WIP City, Population: This Guy
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey Guys-
So, it's been a little over a week, and you're probably expecting the announcement of "I finished this big thing!"... or that might just be me wanting that from myself. Regardless of who wants or who is asking, that is not what this post is about. So, let's talk about what's where and why.
First, the Portrait Tree: I've finished all twelve portraits, which can be seen HERE. Now, onto the part with the tree- this requires making a 3D tree to glue the portraits onto. This is challenging for a number of reasons, but for me the hardest part is my chosen medium- I COULD just sculpt it with papier-mâché (I had to copy that because I STILL don't know how to type accents), and it would probably look good, BUT I want to 3D print it. I want to do this for a few reasons, one of the most notable being.... I GOT A NEW PRINTER! I finally made a decision and got a CR-10S; it is not perfect, but when things go well I'm really happy with the quality and the huge build volume. So, yeah- I want to put that to use for this, along with this idea I have about this project wherein (without giving too much away) a reproducible form of the scaffolding would be essential. However, I'm not the best at 3D modeling, so tree sculpting is going slow- after several failed attempts, I've made a base I'm pretty happy with and a trunk I'm.... ok with. So, I'll have to fix that, but then it's onto branches. The plan is to print in parts so that things can be fitted together later and have a flat print surface and hopefully minimize support material. Here's a half-size version of the current design with gross green PLA:
So, those are still very much "in the works, which sucks because I was really hoping that would be done by now.
I'm still trying for Rochelle Salt stuff (more on that later), but I'm having trouble forming big, usable crystals, so.... not great there. If anyone knows anything about forming large crystals relatively quickly that is relevant to home chemistry, please let me know!
I've also been trying to figure out what to do next. I have a bunch of scraps of things started, but I don't know where to go with most of them. Last Thursday, I finally painted this deer on the right that I sculpted a few weeks ago. I decided to go without eyes because 1. I've been very self-conscious about how EVERYTHING I paint has eyes (my therapist brought it up and now I feel weird about it) and 2. it felt very Annihilation this way (I won't spoil anything, but GO RENT OR BUY ANNIHILATION IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT!!!! Also, read the whole trilogy and Borne because all Jeff Vandermeer has done for the last few years is describe the most beautifully horrific and destroyed biology). Once I had the deer done, I needed a world for it, and that's where I got stuck for this project. My idea right now is to use a tiny piece of wood as a platform/shelf for the creature, jutting out of a big painting that is a world that maybe the little buddy is too evolved for, or very different from....? I took a 24x21"ish (it is not a perfect rectangle) piece of wood from the shop at Industry Lab and gesso'd the crap out of it, but now I'm afraid to to do anything because I don't know what to do and I've never done anything that big. I'd love some suggestions of where this deer should be if you have any.
While hemming and hawing over that piece on Sunday, I had a panic attack and decided to do/start two other things that may bear fruit. First, I made my own scratchboard for that cool scratch art look (I might post a guide on how to do this if people want), and then made a little slogan drawing with it:
Lastly, I did a sketch last week of a cat that was a building, and decided I was in love with it enough to try and paint it on a 16x20" canvas. It' going slow, but I'm trying to do it far more "painterly" than I might have in the past, and doing some weird play with color where most things have sort of a shimmery quality where you can't really tell what color or type of color it should be. I'm hoping that I can finish him tonight, but in the means.... here's where I'm at and the sketch:
Talk To Me- I Like It!
Justice McSometimes