Lights... Camera... Fish!

LIGHTS...

So I finally invested in a Photo Studio Kit.  It came with a HUGE light-tent & lights.  I've been thinking about it for a while, but was hesitant about spending the money.  BOY, am I glad I did it!!  Still learning how to use it to it's full capabilities, but I'll figure it out.  I'm already happy with how my first photos have turned out.

CAMERA...

We also invested in a new fancy DSLR camera!!  It's actually more for my husband & his photography, but takes AMAZING picts of my sculptures.  I never thought that camera quality made that much of a difference, but it does.  This is a Pentax K-r, an entry level camera, but still a huge upgrade to my previous point & shoot.  


*I took this photo with my iPhone in my Studio!  Looks like a stock photo, but it's totally our camera!

FISH!!!

So this was my first attempt at taking photos with my new set-up.  I think they came out WAY better than before, but still am learning how to use the camera & lighting.  I love the colors & detail the camera picks up.  That is one thing I've always been frustrated with, how do you show the real texture of a needle felted piece?  Most of the time it just looks fuzzy.

This Felt Koi I made a while ago, but he always seemed unfinished.  One the project before this one, I experimented with some Clear Casting Resin.  That inspired this "pond" base.  I colored the resin & left some texture with the aluminum foil I poured it into for the "water" texture.  I then made a few Felt Cherry Blossoms (the ones from my previous post!)

Usually I like to finish sculptures right away, but I'm learning that if something seems unfinished, don't push it.  Let it sit & stew for a while (a year with this one).  Then maybe you'll come up with the perfect solution!



***This weird picture layout is kinda a "happy mistake".  The layout for my blog has changed & I'm still figuring out how to use it, but I kinda like how the photos created a nice collage look.  Don't know how or why it happened, but I'm okay with it....

Koi is Finished!!

So he's all finished!! It was a dash to the finish, but I got him all done & photo'd yesterday, then went and hung him at my work today! Feels great to be done & I'm really happy with how it turned out. Here are the final picts of the Koi & what he looks like in his new home....





























And I think it's funny cause when I finally hung it, it looks kinda small. When you are working on a piece (in hand) and up close, it seems HUGE... but... when hung next to giant paintings, he looks less than impressive. But he still looks cool!! Come by the Blick Art Supply Store on Beverly if you are hanging out in the Hollywood area!! He will also be listed in my shop this morning!!

More Koi Picts!!

Almost done... Got all the main parts done, just gotta finish the details & paint his wood base & mount him on!! I'm super excited & want to be done!!! Ready to move on to the next piece!!

I also am excited about my new toy!! I bought myself a Fancy-Shmancy Jigsaw. I've needed one for a while, and this project gave the best excuse to buy one. Went with the middle-grade one (rather than the super cheap or super expensive). I think it'll come in handy cause I'm dig'n making wall-hanging pieces. I think there might me more of a market to sell sculptures that hang on the wall. At least people might not ask me "What is it for?" anymore. These piece have a purpose... hanging on the wall... and now maybe I can open my buyers into people that buy paintings & prints to decorate their houses.

I used the jigsaw to cut out the wooden base for the Koi. I just laid it down on the wood & drew a nice outline around it. It will be painted black, have some armature wire to hold the tail up, & have the hanging hardware on the back.



And here are the Picts of the Koi!!

These are of the Koi before his last round of paint & after I attached the fins. You can see how he will be sculptural - going from his flat head to full 3D tail. To give you a bit of scale, the piece of wood that it is sitting on is 2' x 4'. I like how it is turning out!!









These are the picts of Koi after his final paint job! Now he just need a bit more detail.

Koi Progress Pictures!!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I am feeling sooooo much better & even got a ton of work done on my newest felted sculpture! I thought I'd share some more progress picts of the Koi Hanging Wall piece that I have been working on. It's almost done, just gotta attach the fins, finish any additional detail & painting, & make the supporting wood piece to allow it to hang on the wall!! I'm super excited about how he has been turning out, and hopefully will finish him this week, then show him at my work!!




This is what the koi looked like when I finished felting & sculpting and before I started airbrushing any color or shadows. I used the iDye in Sun Yellow (maybe... don't remember exactly which color it was), but I LOVE those dyes!! When my parents were in town last weekend I totally talked my dad into buying me like 5 more colors! Now I have the whole rainbow!!







Here's the Koi with his first layer of color. Started with a bright orange for shading & overall color. I dyed him yellow at first to allow plenty of light highlights.










All the parts finish painted (for now). Now just need to attach the fins, that's gonna be tricky, but I'm sure I'll figure something out!!











Love how the shading on the scales turned out!! He's actually much more brilliant orange than these pictures show.











Detail of face & scales. I'm not sure about how "airbrushed" his face looks right now... may need to work on that just a little bit more.

Waiting for the Rain....

Figuratively & Literally!!

It's supposed to rain here in SoCal for the next couple days, but hopefully it will clear up by the time my parents get here on Friday!! I'm so excited... but... also have to clean the house :( PLUS I might be starting back on the movie job that I was working on last month again next week. Tranformers 3 here I come... maybe... again...

It's funny cause I have FINALLY caught up with my everyday life, and FINALLY started to read my back log of blogs that I've been neglecting, and FINALLY have time to work on some new sculptures...

then...

"Here Comes the Rain Again...."


But I will share a few picts of the newest felted piece that I started a couple days ago. I'm really excited about this one because I'm making it to display at my job - Blick Art Supplies. Once it's done it will be on permanent display so if you live in the L.A. area, you can come & see it!!! (and buy some most-awesome art supplies while you're at it!!)




This is a picture of the Koi Wall piece that I took with my hand so that you could see the scale of the piece. It's definitely the LARGEST sculpture that I've ever started. He will eventually be totally airbrushed & have a wood base so that he can hang on the wall.







This is just a reminder of how BRILLIANT I am!!! I got the bright idea to use Wool Yarn for my black line work for this piece. It just takes forever to felt long lines of... well... yarn, by hand, so I thought I'd try using the real stuff!! It's going really well & fast & even the package states -

"Alpine Wool... This soft, natural 100% wool roving yarn is ideal for garments, accessories, and felting projects"

We have a winner!!!









And just a picture of how the fish is starting out! I'm pretty excited to see what I do with it!! i'm pretty sure it will be awesome by the time I finish!! HAHA!!