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The [chat] Who Circumnavigated Fairyland

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Posts

  • BlindPsychicBlindPsychic Registered User regular
    Great job man! Keep it up!

    In other news, anyone using the new version of CC Illustrator? Its running like total trash on these brand new imacs at work.

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    I upgraded but haven't used the new illustrator yet. I noticed that some of the smoothing on the 2018 PS is not super compatible with my computer, but I wouldn't call any of it major issues.

    Does illustrator do the whole scratch disks thing? Maybe you can mess around with your settings?

  • BlindPsychicBlindPsychic Registered User regular
    yeah i rebooted with that setup and it seems to be running a bit smoother. we'll see once im really in the grind

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited November 2017


    Havent been posting rando animations lately. (Slightly NSFW)

    Iruka on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    Is this what LSD feels like

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • lyriumlyrium Registered User regular
    gavindel wrote: »
    Just cracked my next ream of newsprint paper. That marks 2000 pages of newsprint since I started on this "totally serious this time guys I mean it seriously stop laughing" crack at drawing.

    Congrats dude!
    My 9 year old nephew was visiting so I pulled out a stack of printer paper and crayons/colored pencils for him on the living room table. He drew so much stuff that now I'm thinking hm, maybe I should leave this out all the time and take a lesson from his productivity :)

  • m!ttensm!ttens he/himRegistered User regular
    Hi all,

    Like the thread title mentions, I recently decided I wanted to pick up a new hobby and decided to get into linocutting after wanting an Ex Libris stamp for my personal library and not finding anything that I liked online. That led to reading up about stamp carving and relief printmaking, which prompted a hazy memory of enjoying doing a linocut print in a middle school art class a couple of decades ago.

    Just a quick background on my art history since I've never posted in the Artist's Corner before: I am pretty terrible at drawing and never worked to improve those skills, partially due to no big interest in improving and partially from a lack of encouragement from art teachers in the past. I have made a few pieces of abstract art for my house focused on color, shape and texture play, but nothing that requires fine motor skills. :biggrin: I enjoy working with my hands and have done furniture restoration, some wood carving, pottery, and model airplane painting in the past, so I thought this project may tie into any skills/interests I already have.

    I plan to put together a post in the next day or so showing the progress I've made so far to offer up for any critiques but in the meantime, has anyone worked in this medium before, or more broadly done any relief printing, that can offer up any advice on techniques or things to look out for? My first project is planned to be a 5x7 print of a pineapple for a Christmas present for my spouse (she likes the way they look and it's a running joke/scavenger hunt in our house that there is an image/sculpture of a pineapple in pretty much every room, so I figure one more can't hurt!) so I hope a deadline will push me to put in the work at a steady pace.

    Equipment purchased so far:
    • A dozen sheets of 5"x7" battleship grey linoleum
    • A tub of black oil-based relief ink
    • A 4" soft rubber brayer (it came with a tube of black ink which I didn't know about when ordering, but I don't remember if it's oil or water-based)
    • A set of gouges and stropping set from Flexcut
    • A bench hook because I was too lazy to make one :P

    I still need to find a chunk of glass for rolling ink but that's a low priority at the moment, and all the art paper I have in the house right now is probably too thick/textured to produce clean prints so I may need to go out and get some paper as well.

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited November 2017
    Hey @m!ttens, rolled this into the chat thread since new threads are reserved for art getting critiques. Feel free to copy that over to a new thread when you are ready to post some work.

    A few people around have done some lino-cuts. I'm an amateur, I did a few last year, though. I only recommend making sure you cut away from yourself and keep those blades well away from your other hand. I'm very clumbsy and didn't have a place to secure my work to a table, so I protected my other hand with a glove (after cutting myself first, of course)

    Iruka on
  • m!ttensm!ttens he/himRegistered User regular
    edited November 2017
    Ok that's fine, sorry if I violated any rules, Iruka, I was just bored on my lunch so thought I would post an OP placeholder and upload some photos this evening. Right now I've made my initial sketch, then did a graphite transfer over to the lino and traced over that with a sharpie because I knew I would smear everything into the point of non-visibility. I have tomorrow off for the holiday so I'll probably get started on my cuts tonight or tomorrow at the latest!

    ----

    Edit to avoid double-posting:

    I've pulled some photos off my phone, namely the tracing I made on vellum paper over my original sketch, and then the lino block after doing a rubbing from the vellum and retracing with a sharpie.
    6ELOa6m.png?4
    uy221h7.png?1

    I'm planning to carve out the whitespace in the pineapple fruit area and leave the leaves (har har) in raised relief for a bit of contrast against the fruit. The significance of the E & W pattern is that's my wife's initials :)

    m!ttens on
  • JarsJars Registered User regular
    I ate too much sugar and now I can't draw lines. oops

  • gavindelgavindel The reason all your software is brokenRegistered User regular
    Jars wrote: »
    I ate too much sugar and now I can't draw lines. oops

    Same happens with caffiene and inking. Don't think of it as an obstruction; think of it as a handicap!

    Book - Royal road - Free! Seraphim === TTRPG - Wuxia - Free! Seln Alora
  • lyriumlyrium Registered User regular
    gavindel wrote: »
    Jars wrote: »
    I ate too much sugar and now I can't draw lines. oops

    Same happens with caffiene and inking. Don't think of it as an obstruction; think of it as a handicap!

    Quick, eat a bunch of pizza to weigh yourself back down. It's the only way!

  • danxdanx Registered User regular
    Wish it was sugar causing these wobbly lines but seems muscle memory fades quickly. I'd been using a ruler to practice 3 point perspective for a few days and now my free hand lines are either wobbly or are straight off to Gibraltar.

    It's been 2 days dammit.

  • BlindPsychicBlindPsychic Registered User regular
    do you know the drawing exercises? Check this out, it helped me a lot
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgDNDOKnArk&t=7s

  • danxdanx Registered User regular
    Yeah those are the ones I stopped doing for a few days. Think it was my grip on the pen. Was holding it really tightly when using the ruler over the past few days. Once I loosened it up a bit lines were more accurate and straight.

  • FlayFlay Registered User regular
    Since Christmas is coming up soonish, has anyone grabbed any good art-of books this year?

  • ProspicienceProspicience The Raven King DenvemoloradoRegistered User regular
    edited November 2017
    While it's not straight up an "art-of" book, I picked up The Future Is Now by Josan Gonzales, has a very cyberpunk feel. It's also a story/graphic novel (sans dialog), the detail in every page reminds me a bit of the original Akira novels. Definitely enjoy getting lost in its pages.

    The video is made from animation of some stills from the book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRve8Gsby5o

    Prospicience on
  • danxdanx Registered User regular
    edited November 2017
    Switching to a 'daylight' bulb after using a 'warm white' for years is really weird. It's like switching from an old lcd which has a slightly yellow tinge no matter how it's adjusted to a modern one with a good icc profile. Or the difference between 80s/90s US soaps again like the Young and the Restless and todays TV.

    This bulb is remote control and can switch colours but I mainly bought it for the ability to adjust the bulb later at night since there's only one light in here. Last time we had a 'daylight' bulb in here it was too bright at night and kept me up to all hours over winter.

    As a plus we can have a mini rave in my room.


    edit: Just googled that show. It's still going. :confused: My gran used to watch it all the time when she watched us as kids. That and Eldorado.

    danx on
  • m3nacem3nace Registered User regular
    Uh, hey guys... what's up?
    also, @flay the new Syd Mead art book looks killer. I got the Sentury ones a couple years ago and they're kinda underwhelming, not the movie material I was searching for, but looks like The Movie Art of Syd Mead has it all.

  • m!ttensm!ttens he/himRegistered User regular
    I finished carving my first project tonight! Here's a low-angle shot to show the relief, and a straight on shot through a mirror to show what it will look like when printed. I screwed up my first try when I realized about 1/4 of the way through that all my letter Es would be backwards once printed. Unfortunate but I'm glad I caught my mistake relatively early and it was good to practice cuts before I restarted with the new block.

    khxkXSQ.jpg
    E6AGWky.png

    I think I made my cuts way too deep but I didn't know how shallow I could make something to avoid getting inked. My next piece of lino will probably just be some technique practice to work on shading for light and dark sections. If anyone has any critiques or good resources to point me towards it would be much appreciated!

  • FlayFlay Registered User regular
    edited November 2017
    I don't know much about lino, but I think that'll make a nice print M!ttens
    m3nace wrote: »
    Uh, hey guys... what's up?
    also, @flay the new Syd Mead art book looks killer. I got the Sentury ones a couple years ago and they're kinda underwhelming, not the movie material I was searching for, but looks like The Movie Art of Syd Mead has it all.

    Sweet I haven't heard of that one.

    On that topic I was really excited for the Blade Runner 2049 artbook, but it's actually pretty disappointing. Best purchase I've made this year was the Japanese version of the Bloodborne artbook. The english version has terrible magazine paper stock and the type is basically unreadable, but the Japanese softcover version has way nicer paper, and most of the text is in English too.

    Flay on
  • PyrianPyrian Registered User regular
    m!ttens wrote: »
    I screwed up my first try when I realized about 1/4 of the way through that all my letter Es would be backwards once printed.
    I once did an entire game's worth of characters "left handed" because I modeled their poses looking in a mirror.

  • m!ttensm!ttens he/himRegistered User regular
    Today I went out to the other side of town that has fancy art supplies and bought a nice piece of paper for making prints and a pad of nice drawing paper for doing some tests. Then after we got home of course I had to immediately go make a test print from my linocut. Here is the second test print that I made (N.B. I bumped up the brightness in the image because it's a little dim in my basement):

    WXWHLh6.png?1

    I'm going to carve off some of those high marks on the outside to get a cleaner print and maybe get some of the slightly smudgier cells on the inside. The final printing paper is a really nice creamy color. Then it's off to go figure out a nice matte and frame and my wife's xmas gift will be complete!

    Next projects I'm considering are an Ex Libris stamp (maybe a 2"x3" size) with a doodle of my dog curled up sleeping and another 5"x7" block print of one of my dogs' heads (or maybe I can do one of each).

  • PyrianPyrian Registered User regular
    Anybody else look at that and see "Ew ew ew ew ew ew..." XD

  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    edited December 2017
    *edit instead of double posting*

    I fixed all my ink related issues, yay.

    Today I realized I think I'm going to take almost as long figuring out and taping on the registration for the second color as I did just trying to print the first color.

    I'm bad at this and manual registration seems like an art unto itself. If people are interested I will post pictures with what I end up deciding to rig up.

    Doodmann on
    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
  • Speaking of animation, Arin from Game Grumps put up these videos where he goes through some of his older animation flash files, which are kinda interesting as it quickly goes from a 'making of' to a 'man I could do this better let me show you how' self critique. Maybe not Disney's finest animation at work here, but there's some good advice in there about how to squeeze just a little bit more life out of limited animation.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFPkzhjlUYg
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DhJlzbfAuo

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    I thought flash crashing at the end was the most appropriate part of the second video. I also did not realize how much of the star bomb stuff he did himself, that dude must work 24/7.

  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    Is it all right that I audibly yelped when I say how many layers he had going on? I am not cutout for animation.

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • JuggernutJuggernut Registered User regular
    I think I'm gonna have to put art on pause until I can suss out these stupid technical pens. Either the wire is bent (doubtful) the weight or seal is blocked or there's still some moisture in the mechanism which is making my ink run and well up at the end, thus rendering line work and stippling almost impossible. I ordered a cleaning kit with a little gear wrench so I can take the pen mechanism apart and hopefully clean and/or dry it.

    I had to abandon a drawing halfway through because i just couldn't keep fighting the pen and now my mood is all shot to hell.

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    Are you dead set on the technical pens?

  • JuggernutJuggernut Registered User regular
    They're a pain in the ass, yeah but when they work they work really well. I like them a lot more than dip pens.

    I think this is operator error. Last time I cleaned them I didn't completely disassemble the mechanism and I think there's moisture inside which is making the ink run really thin.

  • NightDragonNightDragon 6th Grade Username Registered User regular
    It might depend on the brand you're using? Like, I remember my mother telling me that Rapidographs would clog up constantly...so Microns were a better [and more modern] choice if you were looking for a very very small line width.

  • JuggernutJuggernut Registered User regular
    I think the two big refillable cartridge technical pen brands are Rotring and Koh-i-noor. I'm using koh-i-noor. The thing with the technical pen is that as long as you use it consistently you really shouldn't have any clogging issues. The problem is when they sit for weeks and the ink crusts up inside. Or in my case it flows too freely.

    I like then mainly because they're refillable. If I'm working on a bigger piece I can about blow through an entire Micron so I usually end up buying new pens every time, which can add up. So there's a bigger investment up front but I think ultimately it pays for itself. If I had a lot more space and a whole art station I'd probably be using nib pens instead, but the rapidographs are semi portable and about the same amount of work I think for way more ink per... stroke?

  • NightDragonNightDragon 6th Grade Username Registered User regular
    I haven't used that type of pen, but I've noticed a difference in the life of the other pens I own, if I store them point-side-down. If you store them upside-down, maybe try reversing it and see if that helps? Also maybe cleaning the nibs right after use?

  • JuggernutJuggernut Registered User regular
    edited January 2018
    I'm sort of toying with the idea of renting an office space for an art studio and after a couple of hours of searching I think I may have found the only reasonably priced place in this dumb town. So I may end up sending a little inquiry email to them just to check it out.

    What I really want is one of those old garage buildings from the 50 or 60's that seem to pepper every downtown area and, as far as I can tell, have had no use whatsoever in 20 years. It would be the perfect size, concrete floors for serious arting, and roll up garage doors so I can open em up in the spring and summer. I may have to go an expedition and see if I can find anything.

    Juggernut on
  • bombardierbombardier Moderator mod
    Maybe walk around until you see something you like then knock on some doors.

  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    Juggernut wrote: »
    I'm sort of toying with the idea of renting an office space for an art studio and after a couple of hours of searching I think I may have found the only reasonably priced place in this dumb town. So I may end up sending a little inquiry email to them just to check it out.

    What I really want is one of those old garage buildings from the 50 or 60's that seem to pepper every downtown area and, as far as I can tell, have had no use whatsoever in 20 years. It would be the perfect size, concrete floors for serious arting, and roll up garage doors so I can open em up in the spring and summer. I may have to go an expedition and see if I can find anything.

    Too bad we're on opposite ends of the country, I'd go in halfsies with you.

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • JuggernutJuggernut Registered User regular
    edited January 2018
    HA! Just spent an hour disassembling and cleaning my rapidographs and I think I fixed them. No more blobbing.

    That white ink I was using, despite saying it was for technical pens was really runny and started drying put and flaking super quick so I went ahead and ordered a couple of bottles of white and black (and red) rapidograph specific ink. But now I can at least get some semblance of work done now. I've basically been dead in the water for the last week.

    Juggernut on
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