Dead Tech: Waxers

If you’re younger than 35 years old, you might want to click off.
This is going to be one of those boring topics where geezers gather together and talk affectionately about “the good old days.”


The waxer was a basic tool that every graphic designer used in the analog era. Waxers applied a thin layer of molten beeswax to the back of a piece of paper.

At the bottom of the waxer was a roller that distributed the wax on the paper in a honeycomb pattern.

The piece of paper might be a headline or a column of type used in a newspaper or magazine layout.

This layout process was called paste-up. The waxer was a big improvement over paste or rubber cement, because it was non-toxic, it could be easily repositioned, and the adhesive didn’t turn brown.

The photo above shows a Lectro-Stick handheld waxer. There were larger sheet-fed waxers, but this little one did any small- to medium-size waxing job.

By removing the red plug at the top, you could push in a sticky square of yellowish beeswax. A heating element inside melted down the wax. It took about a half an hour to warm up.

You could leave the waxer plugged in all day and it didn’t hurt it. It gave off a friendly smell, reminiscent of candles.

This is one tool that still has some practical uses. If you can still find one (along with a supply of wax squares), grab it! It’s still the best repositionable way to hold down small pieces of paper, like thumbnail sketches, on a larger board.
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(Note: This is the first of an occasional feature called “Dead Tech.” In the future we’ll unravel the mysteries of such things as Rubylith, Letraset, Merganthaler, Zipatone, and Craft Tint. And if you’re under 35 and you read this far: I congratulate you. You are a person of rare spirit and curiosity.)

Edges in Moonlight

When you go out on a moonlit night, away from streetlights, can you see the cracks in the sidewalk? How about the blades of grass, the clapboards on a house or the small twigs and branches?

Unless you’re a cat or an owl, these smaller details melt into the larger shapes. Everything has blurry edges. The reason visual acuity drops off at night is because the central point of vision where we see small detail is filled with photoreceptors that only work best in bright light.

James Perry Wilson, the artist famous for his diorama backdrops, conveyed this subjective experience in this architectural rendering. He softened the edges and suppressed the detail everywhere except in the brightly-lit windows where the light levels are higher.

Assuming that he wanted to simulate this perceived effect, this rendering by Edward McDonald is not quite as effective because he kept all of his edges too sharp.

If you use night photography as reference, remember that the camera doesn’t see as the eye does, and you have to make this adjustment if you want to suggest human vision.
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Related GJ posts:
James Perry Wilson, Part 1 and Part 2
Why moonlight is blue.
Day for night shooting.

Images from "Color in Sketching and Rendering" by Arthur Guptill. It's a book on watercolor rendering, mainly of architectural subjects, with lots of color plates, one of Guptill's best books.

Empty Coffee Cups

The caption to this photo of American illustrator John Gannam says: “Empty coffee cups bear witness to the artist’s insistence upon a clean cup for each fresh drink—of which there may be a half a dozen at one sitting.”

I drink coffee, and I agree with Gannam on this one. I definitely grab a new cup each time. How about you? Check out the poll at left.
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Photo from "Forty Illustrators and How The Work."
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Poll results added later from 334 voters:
37 New cup each time.
222 Reuse the same cup.
5 Use disposable cups.
67 Don't do coffee.
3 Other.

Bonheur Ram Studies

Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) set the standard for oil studies of animals.

These studies of rams are masterpieces of texture, lighting, and expression. For her larger works, like The Horse Fair, she did innumerable studies in oil and charcoal.

Wiki on Rosa Bonheur

Chrysler Personalities

With all the talk lately about the bankruptcy of the Chrysler Corporation, Jeanette and I decided to take our sketchbooks yesterday to the Rhinebeck Car Show to look at Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler.

We sat next to each other on folding chairs. Jeanette got out her ballpoint pen and watercolors and sketched the 1961 Dodge Lancer and the 1958 Plymouth Fury, slightly exaggerating to bring out their personalities.

I liked her idea, so I tried to graft the cars onto the bodies of people walking by. I jotted down fragments from conversations that I overheard.

In 1958 America seemed to be caught between memories of war, fears of nuclear devastation, and dreams of space, and that zeitgeist is written on the cars’ faces.

Maybe Chrysler will bounce back to life like a ‘toon car. Let’s hope so. Maybe the key to the success of the company is putting a little more personality into the car designs.

More on this blog about automotive zeitgeist and car names.

Backyard Posing Party

Creating Dinotopia paintings has often led to strange parties in my backyard.

In the spring of 1991, I invited a whole bunch of friends to pose for a painting of a dinosaur Olympic event called Ring Riders. The painting appeared in Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time,

Each kid chose which hat or headdress they wanted to wear. I played both actor and director while my wife Jeanette worked the camera.

One mom made a bunch of pastries and handed them out. I used that moment in the final painting.

Using chairs and cushions and cardboard rings as props, the kids took their positions, imagining they were riding on the backs of the dinosaurs. It helped when it I acted it out first, hamming it up a little to try to get them to loosen up.


A group with mismatched costumes and with varying levels of enthusiasm acted out the part of the crowd watching the sporting event. I’m sure they could sympathize with modern actors who have to emote in front of a greenscreen.

This form of group acting works especially well with young people. Chance moments and improvisations can take your conception to another level.
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Related post on using photo reference, link.
Thanks, Nancy, Jake, Aliza, Judy, James, Mike, Joey, Morgan, Justin, Franklin, Jeanette, and everyone else who took part!

The Hind Leg

The hind leg is the engine of the quadruped. When a draft horse pulls a heavy load, the read end drops lower and the legs develop tremendous power.

The front legs pull hard, too, and they are important in turning and in leading off gait changes.

The rear legs seem to play a key role in changes of forward and backward direction.


Here's a brief film clip of the 2-week-old filly Flashy Princess. She gets confused about the barn gate and doesn’t know which way to go. If you watch her hind legs, they're doing a lot of work has she changes her mind about going forward and backward.

I'm trying to learn more about this, so I’d be interested if any animators or horse experts among you can offer your thoughts about the different roles of the front and rear legs in a horse's movement.
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If you have trouble with the embedded video, try this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvHOFUAKt1k
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By the way, thanks to Irene Gallo for mentioning my upcoming book in her blog. Check out her post here, and if you don't know about "The Art Department," it's a must read for anyone in the fantasy and science fiction art field.