Tiny Pencil - Birth of an ArtZine

Spine and cover detail from Issue 1. Cover art by Nick Sheehy.

Launched in early 2013, Tiny Pencil is an independent anthology artzine and forum featuring all graphite art, illustration, and comics from established and emerging artists all over the world. Previous and upcoming featured artists include Renee French, Luke Pearson, Yoko Tanaka, Nick Sheehy, Inca Pan, Allison Sommers, Jack Teagle, Sandra Dieckmann and many others. 

Founding Editor and Creative Director Amber Hsu discusses the realization of a collaborative project born out of a passion for pencils and printed matter.  

Issue 1, featuring hand-lettered title by Kristyna Baczynski and artwork by Sigrid Rodli.

Concept behind the project

 I’ve always been a huge fan of graphite and had originally started a sketch-blog called Tinypencil, which was going to be a very personal drawing log. I tend to think of working with pencil as a bit like sculpting on paper. It has that wonderful, personal element of human touch, and like the company of another human being, that will always be irreplaceable. But after visiting a few comics fairs last year, I decided it would be much more challenging and rewarding to create a collaborative project in print. I love books as tactile, physically printed objects. And I loved the idea of creating something as close to handmade feeling as possible in a magazine format. I also loved the idea of creating a home for artists’ works that didn’t necessarily fit a commercial brief. Though Tiny Pencil’s remit is ostensibly all about pencil, it’s also about artistic vision and independent experimentation. Because pencil is such an immediate, deceptively simple medium, it actually gives a kind of primacy to the artist’s voice. Graphite also has an atavistic quality which I think people respond to in an elemental, almost primordial way.  

Art by Rachel M. Bray.

  I love when artists tell us they’ve tried something new, or rediscovered something in their own work by the process, or simply found a home for some of their more personal experiments. Jean Cocteau once said “Film will only become an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper.” I think that simplicity and vision really speaks to the Tiny Pencil ethos and independent spirit. 

Graphite art by painter and children’s illustrator Yoko Tanaka.

Pencil drawings by Luke Pearson (author of the Hilda Books!).

 

How it all came together

This project really went from idea to conception in essentially a few months, and that could not have been possible without a LOT of help along the way. My friend, colleague and fellow graphite enthusiast Katriona Chapman was really instrumental in making Tiny Pencil happen. I’ve always loved her (mostly pencil!) handmade books and comics, which she also publishes under her own imprint Tomatito Press. So it was great to be able to finally work together on something. 

Amber Hsu and Katriona Chapman at East London Comics Arts Fest in June (next to author/illustrator David O’Connell -- creator of Ink+Paper.

We also had a lot of help from colleagues, family, and friends along the way who pitched in with everything from writing interviews and running the blog, to transporting and distributing issues in the US. (Special thanks especially to our resident artblogger Heather McCalden for brainstorming and artist interviews!) And of course most of the credit has to go to all the artists who make each page absolutely phenomenal. 
 

Printed in strictly limited editions, each issue is also hand-stamped and numbered.

 With all of the work and effort going into the pages, we really felt a responsibility to make the publication as beautiful as possible. So one of the biggest hurdles was shaping the design and feel behind the concept. Everything from the paper weight to the website details was considered to best communicate the concept and spirit behind the project. We wanted each issue to be something desirable that the artists would love and that readers would want to keep and collect. 

 

Art by Jamie Mills.

Graphite’s subtle tones and shading can be notoriously hard to reproduce. We put a lot of effort into the print quality and getting that right. We work very closely with our printers, The Lavenham Press, who understand what we’re trying to do and really care about the final printed product. We’re also very proud to print locally in the UK and on FSC-certified papers. 

 Tiny Pencil page proofs on the press! We work very closely with the printers to achieve the best possible print quality. (Art by Eleanor Taylor)

A lot of consideration also goes into developing the “personality” of each issue. Each issue is themed and the format might vary to fit that theme. For example Issue 2 quickly grew into a 3 mini-zine box set complete with a mini pencil set, dice, and stickers—as befitting the special all-ages comics and activity theme of that issue! 

Tiny Pencil 2.0 featuring covers by Kristyna Baczynski and Jerwood Drawing Prize nominee Eleanor Taylor

The issue featured work from a stellar cast of both established and emerging children’s illustrators including Viviane Schwarz, Gary Northfield, Yoko Tanaka, Sarah McIntyre, Kristyna Baczynski, Kate Hindley, Lara Robinson, Eleanor Taylor and many more. 

 Gary Northfield’s Monster Mudlark

It was also a bit of a unique experiment as artists were invited to interpret what they felt was appropriate for children. There are games and children’s activities, but the work is also quite visually sophisticated and often straddles the adult-kid boundaries. The reception to the issue has been really great and plans are underway to develop it into a more permanent fixture! 

 Briony Cloke’s Mammalian Hide and Seek

 It really has been an exciting adventure and we’ve learned so much along the way. We’re immensely proud of each issue and what all these artists came together to create. 

I’m also thrilled we’ve created something so “analogue” in the day and age of digital media and given all the talk about the “death of print.” I love that all the art is hand-drawn with one of the most basic known tools available, yet the work is always surprising and often extraordinary. 

At the launch

There are lots of exciting plans ahead, so please come along with us for the ride and stay tuned! Tiny Pencil No. 3 debuts at the Thought Bubble Festival on 24th November. Pre-orders are available here. Also look out for Tiny Pencil at Southbank Centre’s Imagine Children’s Festival in February 2014. For more details and the latest updates, follow Tiny Pencil on Twitter and Facebook.

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Based in London, Amber Hsu is a Chinese-born, US-raised, UK-based artist, illustrator and writer. she was our Featured Illustrator for May 2013. 

http://xubili.com

FEATURED ILLUSTRATOR - Amber Hsu

Amber Hsu is a Chinese-born, US-raised, UK-based artist, illustrator and writer and is this month's Featured Illustrator. See Amber's portfolio on our Featured Illustrator Showcase page!


Hi, thank you so much for inviting me to be here and share some art.  I feel honoured to take part.

So, about that Banner Art.

The banner art is from an illustration that was a selected winner for 3x3 Magazine’s Illustration Annual Show Children’s Show. That was exciting for me because I’ve admired their anthologies for so long and they’re always filled with such inspiring work. I’m in the process of developing this into a full book. I’ve conceived of the story already, and now it’s just a matter of finding some time to put it down. Here’s the complete piece below.

My winning entry for 3x3 Magazine.

Personal Path

The past year or so has been very exciting for me illustration wise. Until then I’d been doing mostly design work, photography and some slightly strange 3-D things. I’d exhibited here and there and did some fashion and costume work. But I really wanted to develop my work in a more narrative and textual sense as I also write. Story and world-creation is something I’m always doing and very important to me and how I process the world.

So I was really happy when I learned I’d won a place in the 2012 SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Anthology. I knew the judges were looking for strong narrative work so I was thrilled to be chosen as one of the winners. My favourite judge’s comment was, “We’d really like to know what goes on in this illustrator’s head.” I took that as real compliment as I am always trying to excavate some sense of the world that’s in my head. And a lot of the time I don’t really know what’s going on in there either!

My winning entry for SCBWI 2012.

Tiny Pencil

Through all of that I’ve been approached to develop some picture books and have also been encouraged to try developing a graphic novel. All of which I’ve been trying to continue working on though some of that work has had to take a step back recently as I've been so busy launching a new artzine. It’s called Tiny Pencil, and it’s devoted to art, illustration and comics in the medium of graphite. It’s also turned out to be far more work than I had ever anticipated!

My piece for Tiny Pencil. As soon as things calm down a bit I plan to give him his own little book!

It’s been a real adventure and I have to say also, a huge learning experience. I have an even greater appreciation now for what editors have to go through. It really helped me to see my own work and portfolio from a fresh perspective. I see with more clarity now the holes that are there and how I could make it better. So, it’s something I would really recommend any illustrator or artist to go through (and also if you don’t mind a bit of torture!).

Also, it’s been really great to see independent makers and the culture that surrounds that. I’ve heard people saying that Britain is on the verge of a growing golden age of comics and I think there is really something to that and it’s wonderful. To get something either handmade or independently produced is a real pleasure these days. Even the whole process of seeking out and buying independently produced books is a different kind of experience. A lot are sold at fairs or via online word of mouth, so it’s really different kinds of communities that are developing and growing around all these interesting and unique voices. I’ve really only just started going to independent fairs and I’m always struck by the atmosphere and energy at them. They really bring books as a printed object to life in ways that a retail shop experience can’t.

So I feel really fortunate to be creating in a day and age where “personal paths” seem more varied in possibility than ever before.

Process

I'll usually start with a small thumbnail sketch and get some amount of balance right then blow it up and go from there to a final finished piece. I do tend to make lots of adjustments along the way and detail might come in a really organic manner depending on the piece. It’s always nice to keep a bit of the process free and ad hoc if you will.  Even though I often work primarily in pencil or pen. I often use digital colour and will compose elements of a final picture digitally. 

Bookplate commissioned for SCBWI annual conference in 2012.

Tips

Do the work that you love. This is so obvious and everyone says it, but that’s because it’s true and easy to forget because every illustrator needs work so you’re also always trying to fit into a marketplace. I am someone who is always struggling with this because my work naturally tends to be a bit idiosyncratic and strange, and it isn’t really easy to fit in anywhere. I hear about this feeling with lots of illustrators, who are always tempering their individual tendencies to fit a marketplace. Though, like I said before, I think we’re really fortunate nowadays that the marketplace is a very fluid thing. Things are always changing and a marketplace can also be what you try and make of it. I think there is a real demand out there for more authentic authorial voices. So I think if you do work that you really love it will only come through stronger and you can only get better. 

Check Amber's work on the Featured Illustrator Site.
Amber's Portfolio Website www.hsubili.com
twitter: @amberhsu
Or follow her on Facebook

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 30th April

It's been another great week for SCBWI blogging and I've been literally spoilt for choice (What exactly does that phrase mean? Will I start throwing tantrums or smelling like sour milk?). Whatever, there's plenty of good stuff to talk about...


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has leapt off the page to become an multi-award-winning play. SCBWI blogger Julie Day provides a uniquely well-informed review of the production on the Disability Now website. Well-informed, because Julie herself has Asperger's Syndrome, a condition she shares with the play's protagonist.

Over at Notes from the Slushpile, Jo Wyton has been compiling a very funny list of writers neuroses. It's not an exhaustive list though, because I definitely have some she's missed. Twitch.

Moving into the world of illustration, there's a new artzine on the block. Yes, you might not have known about artzines in the first place, but get with the plan, because Tiny Pencil has arrived! Edited by Katriona Chapman and Undiscovered Voices winner Amber Hsu, Tiny Pencil will be "publishing twice-yearly anthologies showcasing exciting and extraordinary work by artists working in graphite." For more information, check out Katriona's post on Big Little Tales, or read Amanda Lillywhite's review of the first edition.

Elsewhere, I followed a couple of interesting links from the SCBWI-BI Facebook group. Bridget Strevens-Marzo posted a link to an article asking: Are children's books reinforcing materialism?, which sparked off a spirited discussion. Then Teri Terry posted this link to an article on the necessity of suffering for your art, by musician James Rhodes. A lively and provocative read, it nonetheless reminded me why I never want to be a concert pianist!

Nick

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round digital guru. In 2010 he featured in Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead, and you can now read his winning extract on his blog.