I think one of the funnest things that people tell me at shows is (and it's usually fellow felters!!!), people comment on how nice the shading is on my work. They ask me how I get such nice gradations & shadows & when I tell them I use the airbrush they usually go "Oh...." and look super disappointed.
I know I've never been a traditional "felter". I find easy & cheap-trick ways to make creating my sculptures faster & better looking. I think my fellow felters feel cheated by how I use the airbrush to do shading. The way I look at is that I'm creating sculptures and part of creating those sculptures is the process of painting them. If I were sculpting sculpey sculptures, they need to be painted... If I were creating ceramic pieces, they would need to be glazed.... I don't feel bad about using any technique to get the look I want. I've got almost 10 years working as a prop maker & sculptor & 5 of those was almost exclusively creating work for Disney. Disney has a VERY specific aesthetic they follow & I enjoy the clean, graphic, animation inspired look to my sculptures. There is NO WAY to create that using traditional felting techniques.
Wool is just a medium for me to express my ideas in a sculptural form, not to be confined & limited by.
As a fellow felter, I think your shading technique is pretty cool. I don't see any difference between that and dyeing your work. If I had an airbrush, I'd give it a try. People use all kinds of techniques to shade and color their work. I use Prismacolor markers to shade some areas of my work.
ReplyDeleteI guess the thing I like about felt is there are no rules.
ReplyDeleteI agree... there are NO rules. Do what you like to achieve your personal style! I think that your technique is very innovative. There will always be traditionalists in every medium. And, some felting techniques that are widely used today were at one time "new" to the craft. Some of those who seemed disappointed may just be disappointed that they can't achieve the same lovely affects that you do through the techniques that they are comfortable with. If you just keep putting your wonderful creations out there, I have a feeling that your particular method of shading will catch on and some felters will want to learn. You might even teach it some day. Although I'd probably end up looking like a 3rd grade finger painter if I tried it, it is still a fascinating technique ;O)
ReplyDeleteI'm a felter weighing in and I love the results of your innovative materials and techniques . I think experimenting with different ways of working are part of the fun . Having made a sculpture using a foam core, I know it is harder for me then using pure wool . Your airbrusing actually shows your traditional artistic ability to use shading and should certainly not count against you....(I can't even draw a stick figure without making one arm longer then the other . )
ReplyDeleteSoooo. keep don't hold back on your strengths or your creative experimenting if the end result is beauty, who cares how you get there .
Yea!! Thanks for all the support my fellow felters!!
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