Mythical Type

“Left-brained art” is a mini zine that includes tips for how to make art without having to plan all the details up front. Each page includes a tip and brief explanation.

This zine encourages you to work with the materials you already have and not worry about what people will think of the finished work.

I drew the background by hand with markers. Layout and text in Canva.

Copies are available in my Etsy shop (U.S. only). I’m also open to trading! (Message me.)

Full text in the zine:

Front cover

Left-brained art

Page 1

If you are a left-brained person (like me!), sometimes making art feels difficult. 

You want there to be order. You want to sort out all the details from the start. And if you can’t do that, you feel stuck.

Here are some things I try to remember so I don’t get stuck. 

Maybe these will be helpful to you, too.

Page 2

Simply start

Easier said than done. 

Try making something (anything) before you decide on what the end result will be.

One idea might spark another idea..and then another.

Page 3

What’s “good”?

Don’t get hung up on what’s “good.”

Whatever is trending or popular for the moment doesn’t matter. 

Make what interests you.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Page 4

No plan is okay

You don’t have to plan everything. (It feels uncomfortable. I know.)

Figure it out as you go.

You can take it one step at a time.

Page 5

What you have

In most cases, you don’t need special tools to start a creative project.

You can start with what you already have.

“The best camera is the one you have with you.” – Chase Jarvis

Page 6

You, first

Make stuff for yourself.

If other people like it, that’s a bonus.

If no one else likes it, you’re still learning and growing.

Either way, you win.

Yesterday I ran a zine-making station at a public library fundraiser. 🙂

The library had a Fall Fair with a bake sale, raffles, magic show, and games. Arts and crafts tables were inside the library. Here’s the zine-making station.

The library provided magazines, scrapbook paper, markers, glue sticks, scissors, and plain white paper. I brought copies of How to make a mini zine and What’s a zine?

This is the first time I’ve done a zine event with kids. Having collage materials definitely helps, so kids don’t have to write something on the spot.

Two girls spent about an hour and a half at the table, making two zines each, because they said they were having so much fun. 🥹

I think if I do more kid-focused zine events, I might make some kind of template that they can fill in. Having more of a guide might be a nice option besides having a blank piece of paper.

Here’s a zine I made during some downtime.

“The antidote to social media” is a mini zine that looks at how negative things are outweighing positives on social media. But social media platforms are still a good way to find people to connect with. The zine suggests ways to work around the negative aspects of social media.

Copies are available on Etsy (U.S. only).

A lot of my zines start in a notebook page. Here’s where I started writing out what I wanted to include in this zine.

“Useless Venn Diagrams” is a mini zine with random observations, put into Venn diagram format. Topics include puzzles, note-taking, and movies.

Printed in black on teal paper. I drew this zine by hand and then adjusted spacing and layout in Canva.

“Cat’s Cradle” is a tiny story about mimicking someone. It’s not quite sci-fi, but it feels like it…maybe because it was inspired by a scene near the end of Annihilation. (I won’t spoil the movie and neither does the zine.)

Here’s the full text of the story:

It’s like playing cat’s cradle, but we aren’t using string.

I do one thing. She does something else that feels like… an extension. A continuation.

And then we swap.

She does one thing— says a phrase, draws some lines, moves her arm just so.

I extend— a line of poetry, a floral doodle, a yoga pose.

And then we swap.

The training protocol doesn’t specify how to teach. Just that I’m supposed to.

I report progress back to the team.

And then we swap.

“Modern-day Sisyphus” is a mini zine about 21st century tasks that never go away.

The zine is inspired by Sisyphus, a figure from Greek mythology who is tasked with rolling a boulder up a mountain, only for the boulder to roll back down every time he reached near the top.

Copies are available on Etsy.

Page 1 has a summary of the story of Sisyphus.

Page 2 lists chores that are repetitive: washing dishes, doing laundry, dusting, and vacuuming. At the bottom of page 2, there’s an illustration of a man rolling a boulder up a hill.

Pages 3 and 4 list tasks that are repetitive: making the bed, replying to emails, mowing the lawn, taking out trash, and paying bills. At the bottom of the pages, there’s an illustration of a man rolling a boulder up a hill.

Pages 5 and 6 list positive things that are repetitive: listening to favorite songs, making a cup of coffee, saying good night to loved ones, cooking favorite meals, celebrating holidays, and spending time on hobbies. At the bottom of the pages, there’s an illustration of a man rolling a boulder up a hill.

Here’s the back cover:

“Song lyrics I mishear” is a mini zine that lists lyrics where I hear the wrong words. Each page is about one song and includes the actual lyrics along with what I hear instead.

I wanted the interior pages to be a mix of typed text (the actual song lyrics) and handwritten notes (the words I hear). This way, the pages look like they’re annotated.

Copies are available on Etsy.