printing along
Hand finished! I've got 3 painted boxes now, the 3rd is getting it's finishing coats. It's done in cheetah. I pictured leopard but wrote a synopsis for cheetah. I felt very clever with my little story but not so clever to realize my mistake. So the less exciting print of cheetah rather than those leopard rosettes wound up being made. However, I can say it's gorgeous. It's not as tidy as I'd like in this world of digitally printed applied vinyls and vacuum molded perfection, but it's hand made and unique. AKA "OOAK."
I've finished printing another white box then switched to the clear. It's the most affordable plastic although not the easiest to put paint on. The paint is already too transparent and unless you're working for that look it gets challenging to get a smooth finish. Even when I was chasing a transparent look with soft colouring I still couldn't eliminate uneven colour spots. The shape catches paint in it's corners, the paint dries too fast on large areas and gets gloppy, etc. this new box is twice the size and taking up a whole bottle with each box. Oh boy. I sure better see these sell or I won't do many at this rate. But I love painting them, I really do. They're even more fun than the boxes and they're considerably more fun than paint by numbers, people's houses, or doodle art, all my top fave things to do. None of the above are cheap either, neither are models to assemble and paint. Really, out of the list, these are the most affordable hobby once the printer is paid for! So I remind myself of that when I start to feel bad about not selling them. They're so small and pretty we haven't resented the space they occupy either and I could seal some up in tupperware and leave them outdoors. So long as they stay sealed against moisture they coudl sit in the garage, trailer, or even the gazebo. I still believe with dead certainty that this stock will sell rapidly at the fringe. I'm also going to print off a few dozen bracelets at some point to be sold off for $5 each. I could make multi-colour but it's a nuisance both in having to change out the filament so frequently, and in having to separately price the more tiresome ones. I'm thinking of a quick cheap attractant to get people interested in coming by for a souvenier. They'll then fall in love with the fancier stuff and I'll sell it all!
With just timmy to babysit, and he can come along, other than bathroom breaks it should be pretty easy to set up even if I don't presume on Debra for power and bathroom access. I guess I should focus on something highly mobile that can be picked up and tucked away for bathroom breaks. That's the shitty part of being alone in the world, nobody who'll come with me and keep me company and take turns with the booth. Maybe by then I can have a relationship with another artist and we can set up near each other.
I'd still like to figure out a way to power that tree out on the street. I wonder what power output it requires and how long a battery would last per day? It only needs to go about 3 hours at max. Perhaps a bike battery that gets charged overnight would suffice. Especially if it only needs 12vdc! Nope, it has an output of 24vdc and that's more than a battery puts out. I know enough to know it's not as simple as teaming two batteries together but that's about where my knowlege stops. So I could use battery operated LED strings to light the night, but not the tree, sadly, unless I have a secure power source. I won't be paying the full merchange booth price so no secure power source unless I haave the gall to ask Debra. The more I think about it, the more I think it's asking too much. She didn't even want to put a few in her store of my boxes. That's going from appreciated customer to friend and that's not where I'm at. Not that we should ever actually say it, that's rude, or something.
I punctured my palm yesterday with a tool while poking out hinge holes. Now I'm worrying if it will infect. It went pretty deep and didn't bleed well at all. I would have had trouble using a glucometer with it. On the upside, the tool usually works with heat and flame and the worst thing on it would be burnt carbon or soot, so unlikely to infect. I've hit it with tea tree oil both at the time, and again today. Every time I cause it to twinge, though, I worry.
So my next box is going to be lavender leopard! I think I have enough purple paint. I'm getting a better idea how much it takes, and I'm finding that variegated surfaces are far more economical than solid colours. Layering it makes the whole much more organic. The red box took 2 small bottles andd one regular bottle of red! That's close to two regular bottles of polish, just for the base colour.
Marbling uses less per bottle, but more overall paint, but leaves me with more variety and choices after. The cheetah is painted with several blending shades following it's contours the way a cheetah's pelt follows the animal's contours. I'll do exactly the same with the leopard print but I'll do several colour variations because it's groovy. Zebra and tiger, yes of course, but I'm out of black paint entirely and also realizing the level of challenge i'm offering myself. I also don't want to be doing a whole series of animal prints right off the bat. Plus, I think I'll also rip off Disney. Frozen would be such a cool version out of the transparent stuff, for instance! h excuse me, inspired by, LOL! "This box is so cool, it's practically frozen!" Call it Elsa. I love giving these trunks human names.
I've finished printing another white box then switched to the clear. It's the most affordable plastic although not the easiest to put paint on. The paint is already too transparent and unless you're working for that look it gets challenging to get a smooth finish. Even when I was chasing a transparent look with soft colouring I still couldn't eliminate uneven colour spots. The shape catches paint in it's corners, the paint dries too fast on large areas and gets gloppy, etc. this new box is twice the size and taking up a whole bottle with each box. Oh boy. I sure better see these sell or I won't do many at this rate. But I love painting them, I really do. They're even more fun than the boxes and they're considerably more fun than paint by numbers, people's houses, or doodle art, all my top fave things to do. None of the above are cheap either, neither are models to assemble and paint. Really, out of the list, these are the most affordable hobby once the printer is paid for! So I remind myself of that when I start to feel bad about not selling them. They're so small and pretty we haven't resented the space they occupy either and I could seal some up in tupperware and leave them outdoors. So long as they stay sealed against moisture they coudl sit in the garage, trailer, or even the gazebo. I still believe with dead certainty that this stock will sell rapidly at the fringe. I'm also going to print off a few dozen bracelets at some point to be sold off for $5 each. I could make multi-colour but it's a nuisance both in having to change out the filament so frequently, and in having to separately price the more tiresome ones. I'm thinking of a quick cheap attractant to get people interested in coming by for a souvenier. They'll then fall in love with the fancier stuff and I'll sell it all!
With just timmy to babysit, and he can come along, other than bathroom breaks it should be pretty easy to set up even if I don't presume on Debra for power and bathroom access. I guess I should focus on something highly mobile that can be picked up and tucked away for bathroom breaks. That's the shitty part of being alone in the world, nobody who'll come with me and keep me company and take turns with the booth. Maybe by then I can have a relationship with another artist and we can set up near each other.
I'd still like to figure out a way to power that tree out on the street. I wonder what power output it requires and how long a battery would last per day? It only needs to go about 3 hours at max. Perhaps a bike battery that gets charged overnight would suffice. Especially if it only needs 12vdc! Nope, it has an output of 24vdc and that's more than a battery puts out. I know enough to know it's not as simple as teaming two batteries together but that's about where my knowlege stops. So I could use battery operated LED strings to light the night, but not the tree, sadly, unless I have a secure power source. I won't be paying the full merchange booth price so no secure power source unless I haave the gall to ask Debra. The more I think about it, the more I think it's asking too much. She didn't even want to put a few in her store of my boxes. That's going from appreciated customer to friend and that's not where I'm at. Not that we should ever actually say it, that's rude, or something.
I punctured my palm yesterday with a tool while poking out hinge holes. Now I'm worrying if it will infect. It went pretty deep and didn't bleed well at all. I would have had trouble using a glucometer with it. On the upside, the tool usually works with heat and flame and the worst thing on it would be burnt carbon or soot, so unlikely to infect. I've hit it with tea tree oil both at the time, and again today. Every time I cause it to twinge, though, I worry.
So my next box is going to be lavender leopard! I think I have enough purple paint. I'm getting a better idea how much it takes, and I'm finding that variegated surfaces are far more economical than solid colours. Layering it makes the whole much more organic. The red box took 2 small bottles andd one regular bottle of red! That's close to two regular bottles of polish, just for the base colour.
Marbling uses less per bottle, but more overall paint, but leaves me with more variety and choices after. The cheetah is painted with several blending shades following it's contours the way a cheetah's pelt follows the animal's contours. I'll do exactly the same with the leopard print but I'll do several colour variations because it's groovy. Zebra and tiger, yes of course, but I'm out of black paint entirely and also realizing the level of challenge i'm offering myself. I also don't want to be doing a whole series of animal prints right off the bat. Plus, I think I'll also rip off Disney. Frozen would be such a cool version out of the transparent stuff, for instance! h excuse me, inspired by, LOL! "This box is so cool, it's practically frozen!" Call it Elsa. I love giving these trunks human names.