I Don't Feel Tardy (Part II)

There are two things that are my least favorite to carve.  They are circles and letters.  Drawing Lesson has both of them.  My lack of enthusiasm for carving circles and letters might be why I carved Drawing Lesson last.  Then again, I could just be a slacker......

The Drawings:  I start by laying everything out in pencil and then go over the lines with a black marker.

Sometimes as the design unfolds I shift elements around or add new things.  The natural 'imperfections' in the wood contribute to the dialog as to how the composition unfolds.  In the images below, I decided to shift the word 'really'.

 Once I realized that I needed to shift the word 'really' I painted over the old marker lines so I wouldn't get confused as to which markered lines to carve (I try to take 'the thinking' out of carving so I am focused on just execution).

What the new positioning looks like after it has been carved out.

I clean the green paint out of the brush on to a sculpture that is going to need to be primed (Hey, why waste paint?)

 The Carving:  Here are some shots at different stages during carving with my trusty Dremel Tool.

The Fitting:  Once everything is carved I spray the for panels of the frame black and make sure everything fits properly around the canvas.

The Painting:  The final stage is painting the frame.  Spray painting the frames black beforehand gives the line work crisp visual distinction.

I even got desperate enough for some Titanium White Paint that I ripped a dried out tube of paint in half to squeeze out the absolute last little bit of gooey paint trapped in the bottom of the tube.

The Final Product: 

Stay tuned for the next installment when you go to Paddletown USA!

I Don't Feel Tardy (Part I)

For whatever reason, even though I have worked on several carved frames since starting Punching Holes in The Rah-Rah, I have done a sub-optimal job of documenting the process (the painting process in particular).   I now present to you, Box of Wonder......

After everything is carved out with my Dremel Tool, I hose down the frames with a liberal amount of black spray paint.  It basically ends up being a 'liberal amount' because it is surprisingly difficult to shoot the paint directly in to the thin linear parts (cracks) of the carving (which is nothing like Beggar's Canyon back home.....).

This third image of me spray painting the frames black is a bit redundant, but I would hate to be accused of not being....well, uh....something.....

Before I dive into any color, here is an image of the frame (mid-carving) next to one of the sketches used in the frame.

Then I usually try to start with the color that will go on the largest area of the frame first (work from the general to the specific).  So for the first color I put down a greenish-yellow (it basically looks like yellow until you see it next to an actual yellow, and then the green starts to emerge).  These images show the second color (a darker dull green with just a hint of blue).

Just a little more green. This time it's even darker and closer to actual green (the pure hue).

Once the main colors are laid in, it is time to start adding smaller areas of more intense color.

Ladies and Gentlemen,  Box of Wonder with carved frame.

On a lighter note, when life isn't grinding us down like an unholy succubus gnawing on a soul-flavored chew-toy, occasionally a bit of joy and delight takes bloom.  However fleeting these small victories are, they serve as a reminder that existence is not always a perpetual and metaphorical kick to the ding-ding......

Do you ever have one of those nights where you are extremely hungry, you are in no mood to cook, and you don't really have the spare cash to buy your way out of hunger?  Well tonight was one of those nights.  However, somewhere, deep in the back recesses of my mind, I remembered possessing something almost magical in nature.  Not actual dweomercraft, or even sleight of hand, but conjuration none the less......

POW!

My two partially completed Boozies cards equaled one totally filled up card which translate into.....

That's right kids, a free chicken quesadilla from Boozies!!!!  As an added bonus, Thomas (the cook) will on occasion draw a scuba/scooba image on my Styrofoam to-go container.  Here is my collection so far....

In fact, one of Thomas' scooba dudes has found its way on to one of my carved frames (part of the frame for Swan Dive Bomber).  -and by 'found' I mean I put it there!

Join us next time for: I Don't Feel Tardy (part II).......

One That Made It and One That Got Away

I have over a dozen pieces that I started for Merican-Tastic! that either didn't make the cut, or weren't completed to a level to even be considered for inclusion.  Mine and Yours is an example of a piece that was probably 95% done, but just not quite there.

Here is the initial sketch for the first layer/original piece back when it was called 'Transfer'.

I can't say I was ever content with the castle/cannon structure towards the bottom (but I was amused by the arrows and the bowling pin).  All said and done, I was not happy with the final result, so Transfer was a piece that was destined to be reworked......

Shall we begin?

Often times my 'layers' are comprised of several doodles from different sketches.  Here is just one component for the 3rd layer of imagery.

Now with some color added.....

The third layer colored in.

Some shots of the 'Mine and Yours' panels as they are being primed.

The image below is close to the current state of Mine and Yours.  The colors are discordant in a way that is distracting.  With the opening of Merican-Tastic! less than two weeks away, I made the call that this one would not get brought to a satisfactory level of completion in time and should be resumed at a later date.

Now, for a piece that made it into the final show roster.  Here is the start of Russ Meyer Would Disagree (its working title at the time was Drive-By Ladies a Ladying).  It is one of seven collaborative pieces where either I started the piece and Heidi Hernandez finished it, or vice versa.

Here is an image from a visit to Heidi Hernandez's studio a few weeks prior to the show.  The color on the image below is much more accurate to real life than the image above.

Behold!  Russ Meyer Would Disagree.

Coming soon: Doodles and shelf-treasures!