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The Making of the Dice Dragons

4/3/2018

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Dice Dragons have been on my to-do list ever since I sculpted my first dragon! I wanted to wait until I had more experience with the anatomy and textures before giving it a shot though. Here's a quick walk-through of the process! 
This project started out in an unusual way for me... salvaging a previous jewelry design that didn't work out quite as I imagined. I had recently finished a sculpt, but the finished product has been shelved (who knows for how long!). I decided to use it as a jumping off point for a new piece! I made a mold of the previous sculpt, and poured a copy in Monster Clay. I then cut off the arms so that they could be sculpted from scratch in a new pose. This was the beginning. 
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Since I intended for it to hold a D20, I made a D20-sized ball of tin foil to use to get the pose right. With a great deal of fiddling, I had a pose I was happy with. Then I began working on the details, using very small tools. The hands were a particular challenge, so they were adjusted and readjusted dozens of times before the sculpt was finalized. 
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Next I added the wings, shown here in an early stage. I like to make my wings slightly smaller than would be realistic. To achieve flight with a dragon of this size, the wings would need to be considerably larger. In my experience, sometimes it's best to go with what looks right, rather than what would be accurate. You can also see the textures coming together. 
Into the mold box he went! I use Lego for my mold boxes for a bunch of reasons. It's durable, reusable, and most of all... it's EASY! The Lego can be easily shaped to suit the piece you want to cast, and reused almost endlessly. Plus, it's Lego, and Lego is fun :P
This dragon was sculpted in Monster Clay, which is an oil-based clay. Although it is a wonderful sculpting medium, it can't be cured, so I was reasonably sure this little dude wasn't coming out of the mold in one piece. 
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YIKES! Although this was to be expected, pulling him out piece by piece was awful. The mold looked good, so I was reasonably sure that it would work to make a new master... but seeing him like this after all the hours of sculpting was rough. 
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One good thing about Monster Clay, and the fact that it doesn't cure, is that it can be reused. So one day this same clay will make another sculpture. 
The first castings came out beautifully! I was so relieved. They will serve as my new masters for making additional molds. I also cast three to paint as examples of different colours. 
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I add a little bit of colour to my castings because I find that the pure white of the resin is difficult to see, and awful flaws only show up when you go to paint them. It's much easier to trim them up when you can see the flash lines, and any bubbles. 
These pieces were pressure cast, so bubbles aren't much of an issue. FORTUNATELY! 
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Below is a gallery of photos of my first 3 Dice Dragons! I am beyond thrilled with the way these have turned out, and look forward to making them in more colours :)
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Pewter, Pewter Everwhere!

12/6/2013

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I've been a bit less active online lately, and now you can see why! I've been working on an entirely new line of items, in a brand new medium... PEWTER! I've had quite a few requests for metal jewelry, as opposed to Polymer Clay or Resin, and I'm pleased to be able to offer lead-free pewter jewelry at this time. Each unique design is sculpted in clay and used to create a finely detailed mold for casting.
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First collection of pewter pieces, shown early in the process - not finished yet!
I've been meaning to give metal casting a try for a very long time, but haven't had the time, materials, or bravery (molten metals are VERY intimidating to say the least!). Resin was another material I was afraid to try, and having had good experiences with that, I decided it was time for me to try pewter. I started with a great deal of research and then decided to dive right in.  Although I expected that it would be hot, I didn't realize just how much heat would be generated by the process. The kitchen felt more like a tropical rain forest in short order.
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My first attempt casting a fluke! The molten metal has a very high surface tension, which makes pouring the right amount  for the mold quite challenging. Definitely something I'm going to need a lot of practice with!
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Unfinished Flukes: Narwhal, Bottlenose Dolphin, Humpback, Blue Whale, Pilot Whale, Orca, Keiko and Lolita.
I've made a variety of new fluke shapes for Pewter casting! These include the shapes I've been using with Resin (Orca, Beluga and Bottlenose Dolphin), as well as a number of new ones! Now you can also purchase Blue Whale, Pilot Whale, Humpback Whale, and Narwhal flukes. I've also made two specific orcas, including their individual markings. These are Keiko and Lolita. I can make your favourite individual animals like this! 
My favourite pewter piece so far, a Humpback Whale! They are one of my favourite animals, seeing them in the wild was one of the best experiences of my life. You can see the unfinished, straight-from-the-mold version below on the left, and the polished and finished version below to the right. I have also made full versions of a Sea Lion, Pilot Whale, and Orca.
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I will be posting my first batch of Pewter pieces for sale in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!

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Resin Jewelry - Take 2

27/1/2013

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Had so much fun with my first batch of resin jewelry, that I decided to start a new one right away! There are lots of things I still want to try, and actually got to a few of them this time ;)
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Here's a photo of the second batch taken while I was working. This is after the first layer of resin was poured. I tried inserting some objects into this group, including some stones and fresh moss.

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This is my favourite piece I've made so far! There is a green moss that grows in my front yard, even in the dead of winter. I love that moss. It's a cheerful green when all else is dead. And now I get to keep some of it with me wherever I go! 

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Another one of my favourite pieces so far... I took a few pebbles and some sand that I collected on vacation last summer and embedded them in the resin in two separate layers. The sand and stones are from Provincetown, Massachusetts (the very tip of Cape Cod). I went there for the first time to whale watch two years ago, and fell in love not just with the whales, but with the place itself! My family returned there later that summer, and again last year. 
I really like the way it turned out, and will absolutely be experimenting with embedding different things in resin in the future. 

Labyrinth inspired necklaces were pretty high on my to-do list! These are my first attempts. They include a silhouette of a character (Sarah as in below left, Sarah and Hoggle as in below right), which floats above a background inspired by the movie. Also played with glitter, and I REALLY liked the addition! I will absolutely be using glitter in the future, especially with Labyrinth items (seems especially fitting). 
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I also tried this technique with some animal silhouettes. Although pairing sea creatures with space has been done before, I like the way it looks and decided to take a crack at it myself. Hence stingrays swimming in front of a nebula, and sharks in front of the moon. I LOVE the moon as a background, and will absolutely be using it again. The giraffes are in front of a sunset background that I painted. All include some glitter, which gives them a fantastic shine in the sunlight.
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Stingrays

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Sharks

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Giraffes

Right now I'm working on different methods for stringing them on necklaces, trying to find the best way. I'm also testing the strength and durability in a variety of situations so that I can be sure the jewelry will last as long as possible! Also working on some custom molds for casting... but you're going to have to wait until my next blog entry for more info! Until then... thanks for reading! :D
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Resin Resin Resin!

18/1/2013

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Welcome to my first blog entry! I've never run an actual blog before, so bear with me ;)

Casting resin jewelry is something that I've wanted to experiment with for some time... and I've finally begun! I have some really neat ideas for necklace designs and projects that I'd like to try in the near future, I think it's got a lot of potential! 
In this first batch, I was mostly working on mixing the resin correctly (which can be very tricky), trying different colouring methods, and seeing how I could incorporate different marine life. I tried sea turtles, stingrays, sharks, humpback whales, a sea lion, orcas and pacific white sided dolphins. 
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My first set of resin pieces fresh from the mold! Still have some work to do, like trimming the excess material from the edges, but so far I'm really pleased!
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One thing I did not fully anticipate about the process was the mess it was going to create! This is one MESSY medium! Mixing cups everywhere, all coated in semi-hardened resin... stir sticks (read: old popsicle sticks and toothpicks) jutting out all over the place... and having to wait for the whole thing to harden before cleaning it up! 
I've never been accused of being a neat-freak, but do have to admit that it bothered me a little bit XD

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Here's a photo of my first set of pieces in the mold. Something to know about me... I HATE waiting. I'm used to polymer clay, a medium that is almost instantly ready once the sculpt is finished. I wasn't prepared for resin's 24-72 hour drying time, and kept gravitating to the mold to poke the pieces to see if they were dry enough to pry free. Casting in resin is going to be a learning process, hopefully I'll learn to be more patient while I'm at it. Hopefully. 

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This shows a few of the colouring techniques that I've tried... not a big fan of the blue/white on the sea lion necklace, but pretty happy with the other three! I'm trying to learn to colour the resin while leaving it transparent, as well as colouring it to be opaque. 



The first on the left is opaque turquoise, the middle is partially transparent blue, and on the right is lightly tinted transparent blue. 

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Sea turtles, orcas, and stingrays! These photos show two of the colour approaches I've tried so far... silhouettes and full colour. I really like the way the orcas came out, although I wish I'd have coloured the background resin differently. Oh well, learned lots! 
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Check it out! Kind of difficult to see from the other photos, so here's a look at what I'm going for... they look fantastic against the light. 

not finished with these yet... so stay tuned for updates! 

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    This is a blog for my artistic endeavours... as I experiment with new mediums, styles, and techniques, I'll post here. 

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