Well holy crap! Since I've gotten back to work on this piece the followers on Instagram has almost doubled! Now go and make ye fishers of men! But seriously, the interest people have shown along with the complements they have posted has really geared me up to finish this piece. Plus, who would have thought that Instagram would be such a helpful resource. The Tyrannosaurus had been put aside so that I could finish a couple other projects: the Triceratops doorknocker for David's new home, some Steampunkey bugs, and a human heart pendant. While on the shelf, this dinosaur became very intimidating and it'd seriously still be sitting there today if it weren't for some friends and Instagrammars asking me about it. It just goes to show, what a profound effect just a little bit of free encouragement can do. The last time I blogged about this piece was back...
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With all the praise the 2 previous chess pieces got from friends and family how could I help but make more. Frankly, I'm enjoying the unusual pace of these pieces as well. As with the previous sculpts I'm averaging about 16 hours on each one but that average is coming down, especially if I keep experimenting to a minimum. Spending way too much time on a single piece of art is not new to me. What IS new is my concentration on a number of pieces that are in the same vein like this. Usually, after working on one sculpture for a few months, I begin to long for something different: a different medium, a different subject, a different size, anything different. True, it is also source of pride when I can amaze a person with my "jack-of-all-designs" display of sculptures; big bugs, little bugs, lighters, buckles, complex textures, robots,...
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I've been burning some cataract eyes in the oven, but it's my own fault: I didn't follow the recipe quite exactly enough. It all started when I was eyeing some glass doll eyes for sale on Etsy. They're gorgeous, so lifelike and priced as such. Luckily, I discovered a tutorial online for making eyes from polymer clay that're comparable to glass ones. They warned me to use the liquid Fimo, but with a gift card in my pocket and instant gratification in my mind, I purchased the liquid Sculpey at my local Pearl Fine Art Supply. I'm still not done experimenting with the liquid Sculpey, but as you can see from the tutorial linked above, the liquid Fimo comes out a whole lot better: glossier with less bubbles. Tweet
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... and now she's left me with the kid. Yes, but no. Anyhow, The beadings have become pretty regular now; to think that when she first asked me about polymer clay necklace beads I told her, "I'd only tried it once before without much luck... or fun." That was years ago. Now, taking the initiative to do some research, it turns out the term for the technique of making polymer clay beads is "caning" and it's derived derived from a glassblowing technique - caneworking. It also turns out the most important tool is a "very sharp blade". You'll smudge up and deform every cut you make and absolutely drive yourself crazy if you don't have the "very sharp blade". Can you imagine what this world would be like with a bunch of crazy people just out walking around?! Which reminds me, does sarcasm ever comes across in text? Suffice to say, with...
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Twas few nights after Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring except for a weevil, an EVIL WEEVIL! I'm still in the beginning stages of researching this Sri Lanka Weevil (Myllocerus undatus)... at least that's what I think it is. It could be a Little Leaf Notcher Weevil (Artipus floridanus), which is native to Florida and looks, for all intents and purposes, EXACTLY the same. Whichever it is, they are stirring and notching stripping the leaves from the plants in our yard. One of the common posts I've come across on the interweb says you should be killing them every day! Apparently this means war. You know, a lot of folks throughout history have made a swift transition from Christmas to war. Here's a look at the enemy... This is the Sri Lanka Weevil with it's "distinguishing" characteristics: a relatively yellowish head, relatively large eyes and the heel...
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