally).

I don’t want anyone to read this and give up on public schools. I’m glad I went to CHS. I think it made me a better person than I would have been if I had gone to a majority white elite prep school (not that I would have been able to afford that). I don’t know–it’s a really complicated and screwed up situation, and not the only one of its kind. 

Sorry if I’m going all over the place– I’m sleepy and not wanting to write a polished piece for an audience of probably zero. Obviously this isn’t perfect analysis, and there are other things I should probably add, but this is getting very long. I don’t feel like wrapping this up neatly.

[janiemoe]

RIP Roy. All of my notes from your classes were mostly just drawings I did of you and the crazy things you would say, but I learned a lot, and you were my favorite professor.

[janiemoe]

I painted SZA digitally

[janiemoe]

"I should spend my weekend drawing a building with a ton of curving glass surfaces"--the past version of me who clearly had it in for the current me

[janiemoe]

Stepford wife looks