Purple Isn't Real

Ever wonder why purple is so hard to mix?  It might be because it's something our brain invented!

New Project Excitement!

I'm so excited about making stuff!!!

First,  I'm getting my drawing chops back, and can actually pull of likenesses again!  Yippee!  I seriously worried that I had lost that ability. Bad for what I want to do.  Recognize this guy?

Never question Bruce Dickinson.

Then, I joined a local music and crafty group.  While trying to decide on a new project to take there, I found this.  EEEE!  I'm going to learn to double-knit, and make the one that does not have backwards writing on both sides.  It will certainly be a challenge, but I'm so stoked! :D

Spoonflower Giveaway

That's right, kids! Spoonflower is giving away 3 welcome packs, including Laurie Wisbrun's book on fabric design. Go enter!  Make all the perfect fabric for those projects!

DIY Studio: Screen Exposure Unit

Screen printing is not only amazingly fun and versatile, but one of the easiest print mediums to do from home. There are tons of videos on YouTube on making everything from your actual printing station to vacuum exposure units. Yes, let me repeat that. DIY vacuum exposure units! I think I found a new project for spring!

This one is my favorite so far, but a quick search will yield many versions!

Color Explained

This is a beautifully animated short about the physics of color.  It also happens to explain why Metalheads don't come out in the sun.

Melting Bones

Any decent Victorian garment is going to need bones. I'm making a quick bustier for one (quick is the important word here), so I'm using that plastic boning that comes in a roll. The directions advise that you cut the ends to round them, but I find that it's very difficult to get them smooth. They catch in the casings and are a complete pain. But I tight to myself, there's no reason I couldn't get the help of my friend, Fire!

I removed the bone from its casing, and cut it into a roughly roundish shape.



Hold it in the blue part of the fire for a couple of seconds. If you hold it in the yellow part, it will get sooty. (I learned that in chemistry class. I don't play with fire quite THAT much.)

You'll see the edges start to soften.


















While it's still warm, press the end against the table or your finger to smooth it.

















Slipping your bones back inside their casings will be a dream!

Snowblind

Unfortunately, this post has nothing to do with actual snow.  It's 50 and raining here in the Midwest.  Whatever that's about.  Fortunately, this post is a handy painting tip I just learned from my sister.  My sister who hates painting.  Why this didn't come from anyone else I know, I have no idea, but it's good so I'm sharing!

Back in school, I was taught that white paint was pretty much evil.  It killed all the transparency in an oil paint.  Rather than mixing it with other paints to make them lighter, one should lay out all the values on your foundation layer, lay down thin glazes of color letting the lightness come through where necessary, and hitting the super bright spots with white at the very end of the painting.  This is a very traditional way of painting, and somewhat similar to a watercolor approach.  I tend to like my paintings to have more energy, be less polished, show more brush strokes.  Doing both is a pain.

But my lovely sister gave me this clue:  use Zinc white instead of Titanium white.  Think about it.  What's in  natural sunblock?  Titanium oxide.  The stuff blocks light.  But not Zinc!  Mixing with this will lighten your paint, without making it pastel and opaque.  (I can't tell you how many times she said "I can't believe you didn't know that!")  But now I do, and so do you!

There are many other white pigments as well.  Windsor Newton even has this article on the subject:  Choosing the White that's Right in Oils.  I think I'm going to pick up small tubes of various ones and test them.  What have your experiments taught you about white paint?