Published by Pencil Magazine
Words and illustrations by Sarah Shaw
Pencil Magazine is a print publication with a beautifully simple concept: All text and images in its pages are created with graphite pencils on paper. The second issue was released last year, themed, ‘The Eraser Issue’, and it’s full of stories about revision, correction, and absence. There are comics, essays, lists, and graphic experiments, but my favourite is this lovely, poignant piece of visual storytelling by Sarah Shaw. This is the first time we’ve included a story in The Mortar that’s not straight-up writing, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
Pencil Magazine is a themed print publication featuring work created entirely with graphite pencil and paper.
Sarah Shaw is a visual storyteller and professor at Maine College of Art & Design. She makes nonfiction comics, zines, and visual essays with a handmade flair. You can see more of her work on Substack.