Introduction to the Visual Arts

Zines & Flip Books

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a few of the many zines CSULB SOA student Alexis Chanes sold in the Gatov Gallery last year, along with an issue of Garnet Hertz' zine Critical Making
a few of the many zines CSULB SOA student Alexis Chanes sold in the Gatov Gallery last year, along with an issue of Garnet Hertz’ zine Critical Making

This week we’re making Zines OR Flip Books – pick whichever you want!

Some Zine & Flip Book Samples

Drawing?

For those of you who aren’t so great at drawing, don’t be intimidated by this Activity! Look at Comics in the newspaper or online: some of them are beautifully drawn, but many are pretty crude drawing, yet they can be powerful because of their ideas. My favorite Zine from last semester was To The Jackasses at Work by Stephanie Valdivia

small zine with the title "To the jack asses at work"
Stephanie Valdivia

Stephanie’s drawing in this zine is very simple. The zine is great not because the drawing is great, but because Stephanie’s ideas are great. As the title suggests, she’s a little angry at some of the peeps at work, and in this zine she vents some of that frustration in a very relatable and funny way.

Write, Draw, Photo, Print

You can use any media you like.

  • Words
  • Hand Drawings
  • Photography
  • Anything on your computer
  • Etc

Binding Your Zine or Flip Book

If you’re going to hand draw, you might like to bind first and then draw. If you’re going to use a Photocopier, or do stuff on your computer and Ink Jet Print it, then you might want to make the pages first and then bind. Either way works.

Materials

  • A great material for a Flip Book is some of your extra 4×6 Index Cards. You can bind them as is, or cut them down to any smaller size you like.
  • A great material for a Zine is just 8-1/2 x 11″ sheets of paper. Nice paper is nice. Plain white paper works too. You can fold them in 1/2 to make a 5-1/2 x 8-1/2″ zine, or you can cut them in 1/2 and then fold those in 1/2 to make a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2″ zine.

In the Classroom

The way Wednesday will work is that I’ll be in the classroom the whole time. You can split your time between the SOA Galleries & The Classroom as you like. You can go to the classroom 1st & The Galleries 2nd, or visa versa. At the galleries you’ll look at art and talk to artists as usual.

In the classroom I’ll have some sample Zines & Flip Books and also some Needles & Thread. If you’re ready to bind your book, you can do it right then. If you’re not, I can show you a very simple stitch and you can bind it later. Sewing is a pretty nice way to bind your Zine or Flip Book, but you can also do it any other way you like.

Your Write-up

As always:

  1. Do the Activity
  2. Take Pix
  3. Write about it
  4. Describe your experience, insights, things you’d like to try next time, etc
some zines from Tiny Splendor Press that I bought at Small World Books
some zines from Tiny Splendor Press that I bought at Small World Books

Comments? Questions? What great art did you see, make, or experience today?

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