Archive for the ‘Miscellany’ Category
I’m going to be creating three dolls starting this week and needed an armature stand to do them. They will be in a sitting position so I needed them to be supported while I worked on and posed them.
I found an armature stand How-to on Noadi’s site on Squidoo.
Here is a link to the How-to in .PDF format, there is a link to the video on the .PDF if you are more of a visual learner like I am. The How-to was posted from iSculpt.org which has much useful info on Sculpting.
The stand took me roughly 20 minutes to build, not including the few minutes it took me to cut the hinge with my Dremel, sparks pretty. I bought the threaded rods in the sizes I needed so I didn’t have to cut them.
Here is my finished product…
I love funny looking little creatures. I actually find the ones that most people label ‘ugly’ as very adorable. Probably why I love Chinese Cresteds and Xoloitzcuintli dogs. I am currently owned by a Chinese Crested “Whisper”.
I also have a thing for Sloths, Flying Fox Bats, Fruit Bats…ok, many different types of Bats and other little things I can’t think of at the moment. Did I ever tell you guys I tried my hand at Little Brown Bat rehab? They have a very LOW survival rate once in rehab so I stepped away from it. That’s a story for a different time.
The reason for this here post is because of the Aye Aye. I’m sure many of you have seen the pictures of the Aye Aye floating around the internet and may have wondered what it is, like I did, or maybe you didn’t, heh! You can find the official explanation on Wiki, that the Aye Aye is a species of Lemur from Madagascar.
Here are a few pictures of the mysterious creature I speak of, I’m thinking I may have to do some creature creations in Poly Clay…
Photo by David Haring – Baby Aye Aye
Below photos found on Daily Artisan
I know I have mentioned this before, but it’s always worth mentioning… I love spooky tree’s. My first spooky tree love started when I was a child living in Alabama. My grandmother had a HUGE pecan tree in her front yard. Now maybe the tree seemed huge because I was small, either way… it was my tree. I played beneath it, ate it’s pecan’s, gazed up into it’s branches.
In the early 90’s a Tornado came through and took it away. When my family called to tell us about the damage to the property, we had been in Alaska since 77′, the first question I asked was “Did the tree make it?” She didn’t, all I could do was cry.
I don’t have any pictures of that wonderful tree, but I am going to ask mom to look for some since she is down in Alabama helping her sick brother, sister and brother in law.
This is the closest picture I have found so far:
I found the picture on this website.
I don’t believe this next tree is a Pecan but no matter the species…its awesome! Found the pic on this website.
I’m feeling a bit, ok a bunch, neglectful of this here website. Numerous excuses come to mind, none are truly good enough.
I must not neglect the spooky’ness, it has done nothing but treat me right. So to set things right I’ve decided to grab a few pics to appease my spooky bone and to give the readers something to gaze upon.
Fixer Upper – Photo by Dempster Lane’s
United Pumpkins – Photo by Sparth
Man this winter has kicked me in the teeth when it comes to doing anything after work/on the weekends, except sit on the couch and watch TV. The older I get the more I hibernate in winter and get a very bad case of the lethargics.
So what am I going to do about it? I have decided that to get me out of my non-creating rut I’m going to bring Super Sculpy to work with me to get me going on making the miniature Halloween props/art dolls that I have wanted to start on.
I have also decided to go and buy $20 in Lottery tickets to see if I can get out of Alaska sooner than the summer of 2012 date I have decided on.
I will get back to the art doll explanation in a minute, money tends to trump things at the moment.
What would I buy with the lottery money? Well, after taxes I’m looking at around $350K, its a $500K lottery. First thing is to get the current home I’m living in remodeled for selling, I’m thinking around $20K for everything. The house is in my parents name, I never bought it from them but instead pay the mortgage every month. While the house is having some work done we, we being the fam and I, would zip down to Bend, Oregon to have a look around and I would start looking for a house. I’m thinking I would keep the house price around $200k, 4 bedroom, 2+ baths, 3 car garage (have to have room for the studio and Halloween props). If I find a house at that time, I would buy it, then come back home to get ready to move. We would sell the house and my parents would keep all the profits from it. Once moved I would buy a brand new GMC truck in Oregon, and my old truck, that would still be here in Alaska, could either be kept by my parents or I would sell it.
Thats about it, besides paying off bills and making sure I had a bit left over to live on before I found work.
Now to the art dolls. I have never been a doll kinda gal. Ok, I take that back… I use to blow up Barbies when me cousin and I would attack her with his GI Joes. Total Tom Boy as a kid and I still have quite a bit of it remaining. With that said… I have found a new appreciation for dolls as I have gotten older and realized that all dolls don’t have to be little Princess’s or Drama Queens or even be owned by little Princess’s or Drama Queens.
I love Halloween such that I have found that I need to scale down, not scale back, on my Halloween creations. Why not make smaller versions of the props I have built/want to build? I’m aware that putting a 12″ sized rendition of Cucur or Mauly (to name the most current full sized props I have built) in my front yard isn’t going to scare anyone. What it will do though is: 1) Get some of the overwhelming prop ideas into physical creation 2) Hopefully make me some extra money.
My main problem in starting anything new is: researching it until I’m blue in the face… no, make that red in the face. By then I have had so many other ideas hit me that something entirely different is what I want to focus on and off I go researching. The funny thing is… I know that if I just start doing something, I get into it and the research didn’t do me much good anyway… but I still find myself in that same cycle. I also think I have a fear of failure gnawing at my subconscious. Yes I have given it the finger and it persists to keep gnawing.
So besides being an A.D.D artist, I am now attempting to jump into an area I know very little about…erm wait, I have researched the hell out of art dolls and should by all rights be a professional, heh!
I would like a push though by any and all that have found the tips and tricks of working with Poly Clay for making Art Dolls. That and air dry clay will be the materials of choice. I do worry about air dry clay not being strong enough for items that may be pose-able though.
Any input is greatly appreciated!!!
** Update **
Here is a picture of the head I started. First miniature head…wooo hoooo!!
So 2010 is just a day or so away and so is my 42nd birthday. Yes, I’m a New Years baby and I’m famous… ok, not really so famous but I was the first baby born in Alaska in 1968. You would think it isn’t all that common to be a New Years baby, but my Uncle/God Father is and I dated the guy that was the first baby born in Alaska in 1967. Now Leap Year is a different story… which my best friend from High School is a Leap Year baby and I tease her every year about not having a birthday yet, technically she is only 11!
I digress… HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ::: insert fireworks here :::
Now to bring the year in right here is a bit of Spooky food’ness.
Pumpkin Rot posted a pic on his blog, which I had to follow. I’m not a Candy Apple eating fan, yes…I was as a child though. These look spectacular!!! Click on the image to go Matt’s blog, he posted the story and recipe for the apples below… Adam’s Scary Apples.
Christmas is just a few days away, even though it really doesn’t feel like Christmas for some reason. Christmas isn’t my holiday anyway, so I really don’t go out of my way to decorate, etc.
My family is actually going to be celebrating Christmas on New Years this year. New Years is actually my birthday so its going to be a bit strange. Why the lateness in Christmas? My brother works out of town, on the North Slope, and won’t be home for Christmas, so we delayed it a week for him. It should be fun, we can hit the after Christmas sales for those last minute gifts, heh!!
So I haven’t been blogging much lately. I’m going to add a touch of the personal life here, so you have been forwarned that this may turn… female chatty.
The older I get the rougher it gets for me to deal with winter in Alaska. I’m not a winter outdoorsy type of person so the winter causes me to hibernate, literally. That, along with the length of darkness we have in the winter, it really takes its tole. I tend towards depressed/lazy/procrastinator’ish and don’t want to do much of anything. Due to not wanting to do anything I start gaining weight, which also makes me even more lazy, etc.
I don’t need anti-depressants, I don’t make that statement out of pride or from an ego driven reason. I don’t have the markers for depression that would require meds, this is per a Behavior Health friend that I have spoken to about the problem. The fact that I would have her cracking up every time I talked to her is a good sign that meds would only do me damage instead of good.
So with that said what would help? Well, there are a few things but I literally have to pry myself out of my house to do the easiest one… going to the gym. I started today actually, and looked forward to it. ::: pats self on back :::
The other thing that would help is to get me out of Alaska. That plan is in the works, and the date that we have set so far is summer of 2012, Oregon has been the chosen location thus far, Bend to be exact. Since I’m single, its a bit scary to be moving away from a state that I have known 98% of my life. My brother, his wife and by then 2 kids, will also be moving, so I will not be completely alone but it’s still very scary. The other scary part is finding work where ever we do move to, my brother will have his North Slope job but I will have to find something.
Even though there are a few obstacles to moving… I’m EXCITED and hope and pray that it all works out for the best.
I’m not into decorating for Christmas, although I will say there is something to be seen with white lit decorations in a yard full of snow. Gives a bit of brightness to the dark and dreary time of year, a spark of hope for sunshine maybe? I dunno, but otherwise I’m just not into the tinsel, glittery’ness. Having said that there is something to be said about Spookifying Christmas a bit.
For example, here are some Christmas Carols played in a minor key with a bit of horror movie flare added in. You can buy this CD over on Panda Smash, it’s $11.95 and called Evil Christmas Carols. My favorite is Silent Night (Because your Dead) and The Peanuts Death March.
Before I start throwing the Etsy finds at you I have to show you what Ghoul Friday has been up to for her Christmas Decorations.
He Ain’t No Frosty blog post shows these fabulous little guys. Although she claims she is experimenting with these little snowmen, I believe she has gotten the recipe just right!
Keep a watch for more to come from her!
Now the Etsy finds…
Raven Fae Creations has some wonderful little creepy things for Christmas, here is one little guy:
Spooky Hollow is another that is doing some Spooky Christmas’ness:
There are many others, I did a search on Etsy for Spooky Christmas.
So you have your decorations or are planning on the family making their own spookiness for the tree… well why not have a Black Christmas Tree to hang them on. Last year was the first year that I noticed that Walmart was selling Black Artificial Christmas tree’s. Awesome!! Here is the Google search page for Black Christmas Tree’s.
Heck… if your going for Whimsical why not put up an Upside Down Christmas Tree? Google search results are here.
Well that’s all I got for now. My web searching and blog posting has been taken up by looking up information on Bend, Oregon. The fam is thinking about moving there in a few years, so I’m trying to find out all the info I can. It’s looking awesome so far!!
I have asked for an airbrush setup for Christmas from the Santa. Yes I am still spoiled and love my parents astronomically for it, I only wish I could do the same for them.
I digress… We are looking online for Airbrush and Compressor reviews and most reviews I find seem to be slanted by the company selling the items.
I would like to hear from the artists and users of the airbrushes themselves.
What I’m wanting in an airbrush and compressor is:
- The ability to do fine detail and the ability to do base coat painting as well.
- I would prefer Gravity feed, at least from what I have read.
- Dual Action, also from what I have read.
- The paints, which I don’t know a thing about airbrush paints, will be acrylics, inks and clear coats.
- As for the Compressor: Oil Less, condensation filter, not sure about the PSI.
Any suggestions you can give a complete beginner to airbrushing would be awesome!!
Here is one of the kits we were looking at Dick Blick Complete Airbrush Kit
Since my PHD (Post Halloween Depression) seems to have lifted and the mourning is over, I believe its time for some Blog updating. I’m going to go a searching for some more wonderific Etsy shops and artists to add. If you have any suggestions, leave me a comment.
I may rework some of the menu bar menu’s so if the site flickers here and there, I’m the cause of the hiccup. Heh! I just referred to myself as indigestion.
Added a Share This link to the bottom of the posts.
Etsy shops added:
