Quick post with a new piece finished last night!.. Then finished prepping for the mould tonight followed by the first few thin coats of silicone…
Pet Sculpture MouldingÂ
Graphics Tablet Impulse Buy!
Okay, so back in 2016 I was picking up my well loved Wacom Bamboo tablet to design some new website graphics thinking it would be nice to upgrade to a newer model.
Continue reading “Graphics Tablet Impulse Buy!”
Gamvar & Comics
Gamvar Varnishing
I’m varnishing a horse commission today as it’s completely dry (always a good thing!) and ready for a 1st coat.
I’m using Gamvar as this gives a nice finish and allows a much shorter application period* than other varnish as it’s breathable.
Continue reading “Gamvar & Comics”
Copperplate & New Ink
Playing with my new Ziller Inks tonight for a bit of Copperplate practice… rebelling from our strict studio italic and roundhand styles this evening with some flourishing pastels!
On my first try I love these inks, they have an easy and consistent flow from the nib and have an impressive opacity on black paper with no offsetting. Lightfast, pH balanced and waterproof.
I usually use a gouache mix for both colour and black due to my previous Higgins inks getting thick and glouppy, but these Zillers are going to be my new “go to” writing inks.
Toys… Ahem… Tools!
Look what arrived today!
Figma artist mannequins.
My 4 year old nephew is now utterly convinced I’m about 12 yrs old. To be honest he was pretty sure I was way before he spotted my “superhero action figures”.
Continue reading “Toys… Ahem… Tools!”
Prints
After a bit of research at the weekend I sourced another Fine Art Trade Guild Giclée printers for some new prints.
Received my first batch today …I’m so pleased with the print quality, they have exceeded my expectations. They have a really nice range of papers, loving the sample pack and can’t wait to get some more ordered.
Note: I’m also reminded how much I hate cutting mount boards.
Kuru Toga Mechanicals
Testing out some “new to me” (..old news to others) mechanical pencils. These self sharpen due to the rotating action of the lead once pressed to the paper. So in theory wear down evenly as it rotates, forming a point.
Not that impressed with the sharpening so far but they do stay sharper than other mechanicals, I was probably just expecting too much. Think I’ll still be using a touch of glasspaper to get a fine point when I need it for miniature work. Using 0.5mm’s but will order a 0.3mm too, seems harder to source the smaller leads, hence I got the 0.5’s. Bringing me on to…
The Leads
IMPRESSIVE! They are tough, all due to nano diamonds (which I thought was a bit of a gimmick tbh) …not had a lead snap AT ALL yet, even when I accidentally dropped one a metre on to hard tile. Plus they come in really (Ahem) cute little cases.
Off to order some more grades ..and a few more pencils.
UPDATE: A YEAR of use later and the sharpening is working nicely, ordered a 3B …and so far NO snapped leads!
Studio Furnishing
New Year + Trip to Ikea = NEW STUDIO DESK & STORAGE!
Finally have somewhere to properly store all my sheets of paper and this desk has loads of working space I love it! I like the adjustable working angle and storage for all my tins of resin and silicone on the tressels.