Whew! What a weekend!

Francis and Bartholomew looking over the living room, now.

Okay. Getting started out slow, but eh, it's life. It gets super busy so very quick! =)  I had a good time, of course, but I am super excited to just hang out and read some comics with the boyfriend, while writing for the blog...if only my washing machine would cooperate and drain the clothes I put in this morning! So much for doing chores today, I suppose. =)

Well, I said I would start with the SkeleBoys, and so I shall.

This was one of the coolest project assignments I received in art school. My teachers gave each of the students three 12' x 8" x 2" planks of wood and we had to cut and laminate them to designs that we had previously proposed to the professor. I had wanted to convey my cute version of the skeletons I was always drawing into these super-cute 3D versions, but also throw people off of what is expected from first view--I wanted them to be solid, and rock-heavy! I love when people pick up my artwork, and handle it. I understand that most all other artists (unless they work in textiles or interactive art) want the audience to only touch with their sight. I, on the other hand, LOVE to see people pick up my stuffed animals and wring them around and throw and play with them! And the same goes for these guys--I wanted to throw people off by allowing them to touch and pick up the skeleboys and interact with them when their sight perceives these fat skeletons that look quite cute and soft and adorable, and when you pick them up, the look on your face when you realize that they aren't soft and light like your mind interprets this adorable design, and in fact, your arms hurt just having to hold them up! =)

I started with the designs, a few sketches, then a LOT of measurements...(I tried to upload scans of my old designs to show them here, and am having a little bit of trouble doing so, so I'll try to repost those again later--sorry !) I had to measure out the planks in order to use the wood I had wisely. I can tell you that the students had to wise up very quickly about leaving their untouched wood around after class--there were some vultures that would spy the procrastinator's new wood leaning up in a corner, and they would take it to make up for the extra pieces they needed in their own project to make it work! I used the designs to do some math, and then I had to cut and laminate all the pieces together like a super easy Jenga tower! After about a week of letting the glue really set, I unclamped all the giant towers, and started on months-long work of using a power-grinder to grind the rectangular towers into the round shapes that became their bellies and heads. Of course, as a novice, my designs were dictating that the largest skeleboy was to be 8" tall in total (with head), but with all the grinding that I was doing that took quite a few months to just get to where I did was very daunting. Plus, once I got them rounded out, I really liked how large they turned out to be. The size was another eye-tricker.

I couldn't find any pictures that I had taken of the boys in the process, but I do have one before the paint job--you can see the awesome wood grain designs that became a large discussion with everyone who saw them. Half of the people seeing the boys in production wanted to keep the grain (including my professor) and I had to convince them that while a clear coat of polyurethane would keep the grain looking great, that they weren't prepared for how great they would look finally painted!


Here are the boys naked in the wood shop! 



So, I just needed to start painting. I should have splurged and gotten larger brushes, but I painted all the boys with acrylic, and only with one small brush. It was rough, but they turned out great!



Here are the boys in the workshop, finally painted. From left to right, I named them, as I do with everything I make: Francis, Steve, and Bartholomew!





Their backsides, as they look on into the quiet workshop.

 Unfortunately, as always happens in experiments with art, I tried to complete the project with a coat of polyurethane, but got a little happy with it (I like an even seal), and didn't realize that a thick coat of this would show up as yellow on all the white paint. SO, I had to resand all the boys, and repaint all of them!!! And of course, I repainted them all with the same acrylic and brush. =) I always like to make things more complicated than they need to be. Next time, I'm either getting the aerosol poly (lighter, more even coverage), or not using any at all, which is what they have now.



Here's Francis now, and he's always got this mischievous look on his skull. 



Francis' backside



This is Steve. He's the most boastful--he keeps his brothers in check, and has a big heart!





And this is Bartholomew. Being the biggest brother makes him the protector. He carries a lot of worry on his skull, but ultimately lets go to enjoy the happiness that the three brothers bring to their living admirers.

  Ultimately, Francis was 9" tall and 19-1/2" round, Steve was 12" tall and 25" around, and Bartholomew comes in at 14" tall and 27-1/2" round! Should you get the chance, I'd love for you to pick one up and check them out in person!



...until next time! ♥ Danielle

Hurrah!!!

THE OFFICIAL FIRST POST! *DUN-DUN-DUNNNNN!!!*

Who would have known that it could have been this easy?  =)

Well, Welcome to my brand-spanking new blog, where I hope that this becomes a wonderful new habit of keeping my creativity going by looking forward to showing you some cool art stuff, and, well, maybe you just like it enough that you want some for yourself!!! After all, I'm pretty awesome at this art-thing, and, I do have a degree in this kind of field. =D I totally welcome any and all comments because without some criticism every once in a while, the compliment doesn't mean quite as much. We're all learning, so why should it stop once we're out of school? =) 

So, here goes everything! Check back to hear about my awesome Skeleboys--I'll show you some pictures of the process (what pictures I do have) and if you're interested, read my story of how I made them. Until next time...be awesome to each other! ♥ Danielle