The First Zine
I’ve been aware of zines for quite some time now, but it wasn’t until recently that I felt truly inspired to create my own. A post by Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist among others, sparked a newfound excitement within me. Thanks to his posts, I decided to dive into the world of zines, and I’m thrilled to share the journey of creating my very first one!
To kick things off, I’ve been sketching in an Uglybooks sketchbook featuring an orange cover and blue paper (I think it's called Backstroke No. 1—stay tuned for an upcoming post on Uglybooks!). One of the spreads I drew contained a unique pattern that complemented the single-line contour sketches of various figures. This combination of pattern and form led me down a rabbit hole of exploration, and I discovered a Domestika course by Polina Oshu, a talented artist and surface pattern designer. As I began the course, it seemed natural to use my new insights as the foundation for my zine, capturing a snapshot of my creative process for the week.
Making this zine has been so much fun. I wanted the cover to stand out, so I used a marker and colored pencil sketch of one of my former drawing instructors. The unusual colors and the contrast of her black glasses and blouse aims to engage the reader's interest and encourage them to want to learn more.
The interior pages dive into an interesting pattern-making technique: drawing dots on the page and connecting them with curved lines. It’s a fun and fail-proof way to fill space in a sketchbook. Following that, I explore concepts from Oshu's course, where she expertly teaches design theory and principles while showcasing her unique process for creating patterns. I can’t wait to continue working on these patterns and share the results in a future post!
I experimented with various papers, print settings, and layouts for my initial zine. I found that bright white copier paper works amazingly well for zines. Its thinness makes folding easy, but I will continue to test more papers. Eventually, I used Adobe Illustrator to create a handy template with a preview area and an artboard for printing. This setup allows me to visualize the cover, each spread, and the back cover all in one place. While I understand it is unnecessary to create a zine, it was fun making it, and I like seeing the end result before printing.
Overall, creating this zine has been a delightful artistic endeavor and a meaningful reflection of my current creative pursuits. I look forward to continuing this journey and sharing more updates along the way.
