making a point

I’m starting to realize that this Youtube channel endeavor isn’t about the art supplies. It’s an excuse for me to make and use things that I don’t get to do in my normal avenues of drawing and illustrating. I went down a stop-motion rabbit hole this week, and somehow convinced my pencil sharpeners to perform stunts.

But I’m not kidding. I am loving making these videos and the audience it’s brought my way has been a terrific surprise and benefit. I can see it evolving from talking-head chats about art supplies, to occasional interviews with other artists, and then to just an excuse for me to draw and animate and make things, and talk about it. I’m an ambitious one, and I have several ideas for what could even be described as “short films” in my head that I think I’d like to find a way to create. Can I get this Youtube audience to sit around for this kind of thing? I didn’t think I could get people to watch 30 minutes and pencils and sharpeners, but here we are.

Pencil sharpeners are pretty utilitarian devices. Not much to them. I have some nice ones and a few clunky ones, and in this week’s video, I learn a few things I didn’t know. Did you know what KUM stands for?1 M+R?2 Did you know that Blackwing upcharges for putting their logo on a KUM sharpener? What’s up with that? Did you know that lead-pointers have a trick up their sleeves?

I didn’t know any of those things Wednesday morning, but I do now.

There are other things I don’t know, and if any of my readers here have experience with a growing and evolving YouTube channel, let me know. I have some questions. One of them is around how it deals with music copyrights. The track I used today is called Saxophobia, and it’s from the Library of Congress’s Citizen DJ project. YouTube flagged it this morning when I tried to post the animations compilation as a short, but it’s public domain. I didn’t want to deal with disputing so I used a track from YouTube’s catalog. But then it worked on the full video. What’s that all about. Anyway, I’d love to have a chat if you know a lot about YouTube.

Related, I’ve become a Blick art supplies affiliate, a True Grit Texture Supply affiliate, and a Blackwing pencil ambassador. If you’re making any purchases from these fine purveyors of tools and art supplies, use these links:

• Blackwing (or just use BRIAN as a code at purchase)

• True Grit Texture Supply

• Blick needs specific product or list links, so here’s one.

Children’s Book World in Haverford PA is hosting a publication party for my new book, which Kate Messner wrote, called A Whale’s Tale and the Otter’s Side of the Story. I’ll be posting a big to-do about this book here next week, with a Q&A with Kate. You can pre-order the book from Children’s Book World, and it’ll be signed by both Kate and me! Go get!

Starred review from Kirkus!

"Can words on a page yield two entirely different reads?

Challenging youngsters to “read from front to back and back to front,” a humpback whale and a southern sea otter each make the case for their own inherent superiority. The whale raises salient points about how cetaceans hunt in pods and communicate through song. Once readers reach the end, however, those same words take on an entirely different meaning. Now the otter argues in favor of its own kind. After all, otters cuddle their offspring and hold hands while they slumber. While the work isn’t entirely dissimilar from reverso poetry collections like Marilyn Singer and Josée Masse’s Mirror Mirror (2010), Messner couches her cleverness in a personal challenge with a higher purpose. “Could I use the exact same words, spoken by two different characters, to create two very different effects?” she asks in an author’s note. “How might [readers] evaluate each narrator’s biases?” She achieves her goal with panache, aided by Biggs’ art, which keeps the narrative coherent and pairs seamlessly with the cheekily bombastic words, presented in large, colorful typefaces. A limited palette of pinks and blues highlights the uproarious facial expressions of both creatures as they plead their case. Backmatter offers more information on both species, including diet, communication, and predators.

Serves up hilarity galore while leaving readers with real food for thought."

I’ve got another big project beginning. You can follow the creation of my graphic novel from beginning to end with a paid subscription here on Substack. Your support is valuable and vital, and I really appreciate it.

-and as always, Brian