Jessie and Nikki are on the ball, so they're ready to start up a brand new battle already! After hitting up Toronto's One of a Kind Show on Wednesday, it was decided that the best theme would be, "Production!"
Well that may seem like a silly theme, the need (or want) for production pieces is a reality for a lot of aspiring artists. It can be hard though for some people to sit down and design a successful piece, then actually fabricate it, then fabricate it over and over again so they can troubleshoot all their problems, then you have to figure out advertising, and you have to do that successfully to if you want to sell it and oh.. it's just such a big headache!
Inspired by all the things that they thought were right - and wrong - at the craft show, they want to try their hand at producing a relatively original (or at least sort-of-unique) design.
The soft-deadline for this battle will be April 18th, because that's the last day of Nicole's glass program at Sheridan (like, forever - how terrifying).
So think about production from a couple different points of view, and we'll be trying to inspire you with posts about the craft show!
Tips:
- Don't copy someone else's design, that's just too easy (and you could get in trouble)
- Consider how many steps it will take you to fabricate this design, it shouldn't be too time consuming per piece
- Take design from things that interest you, if you love cityscapes, forcing yourself to make imagery of tree lines would drive you mad
- Remember that if you love cityscapes someone else will love them too, maybe even more people than you expect
Showing posts with label Battle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battle. Show all posts
Thursday, March 28
Saturday, March 23
Figure Battle: Winner!
The results are in and the sculpture that won the figure battle was Chris' strange hot sculpted glass man! To be honest I'm surprised that anyone voted for my bear sculpture at all, and even more surprised that 10 days only garnered 6 votes - ouch!
Figure Battle
Bears 1 (16%)
Torso 2 (33%)
Man 3 (50%)
Apologies for posting late are in order! This week I was at school from as early as 8am every day, and I stayed there until 12 am, so I literally did not have the time to write this post!
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| Chris' Man |
Figure Battle
Bears 1 (16%)
Torso 2 (33%)
Man 3 (50%)
Apologies for posting late are in order! This week I was at school from as early as 8am every day, and I stayed there until 12 am, so I literally did not have the time to write this post!
Thursday, March 7
Battle End - Figures!
Whew, we've finally finished another Craft Battle, how exciting! Here are our three submitted pieces, on the left side of the page you can vote for your favorite!
Chris: Figure # 34
(Nikki speaking for Chris) This piece was sculpted while the studio was brainstorming work that could be donated to an art auction to support the homeless. Despite the easy-going sculpting techniques an intense feeling is being expressed through the chosen pose.
Nikki: Winter Family
The family in question is a mamma and baby polar bear with matching scarves. This is pretty hard to photograph, which I didn't expect. Somewhere in my room there is supposedly a bottle of white ink, and once I find it (or buy a new one) I'll be excited to see what my piece looks like when all the many creases are stained white.
The original piece was salvaged from a bargain store for 84 cents, because what a shame to let a perfectly good (albeit cheap) sculpture go to waste? I cast a silicone mold and made myself a positive wax from it. The idea that glass can give worth to an object that nobody wanted is pretty intriguing to me.
Jessie - Self Portrait from Memory
Made with sculpey original over a tin foil and masking tape armature. I wanted to use sculpey original because its more free flowing and I felt I could capture some "gesture" from it, that is also why I chose to sculpt from memory. That way I did not have to worry about all the small details.
Chris: Figure # 34
(Nikki speaking for Chris) This piece was sculpted while the studio was brainstorming work that could be donated to an art auction to support the homeless. Despite the easy-going sculpting techniques an intense feeling is being expressed through the chosen pose.
Nikki: Winter Family
The family in question is a mamma and baby polar bear with matching scarves. This is pretty hard to photograph, which I didn't expect. Somewhere in my room there is supposedly a bottle of white ink, and once I find it (or buy a new one) I'll be excited to see what my piece looks like when all the many creases are stained white.
The original piece was salvaged from a bargain store for 84 cents, because what a shame to let a perfectly good (albeit cheap) sculpture go to waste? I cast a silicone mold and made myself a positive wax from it. The idea that glass can give worth to an object that nobody wanted is pretty intriguing to me.
Jessie - Self Portrait from Memory
Made with sculpey original over a tin foil and masking tape armature. I wanted to use sculpey original because its more free flowing and I felt I could capture some "gesture" from it, that is also why I chose to sculpt from memory. That way I did not have to worry about all the small details.
Monday, January 21
Battles Recommence!
New Battle Theme: Figures!
Finally, the battles are starting back up again! Jessie has officially given me the a-okay to post a new battle, and Chris from school said he'd be happy to participate if we made the theme figures, something we both happen to need to make!
This battle will have no set time limit for Jessie's sake while she adjusts to working life, however we will work our hardest to pressure Jessie into finishing her sculpture within a decent time frame, because that's what friends are for!
This battle starts today; Monday, January 21st, 2013
How would you incorporate figures into your regular work?
Saturday, October 13
Battle 06: Start!
Here's the theme for Battle 06, if you can't guess what sort of generic fun it will be, then we are disappointed in you!
There is a particular reason why the theme is Halloween, and it's not because we love the holiday and think holidays deserve special awesome attention! No, it's because this theme is large enough that I dearly hope I can persuade some friends to enter the battle!
If you are making;
- Your own costume
- A creatively carved pumpkin
- A candy sculpture (someone please do this!)
- Some production pieces to sell
- A piece of art with Halloween themed colors
You can go on ahead and enter! Most artists seem to enjoy Halloween, so I'm operating under the assumption that we'll all be making Halloween themed art anyway!
I am doing, I'm not sure yet, hopefully a bowl!
Theme: Halloween!
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| Yup, the computer is still broken |
There is a particular reason why the theme is Halloween, and it's not because we love the holiday and think holidays deserve special awesome attention! No, it's because this theme is large enough that I dearly hope I can persuade some friends to enter the battle!
If you are making;
- Your own costume
- A creatively carved pumpkin
- A candy sculpture (someone please do this!)
- Some production pieces to sell
- A piece of art with Halloween themed colors
You can go on ahead and enter! Most artists seem to enjoy Halloween, so I'm operating under the assumption that we'll all be making Halloween themed art anyway!
I am doing, I'm not sure yet, hopefully a bowl!
Friday, October 12
End of Fall Battle!
1. Nikki
This is actually, sadly, only the second blown glass pumpkin I've ever made, I was a very, very poor student last year (sorry guys, I'll make up for it!). I recieved what turned out to be a clear and unexpectedly cold pumpkin stem bit, which is why it's so tiny, and frankly adorable - in my opinion anyway. I absolutely adore this, and the clear stem just makes me think of Cinderella for some reason!
Well the end of this battle is late, and I think also very telling for how difficult the future will be. It could just be that the time we alott ourselves is too short, but the fact of the matter is, I think both Jessie and I find it very difficult to balance art with something else, even if it's just one piddily sculpture. I suppose the midterms and due dates that we're struggling with now will one day be something like our every day (or at least our average) work life, and that's a little bit scary.
I myself am an art student, so surely I should be able to balance art with art! The due dates that matter are for academic classes though, while the due dates for glass related work tend to fall to 'end of the semester critiques'. Yes everyone in the studio is always working and creating, but it almost seems harder without a strict regime to follow.
In our Independent Research Paper course the teacher is trying to avoid this 'leave it to the last minute / get caught off guard / be less productive than you should be' kind of unfortunate circumstance by setting a schedule for us. This week was the rough one paragraph draft for our proposal, next week it will be refined, two weeks from then we will have a 750 word rough draft, and ultimately we'll have a 3000 word paper.
When this blog started out I was extremely excited and got far far ahead of myself, I really wanted to make it stranger friendly from the get go, to invite everyone in to come and enjoy the journey of art with me, but I like the direction that I think it's taking now. I don't think Jessie and I should worry so much about trying to guess what posts would appease our audience as we should just be posting about our journeys, and especially about those moments when we recognize a trial that must be dealt with (be it a one time issue or a life long one). At least, I enjoy writing like this. I think the post about Goals has recieved more likes than any other (and that's one of the few ways we have to judge the popularity of posts), so that has to mean this is the right direction. Besides, the most exciting thing to me is to be able to share the information that I learn in school with people who aren't lucky enough to be there (can you tell that I really, really like school? Ahem).
 |
| Pumpkin! |
Well the end of this battle is late, and I think also very telling for how difficult the future will be. It could just be that the time we alott ourselves is too short, but the fact of the matter is, I think both Jessie and I find it very difficult to balance art with something else, even if it's just one piddily sculpture. I suppose the midterms and due dates that we're struggling with now will one day be something like our every day (or at least our average) work life, and that's a little bit scary.
I myself am an art student, so surely I should be able to balance art with art! The due dates that matter are for academic classes though, while the due dates for glass related work tend to fall to 'end of the semester critiques'. Yes everyone in the studio is always working and creating, but it almost seems harder without a strict regime to follow.
In our Independent Research Paper course the teacher is trying to avoid this 'leave it to the last minute / get caught off guard / be less productive than you should be' kind of unfortunate circumstance by setting a schedule for us. This week was the rough one paragraph draft for our proposal, next week it will be refined, two weeks from then we will have a 750 word rough draft, and ultimately we'll have a 3000 word paper.
When this blog started out I was extremely excited and got far far ahead of myself, I really wanted to make it stranger friendly from the get go, to invite everyone in to come and enjoy the journey of art with me, but I like the direction that I think it's taking now. I don't think Jessie and I should worry so much about trying to guess what posts would appease our audience as we should just be posting about our journeys, and especially about those moments when we recognize a trial that must be dealt with (be it a one time issue or a life long one). At least, I enjoy writing like this. I think the post about Goals has recieved more likes than any other (and that's one of the few ways we have to judge the popularity of posts), so that has to mean this is the right direction. Besides, the most exciting thing to me is to be able to share the information that I learn in school with people who aren't lucky enough to be there (can you tell that I really, really like school? Ahem).
Wednesday, October 3
Battle 04 Winner!
Total Votes: 5
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|||||
| It looks like this week's winner is none other than Jessie and her stupidly adorable bear! I really can't wait to see what he looks like after some more painting, and I really wish I had concepts as neat as this bear -shakes fist-. |
 | |
| He's too darn cute, damnit! |
On a happy side note, Jessie and I both noticed that the last post - Organizing Your Goals (3 Starting Steps) - has received 10 Facebook likes all on it's own! We're just overjoyed, seriously!
Friday, September 28
Battle 05: Start!
New Battle Theme: Fall!
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| (Temporary photo) |
If you aren't sure what that means, don't worry, I'm not sure either, this theme is all Jessie! Off my cuff I imagine that anything autumn themed would win the battle this time around. It could have pretty orange leaves, a pumpkin, a turkey (for thanksgiving), or anything else that you relate to fall!
Personally I find such an open ended theme to be a little bit difficult, so assuming Jess already has an idea (it is her theme after all), she's probably a good step or two ahead of me. If I can't think of a representational sculpture to do, I could always take this as a good moment in time to go into the abstract (as long as I throw some leaves into whatever I make it will be fine, right?).
This battle starts today; Friday, September 28, 2012
And it ends; Wednesday, October, 10, 2012
Wednesday, September 26
End of Battle 04: World Issues!
← Vote in the poll to choose a winner!
This has been another long and trying week for both Jessie and I. It's really hard to believe that two weeks has already gone by since I last freaked out because I am terrible at keeping track of time. School is clearly overwhelming for the both of us so we will have to brainstorm an adjusted schedule for our competitions, we've barely found time to talk this whole month though, so finding the time to reschedule things may be impossible! Haha, I'm sure we'll manage somehow though, right Jess? Right Nikki :D
1) Nikki
My goal for this battle was to kilncast a penguin and enamel black onto him. I very recently discovered that enamels aren't something you can just get perfect the first time around though, and so I settled on staining my penguin with india ink, which is just fine with me because I've used it before and I love it! He'll need a couple more coats before his black is through and through, you can tell on the images that he is still a little splotchy. He's also quite intriguing to photograph (in a fun way), so I'm thinking clear X opaque color is a good direction to head towards in the future. I'm happy I figured that out, because it makes these battles so worth while, and as I said in school today during a presentation, no matter how bogged down and overwhelmed I am feeling (which is a ton, every damn day), it's nice to know that I will always create one thing, even if it is just every two weeks. And even if it is not a serious piece, like one I would enter into my final critiques or the art show, I still love what I make.
2) Jessie
My piece was focusing on an issue I read awhile back and haven't forgotten. Last year sometime, I read about how polar bears were drowning from a lack of sea ice because of global warming. This image of a polar bear drowning is a strong one for me. Because of that I was a bit torn and I was headed in two different directions with this piece. I could go the serious route and create a dramatic piece of a literal interpretation or I could go for the lighter route that is cute but it has a measure. I decided (since I haven't got using resin down yet) to go with the latter. I was trying to think of how they might solve this issue... A few things I thought up were (warning some are a bit silly); make giant ice cubes and drop them into the water, make bear platforms where they could rest on after a long swim and finally equip every bear with a PFD (Personal Flotation Device)! And that is basically how my bear in his life jacket was created. He is make with sculpey original over my usual armature. I spend a whooping 5-6 hours on him. He isn't done, I will need to add a few glaze coats on him and I might drill him into a stand because he has some trouble standing.
This has been another long and trying week for both Jessie and I. It's really hard to believe that two weeks has already gone by since I last freaked out because I am terrible at keeping track of time. School is clearly overwhelming for the both of us so we will have to brainstorm an adjusted schedule for our competitions, we've barely found time to talk this whole month though, so finding the time to reschedule things may be impossible! Haha, I'm sure we'll manage somehow though, right Jess? Right Nikki :D
1) Nikki
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My goal for this battle was to kilncast a penguin and enamel black onto him. I very recently discovered that enamels aren't something you can just get perfect the first time around though, and so I settled on staining my penguin with india ink, which is just fine with me because I've used it before and I love it! He'll need a couple more coats before his black is through and through, you can tell on the images that he is still a little splotchy. He's also quite intriguing to photograph (in a fun way), so I'm thinking clear X opaque color is a good direction to head towards in the future. I'm happy I figured that out, because it makes these battles so worth while, and as I said in school today during a presentation, no matter how bogged down and overwhelmed I am feeling (which is a ton, every damn day), it's nice to know that I will always create one thing, even if it is just every two weeks. And even if it is not a serious piece, like one I would enter into my final critiques or the art show, I still love what I make.
2) Jessie
My piece was focusing on an issue I read awhile back and haven't forgotten. Last year sometime, I read about how polar bears were drowning from a lack of sea ice because of global warming. This image of a polar bear drowning is a strong one for me. Because of that I was a bit torn and I was headed in two different directions with this piece. I could go the serious route and create a dramatic piece of a literal interpretation or I could go for the lighter route that is cute but it has a measure. I decided (since I haven't got using resin down yet) to go with the latter. I was trying to think of how they might solve this issue... A few things I thought up were (warning some are a bit silly); make giant ice cubes and drop them into the water, make bear platforms where they could rest on after a long swim and finally equip every bear with a PFD (Personal Flotation Device)! And that is basically how my bear in his life jacket was created. He is make with sculpey original over my usual armature. I spend a whooping 5-6 hours on him. He isn't done, I will need to add a few glaze coats on him and I might drill him into a stand because he has some trouble standing.
Wednesday, September 19
Unconscious Art Winner!
It appears the winner of this week's contest is fellow student Chris! I don't think anyone had a chance at beating Chris' idea to use bright and colorful playdoh.
With playdoh in mind, I really want to comment on the fact that Chris took the asked of sculpture - which Jess and I were both attempting to work with, and he simplified it down to a one step process (as in, no molding, wire structure, etc.), by just saying 'screw it' and using a different material that will pretty much offer the same out come.
I don't know about Jess, but I might do trial sculptures out of playdoh in the future. This might come in handy, especially since I'm planning on starting a labor intensive series of human figures in the near future, and of course, because I hate myself, the pose of the body is the most important aspect of the sculptures.
Chris
|
6
(75%)
|
Jessie
|
2
(25%)
|
Nikki
|
0
(0%)
|
With playdoh in mind, I really want to comment on the fact that Chris took the asked of sculpture - which Jess and I were both attempting to work with, and he simplified it down to a one step process (as in, no molding, wire structure, etc.), by just saying 'screw it' and using a different material that will pretty much offer the same out come.
I don't know about Jess, but I might do trial sculptures out of playdoh in the future. This might come in handy, especially since I'm planning on starting a labor intensive series of human figures in the near future, and of course, because I hate myself, the pose of the body is the most important aspect of the sculptures.
Friday, September 14
Battle 04: Start!
New Battle Theme: Global Issues!
You may be thinking, "What the heck kind of theme is that?" but I really think it's one every one can relate to! Whether it's oil, plastic surgery, rich people, abused kittens, forestry, or global warming, I think just about everyone has an opinion about at least one global issue!
I personally wouldn't think of this piece as a heavy, serious, "How do I convey all my disappointment in this situation," sort of thing, that might be a little bit too heavy. Instead, I have approached this challenge from the point of view of, "If I were going to donate a piece of art to one of my favorite causes, what would I make?"
I actually have a whole slew of things I'd want to make, from something as simple as a black and clear penguin for global warming, to a realistic, skillfully crafted foot, with the last one or two toes butchered off by the saw (people actually do that you know!).
In our discussions of plastic surgery issues, Jessie and I have created a whole page of amusing pieces that comment on how silly plastic surgery is. From a bear with absurdly long teeth to a peacock with a neon spray painted tail, we've covered every animal we can think of (which actually wasn't that many).
This week, if you haven't noticed, there is no image, as my computer is on the verge of death, so I am very afraid to try and run photoshop (yes that is what I make my silly doodles in). Once everything is copacetic I'll edit a photo into this post :)!
I'm not sure what Jessie is making for this competition, so I can't wait to see!
As a side note: Returning visitors may or may not have noticed that we've been attempting to post at 10:00 AM (-5GMT) - in my brain that equates to people being able to check a new post during a lunch break. It may or may not have also been noticed that we have run late on a few posts, due to the start of school. With this in mind, I'm going to change the official posting time to 1:00 PM (-5GMT), because I am responsible for the battle-related posts and my morning classes finish at Noon, so even if I forget to hit 'Schedule' the night before, it's okay!
Wednesday, September 12
End of Battle 03: Unconcsious Art!
<- Please vote for the Unconscious Battle piece that you think is the best using this poll!
Voting will run until Sunday September 9th at Midnight (-5 GMT)
The Unconscious Battle is OVER so let's check out our entries! I hope they're all very inspiring!
1) Chris
I've been wanting to try this in 3D. So Here is Unconscious 3D #1.
Here are the rules I set for my self.
Get 3 colour of play-d... er um... modelling clay. :P
1) Tear off colour #1 (red)
-knead and squash it using only the tips of my fingers (without
looking at it).
-Stick down on the base (without looking at it).
2) Repeat with colour #2 (yellow)
3) Repeat with colour #3 (orange)
4) repeat (after a few minutes look and see if it's big enough)
Like everything thing in life, it's best to not have too many rules. :D
2) Jessie
For my unconscious piece I decided to just smoosh the tinfoil together into an interesting shape (which turned out to be a ball with random flattened sides and random curves protruding from it). I covered it in masking tape trying to show off the curves and make them more prominent. I then covered it in a thin layer of clay and I liked the curves so I tried to work with them. I didn't have any of my tools or really anything except my hands to work with the clay (First week back at school with only the essentials). In the end I think it looks somewhat like a barn owl head with fins! Through the whole process I didn't think about what I was making, I just did what felt right.
3) Nikki
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I had technical difficulties this time around, so clearly I'm not going to be the winner ): I made a couple of waxes and a clay piece using the unconscious process, and while I'm sure they'll look wonderful in glass, they of course look hideous in their unfinished material. What's my excuse? Our de-steamer was broken so I couldn't de-mold any of my pieces (the ones I've started casting from '31 Days of Wax'). The shortest program I've ever created for kilncasting is over 48 hours, and actually takes a lot longer than that to cool down, so by the time the de-steamer was fixed, it was too late for me! Alas, woe is me. I will, however, be very happy to know someone else will definitely win, because I like writing about other people, and I love their pieces far more than I do my own!
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| The 'Owl Face' |
3) Nikki
.JPG)
I had technical difficulties this time around, so clearly I'm not going to be the winner ): I made a couple of waxes and a clay piece using the unconscious process, and while I'm sure they'll look wonderful in glass, they of course look hideous in their unfinished material. What's my excuse? Our de-steamer was broken so I couldn't de-mold any of my pieces (the ones I've started casting from '31 Days of Wax'). The shortest program I've ever created for kilncasting is over 48 hours, and actually takes a lot longer than that to cool down, so by the time the de-steamer was fixed, it was too late for me! Alas, woe is me. I will, however, be very happy to know someone else will definitely win, because I like writing about other people, and I love their pieces far more than I do my own!
Wednesday, September 5
02 Fantasy Battle Winner!
The results for the second craft battle are as follows:
Total Votes: 4
It looks as if Nikki has won by one whole vote! Unfortunately it doesn't feel much like a real win when there were only four votes total.
Jessie (Nixie)
|
1
(25%)
|
Nikki (Dragon)
|
2
(50%)
|
Panda (Unicorn)
|
1
(25%)
|
Total Votes: 4
It looks as if Nikki has won by one whole vote! Unfortunately it doesn't feel much like a real win when there were only four votes total.
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| Nameless the Dragon |
Friday, August 31
Battle 03 Start!
Battle Theme: Unconscious
End: Wednesday, September 12th, 2012
You can find the rules here!
You can find our handy tutorial on unconscious art here!
Okay, dinosaurs and fantasy creatures are fun - super fun - but we can't let anyone get too comfortable, because we're jerks, so our next battle theme is unconscious art! Did anyone else pick up the hint when we did a sort of 'how-to' example post about it? It actually feels more opportune to us if we do a difficult battle like this early on because when the competitors are a core group of familiar people, we can really hash any issues out regarding the theme. And if we can't explain the concept well to each other, then we know that we shouldn't really try guiding strangers through Unconscious art. Or something like that?
If anyone is interested in unconscious art they can drop a comment or e-mail and we will be more than happy to brainstorm with you!
Wednesday, August 29
End of Battle 02!
I hope this post is to everyone's liking, I'm a little bit under the weather so we'll be sticking with the basic 'photo and description' type of post today:
1) Jessie
Presenting Nixie! First off I should say I am not known for being able to do human figures or at least proportional human figures! I know there are parts of her that could be better but either way I am super proud :) A (Water) Nixie, for those who are not familiar, is a water spirit who can shape-shift, but generally appears in the human form. The rocks were random rocks I found at the beach and they are PL'd together. That glue is strong! I added in a few driftwood twigs I found while at the beach to the base. The Nixie is made out of a wire armature which is bulked out with tinfoil and masking tape. I used super sculpey clay and acrylic paints. She is airbrushed and I think she turned out fairly well. I forgot to time how long she took.
This is my nameless dragon! (Edit: I've actually decided to call him Nameless the Dragon, because it sounds cool and reminds me of Toothless) I honestly don't remember how long he took me to make, just that it was a very, very long time. Considering that at this point in time my skills to smooth out the wax are still really undeveloped, I'm glad his texture turned out just how I wanted it to! At one point in time I accidentally snapped a wing in half >< Luckily it was a clean break and a bit of UV glue fixed it right up! I casted him in clear glass, then painted on black india ink. I used a wet paper towel to wipe the major surfaces off, leaving his texture a lot more pronounced than it otherwise would have been :). I don't think I have anything to complain about when it comes to this guy, even his wings fully melted and I had been so worried about them!
3) Panda (so cute!)
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For the Mythical Creatures Week, I have sewn a unicorn. This little guy is named Rad, aka Radically Rainbow. He is made of fleece and clouds and rainbows and unicorn things, and wants to be your friend. Magical wish-granting power not included.
Wednesday, August 22
The World of Miniatures / Battle 1 Winner
The results for the first craft battle are as follows:
In the case that either Jessie or Nikki should win a battle, we'll be giving you a random post instead of an interview, because you already know about us. Now, Jessie's random post:
First off, I want to give a big Hurrah! For Nikki and I have reached 1k views in less than one month! :D Thats very exciting for us and we had a mini celebration squee to celebrate. Now all we need to work on is more comments! Hint hint :P (You don't have to have an account to comment - Nikki)
Alright getting back down to business, a few days ago Ieavesdropped overheard some lady talking about her art while on the bus. She was telling her friends how she was recently talking to someone and was going to get featured in their magazine. By this point, I was fairly interested and imagined what sort of art she dabbled in. Finally she mentioned what her craft was... Miniature Art. This answer shocked me and I immediately realized that my knowledge could be measured as little to none. When thinking of miniature art I first think of those miniature food items (such as tiny waffles or bento boxes) that I often see on craft sites. I decided to google miniature sculptures and was delighted by what I found. Below are three artists that stood out to me the most. :)
“It began when I was five years old,” says Willard. “I started making houses for ants because I thought they needed somewhere to live. Then I made them shoes and hats. It was a fantasy world I escaped to. That’s how my career as a micro-sculptor began.”
He said it perfectly, miniature sculptures really do give me a feeling of fantasy and childish whimsy. I love them. You can listen to Willard's TEDTalk where he goes over how through his hard life he was able to find his love of 'micro-sculpting'. (I love Will's story - Nikki)
So although I guess I shouldn't eavesdrop, but at least something really cool came out of it. I hope you enjoyed our walk through the world of miniatures. :)
Note: I am not sure if there is a direct difference between 'micro-sculptures' and miniature sculptures, so sorry if there is.
Jessie (Velociraptor)
|
11
(26%)
|
Nikki (Triceratops)
|
16
(38%)
|
Ducky (Spike from MLP)
|
14
(33%)
|
Panda (Dino plushie)
|
1
(2%)
|
 |
| And the winner is, Nikki's Triceratops! Not sure how that happened. |
First off, I want to give a big Hurrah! For Nikki and I have reached 1k views in less than one month! :D Thats very exciting for us and we had a mini celebration squee to celebrate. Now all we need to work on is more comments! Hint hint :P (You don't have to have an account to comment - Nikki)
Alright getting back down to business, a few days ago I
Christopher Boffoli
Christopher is a photographer, writer, artist and filmmaker who is based in Seattle. The following pieces are from his Big Appetites series of fine art photographs. His motivation is definitely something I can relate to, since it is the reason why I love miniature things. Basically he was fascinated by tiny objects with great detail and as a child he collected model rail roads and built model vehicles. |
It was so like Patty. Right idea. Wrong execution.
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422 days without an accident at the chocolate quarry.
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Dalton M. Ghetti
Mr. Ghetti was born and raised in Brazil, but has lived in the U.S. since 1985. He is a self-taught artist who is a carpenter and home modeler by trade. He finds sharpening pencils to be therapeutic and enjoys doing so as his hobby. Visit his site for some more info :) | |
| Hand Saw |
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| Chain |
Willard Wigan
I love this guys story. I am just going to quote directly from his website.“It began when I was five years old,” says Willard. “I started making houses for ants because I thought they needed somewhere to live. Then I made them shoes and hats. It was a fantasy world I escaped to. That’s how my career as a micro-sculptor began.”
He said it perfectly, miniature sculptures really do give me a feeling of fantasy and childish whimsy. I love them. You can listen to Willard's TEDTalk where he goes over how through his hard life he was able to find his love of 'micro-sculpting'. (I love Will's story - Nikki)
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| Star Wars |
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| Nine Camels |
Note: I am not sure if there is a direct difference between 'micro-sculptures' and miniature sculptures, so sorry if there is.
Friday, August 17
Battle 02 Start!
Alright, we're already on to our second craft battle and gosh I am just so excited! The details are as follows;
Start: Friday August 17th, 2012
End: Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
As always if you would like to show off your fine work on this blog after the craft battle is finished, please remember to check out and follow our simple rules.
I'll let you know right now that my inspiration started off as simple as 'dragon' but my concept for style led me to reminisce about Mulan. And you know what? Having a solid reference seems to be extremely helpful, instead of pushing myself to fabricate my own style out of thin air, I'm planning on starting with a Mulan stylized creature, then the more sketches and/or pieces I make, the more I can tweak the style into my own. It makes life a whole lot easier!
Anyway, rambling aside, I hope you ponder some fun fantasy creatures today, maybe do some research into the less known ones?
Battle Theme: Fantasy Creatures
Start: Friday August 17th, 2012
End: Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
As always if you would like to show off your fine work on this blog after the craft battle is finished, please remember to check out and follow our simple rules.
I'll let you know right now that my inspiration started off as simple as 'dragon' but my concept for style led me to reminisce about Mulan. And you know what? Having a solid reference seems to be extremely helpful, instead of pushing myself to fabricate my own style out of thin air, I'm planning on starting with a Mulan stylized creature, then the more sketches and/or pieces I make, the more I can tweak the style into my own. It makes life a whole lot easier!
Anyway, rambling aside, I hope you ponder some fun fantasy creatures today, maybe do some research into the less known ones?