Printing: Christmas Linocut

Posted on 13th October 2019 by perfectly4med

I’ve recently been asked by a friend to teach him how to do a linocut. That got me thinking… ‘I really ought to review how to do a linocut’! The last time I did one was a school humpty-hump years ago. Things have moved on a little since then – the tools are the same, but there are various different hardnesses of lino and even a lino replacement. I chose to use Speedball’s Speedy Carve block, a (4×6″) piece of pink rubber which is softer to carve than lino. I designed the cut in Illustrator and then transferred a laser copy to the rubber by ironing it on face down. Top tip – wait until block is cool before peeling off for a better transfer.

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Altered Art: various bits ‘n’ bobs

Posted on 16th September 2019 by perfectly4med

My crafting mojo has wandered off, somewhat inconveniently for earning an income, but hey ho, it happens. I have been doing some ‘pottering’ in the studio though and here are a few altered art pieces I have managed to get made…

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Laser cut: 3D Mandalas

Posted on 23rd August 2019 by perfectly4med

If you care to remember, I have been drawing mandalas from scratch. I’ve also been expanding my skill set designing and cutting on my Glowforge laser cutter. I’ve seen several 3D mandalas online where the design has been cut from layers of wood, with variable complexity and some true artists whose work must have taken days, if not weeks, to do.

My first attempt at a layered mandala, using 1.5mm thick birch ply:

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Mandalas

Posted on 18th March 2019 by perfectly4med

I’ve noticed recently that on drawing lines, such as writing or outlining, I’ve had a noticeable (though very minor) intention tremor. Now, this may be medication side effects, but I decided it was more likely to be lack of practice and a resultant deterioration in fine motor control. Noticing it in the first place may be due to my perfectionism as well! As a result, I’ve started drawing mandalas using my fountain pen, both for their repetitiveness/meditative process and for retraining my fine motor muscles. Here are the results so far, in date order. I’m pleased to report that after just six to seven hours of drawing over eight days, the tremor has all but gone.

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Experiments in Colour: Chameleon pens and mandalas

Posted on 7th November 2018 by perfectly4med

A while ago, I created several line drawn mandalas. I always intended to colour them in, and did so digitally for some. My favourites were saved for real hand colouring and I had the opportunity last night to do so. I used [amazon_textlink asin=’B01N5PLCQ3′ text=’Chameleon alcohol pens’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’526e71dd-e29e-11e8-99e3-31a942bc75e3′] to do my colouring and played about with a couple of ideas, some of which worked and some that didn’t. Here are the four…

Mandala 4
I’m not sure I like this one, though it’s better than Mandala 3. I started with a bisque colour that I hoped was lighter than it turned out to be… a salutary reminder to test before you apply.

Mandala 3
Ever started something, pleased with the way it was going, and then made a duff choice and spoilt the whole thing? That’s what I think of this one. The purple border is too heavy and lacking contrast. Conversely, the yellow is too harsh a contrast against the pink and the gradients too lined. Apart from that……

Mandala 2
This Aztec style mandala directed the colour choices, and I rather like the bold image that resulted.

Mandala 1

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Altered Art: What price a tag?

Posted on 5th August 2018 by perfectly4med

These are solid beech tags, 12 x 2.5 cm in size and about 1 cm thick. I’m calling them chunky gift tags and spent a day getting the settings right on the laser cutter. Variations included cutting from both sides (involving lining up the mirror image, not easy), lots of repeat cuts, and lots of sanding. Every block had to be covered with masking tape front and back prior to cutting. I have a sum total of 30 tags that passed quality control, 4 that are seconds and another 6 or 7 consigned to the bin straight away.

One of the trickiest things for an artist/maker to get right is pricing. Following guidelines from college, each of these tags should be sold for £7.50 each. I certainly wouldn’t pay that much for them. I’ve settled on £3 each with two for £5 as an offer, and even that seems a little too much. What is often overlooked when considering the price of artwork/made items are the costs involved in prototyping, learning from mistakes, the odd block that is inexplicably more dense and harder to cut than the others, and the wear and tear on equipment.

May I encourage you to ask artisans ‘what has this really cost to make?’ You may not be willing to pay that price, but at least you will know why the moniker of ‘penniless artist’ is all too real.

Altered Art: Weathered, Part II

Posted on 29th May 2018 by perfectly4med

A friend of mine put me onto Gaslands – a post-apocalyptic turn-based game that happens to use Dinky/Matchbox cars. Now, I have to admit that I’ve not actually played it yet… the fun bit has been creating Mad Max style car makeovers. The cars need to look battered and weathered, so there has been a lot of dry-brushing. Just using acrylic paints is enough, with their almost matte finish being much better than the glossy original. Continue reading →

The Studio’s Wonderwall

Posted on 16th May 2018 by perfectly4med

I’m not sure what came over me… One evening I decided that my cupboard doors in the Studio were looking a little tired and cluttered. Up to that moment, there was a collection of five year’s worth of samples, colour charts and reference material covering the doors. It took a day to strip off all the double-sided tape. I’d only discovered dual tack tape half way through… The blank canvas looked, well, very blank and very white. Thus formed the idea for my very own wonderwall:

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Bishop’s School of Prayer, 2018: Praying Hands

Posted on 14th May 2018 by perfectly4med

I’ve just returned from the inaugural Bishop’s School of Prayer, hosted at Launde Abbey by Bishop Martyn Snow. I was dubbed ‘artist-in-residence’ and was responsible for creative input, visual prayer workshops and an artist’s overview of the four-day conference. It was an amazing experience, and I hope it happens again (though probably won’t be annual).

As a ‘corporate act of art’, I created a pair of praying hands and invited attendees to add their own prayers and intercessions. After a short will-they-won’t-they period, they came good and prayers were stuck on steadily over the time at the School. For more details on the making, read on below, but in the meantime here are some pics of the finished sculpture, which will be remaining at Launde Abbey.

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Arts in Worship: Prayer Tiles

Posted on 17th April 2018 by perfectly4med

As regular readers may remember, I’m going to be artist-in-residence at this year’s inaugural Bishop’s School of Prayer, 9th-13th May at Launde Abbey in Leicestershire. There are three full days, the afternoons of which will feature workshops led by the day’s teachers, myself and the musician-in-residence. I’ve been prepping some potential workshop projects, and here are a couple of experiments that have made the grade:

There are still spaces available for the course, with both residential spaces and day passes. I do hope you will join Bishop Martyn and the other teachers and leaders for what is essentially a three-day conference on prayer.