Monthly Archives: December 2013

Last Minute Gift Tags for you! Downloadable gift tags

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Just for you, my dear readers, I have a coupon code on Etsy for $2.70 off on these downloadable gift tags/stickers (code: AJOLLYWASSAIL). Mention in the convo that you saw this here & I’ll refund the last .30 so your PDF will be 100% free! (I’d make the discount cover the whole amount, but that’s not allowed on Etsy. However, a full refund is kosher! Go figure.)

The code is active through 31 December in case you want to make it a New Year’s gift.

…And may joy be to you and a jolly wassail!

Dunny Inky Custom Dunny: Acrylic, text collage & found objects on vinyl toy

custom dunny, hand-painted vinyl toy, featuring an ink bottle and dip pen nibs

I’m no journalist, but I am an ink-stained wretch! I love to write & draw with dip pens, especially my beloved flexible crow-quill, Hunt 108. It gives a lovely responsive line with hairline thins & gorgeous juicy thicks, but it does have a ferocious tendency to spatter. My fingers, my desk, & pretty much everything around me tend to be bespeckled most of the time, much like this fellow. ;-)

This custom Dunny was a commission, but the client allowed me free rein with concepts. (A wonderful treat, I must say!) I set to sketching & as usual the act of drawing brought forth a flurry of ideas. In this case the shape of the torso reminded me of old-school ink bottles, which made me think of calligraphic flourishes & spatters. The client chose the sketch (along with the one for Ultramarine) & thus Inky was born!

I had to do the flourishes with acrylic & fine brushes, though, because the pen didn’t play well with vinyl. It was quite a challenge getting into the tight corners!

It’s hard to tell from this dark scan, but Inky holds a dip pen made of a poppy stalk handle topped with a fallen-soldier 108. (They do tend to wear down quickly, so I go through them by the dozen.) His ears/horns are cut-down nibs as well, I forget which sort as I found them in a box of rejected nibs. (Yes, I’m a bit of a hoarder… but see, I needed them!)

The GIF below shows Inky in process. The text is printed out on archival tissue, which conforms better to the Dunny’s contours than regular paper. It’s devilishly fragile, though!

Dunny Dance Custom Dunny: Acrylic, text collage & found objects on vinyl toy

While waiting for paint to dry on the Dunny I’m currently working on, I thought it would be fun to combine the progress shots for Dunny Ultramarine into a little gif. (Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, it is now possible to dance with one’s own backside.) ;-)

For a closer look at the finished Dunny, along with some info about the process, please see my previous post.

Goodly Creature Acrylic on collaged text & diagrams on six canvases, 6"x6" each

acrylic painting of head of creature or monster, curious art

Finally I have prints of this piece available on Etsy! Individual parts or all six elements in a bundle, in case you’d like to genetically engineer your own example of Zoorobotany!

GoodlyCreature-LeahPalmerPreiss

p.s. If you’re interested in how this piece came to be, there’s a slide show on my process page.

Dreaming Acrylic painting on map and music collage on canvas, 30" x 24"

Dreaming: acrylic painting of imaginary landscape, curious characters

You may have seen bits & pieces of this image before, but here’s the whole thing!

At last I am able to make prints of this available on Etsy. They’re not full-size (about half that), but much bigger than my usual small prints. (When I tried to reduce them to standard printer-paper size, you could hardly see the details at all!)

Unrelated note: today’s A.Word.A.Day painting is Ineluctable. A warm welcome to all of you who are arriving here from that site. (For the rest of you, if you haven’t yet wandered through this wonderland of words, head on over now!) And if you’d like to know more about the painting itself, see my previous post.

 

Disprize Acrylic painting on map and music collage on canvas, 30" x 24"

Painting of Cat, Illustration for A Word A Day

Sometimes one must refrain from eating, if only to make a statement. ;-)

This image was created for Anu Garg’s A.Word.A.Day, where it’s featured today. If you love words, you should definitely sign up for Anu’s daily emails— they are always a delight.

The original painting as well as prints are available in my Etsy shop.

A.Word.A.Day A.gain! Curiotype Alphabet

AWAD-2013

It’s always thrilling to be a part of this amazing site. Thank you so much to Anu Garg for letting me play with his ever-inspiring word collection again!

My website crashed earlier, probably a fainting spell from sheer excitement. ;-) Not very felicitous timing, though– my apologies to anyone who received that doomly message. I hope all is well in server-land now, but if not, you can always reach me via TwitterFacebook, or my Etsy shop, CuriousArtLab.