05/05/2015

TADA!!!  How 'bout a custom trivet!

i'm getting ready for the weekend at the farmers market. So I've been polyurethane eating and making art as fast as I can. I worked up the tapestry loom…

Already have the inkle loom warped with hand dyed, hand spun silk.

And of course can't forget the Firebird.

And dragon.  But I modified him a little.  Got rid of the white chest.

I think it looks more cohesive this way :-).

And then I warped up the BIG frame loom with intermesh technique.  Purple and blue. 

This is the back side.  

Front side.

They are called flowers and this will be a cuff bracelet.

Check it out!

It would be totally reversible, except for the lettering.

Back to the loom...

04/27/2015

 I am Absolutely thrilled with my latest project!

This drawing is done in color pencil on a piece of scrap board a neighbor contributed.

In the past I disliked using color pencils and had pretty much disregarded them.  Until last Saturday morning.  I decided to give them another shot. I wanted to see how well they might work on a piece of wood. 

Now I think I am in love with them...and my results.

We start with a line drawing.

Then a start.

The picture below shows the point at which I decided to try the hairdryer. Redon and you will understand what happened.

So just a little FYI, I drew this with pencil and then inked it with an ink pen that is erasable.  Mind you I didn't even know that such a creature even existed as an erasable ink pen.   EURICA!  

And for those of you who may not know, the reason or the "science", behind erasable ink is friction... Friction produces heat and that erases the ink.  And, actually, on certain services like wood it will erace with the regular eraser, if you rub long enough, again producing heat.  

Also, you may or may not know, that color pencils have wax in them. So like the genius that I am I decided to hit the art with my hairdryer, thus melting the wax just a tiny bit and giving me even better blending.

Within 30 seconds POOF my entire line drawing was gone! Including the outlines on the color pencil work.  I just about cried. But it also turns out, that after the ink is gone there is some sort of residue left behind that makes it very hard to draw back over the top of it. So even though I got a little bit better blending, I had to redraw the entire piece and re-work the edges of the already completed color pencil work. 

NOT FUN!!!

The moral to the story? Don't afraid to try new things, but be cautious and prepared for dramatic learning experiences. LOLOL

Fortunately I was able to save it without having the sand it off the lumber and start over.

Now that the main design is completed I have to figure out what to do for The eye and the background.

Wish me luck.

July 22, 2014

My first sugar skull.  Mostly ballpoint pen and a little bit of color pencil just for his ...for lack of a better word - skin tone.

Step one…

Step two…

Step three...

And all done. I like it well enough. 

What you think?