Journal
On reference, practice, and the record. Essays from the maker building Scry.
The Record Belongs to Us: Every Benin Bronze, and the Year the City BurnedIn 1897 British forces burned Benin City and took its bronzes. The record, object by object, named and dated, and why museums still hide the taking.Read →The Best Free Drawing Reference Sites in 2026 (and the One With No AI in It)An honest, opinionated guide to the best free drawing reference sites for figure, gesture, museum, and public-domain work, and which are now full of AI.Read →Why I Built a Reference Tool With No AI in ItGenerated images quietly teach your eye the wrong things. Here is why every image in Scry is a real, documented, freely-licensed work, and why that is a hard line.Read →Can You Sell Art Made From Reference Photos? A Plain Guide to Public-Domain and Creative Commons ReferenceA clear, non-legalese guide to public-domain and Creative Commons drawing reference: what you can sell, what each licence requires, and where to find safe images.Read →Drawing From African Art: A Reference Guide That Names the MakersA drawing reference guide to African art: Benin bronzes, Ife heads, Nok terracottas, Yoruba masks. What to study in each, and the makers behind them.Read →