Keeping track of progress on creative projects
For the most part this was a fun build. One of the final steps was one of ME’s legendary eight-tabs-have-to-connect-all-at-once-and-half-of-them-move-independently-from-the-rest moments. A piece on the back snapped off and had to be E6000’d. And here and there some bits were wobbly because their tabs were so close together that they were difficult to twist in place. But overall this wasn’t too crazy.
I particularly liked the detail in the etching.
Visually they’re based on abstract doodles I used to do in the margins of my notes during college lectures.
Now I’m applying the same graphic design to outlines of leafs. If I was writing an artist’s statement about this project, I’d probably note that the idea of a leaf ghost reflects their temporary nature (as well as our own). It also makes individual leafs (I’m never doing the same one twice) the subject of an artwork, calling attention to something we see by the thousands every day and generally pay no attention to at all. But even on the center stage they’re still enmeshed with their own backgrounds, appearing as single objects only thanks to a little gestalt.
My plan is to work in a variety of media, using the project as an excuse to practice with ink, paint, pencil and whatever else sounds like fun to try. As a close look at #1 will instantly show you, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve worked with markers. I love the rough look. It’s much different from the ultra-smooth digital work I’ve been doing. But I’m hoping with practice to recall/learn how to get more even coverage with ink.
Each leaf ghost starts with a photo of a leaf. I take the picture with my phone and then trace an outline using Fresco. I apply a grid, do some coloring for reference, and then use the digital version as a model for an under-sketch on paper.
Then I add color, starting with the dark background squares ...
... then the light foreground ...
... and then the dark foreground to finish.
I started this model so long ago that I don’t even remember when I began. I got it put together and applied the white paint. But after that it fell by the wayside. I think maybe I was nervous about trying to do the masking that had to happen before the black coat could go on.
Plus I had a mishap with my old airbrush and only recently replaced it with a new one. I’d always used siphon brushes, but the new gravity fed brush is much easier to work with.
The build and the paint both are rough around the edges, but I think I’m going to leave it that way rather than try to fill the cracks and sharpen the edges. It’s a good testament to the process it took to put it together.
Along the way I also learned that V2s were larger than I thought. A person standing next to one would be at around shoulder height with the top of the stand.
Background color choice aside, this was a fun one to work on.
I got this kit for Christmas, and apparently I was still a little addled from the festivities when I started the build on Boxing Day. I put one of the end towers on the wrong side of the main tower. Feeling defeated, I walked away from the project for a week or so.
But when I came back, apparently the Metal Earth gods were with me. I managed to unbend the tabs holding the piece in the wrong spot and then re-bend them in the right place without breaking any of them. And from there the build went fairly smoothly.
Another page from the Call of Cthulhu Coloring Book. I thought it would be more Lovecraftian if the fire was green.
This is the first time I’ve ever edited the source art. I opted to remove some clouds that were interfering with the night sky look. And there was a stray line in the smoke that made part of the clouds look like a thumb.
