Saskle's Sketchbook

Scrapbook for doodles, art process, inspiration and other needs in life.

[monamoni]

[nattousan]

wet dog havin a sniff at u

[iris-of-the-lambs]

what if instead of horses we domesticated porcines... i think that could be cool

[renal03421]

Beetle birds/Varojaks/Vitrotects

[blessphemy]

if you read about any biology you can quickly lose touch with what is astonishing and miraculous vs what is mundane, from animals that steal chloroplasts to become photosynthetic, to cloning technology being old hat, to trees that didn’t biodegrade for tens of millions of years, to naturally occurring lateral gene transfer between vastly different species, to the creation of gametes from adult cells, to the ability of some cancers to induce blood vessel growth, to desert shrimp that lie dormant for years, to the sensitivity of human touch receptors, to the fact that human hardware has a latent ability to see UV but their corneas block those wavelengths, to birds that echolocate and live in caves, to human skin being covered in enzymes that destroy RNA, to individual trees becoming genetic tapestries branch by branch, to life forms that gain energy from the electron potential of metals in their environments, to plants that recognize their siblings and adjust their behavior accordingly when growing next to them, to metamorphosis

which is to say. All of it is miraculous. and all of it is mundane. biology is Chaos vs. Order locking horns forever

[greekceltic]

Boards can be wonky. I did not know this and always assumed if my board art wasn't flawless I was doing it wrong, but no. Flawless wood in a fantasy or historical setting is probably kinda weird unless there was a reason to invest that much time. Pictures of Guédelon I got from iisaw on bsky.

[dappermouth]

Different than you dreamt it.

[wine-loving-vagabond-blog]

A loaf of bread made in the first century AD, which was discovered at Pompeii, preserved for centuries in the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius. The markings visible on the top are made from a Roman bread stamp, which bakeries were required to use in order to mark the source of the loaves, and to prevent fraud. (via Ridiculously Interesting)

[dduane]

(sigh) I’ve seen these before, but this one’s particularly beautiful.

[hungrylikethewolfie]

I feel like I’m supposed to be marveling over the fact that this is a loaf of bread that’s been preserved for thousands of years, and don’t get me wrong, that’s hella cool.  But honestly, I’m mostly struck by the unexpected news that “bread fraud” was apparently once a serious concern.

[ironychan]

Bread Fraud was a huge thing,  Bread was provided to the Roman people by the government - bakers were given grain to make the free bread, but some of them stole the government grain to use in other baked goods and would add various substitutes, like sawdust or even worse things, to the bread instead.  So if people complained that their free bread was not proper bread, the stamp told them exactly whose bakery they ought to burn down.

[dancingspirals]

Bread stamps continued to be used at least until the Medieval period in Europe. Any commercially sold bread had to be stamped with an official seal to identify the baker to show that it complied with all rules and regulations about size, price, and quality. This way, rotten or undersized loaves could be traced back to the baker. Bakers could be pilloried, sent down the streets in a hurdle cart with the offending loaf tied around their neck, fined, or forbidden to engage in baking commercially ever again in that city. There are records of a baker in London being sent on a hurdle cart because he used an iron rod to increase the weight of his loaves, and another who wrapped rotten dough with fresh who was pilloried. Any baker hurdled three times had to move to a new city if they wanted to continue baking.

If you have made bread, you are probably familiar with a molding board. It’s a flat board used to shape the bread. Clever fraudsters came up with a molding board that had a little hole drilled into it that wasn’t easily noticed. A customer would buy his dough by weight, and then the baker would force some of that dough through the hole, so they could sell and underweight loaf and use the stolen dough to bake new loafs to sell. Molding boards ended up being banned in London after nine different bakers were caught doing this. There were also instances of grain sellers withholding grain to create an artificial scarcity drive up the price of that, and things like bread.

Bread, being one of the main things that literally everyone ate in many parts of the world, ended up with a plethora of rules and regulations. Bakers were probably no more likely to commit fraud than anyone else, but there were so many of them, that we ended up with lots and lots of rules and records of people being shifty.

Check out Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony by Madeleine Pelner Cosman for a whole chapter on food laws as they existed in about 1400. Plus the color plates are fantastic.

[hjuliana-blog]

ALL OF THIS IS SO COOL

[thisandthathistoryblog]

I found something too awesome not share with you! 

I’m completely fascinated by the history of food, could I choose a similar topic for my Third Year Dissertation? Who knows, but it is very interesting all the same!

[youmightbeamisogynist]

Bread fraud us actually where the concept of a bakers dozen came from. Undersized rolls/loaves/whatever were added to the dozen purchased to ensure that the total weight evened out so the baker couldn’t be punished for shorting someone.

[donesparce-deactivated20160928]

[wants to talk about bread fraud laws and punishments]

[holds it in]

bread police

[prospitanmutie]

Reblogging this tasty Bread History for 2016!

[weareoracle]

@we-are-rogue

[saskle]

Day 30/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: plantss Hosted by @warriorpainters

A comfort piece for the last day: the wild strawberry I bought a few weeks back.

[saskle]

Day 29/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: Plant(s) Hosted by @warriorpainters

When the rapeseed flowers make space for cow parsley, it feels like spring is starting to make place for summer. Unfortunately, that also means my hay fever season is beginning…

(almost there!)

[saskle]

Day 28/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: Plant Hosted by @warriorpainters

This has to be a speed record here, only 38 minutes! But I really do like this sketchy style! Two more to go!

[saskle]

Day 27/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: industrial Hosted by @warriorpainters

Ugh… A simple one for today so I can catch up a little. Three more to go, I can do this!!

[saskle]

Day 26/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: Nocturne Hosted by @warriorpainters

Gosh night scenes are fun to paint!

So different from daytime landscapes.

[saskle]

Day 25/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: Aqua Hosted by @warriorpainters

Clouds are quite difficult to paint, don't you think?

[saskle]

Day 24/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: Plant(s) Hosted by @warriorpainters

I love this little corner of my garden, it is the first in the morning to receive direct sunlight.

[saskle]

Day 23/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: Nocturne Hosted by @warriorpainters

I think this one is record-holder of having taken the most time yet - over three hours! So much for the one-hour goal… 😂

[saskle]

Day 22/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: Aqua Hosted by @warriorpainters

And suddenly the sun is gone and we have a rainy day! I was actually pretty excited to paint pools with reflections and muted colours, haha.

But during this bike ride through the forest, I knew I had to paint the soft green light on the asphalt!

[saskle]

Day 21/30 of #pleinairpril2025 Theme: industrial Hosted by @warriorpainters

In this last stretch it is surely hard to keep up!

Ever since I bought this case I wanted to do a painting of it, playing with the reflections. I'm still on the fence whether the illusion is successful, though. :/