Pearl EX Pigment Powder Step-by-Step.

Welcome to my first "Step-by-Step" post. I'll be taking you through the process I went through in painting fairy wings for the "Froud Fairy" Custom. Using Pearl EX brand pigment powders.
Enjoy!

REFERENCE
The customer requested a custom MLP (my little pony) based off the iconic Brian Froud image below.

TOOLS
Metal Dental tool with concave paddle end. Used for scooping portions, "parts" of pearl dust.
1/4 square craft brush. Used to cover large areas.
#0 round craft brush. Used for painting details.
Chroma brand, Jo Sonja Gloss Varnish. Used as a mixing medium for pearl dust.
Peal EX Pigment powders.

COLORS USED

Pic of palette, for the heck of it. I really believe something can be learned by studying artists' palettes.

MEASUREMENTS
That is indeed a slowly thawing green pea you see there. When I say "Pea sized" Just call me queen literal.
So when you read a "part" of dust I mean roughly a pea sized scoop. And when you read a "part" of glaze. I mean roughly a dime sized pool. Which was generally three to four drops. Depending how well I could control the bottle. I'm terrible with wasting glaze.

FIRST COLOR
Antique Copper: 2-parts powder to 1-part glaze.
Starting out with the darkest color. Consider this the foundation color. No need to be neat, all other colors will build on top of this layer. Just smoosh it around and get a feel for the powder's behavior.

PRO-TIP Note: Base coating your substrate (A material on which a process is conducted.) can greatly enhance or augment the visual outcome of the powders.
For example, I chose to base coat the wings in a matte black. Payne's gray really. 
A black background pops the powders forward, appearing brighter and more vibrant. Where as a white background can draw them back. Making them more subtle. This does not mean that they look dull. Don't get the wrong idea.  Traditionally gray is also used as a neutral backing.
In the case of Gold tones I also could have used a terracotta color. In the Gilding profession, terracotta is used to make gold leafing appear warmer, brighter. Giving it a red glow. Alternatively a navy blue can be used to cool it down, mimicking a bronze-gold or slight inner patina look. The same cause and effect can be used with both pearl powders and metallic paints.

SECOND COLOR
Super Bronze: 1-part powder to 1-part glaze.
This color finishes the foundation.  After this "land mark" colors come into play.   

THIRD COLOR

Super Copper: Glaze mixture.

My apologies... The subtle difference might not be noticeable in these photos. No matter how I try to capture it.

This copper was mixed with 1/2 a part dust to 1 part glaze. Resulting in a glazing medium. Making it easier to blend with the other two colors. In addition, "double dip" loading was used. 

Double dipping is when you load your brush with one color, then dip the tip in a second color. It allows for ease of wet-on-wet blending in tiny areas. 

Glaze: Is a thin transparent color. Or paint that has been "watered" down with the aid of a medium. 

Glazing: A term used in painting. Referring to the translucent color layer over an opaque layer. More light passes through this thinned layer, allowing the layer below to be reflected back. Resulting in a more complex and deeper visual mix of color unattainable in solid color mixing.  

*Forgive the wonky definitions. I know they're awkwardly written. It was surprisingly difficult to find a short, copy-pastable blurb that wasn't two paragraphs long. But this is what Google is for after all. 

Glazing mixture example on your left. Opaque example on your right.

FOURTH COLOR
Sparkle Gold: 1-part dust to 1-part glaze. 
Here's where we lay down the areas that will become "landmarks"

Landmarks are open or large areas of color,  generally light in tone, that the eye naturally pauses or "rest" on in cases of detail heavy images. Also known as "breather spaces"
Notice how more contrast is starting to emerge.   

FIFTH COLOR
Interference Gold & Interference Violet: Both mixtures are 2-parts dust to 1-part gloss. 
Mixture consistency is more of a paste for this layer. As more opacity is needed. Of The two colors, interference gold is more naturally opaque. It was layered first.  Then interference violet was brushed on top to add it's pink hue and help break up the very gold heavy sheen.   

SIXTH COLOR
Duo Red/Blue: 1/2-part dust to 1-part gloss. 
At one angle, this powder reflects a soft translucent pink at another it becomes an opaque shimmering indigo.

ADJUSTMENT LAYER & FINISHING TOUCH UPS: 2 parts
Part 1: Aztec Gold: 1/2-part dust to 1-part gloss. 
Aztec Gold was used as a glaze to brighten and break up a couple bronze spots. Such as the bottom most wing. See how it appears a little less red compared to the picture above.
Part 2: Antique silver / Antique Copper- 1-part silver and 1-part copper dust (mixed) to 1-part gloss.
This silver / copper mix was used to darken key areas. Adding more contrast. Mostly in the tip of the first wing. Around the "eyes" pattern.
Finally... Added a little more Super-Copper (Glaze mixture) to brighten some yellow-gold heavy areas and finished off with three layers of solid glaze for protection and done!

And there you have it! Hope you get some use out of this.
If you see something I could have explained clearer or photo'd better please let me know. Help me to make better content for you. And feel free to ask me anything about my work or process. Your question could be used for the next step-by-step.
Type y'all later!
Tam

Froud Fairy. Complete!

Materials:

• Magic Sculpt - Two part epoxy clay
• 26 Gauge Floral Wire - For wing and tail supports
• Craft grade acrylics - Random brands. I tend to buy whatever's on sale.
• Pearl Ex - pigment powders
• Premo Sculpy Polymer Clay "Accents" - Pearl
• Swarovski Crystals - Used in the flowers
• Liquetex Brand High Gloss Varnish

More photos below. But first some yakety yak.

Very happy to have this one complete.
Unfortunately, she is the last commissioned piece.
In the years of using epoxy based clays I've developed a relentless skin allergy. Which not everyone will develope. I was just one of the unlucky one. It emerged over four years, slowly increasing in severity. The connection was made when, after a solid day of sculpting my eyelids damn near swelled shut.
But I simply couldn't find another clay that was equally strong, with no detectable shrinkage and able to adhere to anything. So, armed with Artguard barrier cream and latex gloves I kept on truckin.
Reactions would still happen of course. The clay leaves a persistent residue behind on anything it or I touched. So it was impossible to keep from coming into contact with it somehow. From anything like a pencil I'd help with gloves on to the edge of my desk where my arms rested or the tools and clay containers themselves. Residue gradually coated everything. No matter how cautious I wasn't was.
So I'd have the inevitable reaction. Would then take a break for a couple days or a couple weeks, depending how bad, to let my skin heal up.
And it would be very specific spots that would react. My eyelids (the worst!), cheeks (looked like I had rosacea), two tiny spots on the forehead, backs of my hands, webbing of my fingers (the most irritating), wrists and elbows.
Churning out a custom went from taking a couple weeks of production time to taking months. Two or three even took a solid year. I'm immensely grateful to all my commissioners for having an endless well of patience. Not a single one complained, if you believe it. But making someone wait as long as a year is just ridiculous. Therefore, I'm choosing to turn the "closed" sign on.
Will this be the end of customizing? Not likely. I want to move onto other bases. Things like Kid Robot Vinyl, Kokeshi dolls, a Negora... ect. I even have one of those 18" Pony Project blanks sitting up on my shelf

Some Detail Shots

Wings were built to be removable. Intended to be a "break point" should she ever suffer a fall.

Up next: A step-by-step walk through on the process used to paint Froud Fairys' wings.
Type ya later.

"Not a single cloud"

"Not a single cloud".
Painted on Polypropylene watercolor paper with random brand craft acrylics.
And inked with Pass Color, Sepia Gouache.
And is for sale HERE.

dig that "real medium" shine.

This is my first time using Polypropylene paper.
The TLDR of it... It's a thin but resilient, bright white sheet of velvety smooth plastic. Meant as a watercolor paper it has a feather light tooth. Allowing for a wide variety of inks, watercolors, gauche and acrylics. And I love it!

To be frank, I hardly have any experience with watercolor. I love the look of the medium and admire those who can whip it good.
On regular watercolor paper I struggle. I didn't know what to expect and had no preconceptions of how it would behave. Therefore all I could do was pinch my nostrils closed and jump right in. And boy did this paper make the water temp a nice pee warm. First off one of the biggest benefits is that it's doesn't warp, wrinkle or buckle! After all it's plastic so there's no worries of water fatigue. You don't have to stretch or mount it. No pre-prep needed you can just start back handing it with all the water you want.
Which exactly what I need. I complain at the end of every year that I hardly have any finished work to show for it. And it's due to my own "every last detail" obsessions. Everything has to be planned perfectly before I make any large moves. Sketches trudge on for weeks as they are worked and reworked. Usually leading to the project being abandoned.
I've been rightly accused of over working an idea right into the ground.
But that's my own personal problem. And I've gotten off track...

This paper was super smooth to work with. I can imagine the lack of tooth may throw some off at the start. Brush strokes just glide over the surface. Like painting on butter with oil. The color medium sits on top of the surface rather than absorbing. Which can take more time to dry for larger puddles of color. Tread lightly if your going to use a hair dryer to speed up drying time. You could very well push any soppy wet color right out of its own brush stoke. Just like blowing ink spiders with a straw when you were a kid. Or heat scorch the paper, causing ripples. As plastic tends to do in the face of a heat source.
One down side is that you have to treat this paper like it's going to be dusted for fingerprints. Any oils on the surface will handicap the medium's ability to stick and can cause it to break off into tiny flakes when passed over again by your brush.
Also the color can be scrapped off if scratched heavily enough. I don't really see that as a con, really. Cause any paper surface can be scuffed, scared or damaged. I see it as a potential plus with this paper. I can envision taking an X-acto blade to it and scratching out intricate patterns or re-revealing white negative space.

In conclusion, a quick note about the inking of this piece.
The inking was done with a Hobby brush. Initially purchased for vinyl custom painting, but the long, slenderly tapered bristles make them great inking brushes. It doesn't matter if your hands are shaky. By the time the tremor travels down the bristles it gets dispersed and you're left with a smooth line. You also get greater control and comfort thanks to the triangular handle grip. These brushes are made for painting tiny details in tiny areas. And that basically my default work setting. I suggest you give em a try!


You can expect I'll be doing more with this paper.

BIRTHDAY gluttony

Back in April I became another year older...Again.
The in-laws gifted me a toddler free day and the husband took a half day from work to take us out for a nice quiet lunch. Then to a bakery I hadn't yet set foot in. I couldn't ask for anything more!
Fat girl surrounded by cups of cake! Heaven.


This cupcake you see here! This cookies and cream monster had a solid ice cream scoop of cookies n' dream cream perched precariously on top. Like bowler hat. But when I saw it had a cream filling. On top of all that mess, well, that's when I decided "F all! It's my G D birthday! I'm already fat so I'm just going to animal out on this mutha. I'ma kill this cupcake." Make it mah digested biznoch n' what not! I only get to Legally (under Street family house laws) animal out once a year and I was going down spraying bullets.

...Enter Failure.

Midway through, the sugar buzz became too much to bear. When you can feel your own atoms vibrating and the sounds of an ant silently walking along the sidewalk, become earth quaking stomps... it's time to throw in the frosting soiled towel.

The weeks following were spent doing some birthday shopping.
Thanks to a collected stock of amazon gift cards and gifted loose cash, I amassed myself a nice little haul.
We have the following:
Golden Open-slow drying acrylics. The modern theory set.
Golden Open-slow drying acrylics. The Traditional color set (Thanks Bro-in-law!!)
Golden acrylic medium thinner - 4oz
Color Mixing Bible - by Ian Sidaway
and a
Magic Palette Color Mixing visual guide - the larger 24" version.
Oh and a 20ml tube of Pass Color - Sepia gouache. An accidental extra from 'dick Blick.
THANKS DICK!