Testing Communal Scribbling
A new project for 2020 is a communal pen and marker test. What we have done is arrange with Artisans art supply store in Santa Fe, New Mexico to provide paper test strips that are attached to the counters where all of the marking implements are displayed so that artists can test out the mark making quality of their pencils, pastels, pens and markers while they choose which tools they need for their artworks and sketchbooks.
Scribble Test #01 - 01.20
Test #01 – This test was to collected up all of the paper strips they had been using before we started this project. This was our initial sampling collection so that we could study, digitally record and organize the samples. The original paper strips were cash register tape approximately 2 inches wide and up to 36 inches long depending on the counters they were attached to. The paper was attached with clear tape. We decided to scan all of the found material at 600 DPI so that we could end up with 4 inch squares at 300 DPI. Above are some of the acquired samples.
We ended up with approximately 225 digital test samples and published a catalog entitled: Hello! Santa Fe containing the 225 images of predominately 4 x 4 inch color images with a short introduction.
We selected this title: Hello! Santa Fe for two reasons. Firstly, the word hello was clearly the most often repeated word written on the paper samples, reoccurring more than 20 times. Secondly, we determined that, since Santa Fe is a tourist destination, the test results would make an interesting momento for anyone interested in the arts for which Santa Fe is well known being one of the largest art markets in the United States. See cover below.
Scribble Test #02 - 02.20
Test #02 – This test was conducted from early January 2020 through early February 2020.
Store employees that we interviewed told us that their register tape paper was replaced every 2-3 weeks. We then installed our own paper test strips and inspected the test strips every few days to see how long it would take for the paper to become dense enough with mark making activity to justify a replacement of the paper. It was determined that it took approximately 30 days.
In early February of 2020 we removed and archived our first round of paper test strips and replaced them with fresh paper. We ended up with larger and better sample material and were able to end up with about 210 digital samples. Above are a few samples of 6 x 6 inch digital image squares from Marking Test #02.
While we are still waiting on the proof copy of the first book due to having gotten lost or delayed in shipment, we decided that a 200+ page catalog might prove a little costly at a retail price so, for Catalog #2 we reduced the number of pages to about 120 calculating that the average consumer would be more inclined to purchase our research results.
Below is an image of the book cover for Volume #2.
